I've never taken a cruise. Never wanted to go on one. Not my thing. For almost 20 years when I did want to travel it was astride my motorcycle. Flying has become something reserved for close relatives' funerals and they're pretty much gone now.
I don't understand why, in recent days, I'm receiving emails from cruise line brokers. I have to say there seem to be some real good bargains out there. There are plenty of 14-day Trans-Atlantic cruises on offer at $350 to $400. Now I assume that's sub-steerage or bilge class accommodation but still, 14-days for 400 bucks. That's crazy.
Same same for those all-inclusive resorts. It's like they miss me and I don't even know those guys.
I expect what I'm experiencing are the telltale signs of a tourism industry being hammered by the Covid-19 virus. Now, granted, cruise ships have lost a bit of their lustre as the public has come to see them as viral incubators. It's probably not everyone's idea of a dream holiday to wind up moored at some remote dock, confined to your cubicle room, getting your meals left at your cabin door by - who knows? No party there.
Will this be the end of cruise lines? Who knows? This contagion is still playing out.
If we wind up in a pandemic it's hard to imagine that society won't be re-ordered in many ways, some of them very unexpected.
We are indeed living in interesting times.
Cruise lines have a new marketing strategy modeled after cheap flights. They lure customers with insanely cheap tickets and then up-sell after leaving port. The money is made selling booze, expensive jewelry, side tours and gambling. Luxury cruises are pretty much history.
ReplyDeleteCovid-19 is making things worse for tourism but the rot had already settled in as corporate strategy.
The upside may be reduced greenhouse gas from air and ship travel.
If society is re-ordered, Mound, I think it will only be in the short-term. As a species, we seem to have become rather resistant to taking warnings and lessons to heart these days.
ReplyDeleteIf the current order was grounded in stability I would agree with you, Lorne. It's not. There's very little that's sustainable in how we're constituted. That leaves us quite vulnerable to change, less resilient, less likely to bounce back. We're running into too many walls.
ReplyDelete@ Toby..
ReplyDeleteThe upside may be reduced greenhouse gas from air and ship travel.
I had to look twice at your comment; I thought you typed
Airship travel!
The mind boggles!
have a good one.
TB
@ Trailblazer
ReplyDeleteWe may be seeing a return of airships.
https://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/29/lockheed-has-liftoff-sells-new-airships-in-480m-deal.html