Cruise bookings down in wake of Costa Concordia
The verdict is in: the cruise business is impacted by the fatal Costa Concordia tragedy.
Disney CEO Bob Iger on CNBS said there’s been a showdown in reservation calls after the Jan. 13 incident where at least 17 people lost their lives.
"Overall, the entire cruise ship business was affected by the crash in Italy," Iger said. "And I know that — we can speak for ourselves, but we know this is true across the business — that our call centers have decreased in volume. And our bookings for the week were down somewhat because of that."
Meanwhile, Florida-based CruiseOne has launched what it called an "unprecedented" cruise offer to book now and pay later.
The promotion releases customers from putting down a deposit when booking a 2012 cruise.
The company says it will front the money needed for a deposit to customers who book by the end of February.
Customers will have to pay back the deposit to CruiseOne at the time full payment for the cruise is due. In many cases, that would be about 75 days in advance of sailing.
"We realize that upfront costs can deter travelers from planning their vacations in advance," said Dwain Wall, senior vice president and general manager of CruiseOne. "By paying deposits for our customers through this promotion, we hope we are alleviating any stress and bringing the excitement back to the vacation planning process."
Iger added, however, that Disney’s overall cruise business remained strong. The company’s latest boat, the Disney Fantasy, is 75% booked before it leaves on its maiden cruise.
Royal Caribbean Cruises, the parent company of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and several other cruise brands, said in a quarterly earnings report that booking volume from North American customers had fallen by the "low to mid-teens," percentage-wise. That’s been the case since the Costa Concordia accident.
Industry giant Carnival Corp., the parent company of Costa, Princess, Carnival and more than half a dozen other brands, also reported noted a similar decline in bookings.
Cruise executives have said they expect the downturn to be relatively short-lived. Prices have yet to see dramatic drops, as some have predicted.
By David Wilkening
David
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