Tag Archives: Regent Seven Seas Cruises

NCL, Oceania and Regent get permission to sail Cuba cruises

Posted on by
Reply

The Norwegian Sky will sail Cuba voyages from Miami.

After waiting for six months, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) finally got the call it had been seeking from the Cuban government allowing it to start cruises to Cuba from Miami, beginning in March.

The authority is temporary and will expire in May. But it covers three brands (Norwegian Cruise Line, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania), the first time a cruise company has won approval to marshal multiple brands in a strategic foray into the Cuban market.

“We are tremendously excited to have all three of our award-winning brands receive approval from authorities in Cuba to offer cruises to Cuba from the United States,” said Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Frank Del Rio, who was born in Cuba.

“This is truly a dream come true for me, and I cannot wait for our loyal guests to experience the sights and sounds of my hometown of Havana and get to know its rich culture and its warm and welcoming residents,” he said.

Cruises will sail on the 1,928-passenger Norwegian Sky, the 1,250-passenger Marina and the 700-passenger Seven Seas Mariner.

Image result for seven seas mariner

Seven Sea’s Mariner,

The first Oceania cruise to Cuba will depart Miami on March 7, leaving less than three months to prepare the ship, the itinerary, the crew and to sell the cruises. The Marina voyages will include “many multiple-day calls to allow guests to explore Havana and its environs,” the company said.

The Norwegian Sky will sail a series of four-night voyages over nighting in Havana in May, while Seven Seas Mariner will call on Havana during two cruises in April.

Pricing was not released. On Carnival Corp.’s Fathom, the only other cruise line to gain approval to sail between Miami and Cuba, fares start at about $1,900 for a seven-day cruise.

Fathom’s ship, the Adonia, is older and much less luxurious than the Marina, which was built in 2011. The Adonia is about the same age as the Norwegian Sky.

It isn’t clear why Cuba is giving NCLH such a small window in which to operate. However, Fathom’s authority to sail to Cuba will also expire in May.

The opening for NCLH comes at a crossroads in relations between the U.S. and Cuba with both countries going through a transition in top leadership. Some analysts had expected a pause in new business approvals, while others saw an acceleration to take advantage of the Obama administration’s open stance towards Cuba.

Image result for cuba cruise
Fathom Cruise entering Havana

Cruise tourism to Cuba remains bound by the “people-to-people” framework in place since 1982. That requires shore excursions to be structured to promote exchange activities, such as cultural and humanitarian visits. Norwegian said its cruises would comply with Treasury Department rules.

To sail the new itinerary, Norwegian and Oceania will have to re-accommodate guests already booked. The March 7 Marina departure is currently listed as a 14-day cruise to ports in the western Caribbean, Central America and Colombia. The ship was scheduled to leave for Europe on April 10.

The Norwegian Sky does three- and four-day cruises from Miami that typically attract late bookings.

Image result for regent seven seas explorer
Regent Seven Seas Explorer

NCLH’s application to sail to Cuba has been pending for at least a year. At a July news briefing onboard the new Regent Seven Seas Explorer, also an NCLH-owned ship, Del Rio said he was “literally waiting on a phone call for the final, final approval” from Cuba.

But after the Adonia’s authority was granted in March, no other cruise ship approvals followed until now.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is among the cruise companies with applications pending. It plans to use Royal Caribbean International’s Empress of the Seas to ply the Florida-Cuba route.

MSC Cruises sails to Cuba but does not market the cruises to U.S. residents. Celestyal Cruises offers seasonal Cuba cruises that Americans can take by flying to either Havana or Montego Bay, Jamaica, and enrolling in a people-to-people group program for shore excursions.

Norwegian CEO: Mediterranean cruising bouncing back

Posted on by
Reply


Photo by Dave Jones; Norwegian Jade in Santorini

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Frank Del Rio said bookings for the Mediterranean have been strong in the past eight weeks, and that the company’s 2017 results will hinge on whether that continues.

Del Rio said business sourced in North America for the Med is up “strong double digits” across all three of the company’s brands (Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania and Regent Seven Seas Cruises) for the past eight weeks.

He said occupancies are currently flat and that pricing is behind in the Med for the second half of 2017, but that pricing could be up by year’s end if the current trend continues.

Del Rio said that because of the outsized yields of European itineraries, “2017 will greatly depend on the Med.”

In 2017, Norwegian will have 23% of its capacity in Europe, which is up due to the redeployment of the Norwegian Getaway to the Baltic, where demand is strong, Del Rio said.

Del Rio commented in a conference call for analysts held to discuss third-quarter earnings.

In the third quarter, Norwegian reported net income of $342.4 million compared to $251.8 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 15.6% to $1.5 billion.

NCL reports slump in American demand for European cruises

Posted on by
Reply


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.”