There is an article by Arthur Frommer that's being syndicated and popping up on a number of newspaper websites. When I saw it yesterday on the Houston Chronicle website, it was entitled "If you've got the time, but very little money, consider a 'repositioning cruise.'"
In it Mr. Frommer says that repositioning cruises are "unpopular with the American public" and for these, cruise lines "charge stunningly low prices." I don't know where Mr. Frommer has been for the last twenty years, but while this was once true, it isn't anymore. Either Mr. Frommer is seriously out of touch with today's cruise market, or he started with a premise and then massaged his figures to prove it. Take your pick; the information in this article is wrong.
These repositioning cruises come about because cruise lines need to move their ships between seasonal homeports, such as from Europe to the Caribbean in the late fall/early winter. At one time their thinking was to get their ships from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible, with few ports and charge whatever they could just to get some passengers on the ship. That's the world Mr. Frommer is remembering.
Quite a few years ago now, cruise lines figured out how to get passengers on these cruises, so they could fill the ships and charge normal rates for them. They added a few days to the trip so they could stop at some interesting ports. Other lines turned them into theme cruises which would draw a specific clientele passionate about the theme. There are usually more sea days than normal in these itineraries, so those appeal to the ever-growing number of experienced cruisers who enjoy the sea days. This is the world the cruise industry is operating in today.
What's more troubling than Mr. Frommer's lack of knowledge of the current market is the way he misleads readers with his figures. In the article he gives seven examples of the the supposed bargains. The lowest price is on Costa Fortuna's November 2 (2007) sailing from Genoa to Ft. Lauderdale. It's 15-days, calling at five ports and, according to him, a lead price of $549 per person, which he calculates to be $36 per day. (Actually it's closer to $37.)
It sounds like a great bargain, but then he goes on to say that you add $260 for port charges and fees, $44.16 for government taxes (Who else charges taxes besides governments?), and air fare. Cruise lines don't even quote fares like this because several years ago it became illegal for them not to include the port charges and fees in their advertising. Another little item you need to add on is air fare to get you to the port of embarkation (or home depending on where you live). For this one, to give him the benefit of the doubt, I looked for the lowest air fare from Ft. Lauderdale to Genoa to get you there a day before the cruise. Kayak.com showed a one way rate, booked through a consolidator of $470, including tax.
So adding on all these "must-pays," the rate jumps from $549 to $1323, still not bad for a 15-day cruise. That comes to $88 per day, a big difference from the $36 Mr. Frommer was touting.
That's still not bad, but you wouldn't have to look too far to find a round trip cruise from Ft. Lauderdale in early November that had a lead total price of $88 per day or less.
The bottom line is that repositioning cruises today are not any particular bargain as so many people, including Mr. Frommer, try to tell you.
