Tag Archives: southampton

MSC maintains market presence and touts return to ex-UK

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By Phil Davies

MSC maintains market presence and touts return to ex-UK MSC Cruises is maintaining capacity in the UK market despite withdrawing departures from Southampton after this year.

The Italian line is concentrating on fly-Med sailings in 2015 with dedicated charter flights to serve five ships from Venice and its two biggest vessels MSC Fantasia and Preziosa sailing year-round from Barcelona and Genoa.

Regional connecting flights will be commissionable at 5%.

But UK, Ireland and Australia executive director Giles Hawke (pictured) does not rule out a return to ex-UK cruises in the future.

Hawke, speaking ahead of the 2015/16 programme going on sale on Wednesday – the earliest date ever – revealed that the company aims to more than triple UK passenger numbers from 60,000 this year to 200,000 by 2017.

He would not be drawn on when or if MSC would return to ex-UK departures, but said there would be eight calls in either Southampton or Dover next year which will allow agents to make ship visits.

“We will more than replace our ex-UK capacity with our fly-Med programme,” he said, indicating that MSC would be the biggest player in the sector in 2015 with departures covering both the western and eastern Mediterranean.

The company has taken 500 pre-registrations from consumers ahead of the on-sale date and expects strong trade support, with early booking offers such as discounts of up to £200 off the brochure price and free cabin upgrades for bookings made between April and June.

Prices lead in at £499 per person based on a seven-night fly-cruise from Barcelona on newest ship MSC Preziosa on December 6, 2015.

Other options include the first ship with upgraded MSC Yacht Club facilities – MSC Splendida – sailing in northern Europe.

Hawke said: “I believe we will return to ex-UK cruising but first we want to build the brand and consumer demand to justify us having one of our biggest ships operating out of Southampton.

“We want to build a brand that the consumer understands and one that commands the kind of prices it deserves.”

MSC Opera is being withdrawn to be stretched in size alongside three other Lirica-class ships following this year’s season of departures from Southampton.

Royal Caribbean makes ship change for summer 2015

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By Tom Stieghorst
Royal Caribbean will send the Explorer of the Seas to Europe in the summer of 2015 instead of the Adventure of the Seas as previously announced.

Adventure of the Seas will continue to sail from San Juan while Explorer will homeport at Southampton, England, and offer three- to 16-day roundtrip cruises from late April through September 2015.

Prior to starting European service, Explorer will have a month-long drydock to be revitalized and receive features such as virtual balconies.

Last week, an Adventure of the Seas cruise was delayed in San Juan for three days after propulsion issues led Royal Caribben to replace the ship’s propellers, which took longer than expected.

The delayed cruise was the final one before a scheduled drydock for maintenance.

P&O Cruises beats record with Britannia bookings

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P&O Cruises beats record with Britannia bookings

P&O Cruises saw an 81% increase in bookings for Britannia on opening day compared to the launch of its last ship Azura.

Chris Truscott, sales and distribution support director, said there had been massive demand despite issues with the system which caused problems for agents and customers attempting to make bookings.

He said: “We were having problems with our systems the night before, and then they went down on the morning as we opened to bookings. It was a combination of problems with the system and bad timing, being the first day of bookings.”

Truscott said bookings showed a 24% increase on the best ever ship launch for Ventura, and that the “vast, vast majority of bookings made been made by agents.”

He said the systems went down and then eventually P&O was able to take bookings through its contact centre which is normally open to just consumers but was available to agents during the system failure.

He said agents made bookings through his method and then by 10.30 both systems were back up and running.

“It was a great success with really phenomenal demand,” he added. “And that is down to the way we have been working with agents.”

Truscott added: “We really appreciate the patience shown yesterday by our trade partners in the early part of yesterday when due to circumstances beyond our control they experienced difficulties making bookings with us. I can only apologise for the disruption caused and emphasise that we took immediate action to resolve the issues.

“However, I am delighted with the support agents have shown to our fantastic new ship which is demonstrated by the unprecedented demand. Britannia will display the very best of British in terms of design, dining and innate attention to detail in all areas. We can’t wait for the opportunity to show off Britannia to agents in just under a year’s time when the ship arrives in Southampton.”