WOW

Royal Caribbean's WOW Campaign finished yesterday, and from Ideal Cruising's perspective it was a big hit. So many marketing campaigns drag on and on and on. How often do you see the "book now to avoid disappointment" line when in fact there are thousands of seats or cabins left to sell? This however was a genuine 2 day sale, offering $200 of onboard spend. There was plenty of notice to travel partners such as ourselves that it was coming, giving us time to plan how to promote it to our customers with maximum effect. This was an intense two day sale, finishing on a high. In the current market conditions this is exactly what is needed. The market needs stimulating. People need to be given a compelling reason to part with their cash.

National Cruise Year

Did you know we are 3 days in to National Cruise Week? There seems to be a national this day and national that week for just about everything it seems. The idea of course is to concentrate and focus awareness campaigns of the benefits of cruise holidays around one date. However you would have to be something of a hermit not to be aware of cruising, and thanks to all the numerous cruise launches promoted by high profile or celebrity "god-mothers" we are regularly seeing the glitz and glamour of cruise ships on TV or in the press. National Cruise Week is supposed to highlight the great variety and value of cruise holidays, but to be honest I think it should changed to National Cruise Year, due to the unprecedented volume of cruise capacity on the market and subsequent glut of great value deals out there. Of course it won't last for ever, as new ship builds are drawing to a close, and even the gloomiest of economist say that we will be back to normal growth by 2012 at the latest. So make the most of what is left of National Cruise Year!

New boss faces same old challenge

I met with the new UK boss of Royal Caribbean, Dominic Paul, last week. Dominic comes from the airline industry and had never been on a cruise until 2 weeks ago, when he tried Royal Caribbean out for the first time. He was pleasantly surprised with the experience and admitted to me that he had never really contemplated taking a cruise before. It's interesting that despite the PSA's (Passenger Shipping Association) PR efforts and the marketing crusade led by Royal Caribbean to try to change people's perceptions about what a cruise is all about, many people still see cruising as traditional and something they would only contemplate when they are retired. Having been on a Royal med cruise in August last summer, I know that the customer profile on such cruises is hugely diverse, with as many as 3 generational families on board. Royal Caribbean have led the way with their product innovations, but there is still a long way to go to change the public's general perceptions of cruising, and I'm not sure that Royal Caribbean on their own can do this. In my opinion the cruise industry's body, the PSA, is not equipped to do this either, both in terms of resources and general outlook. However if cruise lines want to grow the total market, they are going to have to do something to change general perceptions.

Soft market conditions

Yesterday TUI announced a drop in it's margins across a generally weaker summer holiday market. Today it was the turn of the other travel giant Thomas Cook to report softer trading conditions in the UK. Customers are booking later and looking for keener prices. It's not hugely different in the cruise sector right now, although there has always been a trend towards booking further in advance with cruise. We are currently experiencing a mix of business with late summer deals but also healthy demand for 2011. The common theme is customers looking for even more value for their hard earned money, and that's where our focus is right now - hunting out those extra special deals to satisfy the appetites of our bargain hunting customers.

The Bank of England has just published it's latest economic forecasts and has downgraded it's growth figures for this year. This coincides with the latest consumer confidence index dropping from 66 in May to 56 last month. There's no doubt that the Government's austerity measures are spooking many people. However with the cuts and general fiscal tightening to come, it appears even more likely that interest rates will remain at rock bottom for the rest of the year, which to many people is the single biggest determinant on their disposable incomes. Good news for home owners with mortgages, but not so good for savers. Either way, it's a great time if you are looking for a cruise deal - there's plenty out there.

MSC Feedback

Here at www.idealcruising.co.uk we have just surveyed all our customers who sailed on MSC this summer. We wanted to know what UK customers thought of the Italian cruise line, as some customers had expressed concerns about the on board experience. Overall the results showed that customers perceived their cruise holiday as being good value for money, but there were some interesting comments. The MSC ships were generally well received, especially the new ships which have been operating in the Med this summer. The less positive feedback was regards to the on board announcements being in many different languages and Italian being the lead language - well it is an ITALIAN cruise line after all! The lack of complimentary tea and coffee, plus on board entertainment was another area of disappointment, where trying to appeal to a multi-lingual audience can be challenging. Otherwise the itineraries were well received and most customers felt they had received good value for money. Some people actually like being surrounded by guests from different countries and cultures, whereas others like things to be very British. Personally when I'm on holiday and I see a sign for Fish and Chips or John Smiths bitter I run a mile.

Pre-Paid Gratuities

A hot topic of debate in the office this week is over pre-paid gratuities. Royal Caribbean/Celebrity Cruises are on a mission to get cruise agents to get a higher percentage of customers to pay their tips upfront. The reason being that apparently the Brits are not as generous as tipping as the Americans, and Royal Caribbean's on board staff are disgruntled at their loss of income. I think part of the issue is that Americans are more regular cruisers and know that you have to tip at certain amounts (Royal Caribbean actually recommend $9.95 per person per day), whereas the Brits are not quite so au-fait with the protocol. Some of our customers are happy to pre-pay - they know it's done and don't have to budget for it as part of their holidays; others however take offence to the thought of tipping before they've received the service. You do get flexible dining times by pre-paying gratuities which is an added benefit. The debate continues though.

Unique New York stay with Bermunda cruise

Travelling this September, 11 nights including 3 free nights and NYC and upgrade from Outside to Balancy on the wonderful Holland America. I'm thinking of going on this one, it's so good. My cousin lived in Bermuda a few years back, it's only a tiny island, but lots of sunshine and very laid back. Lots of insurance companies base there now, but don't let that put you off!
www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-special-offers-820.html