Cruise ships are idled, pandemic rages but Wave continues — with surprises

The world is entering 2021 during a roaring pandemic, a slow vaccine rollout and the aftershocks of a caustic U.S. election and insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Would it surprise anyone that this year’s Wave season is anything but normal?

Most travel advisors and cruise executives agree that this year’s period of heavy cruise promotions is, in fact, shaping up differently, but some are experiencing success, albeit for bookings that are much further out than usual.

And other advisors report seeing a “wave” of sales for noncruise products.

“There is nothing close to the traditional surge we get at this time,” said Valerie Dorsey, a Cruise Planners travel advisor in Royal Palm Beach, Fla. “But we do have clients booking land vacations, all-inclusives in the Caribbean and Mexico, ski trips and even Alaska and European cruises for later in the year.”

Dorsey said that lines pushing back their start dates through April and canceling early Alaska cruises “put clients back into the hesitation mode. It’s frustrating for all travel vendors with the constant changes.”

Chris Prelog, president of Windstar, described this year’s season as a “later Wave.”

“Bookings are being made, but they are made into different time slots than the traditional Wave season,” Prelog said, adding that bookings are strong in the latter part of 2021 and very good in 2022. “We are not seeing many May or June bookings. It’s a later Wave.”

He said Caribbean and Tahiti bookings have been particularly strong for Windstar.

Some lines and advisors are seeing some of the familiar Wave season patterns, specifically when it comes to promotions pushing the booking needle forward.

“There is a real Wave season this year, and we are pleased with the direction and reach of our promotions and cruise messaging,” said Gus Antorcha, president of Holland America Line. “In the context of today’s current situation, we are very focused on helping the travel advisor community and driving interest in bookings next summer and beyond, into 2022. So we’ve come out with aggressive values and added extras along the way to help keep attention high.”

Norwegian Cruise Line’s chief sales officer, Katina Athanasiou, said that Wave started for the line on Black Friday, when it pushed a big promotion to coincide with its “Break Free” television ad campaign, the first national marketing campaign launched by a cruise line during the pandemic. Athanasiou said it drove interest and bookings, but that doesn’t mean this year’s Wave is typical. 

“Is it what Wave has been in a traditional sense in previous years? No, but we’ve definitely seen a spike from where we were prior to when we started this promotion and marketing,” she said. “There’s been a lift. But in the traditional sense of what the cruise space calls Wave, it looks different. And I think this year it will continue to look different, because I think we’ll have peaks and valleys. I think that huge pent-up demand will be another kick-start to the real Wave season once we have our return-to-sail plans announced.”

Adolfo Perez, senior vice president of global trade sales and trade marketing for Carnival Cruise Line, said promotions have “helped move the needle” and that Carnival is “doing more than we were doing in the fall, which is typical for Wave. Demand is always highest during this time of year.”

However, it’s still not typical. 

“It’s not a Wave like in 2019, but the fact that we have so much business on the books for 2022, that we are seeing this demand, is the best we can hope for.”

Bucking the trend somewhat is Cruise.com. President Anthony Hamawy said that “business this month is better than we have seen since the pandemic began,” although still below the pre-Covid level.

“It’s a combination of offers that seem to be resonating, including the mix of drinks, WiFi, gratuities and onboard credits,” he said, adding that Caribbean/Bahamas, Europe and Alaska are the best-selling destinations so far.

“We also noticed a spike in bookings from the over-65 crowd,” Hamawy said. “It may be the vaccine confidence that is bringing these people out.” 

However, Cruise.com is also seeing a lot of its bookings further out than usual.

“Our sales into Q3, Q4 and 2022 are pacing at or slightly above the same levels as previous years,” said Hamawy. “The biggest declines are for sales into Q1 and Q2 of 2021. It’s a great sign that people are still booking cruises and trying to get back to normal for the second half of the year.”

Other advisors and executives say the Wave is yet to come.

Steve Hirshan, senior vice president of sales for Avoya, said that after a strong December, which has become a typical pre-Wave season boost for the company over the past few years, “further CDC travel restrictions, which have led to continued delays of cruise ship deployments, seem to have stalled the start of Wave in January.

“This year’s Wave season is dependent on the vaccination rate of consumers, and that means that it’s more likely we will see a more typical Wave season begin in the spring.”

Steve Smotrys, Seabourn’s vice president of global sales, said Wave could end up being strong this year, given that it coincides with the vaccine rollout and since people have gone for so long without a vacation. But he remains in a wait-and-see mode. 

“Everything that we knew from the past, you take it all with a grain of salt,” he said. “It’s a new world, and there are so many variables in play right now. It’s an interesting time.”