Familiar themes emerge at CruiseWorld China

Posted on 23 September, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

From left: Alan Buckelew of Carnival Corp., Adam Goldstein of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Frank Del Rio of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Gianni Onorato of MSC Cruises.

BEIJING — To U.S. travel agents, the themes that emerged from this week’s CruiseWorld China might have seemed reminiscent of issues that surfaced over the past three decades of cruise industry development in the U.S.

“We need to bring across the idea that the cruise is the destination, instead of just a mode of transportation,” said Zheng Weihang, executive vice president and secretary general of the China Cruise & Yacht Industry Association.

Adam Goldstein, chairman of CLIA and president and COO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., added: “A vast number of people have no idea what a cruise vacation is about, what happens onboard and how it offers great value.”

And Anthony Kaufman, executive vice president of International Operations for Princess Cruises, counseled that a travel agent’s responsibility includes “understanding the uniqueness of each cruise product and imparting that knowledge to the consumers.”

Although much of the conversation sounded like Cruise Sales 101, not all of the issues facing a quickly-growing, rapidly evolving industry have a North American parallel. The vast majority of cruises in China are charters, with cabins sold by a handful of mega-agencies, some of them larger than the cruise lines themselves. They, in turn, rely on a network of sub-agencies to help them fill ships.

The sustainability of the charter model was called into question by most of the cruise executives present, though none called for abandoning it outright. The general consensus was that it has helped the market get to where it is today, but more diversity in sales options will be healthier for long-term growth.

Calling charters a “force-feeding” model, Zinan Liu, Royal Caribbean International’s president of China and North Asia Pacific region and chairman of CLIA North Asia, said the charter model was successful in the past six years when consumer awareness was low and the sales force of cruise lines small. He predicted it will likely continue to coexist with other distribution models.

Kaufman noted that it continues to be the foundation for China’s cruise market and at present enables travel agencies to maintain better control of the customer experience and pricing. But, he said, whether it continues to dominate might depend on individual company strategies.

That each of the four largest cruise lines was represented by a top corporate executive suggests that China’s potential is still very much front of mind:

• Carnival Corp. COO Alan Buckelew provided an overview of the company’s 10 brands and revealed that the most luxurious Princess ship yet built will sail Chinese waters.

• Goldstein wore two hats. As chairman of CLIA, he provided an overview of industry growth, with a focus on China, and as president and COO of RCCL, he promoted Royal Caribbean International ships.

• Norwegian Cruise Line Holding Ltd. CEO Frank Del Rio provided updated details about the Norwegian Joy, a ship being built specially for the Chinese market, whose inaugural cruise is slated for June 23.

• MSC Cruises CEO Gianni Onorato provided more details after having announced the day before that a second ship, the Splendida, would be heading to China to join the Lirica.

In addition to the international development and regional line executives quoted above, onstage were Buhdy Bok, president of Costa Group Asia; David Herrera, president of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings China; Roger Chen, chairman of Carnival Corp. China; Harry Sommer, executive vice president for international development at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings; Helen Huang, president of Greater China, MSC Cruises; and Fan Min, chairman and CEO of SkySea Cruise Line.

Great Stirrup Cay to close for two months

Posted on 24 August, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

Great Stirrup Cay will have villas in its exclusive Lagoon Retreat area.

Norwegian Cruise Line is closing Great Stirrup Cay to guests for about two months so it can work on improvements scheduled to debut next year.

The line’s private island in the Bahamas will be unavailable from Aug. 25 to Oct. 20, spokeswoman Vanessa Picariello said.

Closing Great Stirrup Cay mainly impacts short cruise itineraries on the Norwegian Sky, which will visit Nassau and Grand Bahama during that time.

Norwegian plans a major overhaul at Great Stirrup Cay that includes $1 million on new landscaping; the creation of 100,000 square feet of new pathways, including a new boardwalk along the beach; a 50% increase in dining capacity; the addition of zip lines; and a Lagoon Retreat area with villas for rent for its high-end guests staying in Haven and Suite accommodations.

The changes, included in the $400 million Norwegian Edge initiative, are mostly expected to be complete by spring 2017.

Ranking cruise lines’ Rio efforts

Posted on 17 August, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

Norwegian Getaway in Rio

By Tom Stieghorst

Three cruise companies made the Rio Olympic Games part of their 2016 strategy, so in the spirit of the competition, it seems only fitting to award them medals for their efforts.

Bronze

Royal Caribbean International is using the Rio games to revive its “Come Seek” TV advertising, which debuted last fall. The choice associates Royal with the international flavor of the Olympics, plus links it with popular athletes such as Michael Phelps and Simone Biles.

Advertisers like Royal spent $1.2 billion on the Olympics, but so far television ratings are down 15.5% from the 2012 games in London, averaging 27.9 million viewers through the first nine nights.

Still, I thought one video was particularly effective. Titled “We Play Games Too,” it shows an aquatic performer on one of Royal’s Oasis-class ships doing a handstand on a diving platform before plunging into what seems like a pool the size of a postage stamp. The ad effectively showcases something that none of Royal’s competitors can duplicate.

Silver

Silversea Cruises, aptly enough, wins the silver for chartering the Silver Cloud as a floating hotel for the U.S. men’s and women’s basketball teams. The charter earned Silversea a boatload of free publicity, including a front-page article in the New York Times.

Sports channels and outlets also picked up on an extended monologue by USA team coach Mike Krzyzewski about staying on the ship, although Chicago Bulls star Jimmy Butler could have shown a little more enthusiasm.

“I just do what I’m told,” Butler said. “I’m told to sleep on a boat, so I sleep on a boat.”

Gold

While Silversea hosted athletes, Norwegian Cruise Line chartered its Norwegian Getaway for use by sports bureaucrats, including members of the International Olympic Federation, the National Organizing Committees, the Rio Host Committee as well as corporate sponsors.

While not as productive on the publicity front, it gave high-ranking influencers from dozens of countries exposure to a cruise ship, and Norwegian in particular, that they might not otherwise have.

Norwegian gained another backhanded benefit. By chartering the Getaway, it removed the 4,000-passenger ship for 40 days from the Miami/Caribbean market, which “helped alleviate some of the pricing pressure” caused by having two big ships in the Miami market during the summer, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Frank del Rio said.

Norwegian couldn’t have anticipated that effect when it started charter plans for the Rio games nine years ago, but good luck often plays a role in Olympic wins, as it did for Norwegian here.