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Agents resume aggressive discounting of cruises in Britain - report

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 18 January 2016 18 January 2016

Cruise lines have been urged to step in and “nip discounting in the bud”, as agents revealed it had become more widespread in recent months, Travel Weekly reports on its website.

Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise shipping group that has significant presence in the country, cut commission to 5% in 2012 after it had become clear that some agents used part of the commission in a price war to win market share from others.

Scott Anderson, of The Luxury Cruise Company, claimed some agents were discounting cruises by up to 13%. Thomas Cook was this week offering 5% off.

“We’ve lost bookings as a result of others discounting, but we refuse to drop our prices,” he said. “It annoys me that there is no way of policing it. I’d like cruise lines to take away marketing funds from those that discount. Discounting breeds a culture among consumers who think they can get cheaper prices, but we won’t play price ping pong. Cruise lines must nip it in the bud,” Anderson was quoted by the publication as saying.

P&O Cruises fourth in UK travel brand ranking survey

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 18 January 2016 18 January 2016

P&O Cruises, the UK based contemporary market unit in the Carnival Corporation & plc group, was the only cruise company to sail in to the 2015 top five YouGov BrandIndex Buzz ranking for travel agents, hotels and guides, the Southampton based company said in a statement.

The BrandIndex measures the public’s perception of brands on a daily basis across a range of methods and annual rankings are compiled from scores across the year.

P&O Cruises is ranked fourth in the travel category for 2015. It is also second in the top five most improved brands of 2015 within this sector, improving its score by 0.9 on last year.

Brands are rated using YouGov BrandIndex’s Buzz score metric, which measures the key messaging heard about a brand through advertising, news, word-of-mouth or friends and family during the previous two weeks. It also measures recent brand sentiment and indicates whether the awareness has been positive or negative.

P&O Cruises senior vice president of sales and marketing Paul Ludlow said: “We are the market leading cruise line for British guests and it is great to see this being consolidated among the UK consumers - improving on last year and coming fourth overall is a huge achievement.”

The end of 2014 saw a new brand positioning unveiled with the launch of a multi-million pound consumer marketing push, spearheaded by a new TV advert starring Rob Brydon, and ‘This is the Life’ advertising strapline. It aims to inspire everyone - both seasoned cruisers and those new to cruising - to discover the joys of life through an unforgettable holiday experience. A continuation of this campaign throughout 2015, along with the striking new livery being introduced across the fleet and the launch of Britannia has re-energised the brand identity for Britain’s favourite cruise company over last 12 months.

Ludlow added: “Through our ‘This is the Life’ strapline we have created a compelling and distinctive brand which resonates with guests - both new and past guests - putting us at the forefront of the British holiday market, not just the cruise industry.”

P&O Cruises Australia received 84% more bookings in first week of January

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 18 January 2016 18 January 2016

P&O Cruises, the Sydney based contemporary market unit in Carnival Corporation & plc group, received 84% more bookings in the first week of January than in the same period last year, the company said in a statement.

“In addition, Thursday 7 January was its biggest booking day ever, with holidaymakers keen to make the most of the cruise line’s latest 24-hour sale,” the company added.

P&O Cruises Australia President Sture Myrmell said the cruise line’s latest ships, Pacific Eden and Pacific Aria, were in hot demand, with past guests and new cruisers all eager to get onboard and experience the new look and feel of P&O’s product.

“We’ve been selling our expanded five-ship fleet for more than 12 months, but the bookings for Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden are really pouring in now that the ships are here and people can see for themselves how impressive they are,”Mrymell said.

The two ships were transferred from sister company Holland America Line and underwent a refit before they were reintroduced in Australia.

“In 2016, P&O will welcome more than 420,000 passengers onboard our five ships – reinforcing our position as Australia’s leading home cruise brand. Our 2016 inventory is filling up fast, so travellers should move quickly if they want to cruise this year.”

Myrmell said the cruise line had plenty more excitement in store for its agent partners and guests. “We can’t wait to take the next steps in the evolution of our brand with the addition of Pacific Explorer next year and our brand new ship in 2019, as well as the debut of a raft of new ports and itineraries. There’s going to be lots of great cruise news to share over the coming months.”

Pullmantur reinforces its management team

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 18 January 2016 18 January 2016

Alan Lam reports

After its recent decision to refocus on Spain on account of the deteriorating economic situation in South America, Pullmantur Cruises, the Spanish subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., has announced the strengthening of its management team by bringing in two new, experienced members.

Jurgen Bailon and José Blanco have been appointed vice-presidents of the group, reporting directly to President and CEO of Pullmantur, Jorge Vilches. They will be responsible for operations and commercial activities, respectively, on the global level.

Jorge Vilches has described the impending arrivals of the two in the company’s management team as “fundamental” to implementing its recently launched “Movidos x Ti” scheme (Cruise Business 14 December 2015 new item), which focused more than ever before on passengers and the quality of its products.

Jurgen Bailon will be the new vice-President of Operations and will be responsible for global strategy in relation to onboard revenue generation, hotel and supply chain management. He has already had a rich experience in the cruise sector, mainly accrued from his roles in the Royal Caribbean group where he assumed various management positions within Pullmantur since 1991, such as Fleet Hotel Director/GM, Food & Beverage Director and Vacation Experience Director/GM. He was also a vice-President of Island Cruises in Brazil and, prior to this appointment, he was the Ship Management Services Corporate Director for Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity.

José Blanco González will assume the role of vice-President Commercial from 8 February. He will be responsible for commercial strategy and activities of the group on the global level. He has a proven track record in the holiday and tourism sector, having fulfilled various key roles in the industry, including the Commercial Director of Parque Isla Magica, Marketing & Sales Director of PortAventura Resort, and being Europcar’s General Manager of Sales & Marketing for Spain immediately prior to his current appointment.

“I am convinced that their experience will contribute significantly to the consolidation of the group as a leader in the cruise industry and help continue and increase our global success," said Jorge Vilches.

Crystal Cruises cancels 2016 calls to Turkey

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 15 January 2016 15 January 2016

In response to ongoing security concerns for travel within Istanbul, Crystal Cruises announced today that it will reroute two of its upcoming voyages set to call in Turkish ports. The cruise line has revised the itineraries for Crystal Symphony’s April 24 and May 1 sailings, previously planned to include visits to Istanbul and Kuşadasi, replacing those ports with Greek destinations.

“The safety and peace of mind of our guests are our primary concerns, and we do not take any risks with either,” says Crystal CEO & President, Edie Rodriguez. “The itinerary changes will allow our guests to continue with their planned vacations in the same standard of excellence and luxury, without the added worry of security in a particular destination.”

Turkish ports of call scheduled for April and November aboard Crystal’s new luxury yacht, Crystal Esprit, will also be changed, though the new itineraries have yet to be finalized. Effective immediately, the voyages will reflect the following itinerary changes (*=newly changed destination):

– April 24 (7 days) – Athens/Piraeus, Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, *Souda Bay/Chaina, *Navplion (overnight), *Hydra and *Athens/Piraeus (overnight), Greece.
– May 1 (12 days) – *Athens/Piraeus (overnight), *Patmos, *Rhodes, Mykonos, Santorini, Navplion and Argostolios, Greece; Crotone, Sorrento and Rome/Civitavecchia, Italy.

As the annual President’s Cruise, the April 24 sailing will also boast the distinction of being one of Crystal’s few voyages to focus solely in Greece. For both sailings, pre-reserved Crystal Adventures will automatically be canceled, while the line is in the process of developing a host of new excursions ashore, which will be available in the online Guest Check-In/Priority Check-In & Planning Center (PCPC) at crystalcruises.com.