Hyper-Inflation and Cruise Prices
May 22, 2009 
2 Comments
There are currently two camps in Economic Circles…those who believe that we are about to see a 2 – 3 year run of Hyper Inflation and those who believe that Inflation cannot occur without wage inflation. They believe the Fact that we are at 10% unemployment could keep inflation from occurring.
I believe that we will see inflation thanks to the Fed printing money like crazy for the Bailouts, interest rates being close to zero, the government running up the biggest deficit by 3x, and with the value of the dollar starting to drop compared to other currencies. As momentum continues to push Metals, Basic Materials, Oil, etc. higher speculators will take advantage the momentum only causing the price of these commodities to go much higher.
Now why do I write all of this on a cruising blog? Because if you are planning on taking a cruise in 2010…I would book now to take advantage of the low rates. As the value of the dollar drops and the price of commodities drive inflation upward, the price of cruises will increase too. If you put down a risk-free fully refundable deposit now, you will secure the current rates. So if you lock in a cruise for $1000 per person in 2010, that $1000 could be worth a lot less next year. If that is the case the cruise will be selling for a lot more than $1000 per person. In 2010, you will look like a genius for putting down a deposit and locking in a rate back in 2009. Worse case scenario, I am wrong and the rates drop. In most cases, prior to final payment you can cancel and rebook…plus most cruise lines honor rates if they drop, so you really have nothing to lose by locking rates now!
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[...] Fuel Surcharges, Coming to Cruise Bookings soon? Jump to Comments Increase in Oil Can be felt at the PumpIn 2007, cruise agencies and clients were blown away when the cruise lines added fuel surcharges to existing bookings. We all understood that the cruise lines fuel costs had went up dramatically, but were taken back when they added up to $140 per person to existing bookings. After the price of oil dropped to $35 a barrel, the cruise lines removed the fuel surcharges with the stated policy that they reserve the right to add the fuel surcharges back when the price of oil is above $65 – $70 a barrel. The Cruise Lines wanted to protect themselves by being open that they will pass on exuberant fuel costs to their customers. When you book a new cruise today your agent is supposed to let you know that the total you are paying for you cruise can increase at a later date because the cruise line can add on fuel surcharges. The difference between the first time the cruise lines tacked on fuel surcharges and now is that this time the cruise lines are warning you that they can add on fuel surcharges when oil hits a certain price. One Cruise Line goes as far to say that they will even charge fuel surcharges at the pier at the time of boarding. The $65 – $70 per barrel mark that has been set by the cruise lines has been surpassed. The Price of oil recently hit $74 a barrel. Thanks to the ever increasing US debt, announced to hit $9 Trillion, the US Dollar will continue to weaken which will cause continued inflation. Inflation will cause the price of all commodities including oil to continue to go up. For more on Inflation, read my post on Hyperinflation and Cruise Prices from May 2009. [...]
[...] wrote about Hyper-inflation here in May, 2009, and I have to say I was pretty accurate. Here is the video on Yahoo Tech Ticker from today with [...]