NCL reports slump in American demand for European cruises

Posted on 11 May, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

Photo taken by Dave Jones

Cruises in Europe are suffering from a slump in demand from American passengers, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings confirmed today.

The parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, followed rival Royal Caribbean Cruises in describing the European demand as being ‘soft”.

Neither company gave a reason but security fears following terrorist attacks in Mediterranean destinations such as Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia plus those in Paris and Brussels are seen as the likely cause.

Wendy Beck, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, said: “Continued strong demand in the Caribbean, Alaska, Bermuda, and Hawaii is offsetting softness in Europe which comes mainly as a result of lower demand from North American consumers.

“While this softness is tempering yield growth mainly in the second quarter, strong bookings and pricing in other core markets, as well as the addition of Seven Seas Explorer to our fleet, are contributing to strong yield performance in the back half of the year, keeping us on track to deliver expected earnings growth of approximately 30%.”

The current booked position for 2016 was described as being “on par” with last year record levels and at higher prices.

This came as the company revealed that booking trends for the first half of 2017 remain strong at higher prices.

Small ship Sirena joined the Oceania Cruises’ fleet in March, with its first sailing in late April following a multi-million dollar upgrade and refurbishment.

Seven Seas Explorer, the first new build for Regent Seven Seas Cruises in more than 13 years, will join the fleet in the third quarter.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings also disclosed the disposal of an interest in an unspecified land-based operation in Hawaii.

The company moved back into the black in the three months to March 31 with net income of $73.2 million compared to a loss of $21.5 million for the same winter period last year.

Total revenue increased 14.9% to $1.1 billion compared to $938.2 million year-on-year.

Adjusted net cruise costs increased 1.5%, primarily due to an increase in marketing expense as well as two scheduled dry-docks in the quarter compared to the prior year which had one dry-dock in the period, according to the company.

President and chief executive, Frank Del Rio, said: “We are pleased to report another quarter of solid financial performance and significant earnings growth driven primarily by strong pricing with robust demand in the Caribbean driving net yield growth above our expectations.

“Our recent announcements regarding our China-dedicated ship, Norwegian Joy, have been extremely well-received in the Chinese market giving us strong momentum prior to the ship’s introduction in 2017.”

Is an end to the Nile drought in sight?

Posted on 30 May, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

By Michelle Baran

As with Egypt overall, it’s been touch and go with travel on the Nile River since the country’s January 2011 revolution introduced an era of political instability that has been hard MichelleBaran to shake.

But with this week’s presidential elections, combined with pent-up demand from passengers who have been waiting it out with Egypt, there are glimmers of hope that the ships on the Nile will soon start to move again.

Viking Cruises, which has continued offering Egypt sailings through the slowdown, said things are looking up for the back half of 2014 and into 2015.

“We are seeing some booking activity for the fall 2014 dates that are available,” said Richard Marnell, Viking’s senior vice president of marketing. “We’ve also received enough interest from customers that we made the decision to begin selling 2015 dates.

“Yes, there is still some uncertainty among some travelers who would like to visit the region. But we are optimistic about the 2015 season, and we have slightly increased our number of departures for next year.”

Viking charters the 150-passenger Mayfair, built in 2010, on the Nile, and the 160-passenger Omar El Khayam, built in 2011, on Lake Nasser.

Abercrombie & Kent has added five departures this fall for its “Egypt & the Nile” itinerary and has announced additional dates for 2015. The itinerary includes a four-night Nile sailing onboard the 80-passenger Sun Boat IV.

“The current interest in travel to Egypt has even surprised us,” A&K President Phil Otterson said in a release about adding the departures. Otterson traveled to Egypt in March with 69 A&K guests. “It’s been a waiting game, for travelers, tour operators and Egyptians, but it looks like it’s finally turning a corner.”

For some operators, though, it’s too soon to make a call on Egypt just yet. They’ve been burned with having had to cancel departures or, in the case of Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection, which sails the 82-passenger River Tosca, a luxury vessel that was built exclusively for Uniworld, the company doesn’t have the option of returning unsold cabins.

“The River Tosca is our ship, and once we re-enter the market, we have a commitment and obligation to deliver a certain number of guests to make sure that we can operate the itinerary profitably,” said Uniworld President Guy Young. “Given the relative uncertainty in Egypt and our selling cycle for this destination, the earliest opportunity we see to re-enter the market would be the fall of 2015.”

Young noted that prior to the uprising in Egypt, the Tosca was operating at very high occupancy levels and the itinerary received fantastic feedback from guests.
Avalon Waterways, which had to cancel departures last year due to the unrest, will only reintroduce Nile itineraries when the situation appears considerably more stable.

“We do not have plans to reintroduce Egypt in 2015,” noted Avalon’s Managing Director Patrick Clark.

“We hope the presidential election brings stability — and tourists — to Egypt. It would be great to see Egypt return to its previous popularity among travelers,” he added. “And, while we prepare our 2016 plans for Avalon Waterways, we will be closely monitoring developments.”

Nile cruises suffering despite distance from political turmoil

Posted on 4 February, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

River cruises along the Luxor and Nile in Egypt are being “tarred with the same brush” as Cairo by prospective holidaymakers, despite being as far away from the political turmoil that is currently gripping the capital as the Red Sea resorts, where it is business as usual for the most part.

That is according to Discover Egypt director Philip Breckner, who told Travel Weekly that negative media reports about the state of affairs in Egypt are to blame for the fact that the cruise operator is running trips that are half full, despite the fact that they have been in full swing since the travel ban was lifted in November.

He said that headlines about the violence in Cairo have put many consumers off from the idea of visiting Egypt, leaving them nervous about booking cruises in the region.

This is despite the fact that “luxor and Aswan are just as far away from Cairo as Hurghada and Sharm el-Shekih, if not further”. However he added: “They are continuously tarred with the same brush. People think about Luxor in the same way as they do about Cairo.

“But life is going on as normal in upper Egypt and there have been little or hardly any incidents there throughout the troubles, including during the revolution in 2011,” Mr Breckner said.

“We had customers coming off a cruise on Monday and staying in Cairo for three days this week. Safety and security are of paramount importance to us.”

In order to ensure peace of mind among prospective cruise travellers thinking of booking, Discover Egypt is guaranteeing that its weekly cruise trips will go ahead as planned, even if only a few cabins have been sold.

Egypt has already been an incredibly popular destination among cruise operators and passengers. Would you be confident to visit areas of the country away from Cairo given the political rumblings coming out of the capital?