Wednesday 29 January 2014

Thursday January 30

Since we are still in WAVE season (although many would simply call it 'Heavy Rain' Season) there is still some great advice for travel agents in the press and blogs this week, including this from Cruise Adviser (that includes some comments from our very own Andy Harmer): read here

Let us start with river cruising - and the recent addition of river cruise products for Cruise & Maritime Voyages, and the take-over of TransOcean Kreuzfahrten in Germany that will see the company rapidly increase the amount of river cruise guests according to TTG: Read here

Over on the oceans, it was profit announcement time for Royal Caribbean who showed profits increased last year to $530.6 million from $432.2 million in 2012 largely thanks to strong late demand in Asia and Europe.  You can read more here

Talking profits and official news, the parent company of Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania are aiming to raise £250 million through the selling of shares – you can read it here

On slightly more non-legal terms was the Cunard announcement of a change to its in-room amenities to British perfumers Penhaligon: read here

Over on the general travel pages was a very interesting story of how cruising has become the 'must have' holiday experience for many luxury buyers - which is great news: worth reading here.  The announcement follows further research on how we are all eyeing exploration for our next holiday - which includes cruising according to Celebrity Cruises and Ben Fogle; and you can read that here

Meanwhile it has been a great start to the year for Giles Hawke who is now Executive Director for UK, Ireland and Australia for MSC Cruises: read here

The other big news for the week was our very own announcement of our theme for the 2014 Selling Cruise Conference that is Make It Happen: as reported by Travel Weekly (read here), and also by TTG (read here).




CLIA UK & Ireland have lots more announcements coming soon – so in the meantime... see you next week!

Thursday 23 January 2014

Thursday January 23

It has been yet another busy week in the world of cruising - not least in bookings according to P&O Cruises and Cunard who claim a successful WAVE period so far: read here

And there was more good news from the UK cruise industry as we released our own stats on the growth of cruise numbers showing numbers at a new high - you can read here from Travel Weekly.

Staying with Travel Weekly there was a great piece from Peter Shanks on why UK travel agents need to seize the moment and embrace cruise selling: read here

Meanwhile TTG reported on the future potential huge surge in demand in cruise holidays - anticipated at a 74% growth - you can read here

And of course one of the reasons for that growth in cruising is the HUGE investment in new ships - so much that it almost makes your eyes water! Read here

Talking of new ships - Cruise News reports on the big new ship news last week - Norwegian Getaway - read here; though the launch is of course extensively covered across all trade media.

And as if we hadn't talked about new ships enough this week - here is the announcement by P&O Cruises of new livery design on Britannia: read here

Finally - over in the States, the new President of Crystal Cruises tells of her desire for 7 new ships... quite an ambition! Read here.











Thursday 16 January 2014

January 16 2014...

It has been quite a week for the global cruise industry with the exciting arrival of Nowegian Getaway into Southampton.  This is covered by all trade press including Travel Weekly.

Staying with Travel Weekly and Norwegian Cruise Line this week we saw the announcement of Norwegian Epic being based from Barcelona year round from 2015 - a further great sign of confidence in the European cruise market (including the UK). Read here.

Meanwhile there was good news on searches for Caribbean cruises this week widely reported in the trade press with searches for cruises to the area on the up - read this from TTG.

The UK industry all got together at the weekend at the Telegraph Cruise Show promoting cruise holidays to an audience with plenty of first timers.  Here it is reported by Seatrade.

One thing that many potential cruisers are looking for is a rekindling of their romance - here USA Today tells of their cruise romance highlights - worth keeping ahead of the big day of romance on Feb 14 - read here.

Talking of good news it appears that Fred Olsen are also reporting good figures as reported here in TTG.

Good figures are also reported by Hurtigruten after the BBC Stargazing programme - shows the power of TV and also the power of a great cruise holiday.  Read here.

On a lighter note - and because we all like a good dead, how great to see MSC Cruises heading to the rescue of a seal pup - you can read the story here - well done MSC!

Thursday 9 January 2014


As we start 2014 and go straight into WAVE season we are of course surrounded by incentives and offers to help drive some cruise business (an area we choose not to discuss here) - but it has still been a busy old week for the cruise industry.

It starts with an interview in Travel Weekly featuring Jo Rzymowska in her new role for Celebrity Cruises (Jo is also the Chair of CLIA UK & Ireland I hasten to add) - where she says her brand focus is on affluent couples and affluent families and the potential of the gay and lesbian market.  Read the interview here

Whilst on the subject of Celebrity Cruises it is great to see Ben Fogle making the news on TTG with a great competition: read here

On the subject of big interviews Giles Hawke is neatly settling into his new role with MSC Cruises and talks to Travel Weekly about some new exciting deployments in Australia and Asia - a destination that MSC believes will resonate with UK guests.  Read here

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines (based of course in Ipswich) are also making the news with a tie in with Ipswich Town FC as a new sponsorship deal.  Read here from TTG

There has been plenty of recruitment news recently.  Richard Twynam over at Azamara Club Cruises and this week some new PR and marketing talent at Princess Cruises.  Read here.

Globally, the big news on personnel this week was the retirement of global cruise veteran Pier Luigi Foschi, described by Seatrade Insider as "one of Carnival Corp. & plc's key figures since 1997 and an important driver in the growth of European cruising". Read here

Over in the States the new year has prompted good news and a positive outlook on all things cruise (read here) as the US Travel Weekly describes 2014 as having the potential to be a "breakthrough year".  Will the same be true in the UK?

There are a couple of stories this week that we could not ignore.  The first is the announcement by CLIA UK & Ireland of brand new "Kick Start Your Cruise Sales" workshops across the UK - covered here by TTG; and there is the exciting news of the brand new Norwegian Getaway coming to the UK next week - read about the ship here.

But we end with a tremendous story from metro that proves that cruising is cool as more young people want to take a cruise holiday! Read here

Back next Thursday as we debark Getaway!  See you then...