Cruising deals often have hidden costs

With cruise lines struggling to fill their ships during the winter sailing season, published prices meant to entice customers increasingly do not include all the items that end up adding hundreds of pounds to the actual cost of a cruise.

Norwegian Cruise Line, for example, in its bid to lure customers from competitors, has published the price of a four-night cruise from Miami, Florida, to the Bahamas at only £56 per person. Included in the price is accommodation, food and entertainment – but not airfares.

Royal Caribbean is featuring seven-day cruises in the Caribbean starting from £293 per person that includes full board, but excludes flights. At the high-end of the market, Seabourn is advertising a reduction in cost of its seven-night Caribbean Gems cruise from £2,230 per person to £1,297.

According to spokesperson Kevin Griffin of Leading Cruise Agents, finding a real bargain can be complicated – comparing practices in the industry to the days of the ‘1p flight’ advertisements.

“You see deals like NCL’s Bahamas cruise, but what they don’t tell you is that with port fees, taxes and fuel surcharges the real cost is more than £113.” Royal Caribbean’s advertised £293 price actually rises to £401, once the extra charges have been added in.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been conducting an eight-month inquiry into the misleading pricing information published by Reader Offers, an Exeter-based travel agency, in newspaper adverts.

Thanks to www.timesonline.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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