Holland America Line: ‘Growing Interest’ for Alaska in 2023

Posted on 10 October, 2022 by Spacejunkie2

MS Nieuw Amsterdam cruising the Inside Passage Alsaka, photo credit Spacejunkie2 (Flickr)

Following a full season of 107 cruises and cruise tours onboard six ships, Holland America Line recently completed its 2022 Alaska program.

According to a press release, the season in the destination came to an end on Oct. 6, with the Eurodam and the Koningsdam completing final port visits at Ketchikan before heading to Seattle, Washington, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, respectively.

“As this successful season winds down, we’re pleased to see growing interest in Alaska 2023,” said Gus Antorcha, president, of Holland America Line. “Alaska is a bucket-list destination and people are excited to travel more. We’re seeing bookings well above levels from similar periods in the seasons prior to the industry pause.”

The 2022 season was Holland America Line’s milestone 75th Anniversary exploring Alaska.

To mark the occasion, the cruise line launched the “Love Letters to Alaska” contest, as well as new “Alaska Up Close” shipboard programming, a “We Love Alaska” marketing campaign, and two new partnerships that celebrate the brand’s commitment to serving sustainable Alaska seafood.

“Holland America Line’s 75th Anniversary in Alaska got off to an incredible start with Koningsdam as the first ship back in Canada in more than two years, and we kept building momentum with new immersive programming, partnerships that focused sustainability and more,” added Antorcha.

“No other cruise line can deliver Alaska like Holland America Line, and this season we focused all of our expertise and passion on giving guests a memorable Alaska experience that touched all elements of their vacation, from enrichment to culinary to shoreside tours,” he added.

At the start of the season on April 8, the Koningsdam became the first cruise ship to return to Canada in over two years with a call at Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

The ship’s call marked 905 days since a cruise ship had visited the port, and it also was a maiden call for the 2016-built vessel. The next day the Koningsdam arrived in Vancouver for the start of its Alaska season.

During the 2022 season, Holland America launched its “Alaska Up Close” program that, according to the company, immerses guests on Alaska cruises in the local culture with authentic onboard programming, cruise activities and award-winning shore excursions.

Holland America Line also highlighted its partnership with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute which saw the company using seafood Alaska exclusively on all six ships serving the region.

The Carnival Corporation premium brand also mentioned its certification in Responsible Fisheries Management.

During the course of the season, it became the first cruise line to achieve this credential by serving only fresh, certified sustainable and traceable wild Alaska seafood, the company said.

As part of the celebration of its 75 years of Alaska exploration, Holland America also added a “We Love Alaska” logo below the bridge of all of its six ships sailing in the destination.

According to the press release, the campaign was conceived as a way to show the locals its devotion to the region.

Harry Sommer: Norwegian Prima Reimagines the Cruise Industry

Posted on 8 October, 2022 by Spacejunkie2

The new Norwegian Prima is helping to reimagine the cruise industry, according to Harry Sommer, president of Norwegian Cruise Line, speaking on the ship in New York City on Thursday.

“When we sat down in 2017 to decide what we wanted the next class of ship to be, we surveyed the universe and started primarily with what NCL (Norwegian Cruise Line) had in its offering at the time,” he said.

That offering ranged from 2,000-guest ships to the Jewel class at 2,400, then ships in the high 3,000-guest range and up.

“We thought there was a gap as we had nothing between the Jewel class at 2,400 and the Epic, Breakaway- and Breakaway-plus class ships. We thought this would be a perfect thing to fill out our portfolio,” Sommer said, noting the Prima was “97 per cent perfect” and the company would make some minor adjustments on the Viva when it debuts in 2023.

Of note, Sommer pointed to the largest bathrooms the company has ever put in its staterooms and the largest balcony cabins as well.

“Different ship class sizes can go to different ports. There are different customers in our base and we appeal to a wide range of guests … we also wanted to reimagine the cruise industry.”

Thus, working with President and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Frank Del Rio, the idea was to build a ship that didn’t look like a cruise ship but was more similar to a high-end hotel.

“Part of that required us not to have those larger spaces, so we have smaller intimate spaces. There are no venues where you are with 500 or 600 people,” Sommer said.

“It was a little bit of a risk as all our competition keeps getting bigger and bigger. That is okay and there is a market for that too, but we did not want to create something that looked like a large indoor shopping mall.”

With the Norwegian Prima entering service in 2022, the Viva follows in 2023 and four more sister vessels are on order for Norwegian Cruise Line at Fincantieri through 2027.

Frank Del Rio Forecasting Record 2023 for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings

Posted on 8 October, 2022 by Spacejunkie2

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) will generate record EBITDA and net yield in 2023, according to a very upbeat and confident Frank Del Rio, CEO and president, who spoke at a two-hour presentation aboard the Norwegian Prima in New York City on Thursday morning.

Del Rio said that bookings for 2023 were up from 2019, including a 16 per cent capacity increase, and at significantly higher prices.

Talking about the so-called key value drivers, Del Rio asked analysts not to lump NCLH in the same pool as the other cruise companies, and that the company differentiates itself in many ways, including targeting a more upmarket demographic, featuring ships for its three brands that are at the top of each market segment, and premium itineraries.

Other companies, he said, have so many brands they are sabotaging each other. In contrast, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises (the NCLH brands) are clearly differentiated, each in a different market segment. Del Rio described the brands as stand-alone that do not compete against each other.

Del Rio went on to say that itineraries are the number one driver of pricing and that he spends more time on itinerary planning than anything else. Another key driver is the cabin mix and he noted that the brands have a richer mix of cabins, with a higher percentage of outside balcony cabins.

He said that NCLH’s go-to-market strategy is focused on filling the ships, offering consumers value and deals they are happy with, while not discounting, and noted that they are beating their competitors by a large margin.

Pricing is almost irrelevant, according to Del Rio, who said the key is to have consumers feel they get a deal. And when products are bundled in that consumers buy dining and beverage packages up front, as well shore excursions, they come onboard with a so-called “fresh wallet” and spend more.

He noted that onboard spending on the Norwegian Prima on its trans-Atlantic crossing had been double of the company’s average.

By comparison, in 2018, 52 per cent of the passengers bought packages in advance of their cruise. For 2022, Del Rio said that number has increased to 85 per cent. He added that also means that more cruises are “sticking,” meaning there are fewer cancellations and higher advance deposits.

The average booking curve is now more than eight months out, he noted. From 171 days in 2016, the booking curve is now 245 days. The extended booking window also gives the company more visibility and the ability to manage pricing to maximize ticket and onboard yield.

Another key factor contributing to a strong 2023 is that NCLH is a U.S.-centric company, according to Del Rio, who said that 78 per cent of the passengers come from the U.S.

Among the trends noted were more direct bookings with the travel agency community constricting during the pandemic and with consumer behaviour changing to more online purchasing.

Looking forward, Del Rio and Mark Kempa, CFO and executive vice president, said the brands will continue to benefit from the underserved and unserved markets while continuing to be U.S.-centric.

They also said that NCLH has a lot of “headroom” to raise prices while comparing cruise to land vacations.

Among the key takeaways from the presentation, Del Rio underscored that not all cruise companies are created equal and that NCLH has laid the foundation for a strong 2023, surpassing 2019, targeting a higher-end demographic, which is reflected in its stronger pricing and bookings.