In lieu of the recent troubles they have been having-most notably February's engine room fire on its Triumph, prices at Carnival have dropped significantly, but other lines have either maintained and/or, in some cases, increased their fare for the upcoming season.
According to a report last week in Travel Weekly, a Jeffries International analyst said that cruise pricing fell overall in March because of declines among the Carnival Corp. brands.
The report stated "for cruises in the next few months, prices are 2.1% lower than they were at this time last year. An 8.9% drop in pricing at Carnival Corp. is offsetting price increases of more than 7% at Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line."
However, as far as Carnival is concerned, chairman Micky Arison told analysts "that bookings at Carnival Cruise Lines, which declined by double digits in the days after the Triumph fire, had rebounded significantly, thanks in part to price promotions," according to USA Today.
"It used to be that 'as goes Carnival, so goes the rest of the contemporary market,' but now it's to a much lesser degree," said Kevin Weisner, vice president of CruiseDeals to USA Today. Weisner said that while Carnival pricing can "create a drag" on lines like Norwegian and Royal Caribbean, those companies have more of their fleet in Europe where they source locally.
Jill Rosenberg, manager of group and executive services for AAA Travel in Garden City, N.Y., stated, "that Royal Caribbean and Norwegian were avoiding price-dropping by offering onboard amenities and cabin upgrades rather than discounts," reported USA Today.
Joe McClure, president and co-owner of Montrose Travel, said that his agency had noticed "only minor price modification for competing cruise lines, but nowhere near the level of discounting Carnival has been forced to make [due to its numerous incidents]," according to USA Today.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
