Although there were warnings of an impending recession, we sure haven’t seen it in the travel industry. Airport clubs are packed and rationing out their space, cruise lines are sold out, hotels are full and raising their rates like crazy.

Cruises: Trade group Cruise Lines International Association estimates 36 million travelers will cruise in 2024 — a 14% increase from 2023. Looking for a last-minute cruise deal – they’re far and few between. Some cruises sell out a year in advance. Princess recently changed their policy so the lowest rates are the ones furthest out from the sailing date.

Hotels: Rates have skyrocketed. The Florida Keys, one of our favorite areas, now charges upwards of $400 a night even for chain hotels. Cabo Mexico claim that $600 is now the median rate for mid-range resorts.

Las Vegas: Las Vegas is blowing off the doors in popularity lately. With the recent Super Bowl, NHL Hockey and the coming Oakland A’s to a new stadium, sports are leading the way. Hotel meccas continue to open, with the long-delayed Fontainebleau the latest to open.

Per a recent Travel Weekly report:
“Perhaps the biggest, most important number recently released by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority: 40.8 million people visited Las Vegas in 2023, a 5.2% increase over 2022. The record annual visitation is 42.9 million in 2016; 42.5 million visited in 2019, the last year before Covid-19 affected travel.”
“The year included the inaugural Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix in late November, the launch of the Sphere and the December opening of the Fontainebleau Las Vegas.”
Convention attendance was just shy of 6 million in 2023, a 19.9% increase over 2022.

The average daily room rate for the year was a record $191.29, an 11.9% jump over the previous year. Hotel occupancy in Las Vegas averaged 83.5 percent, up 4.3 percent from 2022.”

Gambling:
So, is Vegas shifting from gambling to sports? Not in the least! Casinos broke the state’s annual gaming revenue record for the third consecutive year. The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported casinos statewide collected $15.5 billion in gaming revenue in 2023, a 4.6% increase over 2022. Strip casinos reported a record $8.9 billion in revenue, a 7.4% increase over 2022. The Strip accounted for more than 57% of the statewide total.

So, make your plans early and bring lots of money! The recession may be delayed but Inflation is here!

As usual, lots of ships will be launched in the next two years. But we were particularly amazed by the latest MSC cruise liner coming in 2025. The World America is the second ‘World” class ship.

It will carry almost 7000 passengers and feature several sustainable environmental features such as LNG powered propulsion. Unique design features include a Y-shaped aft structure that leads to a nearly 350-foot long promenade, which is open at the stern to the sea.

We attended an MSC presentation recently where the ship’s details were reviewed. This ship is designed for the tastes of North American passengers. Food and entertainment will be quite unique, specialty bars are one feature, there will be a Gin Bar, a Champaine bar an English pub brewery, a Mixology bar for special cocktails. Also, there is a coffee bar with a variety of worldwide brews. And of course, a Juice Bar for health fans. MSC World Europa, the first ‘World’ ship, introduced a microbrewery, gin bar, healthy juice bar, coffee emporium and teahouse, and it is likely these will be similar.

There is also a comedy club and a sports bar with multi TVs, pool tables and shuffleboard.

It will sail a Caribbean itinerary out of Miami at the start. We love MSC and especially their Yacht Club, a ship within a ship. Can’t wait to try their new World Class offerings!

This past year continues the hyper recovery from the Covid years. Huge crowds fill the airports, and the airlines appear to finally have their operations working okay. The tour business has taken hits from major events like the Maui wildfires and the Israeli and Ukraine wars. Europe travel, however, is still booming, with added flights and tour packages becoming available.

Overshadowing all is the rising tide of ‘Overtourism’. Venice is moving to ban large cruise ships and Amsterdam is also considering a reduction.

Among overt changes: Cruise lines are launching new mega ships and LNG powered vessels.

Flight delays and crowded airports especially, at Holidays, are overhyped by the media. Inflation spikes air fares (although some are coming down), hotels, as usual, are driving sky high room rates.

Technology is creeping ever more into airline travel kiosks, CC cards only for flight purchases, and coming soon: TSA self-screening. (What could go wrong there?)

Tourism cards for Cancun will add entry/exit taxes in Mexico, and European self-visas, although delayed a year, will soon make travel more complicated.

So maybe 2023 was a tumultuous year for travel and let’s hope 2024 finds better days. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Princess is getting ready to launch an entirely new class of ships early next year. The Sun Princess is a huge, magnificent ship that will sail the Med starting in Feb. 2024, then move to the Caribbean next Fall from Ft. Lauderdale.

We attended a presentation from Princess management where they featured the new attractions of the ship. The theme of the ship is magnificent views! The most obvious example of that is the glass dome on the top deck. It’s a pool by day and an entertainment venue at night.

A first for Princess will be their new magic club ‘Spellbound’. It’s a lounge, bar and small theater where magicians will perform their craft. It’s modeled after the exclusive Magic Castle club in LA.

At long last Princess will offer a ‘ship within a ship’ concept. Long a part of NCL (Haven) and MSC (Yacht Club). It will be called the Reserve Collection. Like its competitors it will offer separate cabins with their own private bar and restaurant. Also, a separate Sanctuary pool is a part of it. Long overdue for Princess. The cabins are unique as well. They will essentially have two verandas per cabin. In between the veranda and the cabin is a cabana section that acts as an additional outdoor space. Very unique indeed!

“The cabana is like a bonus room that can be opened up from both sides — either extending the size of the interior part of the room or extending the balcony space.”

Looks like a ship that will be hugely popular among Princess fans. One we’d like to try soon!

In the past most cruise lines charged higher fees when bookings first opens for a cruise. They figure passengers who want the most cabin choices or must have a particular ship or date will pay the premium. That’s why we were a little surprised that Princess was essentially reversing the policy. See below the details from the Insider Travel news site.

“Princess Cruises announced a dramatic shift in its pricing strategy, ensuring that early bookers get the best deals possible. The new pricing model marks a significant departure from the legacy cruise industry model that offers discounts closer to departure. Prices for 2024 and 2025 cruises are now set at their absolute lowest and will increase going forward.”

“Further, if a guest is unsure of departure date, Princess Promotions will allow them to secure today’s pricing for a future vacation without locking in the specific dates or itinerary. For full terms, conditions and restrictions, visit www.princess.com/cruise-deals-promotions.”

Flexibility is a true benefit regarding the date and itinerary. Since this type of booking is made far in advance of the cruise date, this allows changes if needed.

We wait to see of other lines follow which many will likely do.

It’s been a while since we reviewed the new ships to be launched in the near term. So, a recent list in the Cruise Industry News caught our eye.  The list below is for new ships to be launched yet this year and in 2024. The list is for ships primarily based in US ports.

Some thoughts:

-Ten ships over 18 months is a somewhat small number versus past years. It seems production was down during the Covid pandemic.

-Several ships are launching with alternate fuels, usually LNG gas instead of petroleum.

-Two of the first billion dollar ships are coming: Utopia of the Seas and the Sun Princess.

-Other than those mega ships most plan to have passenger counts in the 2-4 thousand passenger range.

So, will the lines fill these new ships? The old baseball saying “build it and they will come” may hold true.

2024:

Cruise Line	Ship	Cost*	Tonnage	Capacity	Delivery
Princess	Sun Princess	$1,000	175,000	4,300	Q1
Cunard Line	Queen Anne	$600	113,000	3,000	Q2
Silversea	Silver Ray	$600	54,700	728	Q2
Royal Caribbean	Utopia	$1,300	231,000	5,714	Q2
Viking Ocean	Unnamed	$400	47,000	930	TBA
Disney	Disney Treasure	$900	140,000	2,500	TBA
Ritz-Carlton	Ilma	$350	37,000	456	TBA

2023

Virgin	Brilliant Lady	$795	110,000	2,770	Q4
Regent	Grandeur	$545	54,000	750	Q4
Carnival	Jubilee	$950	183,900	5,400	Q4
Celebrity	Ascent	$900	140,600	3,260	Q4

*Cost in millions USD

As August winds down, we get ready for a busy Fall season. The world gets serious with sports, politics, school and other life events. But fall is also a time to get ready for cruise sales. The big Wave season starts in January, but we noticed that most lines offer some impressive sales in November and December. It’s sort of jumping the gun to suckup consumer dollars in front of the Wave Season.

As usual, there are some impressive new ships coming out next year and lines are adjusting their promotions. Princess recently tiered up their restaurant lineup into four levels. NCL launches a new class of ships. And lines adjust their itineraries. Ships are also looking to be more environmentally friendly by using LNG fuels and other effects.

So far bookings are already strong for the main cruise lines. Recently Travel Weekly said:

Cruise lines’ outsize second-quarter performance — of record-breaking bookings and higher prices — led two of the world’s largest cruise companies to raise their earnings expectations through the end of the year. The move comes as cruise lines progress away from a state of pandemic recovery and into a chapter defined by strong demand and consumer spending. 

Watch for the next cruise sale coming to a website near you!

As the July heat takes hold it’s nice to think of a trip to cool Alaska.

Alaska is well known for great animal viewing and tall, massive mountain ranges. Most folks arrive by cruise ship and those who do a land trip usually stay in Anchorage or Fairbanks. However, we feel an overlooked area is Juneau Alaska. The city is rather isolated in that there are no roads connecting it to the rest of the state. You arrive by ship or by air, period.

That means small crowds (away from the docks at least) and lots of things to see and do. We visited here many years ago and enjoyed the unusual offerings. For example:

–A drive up glacier – Rent a car locally and drive the face of Mendenhall glacier just out of town.

-Mountain tram – take the city tram to the top of a mountain overlooking the harbor. Great view of the cruise ships below.

–Float Plane flights – leave from downtown via modern float planes. Fly over glaciers and even land on a river for lunch at an authentic hunting lodge with black bears nearby.

-Visit the Red Dog saloon – a throwback from the gold rush days but worth a stop for lunch or drinks.

–Small ships to explore the inside passage – Sail into Tracey Arm and other nearby fiords and let a waterfall splash on your ship.

–Fly to Glacier Bay – Take a short flight and stay at a rustic lodge in Glacier Bay. Then take their small ship well into the Bay for real closeups of animals and faces of glaciers. Love to see the blue ice blocks.

Juneau has about a dozen hotels so plan to stay in town for 4-5 days then do an add-on to Glacier Bay for a couple days or Tracey Arm on a small ship cruise. Daily flights come in from Anchorage and Seattle.

So visit Juneau as a unique diversion from the rest of Alaska. Well worth several days of exploring.

For a web cam view of Juneau harbor go to:

https://www.juneauharborwebcam.com/

A few things to finish up our Cabo review:

Dinner on the beach: We love eating at the Club Cascadas in Cabo San Lucas. It’s an older hotel with a great restaurant right on Mendano Beach. A chalkboard lists daily seafood specials, and a full menu is available. Come before dark to see the property and beach. This year there were fire dancers on the beach front and a three-girl trio singing R&R songs in English! Talk about dinner and a show. This is a reliable great stop in Cabo.

San Jose Art Walk: San Jose del Cabo is known as a quant colonial town with many artists and galleries. Each year they designate several days as Art Walk. We finally found the Art Walk cleverly hidden inside the narrow streets of the old town. It bears a resemblance to the French Quarter in New Orleans. Narrow cobblestone streets, small shops, and bars and lots of nightlife. The only problem is very little parking nearby, so be sure to take a taxi if going.

Hyatt Place San Jose: There are many full resorts in Cabo so why would be recommend a Hyatt business hotel? For a variety of reasons. It’s relatively new (6 years or so) the room rates are very reasonable. It has a restaurant and, more important, covered underground parking! It also is in San Jose and a short drive to the Cabo airport, a big deal if you have an early flight home.

Again, Cabo is a wonderful, well-developed resort area with near perfect weather. No wonder its growing like crazy and setting tourist records almost every year since Covid ended.

We’re finally made it back to Cabo after missing several years due to Covid and other reasons.

Cabo has definitely gotten bigger and more developed. Multi-million dollar homes and condos now line virtually every mile of shoreline. Several of our favorite restaurants have closed but new ones have opened. Apparently Covid took its toll. Also, inflation takes a toll, and shops give only 16 pesos to the USD instead of 18, a 12% hit.

However, our home resort Villa del Palmar was fine. The Villa Group kept things running and well maintained. Staff as always was very helpful and friendly. Villa opened a large new resort on the tourist corridor called La Valentia with hundreds of new rooms, several pools and even a lazy river waterway.

The Medano Beach area was packed with the first wave of spring breakers including many high school kids. Cruise ships also arrive, 4 or 5 times a week going to or from LA. The marina is filled with yachts and tour boats while dozens of jet skis dart across the bay every day.

Traffic has gotten out of hand.  Congested roads everywhere, despite the roll road from San Jose to CSL. At the Airport dozens of corporate jets make it look like Air Venture in Oshkosh. Whale watching is still the main attraction around the capes. We ‘chased’ a few humpbacks on a sailboat, likely the last few of the season.

Cabo is noted for what you’d call perfect and reliable weather. Blue skies, low humidity and steady breezes with temps around 80 degrees day after day after day. It’s essentially a desert climate at the ocean.

More next: A Hyatt in San Jose excels, Art Walk explored and dinner on the beach still great!