California Cruising

With my recent article about Carnival and the exodus from Los Angeles and the rest of Southern California, I thought it might be interesting to talk a little bit about cruising out of California, and what I think should happen in the future as far as California cruising and destinations go.

First, why is California having these problems?

Cruising from California is failing for a number of reasons. First, there is the violence in Mexico. People are scared to travel there (at least this side of Mexico) even though Mexican officials and port officials, as well as the industry, point out that the touristy areas are not affected or dangerous. People don’t see it that way and the numbers reflect that (apparently).

Secondly, the infamous Swine Flu (da da da daaa!!) also bit into the Mexican Riviera cruise passenger numbers. When the outbreak first occurred, the cruise lines moved ships from the Riviera to California and Canadian coastal cruises that went up to Vancouver and Victoria, BC and San Francisco. This affected many passengers and the bottom line for the cruise lines, as some people just cancelled their cruise altogether. (Funnily enough some people actually really liked the altered itineraries).

Thirdly, Southern California’s economy is sluggish at the moment. With the recession hitting CA pretty hard (haha!! we are still richer then all you puny other states! Just playing!!!) and even if the ships are sailing full, this causes problems for the industry as the sluggish economy drives down cruise prices in the region, and subsequently, profits.

Fourthly, a problem that port officials here in California like to point out, is that Mexico has failed miserably to market and advertise its ports and the uniqueness of each one. Because of this many people are just not really interested in the ports on the Mexican Riviera because they know nothing about them or why they would be a good cruising destination.

Fifthly, I think there is a lack of choices on this side of the continent. Out here we have the big 3 mass market lines…Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and NCL. Other than that, lines usually only sail really short seasons here, or just stop in on their way to Alaska, Panama or Asia. Carnival, RCI and NCL are all great, but what if you want a Cunard or Celebrity Cruises experience? You’re out of luck.



The last problem I will list here today is destinations, and the things limiting them for the west coast. You see, one of the biggest problems facing the cruise industry in California is a lack of varied itineraries. On a 7 day cruise out of California, you have the Mexican Riviera and that’s pretty much it. You can go to Hawaii, Costa Rica, Panama or Canada but all those cruises take longer then a week, and in the case of Hawaii, you can’t even cruise from CA to Hawaii without first stopping in Mexico or Canada, according to federal law. That law is also the reason you don’t see cruises of the west coast.

Which brings me to what the future should hold for CA, in my opinion…

This law should be changed. California has many coastal cities like, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Pismo Beach, Monterey, Eureka, San Simeon or San Francisco that would benefit greatly from cruise business. The problem with this is the Jones Act; a federal law that requires that foreign flag ships stop at a foreign port between traveling from one US port to another. Back in the day of ships being the only way to get around, this was done as a way to give American Shipping companies an edge over foreign competition. Forcing foreign ships to first stop in a port out side the US meant that foreign ships could not keep the same schedules that American ships could, and it also meant that they could not service routes like New York to Florida, or California to Hawaii.

Back in the day this might have been a good idea, but now-a-days it’s a problem in some cases…this is one of them. Cruises from L.A. up the California Coast could be really popular and could generate millions and millions of dollars for the local economies of the cities cruises would go to. Not to mention it could help turn around the cruise industry on the west coast by giving more options to the cruising public and the industry. It could also open up cruising to Hawaii and give more options in Alaska, Washington and Oregon. Most cruise ships are flagged in foreign countries like the Bahamas or Panama or England so all these good ports are, for all intents and purposes, cut off.

Like I said in my last article though, I think the California based cruise industry will start to pick up again soon. Maybe in 2012! The port of Los Angeles is investing over one billion dollars into the surrounding area and into a new cruise terminal as a way to attract more ships and cruise lines. Southern California is a great place and it would be a real shame for cruise ships to keep leaving here. Also like I said, California is one of the largest cruise markets in the country, behind FL, and it would make little sense to leave CA.

We will have to see what the future hold for California. I think it’s going to be good! Maybe a Cunard ship will be based out here all year round!! AHHHH!!!! Dream come true!

P.S.- My Dearest and most beautiful Cunard,
Please let me visit next week!!!!! PLEASE!!!
I love you always and forever!
Yours forever…
- Mark

Carnival in Australia, Los Angeles in Decline...

Big news in the industry right now... The other day it was announced that Carnival is abandoning me for…for…Australia! The Carnival Spirit, which Carnival recently announced it would be sending here to L.A., has been assigned to Australia from October 2012, where according to rumor, she will be sailing on voyages of 8 to 12 days.

This is actually probably the biggest news of the past couple of weeks (OF COURSE I MEAN OTHER THEN CUNARD NEWS!!!) as this is a pretty big step for Carnival, and for the Australian based cruise industry as well. For Carnival as a company, it is a big step because it is the first time Carnival has permanently based a ship outside of North America, Carnival’s main market. It is also one of the first times Carnival has really really reached out to a demographic other than North Americans. Carnival has based ships (temporarily) in Europe for a few cruises, but even those were strongly targeted at Americans wanting to cruise the Mediterranean. This time is will be mostly Australians and New Zelanders.

For the Australian cruise market this move also represents a large leap. In recent years the Australian cruise market has been growing and growing fast. As a response to this growth, the cruise lines have been sending more and more capacity down to Australia, either to be based there for a season, or just to make a few calls. Bigger and newer ships, such as the Queen Mary 2, usually only call at Sydney (or other Australian ports) as a port-of-call, and until now have never really been based there permanently. Up until now, Australian cruisers have been left with older, hand-me-down ships that are too old for the American and European cruise market. The largest cruise line serving Australia, P&O Australia (a sub-brand of P&O, a subsidiary of Carnival), has a fleet totally made up of older hand-me-down tonnage from various lines under the Carnival Corp. umbrella. The leftovers if you will…

The Carnival Spirit, on the other hand, while not the newest or the biggest in Carnival’s fleet, it’s still modern and it certainly will be the largest, and newest, to serve Australia and it’s a big big step up from the current selection out there. This just goes to show how much the Australian market has been growing! Cruise lines don’t send their better ships to a small meaningless market; they are reserved for important markets and destinations where they can be supported.

The Carnival Spirit was built in 2001 as the first (second if you count Costa Cruises fleet) in Carnival’s new Spirit Class of ships. It has since become one of Carnival’s most popular and nicest ships. Australia has scored big with this one! (photo at left "CARNIVAL SPIRIT" by flickr member "steamboatsorg" - Franz Neumeier, www.cruisetricks.de )

How do I feel about this though…well…I am happy for Australia…but at the same time I hate it! This ship has been deployed in California (which for those of you who are just joining, is my home state) mostly, for a while now…oh, and in Alaska in the summer months. In a few months, Spirit will be starting a season based out of L.A. doing the Mexican Riviera. Lately though, Los Angeles, San Diego and Long Beach have fallen victim to a declining cruise market :( due to several things, including fear of drug violence in Mexico, the Jones Act and a lack of destinations. Several ships have already left (such as yesterday when Mariner of the Seas left - sniff, sniff ) and headed to other destinations like Europe. Soon Norwegian Star will be leaving as well, and now here goes the Spirit along with them.

So in that sense, I hate it. I hate to see another ship leaving Los Angeles. I want to see my homeport doing well in the cruise business (in cargo operations, L.A. is still one of the most powerful ports in the world). I do think within a few years the cruise industry in California will pick up again (California is one of the largest cruise markets in the USA), but in the mean time, it’s sad to watch the decline.

On a happier note for L.A., the Disney Wonder will be here (and stay here for a few months) on Friday, which I will be there at the port for. On top of that, the QV and QE will be out here next week! (PLEASE PLEASE ALLOW ME TO VISIT THEM, CUNARD!!!...I love you!) Los Angeles, as well as other ports in Southern California, are great ports in great cities! I think that this fact will eventually help turn the tide for L.A., and bring the ships back.

In the end, both Los Angeles and Australia are going to be important players in the future of the cruise industry…that’s what I think anyway.

(Above photo -"Los Angeles Maritime Museum" by flickr member "karenpeacock")