Tom Stieghorst
I spent the past week cruising in Panama and Costa Rica, experiencing first-hand the pleasures of small ship cruising.
My home away from home for the week was the 212-passenger Star Pride, but the Windstar Cruises ship was not the only one in the area. On our last port of call in Costa Rica we mingled with passengers from the National Geographic Sea Lion and the Sea Cloud II, both even smaller than the Star Pride.
Some of the small ship features I enjoyed: tendering to port in Zodiac inflatables carried aboard; my cabin being two minutes from anyplace else on the ship; the chance to get to know my fellow passengers in multiple encounters throughout the day; a delicious deck barbecue that isn't practical with a larger passenger group.
I would hope that everyone who likes cruising would try Windstar or one of its small ship competitors at least once. Because the species, while not endangered, is perhaps threatened by the economics of the industry.
When you hear about a backlog of new orders at shipyards that build cruise ships, it isn't being caused by 200-passenger vessels. There are some small ships being built, including the first of two 100-passenger National Geographic/Lindblad Expeditions ships that will be launched later this year.
At what will likely be a much higher price-point, Crystal Cruises and Scenic Cruises have plans for 200-passenger luxury expedition vessels, starting in 2018. The French line Ponant has ordered four new 184-passenger vessels for 2018 and beyond.
Yet as one passenger noted during a Q&A on the Star Pride with Windstar president John Delaney, most cruise lines are going bigger when they build new, including Delaney's former employer, Seabourn, which just christened the 600-passenger Seabourn Encore in January.
Whether anyone can make enough money to grow with ships in the 100-300 passenger size is a key question.
Delaney says yes: "You absolutely can make money on a ship of this size."
First, he said, most small ship lines are privately owned, which gives them longer profit horizons.
"We do not have the pressure a Carnival Corp. has of growing earnings year after year after year," he said.
And smart management is key. One of Delaney's priorities is revamping Windstar's Yacht Club loyalty program to make it a more effective marketing tool. "By growing our Yacht Club database we're getting more and more repeats on at appropriate pricing," he said "We're not having to discount anymore."
Will that lead to more small ships in the Windstar fleet? Delaney said he has meetings with several parties at the upcoming Seatrade Cruise Global conference about capacity, both new and existing.
"Ideally, I'd love to have some ships more in this range, of about 200 passengers," he said. "So stay tuned. We absolutely are working on that."