Tag Archives: Travel agents

MSC Cruises to stretch Lirica class of ships/Hawke reassures agents as he takes on MSC role

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By Hollie-Rae Merrick MSC Cruises to stretch Lirica class of ships

MSC Cruises is poised to announce a major refit of its 1,500-passenger Lirica class of ships.

Travel Weekly understands the ships will be cut and stretched, with up to 800 extra cabins being installed across the fleet.

The cruise line is focusing on ensuring its current fleet is of the highest standard and it is unlikely any new ships will be added within the next three years.

However orders for ships to be introduced after that period are expected to be placed soon.

The Lirica refit is likely to be part of the company’s strategy to build revenue from the UK market, and to help build greater brand awareness.

More balconies will be added to the ships during their refit in order to attract more UK customers.

One of the ships could also sail from the UK on a regular basis.

Hawke reassures agents as he takes on MSC role

By Hollie-Rae Merrick

Hawke reassures agents as he takes on MSC roleThe new UK managing director of MSC Cruises has insisted he is not looking to repeat a strategy he spearheaded at former employee Carnival UK.

Speaking to Travel Weekly on his first day in his new position, Giles Hawke moved to reassure agents that he wouldn’t be “coming in and slashing commission”.

When asked about commission, he said: “I think most of the big commission moves in the market have already been made. The market has been stabilised, discounting is largely gone.

“MSC is in a good place and well positioned and I don’t see going in to the market and slashing commission happening.”

He added: “You do different things at different companies. There isn’t a one size fits all model, whatever the industry you don’t move from one company to another and decide to repeat everything that you did before.

“To reassure travel agents, I haven’t come in here with a mindset to repeat everything I did at Carnival UK.”

Hawke reiterated the importance of travel agents in helping to raise brand awareness for MSC.

He said: “I want people going into travel agents and asking about MSC because they already have awareness and I also want travel agents to know what MSC is all about and to understand the brand.

“I think currently you ask 10 different travel agents to tell you about MSC Cruises and you get 10 different answers.

“I would like 10 agents and 10 answers that are the same.

“I’m in the listening, learning and understanding mode for the next few months – then working out how we market to customers and give them clarity and getting people’s minds more on the brand than they have ever been before.”

Giles said MSC had always been a very trade-focused brand, and maintained that would not change. He said the line would be doing more ship visits and fam trips for agents because agents represent a large proportion of MSCs sales.

In the short term, Giles said he would be meeting with key agents to hear their thoughts on MSC, he hopes to see a many agents as possible before the end of the year.

Norwegian Cruise Line has no plans for brand expansion

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Norwegian Cruise Line has no plans for brand expansion

By Tom Stieghorst
2013CruiseWorld_logo200x115FORT LAUDERDALE — Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings will stick with its core competencies and not acquire or start brands other than its flagship Norwegian brand, CEO Kevin Sheehan said at the CruiseWorld event on Friday.

Sheehan said he looked at several acquisitions after he came to Norwegian in 2008 but decided against them.

“I don’t want to create distractions for our team,” Sheehan said. “We have so many opportunities with our brand.”

In addition, Sheehan told travel agents that Norwegian is a variety of brands under one name. The Haven ship-within-a-ship luxury areas on Norwegian ships function as a luxury line, he said.

CruiseWorld 2013 Kevin Sheehan and Arnie WeissmannHe also cited a focus on solo cabins, family programs with Nickelodeon and the Pride of America ship in Hawaii as other brand-like experiences within Norwegian Cruise Line.

Sheehan said he is working hard to keep Norwegian focused on its own long-term future and goals, now that the company has become publicly traded. He said he would have preferred to go public later, but the private-equity owners needed some “affirmation” for their investors.

“I have always said to our investors, I know you are watching the next quarter, but I’m watching the next five years,” Sheehan said.

The next big event on Norwegian’s horizon is the arrival of Norwegian Getaway, which will sail from Miami year-round. Norwegian last had a ship sail seven-day cruises year-round from Miami 10 years ago.

Sheehan said he has tried to keep Norwegian’s ships consistently positioned to provide stability for travel agents, and that a limited number of ships left Miami as a seasonal market, until now.

Getaway is in the final stages of construction and is expected to arrive in New York in early February for a week’s duty as the Bud Light Hotel at the Super Bowl before coming to Miami for its maiden voyage.

Sheehan pointed out that Norwegian started the modern cruise industry in Miami 45 years ago.

“It’s just getting back to where we should have been all along,” he said.

Sheehan was the third cruise CEO to address CruiseWorld attendees, following talks by Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. CEO Richard Fain.

Gaining visibility on discounts

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Gaining visibility on discounts

By Tom Stieghorst

*InsightOne of the things that can frustrate travel agents and travelers alike is knowing that discounts have been applied to the cruise price, but not knowing exactly how or which discounts were applied.

It’s great to pay less than the next guy. But accounting for discounts can be just as important.

Royal Caribbean is taking a step in that direction with the enhancements it has made to its reservations process.*TomStieghorst

With the “Pricing and Promotions” upgrades, agents and travelers will be able to easily see where promotions are applied.  The upgrades also improve the ability to combine various promotions and track which offers are combinable in what amounts.

Royal said the promotions will be visible during shopping, applied when the booking is confirmed and, perhaps most importantly, displayed on the booking invoice.

It has the opportunity to give shoppers more confidence in what they’re getting and

give them visibility into the value of the deal.

“In the past people would just call us and say ‘I’m over 55, what’s your rate for seniors?’” noted Diana Block, vice president of revenue management for Royal Caribbean International. “We might say, ‘it’s $1,099.’ They couldn’t see the value; that in the general marketplace it was $1,299 and that we were giving them a $200 discount.”

Now, she said, “the customer can really see the benefit of the discount that they’re getting.”

Royal said several years ago it would spend $100 million on improving  its reservations technology. With “Pricing and Promotions” we’re starting to see where the dollars have been spent, and that there appears to be a tangible payoff for agents in Royal’s IT investments.