Jun 22, 2007
The big puzzlement of 2007: unsold cabins on Alaskan cruises
No one seems to know why. But the travel trade press is full of anxious stories about how slow-selling are cruises of Alaskan waters in July and August of this year. While the expensive, outside, balcony-equipped cabins are in demand, the cheaper inside cabins without portholes are still plentifully available and unsold.
If you will go to www.vacationstogo.com and click on the Alaska cruises scheduled for July and August of 2007 (be careful to specify 2007, not 2008), you'll see what I mean. Numerous departures of seven-night cruises leaving from Vancouver, Seattle, or the port of Anchorage have been reduced in price to between $500 and $700 per person -- an astonishing development for these two high season months that are usually sold out well in advance.
Those prices do not include air fare to the Pacific Northwest, but nevertheless they establish the basis for a low-cost week, and for one of the great experiences of travel. Cruising the southeastern coast of Alaska -- viewing terrain where no human being has ever set foot or is likely to do so, where eagles fly overhead and bears come down to shore to snatch fish from the shallow waters, where the 20-story-high walls of glaciers crash into the sea with an enormous roar -- is an almost mystical experience. And it is now within affordable reach for summer 2007 (used to be that you had to choose departures during the iffy-weather of May or September in order to enjoy such bargains).
My theory as to why this has happened? We live in a two-tier society, a two-tier economy. Enjoying major tax breaks under current policies, and a booming stock market, the wealthy are doing exceptionally well and are traveling in unprecedented numbers everywhere (and booking those balcony cabins). The low- and middle-income among us are feeling tight times, and economizing with respect to long-distance travels.
Write and read comments about this post.
If you will go to www.vacationstogo.com and click on the Alaska cruises scheduled for July and August of 2007 (be careful to specify 2007, not 2008), you'll see what I mean. Numerous departures of seven-night cruises leaving from Vancouver, Seattle, or the port of Anchorage have been reduced in price to between $500 and $700 per person -- an astonishing development for these two high season months that are usually sold out well in advance.
Those prices do not include air fare to the Pacific Northwest, but nevertheless they establish the basis for a low-cost week, and for one of the great experiences of travel. Cruising the southeastern coast of Alaska -- viewing terrain where no human being has ever set foot or is likely to do so, where eagles fly overhead and bears come down to shore to snatch fish from the shallow waters, where the 20-story-high walls of glaciers crash into the sea with an enormous roar -- is an almost mystical experience. And it is now within affordable reach for summer 2007 (used to be that you had to choose departures during the iffy-weather of May or September in order to enjoy such bargains).
My theory as to why this has happened? We live in a two-tier society, a two-tier economy. Enjoying major tax breaks under current policies, and a booming stock market, the wealthy are doing exceptionally well and are traveling in unprecedented numbers everywhere (and booking those balcony cabins). The low- and middle-income among us are feeling tight times, and economizing with respect to long-distance travels.
Write and read comments about this post.
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
