Departments

High New Zealand costs challenging cruise lines

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 19 August 2014 19 August 2014

New Zealand’s fuel and port costs are among the highest in the world, according to international cruise line representatives.

Even though cruise passengers regularly rate their experience of New Zealand highly, the high costs of operating here are a challenge for cruise lines, delegates at Cruise New Zealand’s recent annual conference in Napier heard.

“More than ever, established products and ports are competing globally. Auckland is competing with Port Canaveral and Barcelona. Napier is competing with Cozumel, Palma and Ushuaia,” Royal Caribbean Cruises Associate Vice President – Deployment & Itinerary Planning Christopher Allen said.

Combined with the trend of increasingly bigger ships, there are significant implications for New Zealand as a cruise destination.

New Zealand must be prepared to host the next generation of cruise ships in order to remain competitive, Mr Allen said.

However, Royal Caribbean Cruises was expecting a record number of New Zealand port visits and passenger numbers for the 2015-16 cruise season, up 600% from the 2010-11 season.

Crystal Cruises Vice President – Land Programs, John Stoll agreed but highlighted a range of opportunities for New Zealand’s tourism industry to benefit from the growing cruise market.

“Our customers are your customers and when the cruise lines deliver guests to New Zealand ports, it is imperative that we all focus on maximising each opportunity,” Mr Stoll said, noting that Crystal guests are always interested in exclusive and intimate experiences that they can’t find anywhere else.

Innovative activities and products gave both ships and passengers reason to return.

Crystal Cruises offers its customers the option of tours before and after their cruise, which provides opportunities for tourism operators beyond the ports of call. The company also regularly schedules special shore side events at special venues during World Cruises. Since 2003, Crystal has featured four World Cruise events in New Zealand – in Matamata, Rotorua, Wellington and Napier. An exclusive once-in-a-lifetime event at the Hobbiton Movie Site in Matamata will be featured during Crystal’s 2015 World Cruise overnight stay in Tauranga to celebrate the line’s 25th Silver Anniversary.

Both the cruise line’s reputation and the appeal of the destination played a part in a passenger’s decision to take a cruise so all parties needed to work together to maximise the opportunities of this growing sector, Mr Stoll said.

– Miami-based cruise line Royal Caribbean Cruises currently operates two brands in New Zealand. In the 2013-2014 cruise season, Royal Caribbean International’s two ships conducted 13 voyages and 60 port calls in New Zealand, while Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Solstice conducted 12 voyages and made 71 port calls. As a group, Royal Caribbean Cruises is second largest in the world, behind Carnival Group.
– Owned by NYK Line and based in Los Angeles, Crystal Cruises caters to the luxury end of the market. In the 2013-2014 cruise season, Crystal Symphony conducted an exchange voyage (where the cruise begins or ends in New Zealand) and visited 8 ports including an overnight stay in Auckland.

Cunard's Queen Victoria makes maiden call at St Raphael on the Cote d'Azur

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 05 August 2014 05 August 2014

Heads turned when Cunard's Queen Victoria made the cruise line's maiden call at St Raphael on the Cote d'Azur this weekend. The ship, with nearly one member of crew for each of her 2,000 passengers, was almost a week into her 14-night voyage from Southampton, having already called at Cartagena and Barcelona in Spain when she arrived in St Raphael's bay on Saturday 2 August - a first for the Cunard fleet.

After spending the day at anchor, Queen Victoria sailed east the same evening with her passengers looking forward to visiting Florence, Alghero in Sardinia, Gibraltar and La Coruna in Spain before arriving back in the UK on Sunday 10 August.

Captain Peter Philpott, master of the 90,000 ton Queen Victoria, said “It's a privilege to bring Queen Victoria into a new port for the first time and to be in command of the first Cunard ship ever to sail into St Raphael makes the call particularly special. The Cote d'Azur is one of the most beautiful and most celebrated coastlines in the Mediterranean - it's almost synonymous with summer holidays in Europe. I hope that this maiden visit proves to have been a joy for our passengers on board - it felt like we were the biggest yacht in this delightful bay - and for those along the shoreline who watched the ship arrive and set sail.”

Trasmediterranea to provide port handling services in Balearic Islands

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 27 July 2014 27 July 2014

The Spanish ferry operator Acciona Trasmediterranea has been granted two-year licences by Balearic Port Authority to operate passenger handling services in all major ports in Mallorca, Ibiza, and Mahón, Alan Lam reports.

It is the first commercial company to be granted such licences in the Balearic Islands, covering both cruise and ferry calls.

Trasmediterranea has already commenced services in Ibiza on 21 July under these licences; in the coming days they will be extended to Mahón, Palma de Mallorca and Alcúdia.

The port authorities wanted a commercially viable company with experience to provide these services. In order for these licences to be issued, potential bidders needed to prove that they had sufficient manpower and other resources to fulfill this role. The specified conditions included the ability to supervise embarkation, baggage handling, and provisions for disabled passengers, among others.

Cruise Business comment – For years Trasmediterranea, as well as operating ferries, has been aggressively expanding its business to include the theoretically lucrative port side services, particularly to cruise ships and passengers. This latest development represents a huge stride in its effort in this direction and a significant contribution to the group’s overall revenue for the next two years.

Mein Schiff 3 will inaugurate the lengthened pier in La Gomera

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 22 July 2014 22 July 2014

The Port of San Sebastián de La Gomera in the Canary Islands will have for the next high season a lengthened cruise pier.

Currently the port has a 302m cruise pier for ships up to 275m length, but after the works to increase the pier, the port will offer a 340m berthing line.

In 2010 the Mein Schiff 1 inaugurated the actual length of the pier that the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has projected to improve the cruise facilities in La Gomera.

The recently named Mein Schiff 3 will inaugurate the new extension of the pier on November, the 28th during her itinerary of 7 or 14 days in the Canary & Madeira Islands with Agadir in Morocco.

The lengthening works will boost a 43% La Gomera cruise passengers statistics.

This increase will not be only for TUI Cruises but also for P&O Cruises, Thomson Cruises, AIDA Cruises, Fred Olsen Cruise Line, Azamara Cruises.

According to the last cruise passengers satisfaction report, La Gomera is one of the most valued calls in the Canary Islands thank to the history of the islands and the outstanding experience where nature and tradition meet cruise passengers. La Gomera was the last call in Christopher Columbus discovered voyage. It is said that with La Gomera water, Christopher Columbus christened America. Otherwise during centuries, English and Dutch pirates raided the port of the island to achieve the gold and goods from America.

The whole island is a Biosphere Reserve and the National Park of Garajonay, in the heart of the island, is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Cruise companies offer different shore excursions in the island: trekking through quaternary laurel forests, local products tasting, whales and dolphins watching, traditional handicraft, the Christopher Columbus footsteps, scuba diving, golf, fishing, bike tours through amazing ravines… La Gomera has another UNESCO distinction, the whistle, a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity which ancient people of La Gomera communicated through ravines to all the island.

Construction of Hamburg's third cruise terminal commences

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 11 July 2014 11 July 2014

Surface construction work on the site of Hamburg’s third cruise terminal at the Kronprinzkai quay in Steinwerder officially commenced last Friday, 4th of July with a symbolic ground breaking ceremony. In recent years the city has become one of Europe’s most popular cruise ship destinations. In order to benefit from this potential for growth Hamburg plans to expand its status as a cruise location and has commissioned the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) to build a third cruise terminal (Cruise Center 3, CC3 for short) in cooperation with Hamburg Airport.

In addition to construction of the terminal building the project also includes the provision of parking spaces and access roads; the strengthening of quay walls and operation of the third terminal as well as of the existing terminals in Altona and the Hafencity.

The new terminal at the Kronprinzkai quay, in the port’s Mittlerer Freihafen area, is being constructed on a site equivalent to two football pitches. Following completion it will be able to process 8 000 passengers at any one time. There will be separate embarkation and disembarkation areas to ensure the smooth handling of the corresponding amounts of baggage. Disembarkation will take place in the east building, while new guests are able to simultaneously board their vessel via the west building.

The intersection to the new CC3 terminal will also be modified and equipped with traffic lights. In addition to land access it will also be possible to reach the new terminal by ferry. A public jetty is being built in the eastern area of the terminal complex for this purpose. The existing quay walls will be retrofitted with fenders, bollards, and pile moorings to enable even the largest cruise liners to dock in future. The costs of the overall project, including transport connections and future investment in the CC1 terminal, are some 80 million euros. The CC3 third cruise terminal is designed to be used for an initial period of 15 years.

How busy the port can be during a single month, demonstrates the upcoming August. For the first time May will not be the busiest month but rather August 2014. “With a total of 43 ship’s calls; the 2014 Hamburg Cruise Days and a corresponding passenger volume of approx. 125 000 August will be the absolute high point of the year,” said Gerd Drossel, managing director Hamburg Cruise Center. The 2014 Hamburg Cruise Days from 1 – 3 August will see a total of seven cruise ships in the city. The first ships – the “Delphin” and the “Europa” – will arrive on 1 August. On Saturday, 2 August the “Gann”, “AIDAstella”, “Deutschland”, “Europa”, and “MSC Magnifica” will be mooring in the city. The last ships to arrive will be the “Deutschland” and the “AIDAluna” on 3 August, all together turning the port into Europe’s cruise hot spot as well as presenting themselves at a spectacular parade. In addition to this, the “Blue Port” light installation will bathe the port in a magical light.

This year the organisers will once again be focusing on the concept of bringing the cruise world onto the landside. The four kilometre-long portside event area will extend from the HafenCity Hamburg district to Altona. Twelve thematic ‘islands’ with live music stages; premium gastronomy; sport and spa facilities; maritime shopping offerings and cruise line promotion areas will be devoted to any- and everything to do with cruises. The heart of the event will be the “Cruise Village” in the HafenCity.