Bad cruising news force better deals

The Costa Concordia.

CRUISING INDUSTRY. The year hasn’t begun well for the cruise industry. As pictures of the half-sunken Costa Concordia off an Italian island spread over the world, executives at cruise lines begged for mercy. Shortly after, a fire broke out on Concordia’s sister ship, the Costa Allegra, in the Indian Ocean in February. Then 20 cruise tourists were robbed in Mexico, and an outbreak of a virus made a cruise lined turn back to port.

The row of bad news make shipping companies bring out all tools they have to keep customers on their ships, the Edmonton Journal reports. Cruise lines are using two-for-one deals, on-board ship credits, discounted airfares, “free” gratuities, even chocolate-dipped strawberries, in an effort to keep holiday-makers onboard happy, the paper reports.

The dare situation also affects advertising in the business. As “wave season,” the January to March period when cruise lines offer their best deals, draws to a close, lines are replacing across-the-board sales with what Rich Skinner, co-owner of Cruise Holidays, calls “the special du jour”, according to the Edmonton Journal.

“We’re seeing a lot of cruise lines doing spot promotions, one-or twoday sales targeted to very specific departures,” says to the paper.