Welcome to Cruise Talk the Internet's most popular discussion forum dedicated to cruising. Stop by Cruise Talk anytime to post a message or find out what your fellow passengers and industry insiders are saying about a particular ship, cruise line or destination.
>>> Reader Reviews >>> CruisePage.com Photo Gallery >>> Join Our Cruise Club.
Latest News...Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Fincantieri for the design and construction of three new cruise ships, further advancing the company’s long-term fleet development strategy across its brands.The order includes one ship for each of the Company’s three award-winning brands—Norwegian Cruise Line...
Latest News...Holland America Line is increasing its capacity for the 2027–2028 South America and Antarctica season. The cruise line announced that Nieuw Amsterdam — sailing in the region for the first time — will replace Oosterdam beginning in fall 2027. With more space, additional stateroom options and an elevated guest experience, Nieuw Amsterdam brings added opportunities for guests to explore South America’s...
Latest News...As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, Princess Cruises invites guests to sail from sea to shining sea with commemorative voyages exploring some of the country's most breathtaking coastlines. From The Great Land of Alaska's glacier-carved wilderness and Hawaii's volcanic islands to the historic charm of New England, guests sailing in North America starting ...
Anecdotally, there are stories about fewer give-aways on board, but I would have put this down to revenue-maximisation rather coping with a recession. Certainly P&O's traditional early-season promotions are still in place: free car parking at Southampton or free coach journeys, some OBC.
To be honest, for the typical (older) cruise passenger here in the UK, it's a case of "recession? what recession?". If you're working, or got a steady pension, and living in your own home (i.e. not renting) then you're probably quite comfortable.
Service-wise, our experience couldn't have been better. We certainly didn't see what appeared to be cut backs in staff. We usually timed going to dinner at about 8 to 830pm (we had anytime dining) and we almost always had wait staff falling over us. If our room steward was given more cabins to service, it didn't hurt the job he did for us.
If they are cutting back on the amount of paper they're using, such as for a daily newspaper, I don't have a problem with it as I've always thought it was a waste. And of course flyers for things like "gold by the inch" and "watch sales" always ended up in the can anyway, so, again, cutting back doesn't bother me. Not sure what version of CNN you had (is there more than one?), but we had plenty of US news available to watch.
-Russ
Cruising is not recession proof because, like all holidays, it is discretionary spending. Having said that, the all-inclusive nature of cruising makes it attractive in that you basically know what you are up for before you leave. I wouldn't be surprised if cruiselines introduced a package that includes alcohol (like Club Med) to further emphasise this.
There are 2 CNN feeds, which one you get depends on where you are. There is the US CNN which is very US focussed and sits between MSNBC and Fox on the political spectrum. There is also CNN International which is basically for everywhere else. It has much more international content with studios in Hong Kong, London etc as well as Atlanta.
Also I noted on our last Princess cruise, there were 7 tv channels, 4 were carrying advertising for Princess, 1 carried CNN, 1 carried movies which repeated every 4 days (on a 7 day cruise) and one carried a variety of channels, mostly Discovery.
Now, while I know we are not meant to spend a large amount of time in our cabins, but there are times when we (meaning the wife and I) just like to lay back and relax, the tv selection really didn't help with that.
One thing that is missing from this thread is fuel prices, it shot up and really, because of the soft economy, the cruise lines couldn't pass that along without having a dip in bookings. As noted the cruise prices really have not gone up in the last couple of years, so somewhere there has to be a break for the lines, the easy place to hit first is food, both the quality and the number of people preparing it.
Ultimate Bulletin BoardTM 6.1.0.3
More Vacation & Cruise Specials...