analysis


“ANTICIPATING CHANGE, AND KEEPING AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION WITH NEW EXPERIENCES AND ITINERARIES, WILL REMAIN IMPORTANT”


Alliances and tie-ins with luxury brands and


household names continue to feature highly. For example, Seabourn has a long-standing relationship with Molton Brown, and has a new partnership with Michelin-starred chef Thomas Keller, while wellness guru Andrew Weil is developing onboard spa experiences. Small-ship operators such as Silversea,


which sails to more than 800 destinations on all seven continents, continue to feed the desire to travel to hard-to-access destinations. “Our intimate boutique ships show you the world in a personal, meaningful way and offer access to smaller ports no other cruise line can visit,” says Silversea’s Georgiou. Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ milestones include having


cruised the Northeast Passage no fewer than three times (the only non-Russian cruise operator to traverse the route). Meanwhile, this summer will see Crystal reprise last year’s groundbreaking cruise along the fabled Northwest Passage. Themed offerings, such as Europa 2’s golf


cruises, remain a strong focus, while Seabourn is meeting increased demand for authentic, immersive local experiences with its ‘curated’ expert-led Ventures by Seabourn tours. Onboard ‘enrichment’ programmes also still feature highly. Regent Seven Seas, for example, partners with the Smithsonian Institution, while Seabourn’s


partnership with UNESCO provides expert guest speakers and ‘behind the scenes’ access to sites.


LOOKING AHEAD Challenges ahead include customer retention and atracting new clients. That said, Seabourn claims an impressive guest retention rate of nearly 50%, while nearly 50% of Crystal Esprit’s guests in its inaugural year were first-time cruisers with the company. With competition continuing to grow,


anticipating change and keeping ahead of the competition with new experiences, innovations and itineraries will remain important. Harmer, for example, notes the rise of the more exclusive ‘ship within a ship’ offerings pioneered by big-ship operators such as MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line. And it’s not just other cruise lines that operators have to worry about. “As Seabourn is primarily a luxury travel option,


our core target market is luxury travellers, rather than just the cruise sector, and we perceive our main competition to be ultra-luxury hotels and resorts around the world,” explains Narraway. “The luxury traveller is more resilient than


most, however, seemingly unaffected by geo- political and economic factors. And as so many luxury travellers have yet to experience a luxury cruise, there’s still plenty of room for growth.”


Five luxury cruise options


The intellectual one


Regent Seven Seas’ Explorer has a 12-night cruise from Reykjavik to Copenhagen


in August. A tie-in with the Smithsonian Institution, a


programme led by botanist Michael Scott, is backed by innovative excursions in


ports from the Faroes and Shetlands to Norway and


Sweden. From £9,139pp in a Veranda Suite. rssc.com


A sailing safari Seadream’s ‘Sea. Sky.


Safari.’ collaboration with TCS World Travel, in May 2017, starts with a cruise from Barcelona to Cannes


before switching to a private Boeing 757 to explore


Africa, from Cape Town to Marrakech, including


gorilla trekking in Rwanda and Botswana’s Okavango Delta. From £86,000pp. seadream.com


For footie fans


Azamara Club Cruises’ 12-night Baltic & World


Cup Voyage from London- Stockholm, departing 17 June 2018, takes in Amsterdam, Helsinki and


Copenhagen, and navigates the Kiel Canal. A highlight is catching a 2018 World Cup game in Saint Petersburg. From £3,683pp for a Club Interior Stateroom.


azamaraclubcruises.com


Russia’s untamed east Hapag-Lloyd’s 26-day Expedition Kamchatka


on MS Bremen, departing Otaru, Japan in June,


promises ‘magic moments at the world’s edge’, from volcanic landscapes to


spotting orcas and taking in Kamchatka and the


Kuril and Aleutian Islands en route to Nome. From £11,233pp, including flights. hl-cruises.com


The South America one Silversea’s 22-day cruise


from Buenos Aires to Callao aboard Silver Muse, from £8,550pp cruise-only,


departing 16 February 2018, features ports such as Punta Del Este, Puerto Madryn and Ushuaia in Argentina; and


Puerto Montt and Valparaiso in Chile, before hitting Peru, where guests can explore a pisco distillery. silversea.com


34


ABTA Magazine | April 2017


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