European Cruise Prices Drop Further

USAToday's excellent cruise blog, The Cruise Log, is watching Wall Street today. Apparently UBS released a research note on the state of the cruise industry and the findings were stark. To the Western Mediterranean, in particular, fares are down almost 5% in just the last two weeks.

Facade Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

That may not sound like much, but European cruise fares were already in free fall, selling at well below what they went for in 2010 and before. That's partly because, with sky high airfares to Europe and troubles in the Middle East, far fewer cruisers picked Europe in 2011 than had the year before. Prices, in some case, dropped to levels rarely seen outside of Caribbean and Bahamas sailings (usually the least expensive routes in the industry, along with the Mexican Riviera routes).

So just how low are they going? Not surprisingly, Costa Cruises is a bargain-hunters dream, with 7-day round-trip sailings from Barcelona starting at just $387 this spring.

But its not the only line cutting fares. Royal Caribbean's May 6 sailing of the Navigator of the Seas is going for just $349, again for a seven night cruise, going round-trip from Civitavecchia (the port of Rome). This is notable not just for the price but for the fact that this cut rate isn't meant to make up for the higher airfare costs associated with having to fly into and out of different ports.

I got the prices above from VacationsToGo.com' 90 day ticker. But you'll find similar deals on every other cruise broker's sites. That's just the way European cruises are selling--or more correctly AREN'T selling--this year.