Cruise For the latest cruise news, visit
ttgdigital.com/cruise Sophie Griffiths
THE BOSS of luxury French cruise line Compagnie du Ponant has confirmed the line’s newest ship will sail into “unchartered waters” on a new Arctic voyage never before sailed by a cruise ship. Speaking to TTG, international sales director Stephen Winter said there was already a waiting list of 80 people for the voyage onboard Le Soleal, which will launch in July 2013. The ship will sail from
Kangerlussuaq in Greenland, through the Northwestern Passage on a 21-day voyage to Anadyr, on the east coast of Russia. Winter said the line would also be operating charter flights to enable guests to reach the far-flung destinations, with the cost of the flights included in the cruise price, which starts from ¤7,795. “There are a few ice-breakers that
have done this but no other cruise ships,” he said. “There will be opportunities to meet local
indigenous people, and it will be a lot about the open wilderness, with the chance to see lots of wildlife, including Arctic foxes, whales and polar bears.” The voyage will then continue on to Japan, and may move on to cruise around Asia and in particular India, although the remaining section of the route is still under consideration, Winter said.
He admitted that ice could present a challenge to the route, but said the line had planned four different contingency routes should the original course become too dangerous. It comes as he revealed Compagnie du Ponant was forced to cancel its Maldives sailings this year, due to the threat of piracy. He said the company had been made highly aware of the issue since one of its vessels was hijacked in 2008. “For the past four years, we’ve had an escort from the French navy while sailing in the Maldives, but at the beginning of this year, the navy said
sgriffiths@ttgdigital.com
Compagnie set to enter ‘unchartered waters’
they could no longer guarantee the security of the ships because of piracy issues, so we’ve had to cancel this route as well as our Seychelles sailing,” he said.
Ponant will now cruise round-trips
from St Martin in the Caribbean between November and March. It’s been a busy year for the line; it has sold two ships – Le Levant to Paul Gauguin Cruises and Le Diamant, to Quark Expeditions, which is owned by Tui, with both leaving the Compagnie du Ponant fleet in October. Meanwhile, Winter hinted that
there could be another new vessel on the horizon for the line. “There is some talk of another ship in the future, but they are just discussions at this stage,” he said. Compagnie du Ponant also launched a new UK call centre run by eWaterways earlier this year, enabling UK agents to book cruises for their clients in sterling rather than through the company which operates in euros.
Cruise – an alternative for youngsters MINTEL RESEARCH
Cruise attracts younger crowd
How Le Soleal is expected to look (top) with sister ship Le Boreal (below). Both will cruise in the Arctic 18 24.05.2012
ALMOST HALF of Brits between the age of 15 and 24 are considering taking a cruise in the future, new research has shown. Data from a survey of 1,469 people conducted by Mintel showed that although only a minority (4%) of 15-24 year-olds have never been on a cruise compared with 32% of 65-74 year olds, up to 40% of 15-24 year- olds believe cruising is a good way of visiting and exploring different destinations, while over a quarter (28%) think they are a good place to meet new people. Tom Rees, senior travel and tourism analyst at Mintel, said: “Young adults like the idea of an adventure at sea, and the ‘house party’ atmosphere of an onboard holiday can appeal to many young package holidaymakers as a change from resort-based trips. “The key is getting the product right. Given the market trend towards shorter cruises departing from UK ports, short themed breaks or even floating music festivals, promoted through social media, can be a way to attract younger clients.” The survey also showed that the sea cruise market as a whole was performing well. With regards to value, it increased by 57% between 2006 and 2011, in a context that saw the overall overseas holidays spend declining by 9%. The cruise market was valued at £2.4 billion in 2011, up from £1.6 billion in 2006.
Sophie Griffiths 020 7921 8010
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60