Welcome to Cruise News, your daily
update on everything happening at
sea. Visit CruiseNews .io to see
today's stories and sign up for
email alerts. Yeah, and there is
definitely a lot happening today.
There really is. Today we're looking
at, well, a few structural forces
that are honestly reshaping the
entire industry right now. completely
reshaping it. We're talking about
the industry's agility when, you
know, disruptions strike, plus the
fundamental shift in how booking
and pricing work. Which affects
everyone. Exactly. And finally,
that fierce battle among luxury
hotel brands to sort of define the
future of high -end cruising. Yeah,
and it's important to realize these
aren't just isolated news stories,
right? Right. They're highly interconnected
pieces. You're seeing an industry
that is simultaneously trying to,
you know, mitigate risk on the water.
while locking in your money earlier
and expanding its definition of
luxury. I mean, it's a total evolution.
So let's start with that agility
because we just saw a huge real
world test of this in the Mexican
Riviera. We really did. Yeah. So
on March 13th, the Norwegian Bliss
pulled into Puerto Vallarta, and
they had over 4 ,300 passengers
on board. Which is a massive vessel.
Huge. And it was a big deal. It
signaled a restart of activity there.
Because for weeks, Carnival, Holland
America, Princess, NCL, they had
all been doing these sudden reroutes.
Right. Because of the cartel -related
unrest down in Jalisco State. Right.
Which was sparked by that February
22nd Mexican military operation.
where they killed the cartel leader,
El Mencho. Exactly. The situation
on the ground was really volatile.
It was. So during that disruption,
these ships just completely swapped
out Puerto Vallarta. They traded
it for sea days or they went to
alternative stops like Cabo San
Lucas. Yeah, Cabo Mazatlan La Paz.
Right. And I always think of this
like a cruise ship is essentially
a floating city with a joystick.
That's a great way to put it. Like
if a neighborhood gets dangerous
for a land based resort, you're
stuck. You just lose money. But
with a ship, you just steer the
hotel somewhere else. Exactly. You
literally just sail away from the
problem. But I have to ask, does
this kind of rapid, highly publicized
rerouting damage the appeal of the
Mexican Riviera, or does it actually
just prove that the safety model
of cruising works? Honestly, it
proves the model works. Yeah. I
mean, it's the ultimate structural
advantage of maritime risk management.
Right. Because if you look at the
broader context, there is a huge
contrast between the traumatic headlines
and the actual operational reality.
What do you mean? Well, the FCCA,
the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association,
they reported that over 95 % of
cruise tourism in Mexico continued
totally normally during this period.
It really? 95%. Yeah. Unaffected.
Wow. It felt like the whole region
was shutting down. Right. But Puerto
Vallarta only accounts for about
5 % of Mexican cruise stops. Oh.
So yes, it impacted the West Coast
itineraries heavily. But the major
volume ports, places like Cozumel
and Costa Maya, They were totally
fine. Oh, right, because they're
on the other side of the country.
Exactly. Even Ensenada was unaffected.
The U .S. State Department's Level
2 advisory didn't even change. So
it was incredibly localized. Highly
localized. And it just shows how
isolated the impact really was and
how fast operators can pivot. But
that flexibility has to cost money.
I mean... burning extra fuel, changing
port fees at the last minute. It's
expensive. Oh, definitely. Which
perfectly bridges us to the second
thing we're tracking today. Because
while the cruise lines have this
immense operational flexibility,
they're increasingly asking you,
the traveler, to trade away your
flexibility. Right. They need to
lock in that revenue. Exactly. So
let's look at Scenic Group. Starting
March 9th, 2026, they are totally
ending their traditional U .S. two
-for -one pricing model. Which has
been a staple for them. Right. The
old school cruise discount is gone.
They're replacing it with four airline
-style fare types. Yeah. Full, select,
preferred, and preferred plus A.
Now, the interesting thing here
is the core onboard inclusions,
the food, the drinks, the excursions,
they remain exactly the same across
all those tiers. Right. You're not
buying a different physical product.
Just buying different booking rules.
And that 120 -day pre -departure
window is the critical cutoff for
the discounts. That's the magic
number. Yeah. And if you go for
the highest tier... Preferred plus
CA, you get up to $500 in extra
savings. So you have to pay in full
upfront, and it is entirely non
-refundable. You're taking on the
risk. Right. It feels exactly like
buying a plane ticket. You're choosing
between basic economy and fully
refundable. But I want to push back
on this. Is this new structure actually
offering more transparency for the
guest? Or is it just a clever psychological
tool to get people to lock in their
money months earlier? Oh, it is
absolutely a structural shift to
secure base revenue earlier. I mean,
they call these fair families. Fair
families, right? And Scenic isn't
the only one doing this. Virgin
Voyage is doing something really
similar right now with their Voyage
fare choices. Right? I saw that.
Because by securing that base fare
so early, it frees the cruise line
up to pivot their entire focus.
To what? To the highly lucrative
onboard spending market. Royal Caribbean
CEO recently noted that they are
seeing really strong close in demand.
But the metric that really matters
is onboard spend. Right. At Royal
Caribbean, that jumped from $69
.67 a day in 2019 to $92 .44 a day
in the second quarter of 2024. Wow.
Wait. Almost $23 more per day per
person. Exactly. It's huge. That
is massive when you scale it across
thousands of passengers. Exactly.
So if they can get you to pay for
your cabin months in advance on
a non -refundable tier, you sort
of forget about that initial cost.
Right. It feels like the vacation
is already paid for by the time
you board. Exactly. So you're much
more willing to spend that $92 a
day on specialty dining, the spa,
Wi -Fi, all of that. So that makes
total sense. It's brilliant, but
you know. A little brutal if you
like flexibility. Yeah, it's the
airline model taking over the seas.
Right. Now, if premium lines like
Scenic are changing how you pay
for a luxury yacht experience, Ritz
-Carlton is showing us exactly where
that high end yacht market is physically
sailing next. Yes, this is fascinating.
It is because luxury land brands
are aggressively attempting to conquer
the oceans. Ritz -Carlton just detailed
the summer 2027 deployment for its
newest yacht, the Luminara. Which
is a beautiful ship. It's a 794
foot yacht, just 226 suites. And
their 21 voyage season includes
15 sailings in Alaska and four in
Asia. Really interesting choices
there. Yeah. In Alaska, they're
navigating the inside passage, doing
Tracy Armfjord. But Hugh is the
kicker. They're using that small
ship size to visit places like Wrangel
and Cloud Walk. Right, places the
big ships can't touch. Exactly.
And they specifically timed the
Clowok visits for the salmon run
and bear season. Plus, they're putting
naturalists and historians on board.
It's highly curated. Totally. And
the Asia highlights are just as
wild. They're using Seoul as a new
turnaround port, stopping in Tianjin,
which is the gateway to Beijing,
and offering overnight stays in
smaller Japanese ports like Otaru.
And Akita. Right. Right. It feels
like taking a five -star exclusive
land resort and just strapping an
outboard motor to it to go chase
the best scenery on earth. That's
exactly right. Exactly what it is.
But can a land -based hotel brand
really beat traditional cruise lines
at their own game just by, you know,
building a smaller ship and slapping
a famous logo on it? Well, they're
not really playing the same game.
They're leveraging a structural
force called marquee port access.
Marquee port access. Yeah. The true
luxury here isn't just the private
terraces or the onboard spa. I mean,
those are great. But the real luxury
is the physical capability of that.
vessel. Being able to actually dock
in claw walk. Exactly or staying
overnight in Makeda. Yeah. Massive
mega ships simply cannot do that.
They don't fit and their schedules
don't allow it. Right they have
to turn over passengers too fast.
Exactly. So this is a deliberate
land grab or sea grab I guess by
hospitality brands. Yeah. They are
targeting ultra wealthy travelers
who might honestly never book a
traditional cruise. Right they hate
the word cruise. They do. But they
will absolutely book a floating
Ritz -Carlton. And Ritz isn't alone.
You've got Four Seasons and Orient
Express launching their own high
-end ships later this year, too.
It's like a whole new category of
travel. It is. It's the new luxury
frontier. Which really leaves us
with a huge question to ponder today.
If mainstream cruise lines are adopting
these strict airline -style pricing
structures, and luxury land -based
hotels are the ones building the
newest high -end ships, will the
traditional identity of a cruise
eventually just disappear? It's
a valid question. Like, are we watching
the cruise industry simply dissolve
into this broader, unified, global
aviation and hospitality machine?
It really looks like it. The boundaries
are totally blurring. They really
are. Definitely something to think
about next time you go to book a
trip. Thanks for listening to Cruise
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