MIAMI -- The
itineraries are mapped, the brochures are printed and the books are
open on the cruise industrys 2005 itineraries.
Cruise lines have
done some itinerary tweaking: New port calls have been added, and
several lines are trying longer cruise lengths. But 2005 is notable
because, for the most part, its not all that different from 2004.
Jamie Haller, Royal Caribbeans manager of deployment and itinerary
planning, might have said it best: 2004 was revolutionary, and 2005
is evolutionary.
Its a little
quieter, just because we dont have the new ships to work with, he
said. Its good to let the dust settle and let [the industry]
understand where our ships are.
That means that
in Royal Caribbean Internationals case, the Jewel of the Seas and
the Brilliance of the Seas will return to Europe in the summer,
Holland America Line will send the same seven ships to Alaska and
Norwegian Cruise Line will continue to offer cruises out of Boston,
New York and Houston.
In the past few
years, a glut of new tonnage required cruise executives to find new
homes and new routes for new ships. In 2003, for example, the major
cruise lines introduced a dozen ships, all of which had to have a
homeport in 2004.
In 2005, the few
ship deliveries often will coincide with ships leaving the fleet.
For example, Norwegian Cruise Line is slated to take delivery of
two ships. But it also will transfer the Norwegian Sea out of the
fleet, which means a net gain of just one ship.
Mark Kammerer,
Expedias vice president of cruise marketing, said 2005 will be a
year to settle and run the business rather than a year of great
experimentation and change.
None of the major
lines has announced new homeports for 2005. Still, thats not to say
the new cruise programs are nonexistent. As consumer demand
strengthens for more exotic destinations, some lines are
experimenting with new port calls on new itineraries.
Holland America
Line, for example, will go to Asia in a big way next year on the
Amsterdam. Princess Cruises added another Grand-class ship in
Europe, giving the line its largest Europe capacity to date. And
Silversea Cruises will return to South Africa after a one-year
hiatus.
There are new
options in the Caribbean, as well: Celebritys expanding in the
region with new nine- and 10-day cruises on the Century, and
Carnival will take on its first full year of cruises from Mobile,
Ala.
Here are five new
and noteworthy itineraries for 2005:
Med
alert
Carnival Cruise Lines in the
Mediterranean
Carnivals bread
and butter is the close-to-home Caribbean cruise. But next summer
Carnival will break that mold with its first season of
Mediterranean cruises on the Carnival Liberty, a 2,900-passenger
vessel.
The Liberty will
be delivered from the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy and sent
straight to Rome for the first of eight roundtrips in July. The
series will be Carnivals first major foray into Europe; two years
ago, it offered two northern Europe cruises on the Carnival
Legend.
The new 12-day
cruises to Venice, Naples and Florence/ Pisa in Italy; Barcelona,
Spain; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and Cannes, France, represent a best of
the Med type of itinerary, according to Terry Thornton, Carnivals
vice president of marketing planning.
The strategy,
Thornton said, is to go after Carnival repeaters who want a
Carnival-style cruise in a new destination.
The last thing
you want is to lose a customer because they wanted to go to a
destination that you didnt offer, he said.
According to
Carnival, customers seem to agree that its Europe strategy is a
smart one. Thornton said the rate of bookings on Med cruises are
higher than seven-day Caribbean cruises in the same
time-frame.
We are the
world
Cunard goes around the world on the QE2 and QM2
in 108 days
Cunard is known
for its world cruise on the Queen Elizabeth 2, a 108-day grand
voyage between Los Angeles and New York that goes the long,
luxurious way around the globe. But what makes the 2005 world
cruise unique is the final leg of the journey -- the transatlantic
journey between Southampton, England and New York will be offered
on the lines flagship, the Queen Mary 2.
The QE2 sails to
Asia, Africa and Europe before heading back to North America,
touching on 24 different countries and visiting 38 ports around the
world.
The line added
five new ports to the mix in 2005: Sokhna, Egypt; Marmaris, Turkey;
and Fremantle, Exmouth and Phillip Island, Australia.
The price is high
for an invitation to dine for three months in the QE2 and QM2s
Grill categories: $399,799 per person, double.
Small
world, after all
Disney Cruise Line from Los Angeles to the
Mexican Riviera
Disney Cruise
Line hasnt stirred from its homeport in Port Canaveral, Fla., the
closest seaport to Walt Disney World, since it began operations in
1998. So the decision to offer seven-day cruises on the West Coast
from Los Angeles to Mexico came as welcome news, particularly for
Disneys diehard cruise fans.
The cruises call
in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. And, of course,
for a post-vacation stay, theres that trip to Disneyland just up
the road. Disney is offering two-night pre- or post-cruise stays in
the Anaheim parks three hotels.
Aloha
spirit
NCL
America in Hawaii with the Pride of
America
The Hawaii
interisland cruise itinerary wont be a new one for Norwegian Cruise
Lines NCL America brand in 2005, since the line will already have a
years worth of practice on the Pride of Aloha before the
much-anticipated Pride of America debuts in Honolulu.
But the Pride of
America experience is promising to be much different. First of all,
the ship, which sank in its berth in Germany while under
construction, will be a must-see: Its a new build, with room for 10
restaurants, extra balcony cabins and more public rooms than the
Pride of Aloha.
But the Hawaii
deployment itself will be unique because of the way NCL is planning
its short-cruise option. In addition to seven-day cruises on the
Pride of America, NCL will offer a choice of a three-day cruise
between Honolulu and Maui that calls in Kona and a four-day cruise
from Maui to Honolulu that visits Kauai and the Big
Island.
The short cruises
will be sold through NCL only as a package with hotel and air,
according to Andy Stuart, NCLs executive vice president of sales
and marketing.
Its highly
unlikely that people from the mainland are going to go over for a
three-day cruise, Stuart said.
The plan is to
pitch the vacation to clients as a way to spend some time,
predominantly in Maui, and then get a taste of the other islands.
To present it as a vacation that happens to include a cruise is
what our research told us people are working for.
Stuart said that
demand is strong for the Pride of America.
Bermuda
shorts
Royal
Caribbean International from Boston and Bayonne,
N.J.
Pair a
Voyager-class vessel with a short-hop, five-day cruise to Bermuda,
sell it to time-crunched folks on the East Coast and watch the
bookings roll in: Thats the strategy coming from Royal Caribbean
International next summer.
The line took a
cue from the Voyager of the Seas initial foray into the New York
market, which alternated nine-day Caribbean cruises with five-day
Canada and New England trips.
The Caribbean
cruises were a hit; Canada struggled a little, according to Royal
Caribbeans Haller.
Ultimately,
[Canada] picked up, but we looked at the way to evolve Bermuda, and
it fits well with the five nights because you get two full days in
Bermuda, he said.
The Voyager sold
itself on the five-day Bermuda cruises. (The Grandeur of the Seas
will be doing a similar route from Baltimore.)
But thats not
Royal Caribbeans only new approach to Bermuda -- sailings from
Boston on the Jewel of the Seas will call in Bermuda during 10-day
cruises to the Caribbean.
Its pretty
unusual for a cruise line to offer Bermuda as part of a longer
itinerary.
But Haller said
it made sense, since Bermuda lies between Boston and the
Caribbean.
Obviously, its a
very valuable destination, Haller said. And once you hit Bermuda
youre only a day-and-a-half from St. Thomas.
To contact
reporter Rebecca Tobin, send e-mail to [email protected].