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Editorial:
Soon after
going to press with our January newsletter our team sailed on the new Queen Mary
2 (QM2). This was a short three day program (which in fact rounded out to
be only 40 hours on-board) barely enough to even start to get a feel for this
huge ship. Since then we have all been trying to put our thoughts of the
ship together and an interesting set of varied impressions we all came away
with. Needless to say it has been interesting trying to collate all these
impressions into a comprehensive ship report.
Our report on the QM2 is now available on our
web site - follow this link
QM2
Many of you may have seen Steve Bloss, WWTCA's
President of Sales of the television recently. Steve was interview
on-board the QM2 by a television crew on his impressions of the ship and how he
thought the corporate market would receive it. The program ran in our area
in mid February and then hit certain national markets across the states.
Perhaps of more interest to our corporate
clients are our thoughts on how best to utilize this exciting new ship for
incentive programs (and other corporate functions). Steve Bloss
contributed the following as a primer for how he sees the ship's potential for
the corporate market.
QM2's Incentive Potential:
compliments of Steve Bloss
By now I am sure you will have seen and heard about the Queen Mary 2 in the
media. I most admit we have never seen a cruise ship get so much press coverage.
You are more than likely aware that she is the biggest and most expensive cruise
ship ever built and is actual the first real ocean liner built since the QE 2.
Your first impression upon entering the port area is
that this ship is HUGE. It's a 26 story floating Luxury Palace that
carries only 2,620 compared to the other MEGA ships that carry 3,114 passengers.
Needless to say there is a tremendous amount of space for the lucky guests.
I must admit that after taking the two night inaugural cruise I was unable to
actually visit and enjoy every public room on the ship. I can see how a
passenger on the six night trans Atlantic cruises might need four days just to
experience the ship. The vast majority of the 14 bars, lounges, showrooms
and 10 restaurants are located on decks 2, 3 and 7. Without a doubt the most
impressive passenger decks are numbers two and three.
This ship features numerous magnificent rooms and
venues. The two level Britannia Restaurant is truly on one the most elegant and
impressive dining rooms at sea. Twin winding stair cases, mural ceilings
and a huge tapestry are all reminiscent of the "Floating Palaces" of the Titanic
era. As in all dining room custom designed Wedgwood China and Waterford
glasses enhance every table. This dining room has two private small rooms
holding around 60 each for groups both of which can be utilized for corporate
dinners.
The Queens Room is another one of the eye catching rooms
that speak pure understate elegance. This room houses the largest ballroom at
sea. The "band stage" is huge and is the deserved focal point of the room. The
Royal Court Theater is more contemporary but still refined and elegant. All of
these rooms can, by prior reservation, be made available for corporate
functions.
The QM 2 still has a class system for dining with the
highest priced suites dining in the Queens Grill. The Princess Grill on
the other hand is tied into the Jr. Suites which are very affordable and all the
same. The Princess Grill holds 178 guests and should be considered for
either groups or a take over of the entire dining room. I believe the
"class" system will work in our favor as its definitely makes your participants
feel a cut above the rest.
For meetings and presentations the QM 2 is second to
none. A purpose built area onboard houses 7 different meeting areas that
seat up to 227 or smaller rooms holding 40 guests. Built in coffee and
food stations and even bathrooms make this an idea area. Adjoining this
are is the 493 seat Illuminations (normally the Planetarium at night) which can
be used for larger groups and high tech a/v presentations.
So what is this ship all about for your incentive
groups? In one word its Ego! To begin with your client and
participants more than likely have heard all of the buzz around this ship so you
have a ton of free PR right off the bat. The ship has been positioned by
the Media as the most expensive and luxurious ship at sea. Partially
correct but certainly very affordable for groups. Last but certainly not
least is that your participants will talk about this constantly both before and
after their cruise. This is a cruise of a life time with all of the
romance and glamour of days gone by.
State of the industry:
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Recent quarterly statistics issued by MARAD on US cruise passenger traffic
noted that the top 10 cruise lines carried 8.3m passengers on 3,840 North
American cruises in 2003, up 8% over 2002. 72% of passengers in 2003
chose Caribbean and Bahamas destinations. However, Alaska passed the Southern
Caribbean as the fourth most popular destination last year.
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First
European's woe continue; Confident that there will be a positive outcome
‘in the next few days’ of restructuring negotiations currently being held with
Italian and French banks, Festival has announced new departure schedules for
its three premium ships and Caribe. The European Vision should resume its
Caribbean program from Pointe ŕ Pitre on March 12, European Stars its program
from Genoa on March 16 and Mistral - also from Genoa - on March 19 says the
line. These three ships remain arrested in port. Meanwhile Caribe’s cruises
should resume on March 10 from Havana.
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Start-up cruise venture Elysian Cruise Lines, the purchaser of Festival’s
Flamenco has chartered the ship, to be renamed Elysian Flamenco, to Spain’s
Travelplan. Technical managers for the vessel are Ravenscroft Shipmanagement,
based in Florida. The ship which will operate for the next month in the
Canaries had an unfortunate start this week when it was arrested in Lanzarote
on Wednesday. Two parties, believed to be Festival creditors, arrested the
vessel claiming unpaid amounts due to them. However one of the arrests was
subsequently withdrawn yesterday as soon as it was understood that the ship
had been sold to new owners in auction. There is no doubt that the
vessel has passed though a judical auction in Gibraltar and there is no doubt
that Festival retains no ownership whatsoever. The released ship
subsequently sailed to its next port in the scheduled itinerary.
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In
our last newsletter we mentioned the lunch Silversea's hosted aboard the
Silver Shadow in Sydney recently. We are happy to report that the event
raised around A$70,000 for Barnardos Australia by the Peter Pan Committee. In
real life, one good deed begot another as it has sparked interest in a special
cruise for the prominent charity's members and friends.
River Ship Cruising:
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The
Danube is the most popular river cruise destination claiming over 30% of the
market, almost 10% more than the Nile. Not withstanding the difficulties posed
by low levels along the Danube, both port and ship operators posted impressive
results for the 2003 season. 2004 season which starts in March will see
84 river ships cruising the Danube of these 9 are either new ships or cruising
the Danube for the first time.
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New
ships for this season include Bulgarian ship Rousse Prestige, operated by DCS
Touristik which is cruising on the Danube and Main. ARC Touristik is
chartering the brand new Johann Strauss for the entire season on cruises
leaving from and returning to Vienna. Peter Deilmann has announced four new
routes from Passau to the Black Sea Romanian port of Constanza aboard Mozart
and Donauprinzessin, while Hapag Lloyd is offering an unusual itinerary
in its 2004 program, an eight day cruise from Regensburg to Budapest.
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Passau is the most popular port of departure for Danube cruises recorded
132,383 cruise passengers or 13,383 more than the year before. Vienna saw
2,859 dockings by Danube cruisers bringing 132,282 visitors to the Austrian
capital, an increase of almost 12% over 2002. The pontoon bridge at Novi Sad
remained closed because of low water levels, hence the ports of Belgrade and
Novi Sad in Serbia reported 260 arrivals and 45,000 passengers, including
7,000 from the US. Romania received 33,000 cruise passengers last year
even though it was hard hit by low water levels and these numbers are expected
to almost double in 2004.
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84
river cruise ships are expected to ply the Danube during the 2004 season which
starts next month. Nine of these vessels are new or will be sailing the Danube
for the first time.
 For
many years now WWTCA has been promoting River Ship Cruising to our clients.
We consider a cruise to be not only an extremely economical way to visit Europe
in a safe and secure way, but also a great way to travel, no packing /
repacking, toting bags on and of transportation, no way to lose either
participants or their luggage once on-board. Add to that, the fact that
most programs are of a size that lends itself to an exclusive charter which can
be customized to the clients needs and you start to see the way these ships can
be utilized for a program.
Amongst
the many River Ship operators WWTCA feel very comfortable in offering the
following companies products. We have inspected a number of river ships in
recent years - follow the link for the latest review of each lines product
and itinerary sailed.
Viking
continue to construct new ships
Port News
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The
wild dolphins that swim with visitors were a major attraction when Hapag-Lloyd's
Europa became the first international cruise ship to visit
Monkey Mia in the remote Shark Bay World
Heritage Region of Western Australia today. Monkey Mia is located about 850 km
north of Fremantle, local tourism chief Alexandra Maslen said the arrival of
the 28,600gt luxury liner has set a course that others will follow, including
QE2 on her 2005 world voyage.
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New York and Galveston surge ahead; The
highest growth rates among the top 10 departure ports occurred in New York and
Galveston, which recorded increases of 45% and 39% respectively in 2003.
However, the traffic remains heavily concentrated at the major departure
ports, which are located in Florida. Miami, Port Canaveral and Fort Lauderdale
accounted for just under half of the total cruise passenger traffic.
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The
Port of Key West becomes the second in the
US to test a new private-sector approach to waterborne anti-terrorism security
when the SeaWolf Security Group initiates patrols of the port's harbor and
waterways today using a variety of purpose-designed boats and specially
trained operators. SeaSecure LLC is managing the pilot program, which first
launched in the Port of Palm Beach.
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During Queen Mary 2’s maiden call at Port Everglades last month,
waterside security fencing ringed the ship in the first cruise application of
technology that was developed to protect US Navy vessels and submarines from
attack by terrorist boats laden with explosives. The barrier’s modules, made
of steel and composite materials, rise nine feet above the water on pontoons
which are anchored to the ocean floor. Like a gate, the PSB can be opened and
closed, it can be used to ring multiple ships. There’s a lot of emphasis on
physical barrier protection on land, including fencing and closed-circuit
cameras, but a vessel sitting dockside is absolutely exposed.
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Dutch Antillies; It appears that the
Dutch Caribbean Islands are shortly going be shifting their currency to the
Euro. Initially, they will accept Euro notes for payments but change
will be given in local coinage.
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Barbados recently announced that only cruise passengers who are disembarking
the ship to depart the island by other means will have to go through passport
control and be required to have their passport examined on departure, regular
cruise ship passengers who are continuing on with the ship do not need to go
through the formality.
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Cruise ships turning around in New Orleans
had to scramble for alternative docking facilities over the weekend after the
entrance to the Mississippi River was closed to oceangoing vessels. The mouth
of the river was closed while rescue teams searched for the crew of a supply
boat that sank early Saturday after colliding with a container ship.
Carnival Conquest substituted Gulfport for New Orleans on Saturday, while
Norwegian Dream cruised up the alternate Mississippi River Gulf Outlet to a
cargo terminal. But Grandeur of the Seas, scheduled to leave New Orleans on
Sunday, was ‘stranded’ in the city during the weekend of parades leading up to
Mardi Gras, the AP reports.
Ship News
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A
$3.5m major refit of Carnival Cruise Lines’ Jubilee to prepare her for
entry into the Australian market as Pacific Sun.
Operating under P&O Australia flag, Pacific Sun will start cruising in October
2004.
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Pullmantur, the new owner of Superstar Aries,
hopes to have the vessel in Spain by April after she ends her cruise season in
the Straits of Malacca. A new name has yet to be announced for the 37,000gt
ship which is due to start seven day cruises from Barcelona in June. The
itinerary includes calls at Villefranche, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Naples,
Tunis and back to Barcelona. The operator intends to change a few onboard
areas to adapt the vessel for the Spanish market.
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Star
Cruises, the parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line increased revenue in the
fourth quarter nearly 8.6% to $400 million, but recorded a $128.9 million
loss. The loss would have been $14.8 million, but one-time events, including a
$95.5 million impairment charge for the write-off and retirement of older
ships, led to the wider loss. The company is looking to unload older
tonnage and replace it with mid-size Norwegian Cruise Line ships as NCL brings
in new builds for itself. The net loss in the fourth quarter of 2002 was
$18.9 million. For 2003, Star Cruises' revenue increased nearly 2.9% to
$1.6 billion, but non-recurring events turned what would have been a $7.3
million net profit into a $101.4 million net loss. In 2002, the line recorded
net income of $73 million. It seems probably that the Norway and the USS
America projects are going to be abandoned in favor of new ships.
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The
Pride of America, which was recently towed to dry-dock after sinking in
a storm at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany, is to
undergo a complete and thorough survey to ascertain the extent of the damage
from which the Lloyd Werft yard, NCL and insurers are to produce a new "work
plan," first for the repair and replacement of equipment and interiors that
have been submerged for the past month, and second, for the completion of the
ship. The line said the assessment should take the next few weeks,
"at which time Lloyd Werft and NCL should be in a position to conclude their
ongoing discussions regarding completion of the ship," and a new delivery
schedule will be finalized. Star Cruises noted that the banks
underwriting the vessel have the right to call in the loan under specified
circumstances. If the lenders take that action, then Star said it could
default on the Pride loan or other loans "due to cross-default clauses
contained in this loan facility." Star added that it is "in the process of
seeking a waiver from the syndicate of banks and expects to obtain such a
waiver." Norwegian Cruise Line’s recently announced that the company is
planning to add another ship to its Hawaii fleet in 2006.
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The
Diamond Princess the first Princess
Cruises ship to emerge from a Japanese shipyard and the largest Princess ship
to date, will be christened Thursday by Yoshiko Tsukuda, the wife of
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries president Kazuo Tsukuda. Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries constructed the Diamond Princess and its sister, the Sapphire
Princess, which debuts in May. Princess said the christening will be "a
spectacular send-off" and include traditional Japanese dance, music and dress.
The 116,000-ton, 2,670-passenger ship sails to Los Angeles the day after the
naming ceremony and debuts in the U.S. March 13, with cruises to Mexico.
Cruise Opportunities:
From time to time WWTCA is able to offer some last minute deal, cancelled
charter opportunities and other deal of particular interest. This month we have
the following which, if the dates work for your programs - represent amazing
value.
These following dates are all on smaller, 5 star ships (pax count from100 to
400)
March 19-24, 2004, 5 nights - Caribbean
April 5-9, 2004, 4 nights - Caribbean
April 9-14, 2004, 5 nights - Caribbean
May 5-12, 2004, 7 nights Europe (Atlantic seaboard)
August 16-23, 2004, 7 Eastern Med.
October 11-18, 2004, 7 night Eastern Med.
November 13-17, 2004, 4 nights Caribbean
November 17-22, 2004, 5 nights Caribbean
November 29 - December 5, 2004 Caribbean
Another small ship opportunity;
March 11 – 13, 2004, 2 nights Caribbean
May 8 – 13, 2004, 5 nights South France etc.
May 12 – 13, 2004, 1 night South France etc.
Top of the line smaller ship
August 30, 2004, 7 nights Med.
September 01, 2004, 7 Nights West Coast USA
September 22, 2004 , 7 nights South of France etc.
October 06, 2004, 7 nights Italian Riviera
February 8, 2005, Western Caribbean
February 24, 2005, Central Caribbean
Finally
November 6, 2004, 7 nights Western Med.
November 7, 2004, 7 nights Western Med.
November 14, 2004, 7 Nights Western Med.
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