Cruise Newsletter - August 2005

 

Memo - Worldwide will be exhibiting at the Toronto trade show "IncentiveWorks" which opens its doors on Tuesday August 23rd at the Metro Center. 

Hopefully we will see you there - Booth #811.

 

Editorial

One of the smaller and often overlooked segments of the luxury cruise market is the European River / hotel barge industry.  I use the word industry as it is really quite amazing the number of these small and nearly always five star, exclusive charter vessels there are operating all over Europe. Gone are the days of tacky, poorly converted old coal barges carrying too many passengers in too tight accommodations.  Quite the reverse these days, the bulk of the fleet are beautifully converted, in some cases custom built small ships, which offer every possible amenity as well as hands on personal service and 5-star cuisine  featuring notable delicacies from the region of their itinerary.

 

Worldwide works with a number of the major operators and has over the years put together some interesting charters for clients ranging from restaurateurs to golf groups to wine clubs and even historical interest groups.

 

Some of these small ships can accommodate upwards of twenty passengers, to meet the demand for  whilst for larger size charters we have put together two big 12 passengers barges to cruise together and then tie up alongside at night so everyone could mix and mingle.

 

This year has seen a serious increase in demand for these cruises.  The big advantage of being able to pay in US Dollars for almost everything has certainly made this a popular way of seeing and exploring Europe.  The added advantage of also having the exclusive use of the vessel and being able to customize the vessel for your group has also been a big plus.

 

As anyone who has traveled around the delightful and still unexploited areas of Europe by car will tell you - it can be extremely expensive.  Fuel costs in Europe are running at around 4 time the price of fuel in the USA.  Motorway tolls are prohibitive, fine dining in the style you will be served on your cruise barge can really hurt the wallet, not to mention the fact that many of the tours and trips are included in your cruise price, as is local transportation on the barges mini bus or on their bicycles - and all this before you even find a hotel room to compare to your luxurious on-board stateroom. Buy value... whilst not Europe on $5 per day, this is not only one of the most interesting and convenient ways of exploring Europe but also, probably the most value for your money.

 

I realize that these specialized small river ships have their limitations for corporate cruises, never the less there are opportunities to utilize them for some special programs. Do not be deterred in offering these products simply because you know little about this style of cruising - call the experts here at Worldwide and avail yourself of our expertise.  As an initial introduction  you can always visit our web site where you will find information on the barges, cruise areas and cuisine.

 

Awards: 

* Crystal once again won the best big ship category in voting by readers of Travel & Leisure Magazine; Seabourn won the best small ship category. No surprises here: agents report that both lines continue to operate at extremely high levels of service.

*Viking River Cruises; Travel + Leisure magazine's 10th annual World's Best Awards Readers' Survey ranked Viking River Cruises as the number one river cruise line on the "Top 10 Small-Ship Cruise Lines" list. In addition Viking River Cruises has also appeared on Condé Nast Traveler’s “Gold List” in 2004 and 2005. Two of Viking River Cruises ships, Viking Europe and Viking Pride, were voted as, “The Best Cruise Ships in the World” by a Condé Nast Traveler’s readers’ poll in 2005.

 

Industry News:

 

 

 

 

Windstar's Group and Incentive department  has advise that Diane Moore of Virtuoso will replace Jim McHugh at Windstar. Jim recently decided to move on for personal reasons.

 

Strong First-Quarter Passenger Totals Point to Continued Growth.  A recent report from CLIA confirms what we are seeing in our offices as well as what we have been reporting for a year or more.  If you are considering a cruise for your clients program(s)... call us sooner rather than later as pricing is going to continue to climb and availability become more difficult to find, especially for those busy period when our folks want to travel.  We continue to hear from our clients that many of their decision makers have had an enjoyable cruise vacation experience and are more than happy to consider a cruise program for their business groups.


CLIA ships carried nearly 3 million guests in the first three months of 2005.  Strong demand continued in the first three months of 2005.  CLIA-member line fleets carried 2.63 million worldwide guests in the first quarter of 2005, an 8.9 percent increase over the same period in 2004. North American passengers grew by 12.9 percent to 2.34 million guests, up from 2.10 million first-quarter guests a year ago.  CLIA-member cruise lines also posted impressive occupancy figures, with a 104.3 percent occupancy factor in the first quarter of 2005 compared with 103.3 percent for the year prior.

CLIA's first-quarter passenger carryings report also found:
Itineraries of 1 to 5 days accounted for a 31.7 percent share of the cruise market; itineraries of 6 to 8 days accounted for 54.3 percent; 9 to 17-day itineraries accounted for 13.7 percent and itineraries of 18 days or longer accounted for .4 percent of the market. The average length of a cruise in the first three quarters was 7.33 days versus 7.09 days for the same period in 2004.

“The strong passenger totals provide further evidence of the fertile consumer interest and demand,” said Dale.

Ship News

Holland America Line, in a multi-year partnership with Food & Wine magazine, has launched an exciting new onboard culinary program that will provide guests with an experiential way to immerse themselves in the tantalizing tastes of the exotic ports they visit.

The Culinary Arts Center - one of the marquee features of Holland America Line's $225 million Signature of Excellence® program - is much more than a state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen. Guests can learn tricks of the trade from world-class chefs in action through demonstrations and intimate hands-on cooking classes, plus learn from expert sommeliers at wine tasting events.

Additionally, on select sailings special culinary events include demonstrations by celebrated guest chefs, question-and-answer sessions with renowned culinary authorities, market tours in ports of call, book signings and specially designed onboard menus. It's a unique way for culinary aficionados, devoted "foodies" and those who simply love to cook to gain an enlightened perspective on the cultures and places they visit.

"We are excited about the myriad possibilities of this partnership," said Julie McGowan, Food & Wine's senior vice president/publisher. "By pairing Holland America Line's stellar reputation and worldwide itineraries with Food & Wine's expertise and celebration of the epicurean lifestyle, we'll attract the most dynamic, sought-after talents in the world of food and wine."

Culinary Arts Centers are currently operating on most ships and will be in place on all ships by Fall 2006.


Royal Caribbean showed its confidence in Celebrity with an announcement for a new 2,850-pax ship to be constructed at Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany. The company expects delivery in Fall 2008. Celebrity's most recent newbuild (Constellation) arrived in 2002. The size of this post-Panamax vessel (117,000 GRT) may redefine premium cruising, as it will likely be the largest ship in the premium category upon arrival. And will it be premium? Even with 90% balconies, the space ratio is only going to be 41 (on par with Carnival Legend).

 

Silversea Cruises is transforming the Terrace Café into an Italian restaurant called La Terrazza which will be open most evenings for dinner, offering an à la carte menu. Reservations are recommended as seating is limited but there is no service charge. The Terrace Café will remain the casual alternative restaurant for breakfast and lunch. Silver Shadow is the first vessel to receive La Terrazza followed by Silver Wind in September, and Silver Cloud and Silver Whisper later this year. The menu for La Terrazza is inspired by the Slow Food Movement, which began in Italy 19 years ago and is dedicated to preserving gastronomic traditions through the use of fresh, not processed, traditional foods. Highlighting the menu are an arugula and parmigiano salad; risotto with asparagus and shrimp; grilled swordfish with Pantelleria caper pesto sauce; and grilled beef tenderloin with aromatic herb butter and sautéed baby spinach.

 

Norwegian Sea - August 6th will see her transferred to parent company Star Cruises to sail as SuperStar Libra. Commencing this September she will inaugurate India cruises for Star, sailing from her new homeport of Mumbai (Bombay). The 42,000-ton, 1,510-passenger vessel originally entered service as the Seaward in May, 1988.

 

Queen Mary 2 had one of its gas turbine engines replaced in one day, the pre-planned operation was carried out in Oslo due to the available cranage and wharf area required to perform the work. The gas turbine that was replaced was fully operational when the ship arrived in Oslo. However, the QM 2's departure from the Norwegian capital was delayed from 11 p.m. Tuesday to 4 a.m. for operational reasons as the ship is restricted to a daylight transit of the narrows at the entrance to the Oslo Fjord. The extended stay also assisted in the smooth changing of the gas turbine engine - if only I could get my car worked on as quickly!!!!
 

Port News:

New York City officials recently launched www.nycruiseterminal.com , a Web site for consumers and travel professionals, as part of a $200 million initiative that will accommodate the Big Apple's burgeoning cruise business through the construction of six modern cruise berths and two new terminals. Under a master plan announced last year, New York City's historic but outdated New York Cruise Terminal in Manhattan will undergo a major renovation and a new terminal will also be built across the East River in the borough of Brooklyn. Spearheaded by New York City's Economic Development Corporation (EDC), the projects are already underway and will help CLIA-member cruise lines meet surging demand for cruises from New York.


According to EDC officials, all six berths – four in Manhattan and two more in Brooklyn – will be available for use by 2035. The New York Cruise Terminal (previously know as the New York City Passenger Ship Terminal) is now the country's fourth-busiest, with 845,788 passengers utilizing the facility in 2004. Embarkations grew by more than 30 percent in both 2002 and 2003. The number of guests utilizing the terminal is expected to grow to 1.17 million by 2010, a 6.4 percent annual growth rate. Between 2010 and 2020, passenger totals are expected to reach 1.5 million at an annual growth rate of 2.8 percent.


Specific improvements at the New York Cruise Terminal will include:
New Aprons - The piers will be reconstructed with wider aprons allowing the truck traffic associated with provisioning to take place on the outside, rather than the inside, of the building. An application will be made to extend the terminal's mooring capacity further into the Hudson River so that a 1,200-foot-long berth, large enough to accommodate the Queen Mary 2 and other ships that extend over 1,000 feet, can be built.
Gangways. The new aprons will also provide for new gangways as needed to reach ship doors within current norms.
First Floor. With ship provisioning taking place outside the building, the existing first floor will be used for guest and luggage disembarkation and a new processing area for federal agencies, eliminating the need to move luggage to the second floor of the terminal. The first floor will also be used for ground transportation and as a provisioning logistics area.
Second Floor. The second floor will be fully dedicated to guest check-in, security, embarkation, amenities and offices.
Roof. The roofs of all three piers will continue to offer guest parking. New features will include access elevators, escalators and stairs.
Access. New access improvements will include off-site taxi stands, curb improvements and strategies to eliminate conflicts between the bikeway and pedestrian path adjacent to the terminal and terminal traffic. An overhead pedestrian bridge across the West Side Highway will be pursued with city and state transportation authorities.

Brooklyn;  The new terminal at Pier 12 which is slated to open in the second half of 2005, will include:  A single-level terminal with separate embarkation and disembarkation areas. and areas for passenger processing by federal agencies.


Galverston; A fledgling port in the early days of cruising's homeport phenomenon, the Port of Galveston has quickly become a player. Galveston recently passed the 1.5 million passenger mark, the highest annual total achieved since the port launched its first year-around sailings aboard Carnival Cruise Lines' Celebration in September 2000. Galveston has clearly benefited from the cruise industry's homeport movement. The city hosted 377,00 cruise passengers last year, making it the eighth-largest cruise port in North America, according to statistics from the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL). In addition, Royal Caribbean International recently announced that Splendour of the Seas will offer four- and five- day sailings from Galveston from November through April of this year and from November 2006 through April 2007. Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean's sister line, Celebrity Cruises will deploy Galaxy in Galveston this winter. Finally, Princess Cruises recently announced that Grand Princess will spend a third season cruising from Galveston between November 2006 and April 2007.

 

Grand Turk - A Margaritaville bar-restaurant will anchor the beach at Carnival Corp.’s $40m cruise facility at Grand Turk. With almost 60% of the pier’s pilings already driven, the facility is on track for an early 2006 opening. Passengers will step from the pier onto a beautiful white sand beach with a great swimming pool, Margaritaville, one of singer Jimmy Buffet’s chain of laid-back tropical cafes, will be located here.  The first official call will be the Noordam on Feb. 25, when the Holland America ship arrives on its maiden Caribbean cruise from New York. Other cruise lines such as Crystal, Discovery World, Fred. Olsen, Radisson Seven Seas and Silversea are in line to dock here.


On an island with just four taxis and 80 hotel rooms, work is underway to create varied attractions. The diving is world famous. In addition to watersports, passengers will be able to take a hop-on/hop-off island tour and boat excursions to spots like Gibbs Cay, with its stingrays and pink sand. Points of historic interest include the old salt mining industry, a museum in a former prison dating from 1690 and the fact that NASA operated its Project Mercury tracking station here - astronaut John Glenn splashed down near Carnival’s pier site. The facility will be taking it ‘a little slow’ with calls in 2006 as the island ramps up, But in 2007, as many as 300,000 passengers are expected.

 

Belize - where passenger numbers exploded from 14,000 to 890,000 in just five years is expecting to see much more growth after the completion of a new cruise terminal in 2007. At the moment it boasts the world’s longest tender ride, which makes it difficult to offer many tours. As reported earlier, Carnival and Belize Ports Ltd. are moving forward with their joint venture project to build a $50m cruise facility in the Port Loyola Area of Belize City. The post-Panamax two-berth pier is scheduled to become operational in late 2007. with construction starting as early as mid-September

Belize which is famous for its enormous reef and small cays has endless shore excursion possibilities, the sheer magnitude of the country is unbelievable. It’s not only the little cays. It has everything from Mayans to mountains to jaguars to national parks. There are a lot of soft-adventure possibilities for cruisers. Belize had rode a wave of cruise growth from 1999 to 2004 saw numbers decline this year because some ships redeployed to the booming Mediterranean.


Ouche - look closely - there is a multi million dollar mega yacht under the twisted debri

Hurricane Dennis blew right over the Cayman Islands and western Cuba before focusing its aim on Pensacola in Florida’s panhandle. But South Florida still got lots of rain and some pretty good wind for about 12 hours. Winds appear to have blown over the floating paint shed at Jones Boat Yard in Miami with M/Y Double Haven inside, damaging all the antennas and the satellite dome. A few weeks from wrapping up a 10-month refit, the crew of the 168-foot Feadship are looking at several more months of clean up and repairs.

 

A recent update of the situation suggests that an extended legal/insurance tussle may delay the work (what a surprise) however, the yacht is now in another shipyard and working towards completion of the original job. Repairs of the damage are expected to commence "soon".

 

New Itineraries

Recent news from Cunard confirms rumors that the Queen Mary 2 will be sailing a world cruise in 2007. This huge ship will unquestionable test the limits of the demand for this type of cruise / itinerary and has the potential to transform the nature of the round-the-world cruise business.

With QM2 entering the market, Cunard will have dominance in capacity in the world-cruise market. It's expected that the QE2 will be marketed mainly to British and Europeans for the 2007 world-cruise. Overall, QM2 business is seen as strong, though filling all those berths for the somewhat limited world cruise market could prove to be quite a challenge.

 

Interestingly, with the QM2 having 2,620 pax double occupancy and the Queen Elizabeth 2 with 1,790 the combined  total number of berths is more than 4,400 passengers (based on double capacity) yet the combined capacities of the other three ships that are currently being marketed to North Americans for 2006 world cruises  actually total less than the capacity of QM2.- (RSSC's Voyager, Crystal Serenity, and Holland America Line's Prinsendam).

Another difficulty to overcome - according to the statistics the average age of QM2 passengers is younger than the typical world-cruise passenger - so the current demographic they are marketing to is out of sync with the demographics of the average world-cruiser.  After all you would probably need to be retired or have "independent means" to be able to afford even a shorter round-the-world  segment, let alone take off that much time from your job.

 

Clipper Cruise Line is offering in-depth look at life "Down Under" on sailings aboard Clipper Odyssey. From November through February the 128-passenger vessel will sail the Coral and Tasman Seas to New Caledonia, New Zealand, and Australia. A fleet of onboard Zodiac landing craft takes passengers ashore in areas where no infrastructure exists and a glass-bottom boat offers a look into the undersea world for those who are not interested in joining the planned snorkeling and swimming excursions. Onboard lecturers and guided shore excursions provide further information on the region and are presented by naturalists and historians chosen for their expertise in the region. The 17-night cruise November 1, 2005 sails from New Caledonia to Melbourne, Australia via the Great Barrier Reef and Sydney; six 13-night New Zealand cruises depart from November 2005 through February 2006 and December 2006 sailing between Auckland and Queenstown, New Zealand calling at Milford Sound (Embark), Doubtful Sound, Dusky Sound, Dunedin, Akaroa, Lyttelton, Queen Charlotte Sound, Motuara Island, Picton, Wellington, Napier, Tauranga.; the 18-night cruise, February 22, 2006 sails from Queenstown, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia.

 

Peter Deilmann Cruises will begin accepting reservations on August 8, two months earlier than in past years, for its 2006 European river cruises that will offer more than 270 departures of seven to 14 nights. Deilmann's nine deluxe river ships operate on the Danube, Rhine, Moselle, Rhône, Saône, Seine, Elbe, Vltava, Oder and other rivers from late March through mid-November. The line is introducing fully escorted tours for the first time with five itineraries including one marking the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt's death. Among new independent cruise-tours are a Cézanne Centenary celebrating the 100th anniversary of the artist's birth and one that operates from Saxony to Copenhagen. Following the successful introduction of Special interest cruises this year, Deilmann will offer more in 2006 with new music, golf and gardens itineraries and introduce new equestrian riding programs. The 2006 music cruise aboard the MV Mozart, set for April 2 to 9, will pay tribute to the composer's 250th birthday.

 

Princess Cruises will send eight ships to the Caribbean for the 2006-2007 season. The seven to 14-night sailings will depart from Ft. Lauderdale, San Juan, Galveston and a new homeport for Princess, New Orleans. The new Crown Princess enters service next spring and will sail from San Juan for her first Caribbean season on seven-night Southern Caribbean routes. Caribbean Princess shifts to Sunday departures from Ft. Lauderdale on October 29, 2006 through April 29, 2007. Grand Princess will return to her Galveston homeport to sail on a series of seven-day Western Caribbean cruises. Star Princess will again offer a seven-day Western Caribbean itineraries from Ft. Lauderdale on Saturdays. Sun Princess will sail alternating 10-day sailings round-trip from Ft. Lauderdale to the Southern and Eastern Caribbean. Sea Princess again sails 14-night Caribbean cruises from Ft. Lauderdale. Golden Princess will sail from New Orleans on December 16, 23 and 30, 2006 to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Coral Princess will join the Caribbean fleet for a seven-night holiday sailing to the Eastern Caribbean on December 22, 2006.

 

Delta Queen Steamboat Company is introducing new destinations  for its 2006 river voyages, from Civil War and fall foliage cruises on the Black Warrior River, with visits to Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, to the first all-Texas cruise aboard the Delta Queen. July and August sailings will celebrate the 30th anniversary of Mississippi Queen.

 

Good & Bad news department

Radisson Seven Seas is discontinuing dolphin encounter programs in its ports of call. The luxury cruise line supports the World Society for the Protection of Animals' worldwide campaign to halt dolphin encounter operations, and, through its onboard environmental education programs in partnership with Jean-Michel Cousteau's Ocean Futures Society, encourages passengers to become responsible environmental citizens. Darius Mehta, director of land programs for Radisson Seven Seas said "Sadly, under the guise of communing with nature or advancing our scientific understanding, dolphin encounter programs too often overlook the way dolphins actually exist and interact with each other in the wild, rather than respecting their natural place in the marine ecosystem. While some parks may obtain dolphins legally, many use illegal and cruel means to capture these magnificent animals. While we will continue to employ programs that allow our guests the wonderful experience of observing dolphins in the wild, we're opposed to those that interfere with dolphins' natural behavior

 

PROGRAM IDEA's

Coming up soon are several sporting events which our clients should be focusing on:

 

Monaco Grand Prix - this event is held annually in Monte Carlo - call us for ideas, we have already signed two charter contract for 2006.  Due to limited port space it is imperative to move early on any plans you may have for a ship charter.  Group space is very limited also and increases in cost the closer it gets to race time.

 

Grand Prix Tours - who have the Le Ponant chartered for the 2006 race are already working on their 2006 program and are able to discuss a re-charter or group booking at this stage.  As they sell out the cabins - the opportunity to do something becomes less viable and the cost increases accordingly.   They have a very extensive package which include a cruise, the race, cocktail parties with the drivers et all. They can be reached at (949) 719-3350.

2006 Ryder Cup - This event is being held in Ireland at the prestigious Kildare Golf and Country Club, Straffan, Co. Kildare, between Friday 22nd and Sunday 24th September.  Our client has chartered the Seabourn Pride and will bring the ship into the port of  Dublin with pre & post cruises planned around the event. Call us if you have any clients interested in this very exclusive golf/cruise program. We have now signed a contract for the Seabourn Pride - call us if you have any interest in purchasing a block of staterooms for your group.

 

Superbowl in Miami 2007

True to form, just as soon as this years Superbowl was over, our telephones started to ring for Superbowl 2007.  Call us for some ideas, we are happy to chat about options and who and what might be available in Miami. 

  • We have a client who is chartering a ship for the event and will be breaking the staterooms in various allotments for resale to the corporate market

The America's Cup 2007

Worldwide continues to bring this event to your attention.  We are currently working on programs for some of our clients who recognizes the corporate potential the event holds and the up market image it projects - especially for multi-national corporations.

 

Check the latest news and race results on our web site



THE AMERICA’S CUP – THE STAGE FOR CREATING LEGENDS as well as a SITE Crystal Award.

For more information contact:

·         Steve Bloss (954) 452-8800, ext. 26 - email Steve

·         Jim Huff (954) 452-8800, ext. 28 - email Jim

·         Leon Banossian (954) 452-8800, ext. 29 - email Leon

·         Martin Dock +44 (0)1794 514336 - email Martin

·         Jim Castle (954) 452 8800. ext.25 - email Jim

 

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