MSC Cruises said it will give a free, transferable cruise on select 2014 sailings of MSC Divina in the Caribbean for anyone who books the ship for a Mediterranean cruise next summer before Oct. 31.
A $500 deposit on the Mediterranean cruise is required to take advantage of the offer.
Divina began sailing in North America about a year ago on seven-day Caribbean itineraries out of Miami. It will return next summer to Mediterranean itineraries from May 16 through Sept. 19.
MSC is promoting a $1,899 package that includes roundtrip airfare to Rome or Barcelona, a seven-day cruise, a two-night post-cruise stay in a four-star hotel and all transfers needed.
Travel gateways are New York, Chicago and Miami. Government taxes and fees are extra.
The Caribbean remains the top cruise destination for North Americans — it is the closest warm-weather getaway for many U.S. travelers, and it is associated with fun in the sun, a dash of culture and a hefty dose of shopping. The region has also become a bargain hunter’s paradise, with fares down much further than the cruise lines would prefer.
The cruise industry attributes fare declines to a recent 12 percent increase in capacity, plus negative publicity that has mostly affected first-time cruisers and impacted three- and four-day cruises. The Feb. 12 edition of Bloomberg Businessweek published a story titled, “A Caribbean Crowded With Ships Means Discounts for Cruise-Goers,” describing the plight of the cruise lines with “a flood of new cabins to sell.”
Caribbean capacity will fall next year, although not to the degree that cruise lines had hoped. Robin Farley, an analyst with financial firm UBS, said that a 1 percent rise in capacity during the first quarter will be counteracted by a 3 percent drop the following three quarters.
Changes contributing to the fluctuation in stateroom totals include a lull in Norwegian Cruise Line’s aggressive newbuild program. The company will not have a delivery for 18-plus months between last February’s launch of Getaway and the debut of Escape, set for October 2015. Addtionally, Royal Caribbean International’s 5,400-passenger Allure, the largest cruise ship in the world, will leave the Caribbean next year to sail from May to October out of Barcelona, Spain. MSC Cruises has also rethought the announced year-round deployment of the 3,502-passenger Divina out of Miami. Instead, the ship will spend part of next year in Europe.
Royal Caribbean will see the highest overall capacity increase in 2015 at 7 percent and the highest Caribbean increase at 1.7 percent. The Caribbean growth comes from the 4,180-passenger Quantum of the Seas, which has special features that analysts believe will allow it to maintain premium pricing. The ship will sail in the region from November to May only, and this short stint is expected to keep prices up.
Cruise industry veteran Bob Dickinson, leaving his consultancy for Carnival Corporation in May, has for decades said that demand must grow in order for prices to grow, and that the first-time cruiser is of the highest importance. For some travel agents, low pricing has been a boon for bringing in first-timer cruisers and for up-selling onboard accommodations.
Lindsey Kunzer, team leader for Liberty Travel in Los Angeles, noted that promotions and deep discounts have helped make this booking season a good one.
“Though there may be less commission made per booking, there were more bookings brought in by these promotions,” Kunzer said.
Mark and Jason Jacobs, respectively CEO and president of TA4Life in North Potomac, Md., and Orange County, Calif., see that low rates and inexpensive airfare are helping expand the cruise market. The pair report that their agency is making a lot more revenue — though pricing is down, many clients are choosing higher categories of accommodations.
“The Caribbean was neglected for a while, as cruise lines pulled out and went elsewhere — mainly Europe — for higher per diems and pricing in euros,” Mark Jacobs said. “Now that airfares are prohibitive in Europe and cruise fares are lower, we’re seeing a real resurgence [in the Caribbean].”
Some agents have looked outside cruising for higher commissions in recent years. The Jacobs brothers began selling all-inclusive land-based vacations a few years ago, in addition to cruises.
“All-inclusives are skyrocketing, and we are getting commissions on air,” Jason Jacobs said. “We did see some loosening up on cruise line non-commissionables at the Vacation.com conference, and some indications that there may be more commissioning on shore excursions and air from the cruise lines.”
The brothers are also looking more to river cruising, where commissions are bigger.
If pricing slowly strengthens, agents and cruise lines will see whether or not the new cruisers attracted to discounted rates stick with cruising as a Caribbean vacation, as well as how the Caribbean stands up to competing cruise destinations.
Cruise lines and wine seem like a pairing made for each other. There’s plenty of time at sea to get to know more about grapes, vineyards and the wine-making process.MSC Cruises has wine blending courses that passengers can take to learn how various grapes change the flavor and texture of a wine. Princess Cruises has a collection of super Tuscan wines on the Royal Princess and Regal Princess. In the dining room of its Solstice-class ships, Celebrity Cruises has a two-story, glass-and-steel wine tower holding 1,800 bottles.
The latest entrant in the wine appreciation sweepstakes is SeaDream Yacht Club, which has expanded a series of wine voyages for 2015 and is inaugurating a certification course in which passengers can become accredited by the London-based Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET).
The course is being offered for the first time on SeaDream I’s April trans-Atlantic crossing, which will allow enough time for the course work needed to take a level 2 WSET exam.
The cost for the course and exam will be $1,500, which largely underwrites the cost of buying wines to study, said Erica Landin, a Swedish wine journalist who has organized SeaDream’s wine program.
“For what you get it’s quite well-priced,” Landin said.
SeaDream’s season in the Med next summer will feature nine winemaker’s cruises, giving passengers access to top-level winemakers who will come on board for tastings, and dinners that pair food and wine.
The ship will also have excursions to vineyards and wineries where tours will be led by the owner or top winemaker at the chateaux.
Cruise ships aren’t the only way, or even the best way, for real aficionados to visit the great wine estates of Europe, but for groups it certainly offers more style than a bus tour. Ships can move from region to region, country to country with ease. SeaDream’s 112-passenger yachts can assemble groups big enough to command attention, yet small enough to be manageable.
And cruises also offer flexibility, so if one partner in a couple isn’t interested in wine, the other can pursue their passion without feeling like their spouse is being left behind.
“It should be enjoyable for people who are just onboard and who love wine and food,” Langin said. “It should be approachable for everyone. You can be as involved or not involved as you wish.”
And wine generally makes for good company and fellowship, Langin noted, adding to the camaraderie that a good cruise engenders among its passengers.
“My hope is this group will enjoy each other’s company in the evening, they’ll maybe have dinner together and share bottles in a more relaxed way than in the class,” Langin said.
MSC Cruises said it will give a free, transferable cruise on select 2014 sailings of MSC Divina in the Caribbean for anyone who books the ship for a Mediterranean cruise next summer before Oct. 31.
Cruise lines and wine seem like a pairing made for each other. There’s plenty of time at sea to get to know more about grapes, vineyards and the wine-making process.MSC Cruises has wine blending courses that passengers can take to learn how various grapes change the flavor and texture of a wine. Princess Cruises has a collection of super Tuscan wines on the Royal Princess and Regal Princess. In the dining room of its Solstice-class ships, Celebrity Cruises has a two-story, glass-and-steel wine tower holding 1,800 bottles.
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