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Coming soon to a port near you
By Tom Stieghorst
Next year’s cruise ships have yet to arrive but, borrowing a page from the movie industry, cruise lines are starting to provide online trailers of their coming attractions.
Several of the industry’s most anticipated ships are being previewed in videos that can show agents and customers what they might be buying if they reserve a spot on the next newbuild.
Cruise lines have been producing these videos for a while, but they’re growing increasingly elaborate. They’re a great tool to build excitement for what is likely a premium sale.
According to a recent survey of Cruise Holidays agents, no ship is more anticipated than Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas, due to enter service next November from New York/New Jersey.
The ship will have lots of firsts, including the first skydiving simulator, the first bumper cars and a giant mechanical arm that will take occupants of a glass capsule up and over the side of the ship.
All are prominently displayed on Royal Caribbean’s website in an eight-minute video that includes a lot of sophisticated 3-D imagery of a ship that physically has yet to be created.
On hand to narrate is actress Kristin Chenoweth, the ship’s godmother, along with RCCL chairman Richard Fain, Royal Caribbean International President Adam Goldstein and actress Estelle Harris of “Seinfeld” fame, who is allowed to take a few playful digs at Fain in the skydiving segment.
At eight minutes, the video done by visual effects house Brewster Parsons, is distinctive, if a bit long for the attention span of the average cruise shopper. But it is entertaining, full of cameos from the likes of magicians Penn & Teller, and there’s a lot of new ground to cover to explain all of Quantum’s special features.
At 2 minutes, 18 seconds, the video for the Norwegian Getaway, due in February, is much easier to digest. It is fast-paced, with no voiceover, and starts with an amazing tracking shot of the Waterfront entertainment area on the ship. The video soundtrack is full of marimbas and timbales, as befits a Miami-based ship, and there are several shots that capture the NCL logo on the ship’s stack so there’s no doubt whose ship it is.
Regal Princess, the sister ship to 2013’s Royal Princess, is such a close sibling that the Princess Cruises video promotes both at once. The length comes in at a manageable five minutes, the pacing is measured, and the ship’s features are explained by a soothing and neutral feminine voice.
Even ships that won’t debut until 2015 have videos, including a newly minted one for P&O Cruises’ Britannia, featuring executives on its newbuild team, and another for Viking Cruises’ Viking Star, a true departure for the river cruise company, that is briskly described by a British-sounding male narrator.
So if you have a spare moment, check out next year’s ships today. It has never been easier.
A look ahead at 2014 launches and christenings
By Michelle Baran
OK, I’ll be honest: This end-of-year insight in which I summarize the christenings and launches for the following year has become an invaluable tool for me in planning my year ahead, and that’s largely why I’ve maintained this tradition over the past few years.
But my hope, of course, is that it can and does serve as a useful tool for all you travel planners out there, as well. Happy 2014!
March 17: Viking Cruises will hold a christening ceremony in Avignon, France, for the 14 Viking Longships that are launching next year. Viking has not said which or how many of the Longships will be in Avignon for the ceremony, but the three 2014 Viking Longships that are slated to sail in that region are the Viking Buri, Viking Heimdal and Viking Hermod.
March 26: Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection will inaugurate the 159-passenger S.S. Catherine in Lyon, France, marking Uniworld’s first expansion of its European fleet since 2011, when the vessel’s sister ship the S.S. Antoinette set sail.
April 5: The 223-passenger American Empress (formerly the Empress of the North) will be rechristened in Portland, Ore., and will sail on the Columbia and Snake rivers, after having been refurbished by the American Queen Steamboat Co.
April 15: Emerald Waterways, the first new river cruise line to launch since Scenic Cruises came onto the scene in 2008, will kick off with the launch of two newbuilds in Europe, the 182-passenger Emerald Star and the 182-passenger Emerald Sky. Emerald Waterways is aiming to be a more value-oriented alternative to existing river cruise lines.
July: Pandaw River Expeditions is launching two new 40-passenger vessels in Myanmar, the Kindat Pandaw and the Kalaw Pandaw.
September: Haimark Ltd. is introducing the 56-passenger Irrawaddy Explorer in Myanmar; as well as the 68-passenger Mekong Navigator that will sail in Vietnam and Cambodia.
November: AmaWaterways is introducing the all-suite AmaPura on Myanmar’s Irrawaddy River.
Late 2014: Sanctuary Retreats, a division of Abercrombie & Kent, is launching the 48-passenger, all-suite Sanctuary Ananda in Myanmar.
Also in 2014:
• Tauck is launching two newbuilds in Europe, the 130-passenger Inspire and Savor, that will each have 57% more suites than the company’s existing vessels.
• AmaWaterways will introduce two more ships in Europe in 2014, the 164-passenger AmaSonata and AmaReina. The vessels will be sister ships to the 164-passenger AmaCerto, which launched in 2012.
• Avalon Waterways is introducing three new river cruise vessels in Europe in 2014 — the 128-passenger Avalon Poetry II; the 166-passenger Avalon Illumination; and the 166-passenger Avalon Impression.
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