Cruises overpriced – oh yes read it here

If ever that was damning evidence that cruises are way overpriced, then this is it:

Arrogant Cruise agents and ship owners who think they can raise prices again after this global mess is over, should think again the public are not stupid and many cruise lines are realising the glory days are over..

The cruise market will see a return to pre-recession pricing once the global economy recovers, a leading operator has predicted. – Which means they want to “put the cruise prices back up,” do not be conned.

Adam Goldstein, president and chief executive of Royal Caribbean said in 2001 “we went to very low pricing to shock the market back to life, and there was a lot of angst that maybe we had educated the public that was the proper level of pricing. But eventually it came back – it was supply and demand.”

He conceded there were concerns the current low pricing in the sector might be irreversible but said that had not been the case in 2001.

He said it was becoming clear that the 2001 crisis was “shorter and sharper” than the current downturn although the operator has seen a yearly decline in revenue of around 13%, the biggest in the line’s 40-year history.

There are fears specialist cruise agency G&B Travel, which folded this month, may not be the last cruise retailer to hit trouble because of the pressure to discount.