Post Concordia: Agents See Healthy Bookings, Solid Pricing

While both Carnival Corp. and RCCL have reported that cruise bookings took a hit in the aftermath of the Concordia accident, travel sellers say their own cruise sales are up. They also see cruise prices continuing to rise.

Even first-time cruisers have not been put off by the Concordia tragedy, some agents report, though the impact of the accident on the first-time market is difficult to measure.

“We’re currently working with a family of 18 on a potential first-time cruise – and they don’t seem to care at all,” said Robert Romano, president of Fugazi Travel in San Francisco, an Ensemble agency. “It doesn’t seem to be affecting the public view at all.”

Cruise lines see bookings drop . . .
In recent financial reports, both Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. reported double-digit drop-offs in bookings following the Concordia accident.

Carnival Corp. stated in an SEC regulatory filing that after the accident its fleetwide booking volumes, through Jan. 25, “declined in the mid-teens compared to the prior year, after bottoming out on January 16, 2012.”

RCCL’s booking volume from North America fell by percentages in the low to mid-teens, compared to last year’s late January volume, it said. No “material change in cancellation activity” was noted, but new bookings had suffered, according to the report.

In Europe, the drop-off was more dramatic. Additionally, RCCL said the impact was much greater on bookings by first-time cruisers compared to experienced cruisers.

. . . but the impact is fading
But RCCL also indicated that demand and bookings had already started to recover, particularly in North America.

Wave Season was off to a soft start, but it should gain momentum steadily as time goes on, said Oivind Mathison, editor/co-publisher of Cruise Industry News.

He noted that the drop-off in bookings reported by cruise lines already had slowed into single-digit percentages. “They will come back fully – people have a way of forgetting accidents. It fades after awhile.”

Media images persist
Still, Mathison did not discount the possibility of continued negative impact, in the short-term, from the ongoing deluge of Concordia publicity. “As long as we keep seeing images of the Concordia lying on its side, it doesn’t help to sell cruises,” he said.

Those images, and more, are still being circulated widely by the media. Earlier this week, on Feb. 12, the first TV documentary recounting the tragedy in detail aired on the National Geographic Channel, and on Feb. 19 Discovery Channel will air its one-hour documentary, “Cruise Ship Disaster: Inside the Concordia.”

Agents see upturn
For their part, cruise-selling agencies said they were not seeing the softness in bookings that cruise lines reported. Nor do images of the Concordia appear to be putting a damper on agencies’ cruise business.

So far this year, cruise bookings at CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. are up more than 5%, year-over-year, Dwain Wall, senior vice president and general manager, told Travel Market Report.

As for cruise line reports of a drop in sales, he said, “Our numbers don’t show this.”

“A lot of their direct business might be first-time cruisers, and that might be why they may be seeing more of an impact than the agency community. A lot of our business is repeat, and those people have been the least impacted by this incident.”

A closer look
Wall said that, starting in the second week after the Jan. 13 Concordia accident, agencies did see a slight softness for about a week or two, but demand bounced right back.

“It seemed like the news seemed to take time to penetrate people’s minds and psyches, and then there was some hesitation on consumers’ parts. But very quickly after that it came back to normal levels.”

At the same time, the cruise sellers’ land bookings took an even more dramatic turn upward. “That could be a sign that some cruisers were opting for land instead,” he said.

Nary a blip
But some agents never even saw a blip after the accident.

“I would say the Concordia hasn’t had any real effect on my business,” said Jim Antista, president of the Cruiseman, a TRAVELSAVERS agency in Springfield, Mo. Business is the same or even better than it was last year at this time, he said.

Nor is he getting fewer than usual inquiries from first-time cruisers, he added.

The correct spin
Ralph Santisteban, owner of a Miami-based CruiseOne franchise, has had a similar experience. “Business has increased significantly at our agency,” he said.

Santisteban added that all publicity is good for cruise sales – provided you spin it correctly. “It gave us an opportunity to re-emphasize the fact that despite a tragedy like this, cruises are likely one of the safest ways to travel the world.”

Like Antista, Santisteban said he didn’t notice fewer than usual inquiries from first-time cruisers. “We definitely didn’t get more first-time cruisers, but I don’t think we got any less.”

Sales up 20%
Cruise Planners had an excellent January, finishing the month up 20% over the same time last year, according to Michelle Fee, CEO and co-founder of Cruise Planners/American Express.

Cruise Planners franchisees never reported any real softness, she said. “We had calls with our some of our top agents. The amount of cancellations was minimal, and they all feel like they’re having a good year so far.”

Cruise business is also up so far this year at Fugazi Travel, Romano said.  

“I’m not sure if it’s because the economy has improved or because the publicity (regarding Concordia) has drawn people’s attention to cruising,” he said.

For more on the cruise outlook, please see related story, “Europe & Med Crises Loom as Worries for Cruise Sales.”