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Carnival Cruise Lines is doing something pretty bold. They are telling you that they will be raising their cruise fares for summer voyages. Whereas this would generally be bad news, it’s actually not so bad.
First, they are raising rates because of increased demand for their cruises over the summer. That’s a sign that the travel industry is rebounding a bit. In truth, cruise rates have been terrific for the past year and change, so it’s only natural the cruise industry would eventually raise their rates.
Second, Carnival has actually given us advance warning that they’re going to raise their rates. That means you can still book a cruise today at the lower rates!
So, don’t hesitate. Go ahead and book your Carnival cruise today before those prices go up!
Here is the press release from Carnival…
CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES REPORTS RECORD WAVE SEASON ACTIVITY
Summer Price Increase Effective March 22
MIAMI (February 24, 2010) – Carnival Cruise Lines is reporting record wave season bookings, with strong reservations activity for 2010 departures. As a result of the strong booking volumes, a general price increase will be implemented effective March 22 for all summer sailings in June, July and August.
For the period of Jan. 1 through Feb. 21, 2010, bookings were at unprecedented levels for the line’s 22 ships which operate three- to 15-day voyages from a variety of convenient North American home ports.
Carnival President and CEO Gerry Cahill said, “We’re seeing significantly increased volume as consumers are taking advantage of the incredible value that a Carnival cruise provides. And while pricing hasn’t fully recovered to 2008 levels, we are increasing prices and will implement an across-the-board increase effective March 22.”
He said that the price increases will vary by departure date but will be up to 5 percent.
Cahill attributed the record booking activity to a wide range of factors, including strong travel agent partner support, targeted marketing initiatives, itinerary enhancements and the wide variety of close-to-home departure points.
Wave season typically runs from about mid-January through early spring and is traditionally the busiest, most important booking period in the cruise industry.
Carnival Cruise Lines is the largest and most popular cruise line in the world, with 22 “Fun Ships” operating voyages ranging from three to 15 days in length to The Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, Panama Canal, Canada, New England and Europe.
Carnival also has two new ships on order — the 130,000-ton Carnival Magic, which is scheduled for delivery in 2011, and a sister ship set to debut in 2012.
Thank you for helping us achieve these record booking volumes.
Sincerely,
Carnival Cruise Lines
