p18 Cruise may29 26/5/09 17:58 Page 18
Cruise
Lee Hayhurst
020 7921 8001
lhayhurst@ttglive.com
For the latest cruise news, visit
ttglive.com/cruise
Harbour hotel
cruise packages
SeaDream seeks
SOUTHAMPTON’S De Vere
more agent sales
Grand Harbour hotel has
launched a programme of
Lee Hayhurst.
more to encourage and help agents sell its
pre and post-cruise pack- LUXURY two-ship operator SeaDream Yacht Club cruises. Announcements are due in two weeks
ages aimed at the 400,000 is looking to agents to work harder on its behalf when the new brochure launches.
who use the port every year. this year as the recession has sparked a steep “We need to provide more tools to make the
The packages start from decline in corporate charters. agent’s job easier,” he said.
£49 for use of a cruise The line usually sees 30% of its inventory “We need to do more synergy work with tour
lounge and £60 for bed and sold to corporates but the sharp downturn, and operators with their own distribution network,
breakfast, to £199 for a criticism of corporate largesse, has resulted in a offering agents cruise and stay packages.”
deluxe package. dramatic drop in sales. Lepisto admitted he was shocked by the speed
Benefits include car park- The line’s president, Robert Lepisto, said at which corporate bookings fell after last
ing, fast-track cruise check- although there were signs the market was September when the scale of the crisis in
in, meals and refreshments, coming back for next year, charters are on track financial markets became apparent.
and a concierge service. to account for only 15% of its business. But he said the light at the end of the tunnel
The beginning of this “In some ways it’s not all bad news,” he said. was sunlight, not an approaching train.
month marked the start of the cruise summer “Although the incentive charters are great Lepisto took over from former president
season with a special cocktail evening for Cunard from a contracting and revenue point of view, Larry Pimentel in January. Co-founder Atle
customers due to board Queen Victoria and our individual guests are unlikely to become Brynestad became chairman, taking day to day
Queen Mary 2 the following day. loyal to the brand.” responsibility for operational matters.
Ian Buckeridge, the line’s head of UK business, Although SeaDream is offering tactical
In brief
said the resultant additional capacity available price reductions of up to 50% this summer,
for individual and group bookings was a real Buckeridge said the company would never
opportunity for agents. compromise on quality as customers expected
■ Swan Hellenic unveils new itineraries And he promised SeaDream would be doing its private yacht-style of cruise.
Swan Hellenic’s new Antarctica 2009-10 brochure
features trips to the rugged scenery of the Falk-
lands Islands, South Georgia, the South Shetland
Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. Savings of
£1,555 are available, taking the lead-in price to
£2,995 for an outside cabin on Classic Antarctica I,
departing on December 6, 2009. Meanwhile, its
summer 2010 programme offers four maiden
ports of calls and an extended 2010 river cruising
offering. New for Minerva, the line’s only ocean
ship, are calls at Grundafjordur (Iceland), Trieste
(Italy), Kerch (Ukraine) and Belle Ile (off Brittany).
■ Princess Cruises adds long-haul options
Princess Cruises has responded to demand for
long-haul fly-cruises launching a 2010-11 Exotic
Cruises Far East, Australia and New Zealand
brochure ahead of the full launch. Cruises fea-
tured are on the 670-passenger Ocean Princess
and 2,600-passenger Diamond Princess and range
from 14 to 57 nights. Prices for a 17-night fly-cruise BRILLIANCE’S FUTURE HOME: Simone Clarke (left), Iglu sales and marketing director,
start from £2,249 per person. An early-booking and Claire Dudley, Go Cruise development manager, in front of Dubai’s Burj Al Arab. They
discount is available of up to £1,000 per couple. were among 20 agents hosted by Royal Caribbean International to see where Brilliance of
ttglive.com the Seas will be based from 2010. Trade partners were shown Palm Island, Dubailand
For the very latest cruise news,
visit
ttglive.com/cruise
and hotels in the line’s inaugural Dubai fly-cruise programme. Middle East special, p51
18 29.05.2009
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