Travelers opting for cruises over hotels: Summer travel tips

As the summer travel season continues, major companies like hotel chain Marriott International (MAR) and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) are presenting a mixed picture of consumer travel trends. Travel expert Jen Ruiz joins Wealth! to discuss her outlook on the travel industry.

Ruiz believes that individuals are increasingly opting for cruises over other forms of travel due to their convenience. She notes that with cruises, consumers only have to "show up" — everything is included, multiple destinations are visited, and there's a pre-set itinerary.

With consumers still feeling the pressure of inflation, Ruiz observes that people are traveling more strategically. "We have seen people cut back on their spending, so maybe they aren't necessarily traveling overseas. Maybe they're trying to do domestic destinations instead. Maybe they are looking to cruises as an all-inclusive option to curtail extra costs," the 12 Trips in 12 Months author explains.

As the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics kick into high gear, Ruiz explains which French destinations travelers can head to to avoid sports tourism crowds.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Wealth!

This post was written by Angel Smith

Video Transcript

We're in the midst of summer travel season and we heard from some big names in the industry this morning, Norwegian cruise line and Marriotts, the companies kind of gave us a mixed picture of the industry though here, Norwegian raising its outlook on strong demand.

Meanwhile, Marriott cut its sales outlook, saying demand for their luxury hotels is low.

So why may consumers be choosing a cruising opportunity over a hotel?

All right.

Well, here with some insight, we've got Jen Ruiz who is the travel expert and author of 12 trips in 12 months.

Great to have you back on the program with us, Jen.

All right.

So first and foremost, here, as you've been looking and hearing from some of the CEO S over the course of this earnings season, notably Norwegian and Marriott, as you were mentioning, what is the reason that some people might be opting for a cruise versus uh a trip where they've got book the flights, gotta book the hotel uh and, and really the decision making process going into this.

Well, I think you really nailed it right there, Brad, the cruise is so convenient, right?

You have everything that's already planned for you.

You just have to show up, you can see many cities in a short amount of time.

I'm actually going to be going on a two week river cruise at the end of August and we're going to be able to see seven new countries in two weeks.

So it's a lot that you can get done.

Meals are provided, you show up, you're shuttled from the airport usually to the cruise ship.

So it's a really easy way to travel for people that want to see a lot without the stress affiliated with planning.

Ok. And so as you're thinking about the budgeting that goes into this summer, travel season versus years past, well, how is that calculus being run at the household level or even individual level from what we had seen perhaps in 2023 even?

Well, I think that there can sometimes be that misconception that all inclusive means that it's going to be less expensive.

And I think that we have seen people cut back on their spending, right?

So maybe they aren't necessarily traveling overseas, maybe they're trying to do domestic destinations instead, maybe they are looking to the cruise as an all inclusive option to curtail extra costs.

So if that is the case, I would suggest that you verify any add ons that you're going to have things like food tips, excursions, uh housekeeping, all of that can add up.

And so you wanna make sure that it actually is going to be more economical for you.

Ok.

While we've got you, Jen, we have to talk about the Olympics big travel event for some.

But if you're looking to avoid the crowds in Paris, where should you travel instead?

So I personally love to take a train south from Paris to Avignon from there.

Rent a car and you can go on a self guided art trail to find the real life places that Van Gogh painted.

It is beautiful.

You can go to arrows and see at least, you know, a dozen different destinations that you can compare to the paintings themselves.

There's also a place called the Gorge Du Verdon that is known as the Grand Canyon of Europe.

It has beautiful turquoise blue waters.

It is just heaven on earth and the Caribbean.

You know, if you're looking for some place that's in the off season right now, Puerto Rico is experiencing its lowest rates that you'll find year long and you can really have a good time even though it's the off season.

Yeah, I'm looking at this gorgeous Duon right now.

My gosh, got some turquoise waters there.

Really pretty.

So Jen, as we're kind of thinking through, even if you're trying to get that last minute trip in and budgeting for a trip to the Gorges Du Verdon or somewhere else.

What is the checklist look like if it's last minute versus well planned out?

Because I imagine a lot of people that were going to check out Simone Biles and the entire team usa or whichever country they're representing and repping and, and showing off the colors over in Paris this year.

Uh, they probably would have done a lot of advanced planning.

So this last minute planning carries a little bit more consideration.

Absolutely.

You need to plan in advance for these big events for the Olympics, for concerts, you know, things where, you know, there's going to be high demand and that the accommodations, the transfers, they're gonna sell out, they're going to be priced higher.

So if you're going to be planning for things at the last minute and you're trying to go on a budget, I recommend doing uh first I recommend going to Google flights.

They have an explore feature so you can see what are the best deals that are leaving from your local airport at the dates that you're looking for.

Uh You can also check out a site like travel pirates.

They actually have a dedicated tab that's just devoted to last minute travel deals.

And if you're somewhere that has, you know, major shows check out today ticks, they have great last minute deals.

I personally have seen shows with excellent seats for less than $100.

All right, Jen Ruiz, travel expert and author of 12 trips in 12 months.

Jen.

Great to see you again.

Great advice as always.

Thank you, Brad.