Just Cruises Plus

Vist Cuba Legally in 2012

We are pleased that Tauck Tours has selected Just Cruises Plus to be one of their preferred agencies to begin offering trips to Cuba.  These trips will begin in mid-September and go through the end of the year.  There are none scheduled for 2013 and beyond. 

There will be three departures per week from Miami.  Each group will be small.  The goal will be to foster meaningful cultural connections with Cuban artists, musicians, educators, farmers and community leaders.

Tauck Tours is arguably the best tour operator in the world.  The Cuba trip that they are offering is all inclusive with one night in Miami and 6 nights in Havana.   Rates start at $4990 per person.

FYI:  The U.S. treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has granted Tauck a license to provide People-to-People educational exchange travel to Cuba through 2012.

Monarch of the Seas to Leave Royal Caribbean Fleet

The Monarch of the Seas will join sistership Sovereign of the Seas in the Pullmantur fleet.  Puumantur is Spains largest tour/cruise company.  The Monarch is 21 years old and is now used for 3 and 4 day cruises out of Florida.  She has  few balconies and her standard staterooms are “cozy” at 122 square feet so she is not competative with the more up-to-date ships.  The transfer will take place next year.

Titanic 100th Anniversary Nears

Near midnight on April 14th 1912, the world’s newest and greatest ocean liner, RMS  Titanic struck an iceberg.  In less than 3 hours, she was plunging to the bottom of the Atlantic nearly 2 miles from the surface..  More than 15oo people perished.  The rich and famous were aboard but it was the poor immigrants who died in the greates numbers.

(Affluent) Women and Children First

In 1912, the rule of the seas was women and children to the lifeboats first and this held true for the Titanic.  However, when we look at survival rates according to class, we see that the wealthy were at a distinct advantage.  Remember, back in the day, ocean liners were segregated by class.  Each class ate and were entertained in different parts of the ship.  The first class passengers enjoyed opulent surroundings while the steerage had comfortable but very plain accomodations.

It is apparant that most of the first class women and children made it to the lifeboats since 97% of them survived.  Third Class woman were not  so lucky.  Only forty-nine percent survived but the steerage children fared even worse where only 31 percent survived.   Even female crew fared better with over 90% reaching safety.

 Men  (especially steerage men)  Go Down with the Ship

Over 80% of the men on the Titanic died but the highest proportion of male deaths was among the steerage passengers where 87% died in the icy North Atlantic.

Overall the survival rate among first, second and steerage  passengers was  63%, 43% and 25% respectively.  The crews survival rate was 23%.

Effect of Costa “Accident” on Cruising

All of the major cruise lines have experienced a moderate decline in bookings as a result of the grounding of the Costa ship off the coast of Italy.  We have noticed that we are getting fewer inquiries about Europe and more interest in Alaska, South America and the Caribbean.

The cruise lines have already committed many ships to Europe this summer based on an improving economy here in the U.S. and a decline in the Euro relative to the US Dollar.  With the grounding of the Concordia and the uncertainty regarding Iran,  Americans have become “gun shy” on Europe.  We think that this will result in an over supply of cruise ship berths in Europe, especially the Mediterranian.  Since this is a purely supply-demand business, we expect lots of deals.

In fact, Princess has started with an “Up to 2 for 1”  promotion on their European cruises.  Royal Caribbean has a 15 night cruise from Dubai for $699 (Oceanview room).

When we look at the situation objectively, we think:

1. The Costa Concordia is a very rare event and is highly unlikly to be repeated.

2. War with Iran is unlikly.

Perhaps now is the time to take advantage of the cruise line’s predicament.  Rememeber what they say on Wall Street; “buy when everyone else is selling and sell when every on else is buying.”

Ship Migration to Start Soon 

The Caribbean season is winding down and the vast majority of ships now sailing in the Caribbean will be moving to Europe and Alaska.  Celebrity and Princess will have zero ships in the Caribbean this summer.  This leaves the Caribbean to Royal Caribbean and Carnival.  Of course, the two big Royal Caribbean ships, the Allure and Oasis of the Seas will stay in the Caribbean.

Because their are fewer ships and demand is fairly high (families travel in the summer), we don’t expect any terrific deals in the Caribbean until the ships come back in October.

New Rules for Airline Advertising

Airlines must now include mandatory fees and taxes when advertising prices.  Until now, passengers were shocked and dismayed when they saw an advertised price of $500 for flights to Europe only to find out that there was another $500 in taxes and fees.

The rules also require airlines to hold reservations for 24 hours without deposits and to refund deposits for cancellations made within 24 hours of booking.

The government also tried to get truth in advertising for extra cost baggage fees but Spirit Airlines (the maestro of baggage fees) has gone to court to fight the government so these requirements are on hold.

Costa Offers “Bird-In-Hand” Settlement

Costa Cruise Lines is offering passengers of the capsized Costa Concordia a settlement of about $14,500 per person to be paid within 7 days.  Passengers who accept this offer will give up their right to sue.  Costa is counting on most people accepting this quick and sure payment.

Passengers who retain attorneys could possibly receive much more but it might take years of  litigation.