LYNNWOOD, WASH. -- American Safari Cruises offers four different
cruise products, including sailings in Costa Rica and in the Baja
peninsula's Sea of Cortes.
This season, however, several of those cruises were canceled.
The line is operating six- and eight-week seasons, instead of the
20 weeks it had hoped to do.
The bookings just didn't materialize.
"It was a little bit disappointing," president Dan Blanchard
said of the line's second year in Mexico and Central America. "It's
still a justifiable operation, but it's sluggish."
But don't write American Safari off, he added: The line is still
in good financial shape.
Sales for the line's "bread and butter" Alaska program, which
operates eight-day sailings, were up 20% over 2001, and Blanchard
said he hopes to increase sales in 2003.
Blanchard said the line is considering acquiring a larger,
all-suite vessel, probably in the 30- to 40-passenger range, by
2004. American Safari Cruises operates three vessels that carry
between 12 and 22 passengers each.
Blanchard said he also is toying with new routes to entice past
passengers. Among them are a 17-day voyage from Ohio to Oregon,
longer itineraries in Alaska and a cruise down the Columbia and
Snake rivers.
As a small -- make that a really small -- cruise line, American
Safari has limited marketing reach; even the crew sometimes make
sales calls.
The line works through consortia and is a preferred supplier for
Virtuoso, Giants and Leisure Travel Group.
One of the entry points to American Safari, Blanchard found, is
the California Wine Country cruise.
"The client that comes on board with us on the wine- country
trip ... experiences the yacht on a four- and five-day sailing.
We're seeing more bookings made after those trips," Blanchard
said.
In fact, on a recent four-day wine-country cruise, two cruise
first-timers were eagerly going through American Safari's Alaska
brochures -- and promising themselves they wouldn't buy anywhere
else.
Prices start at $1,595 per person for four-day wine-country
cruises, $3,695 for eight-day Alaska Inside Passage itineraries and
$4,095 for nine-day Sea of Cortes and Costa Rica cruises.
For additional information, call (888) 862-8881 or visit the
company's Web site at www.amsafari.com.
For more on American Safari Cruises, see related
stories:
• American Safari pays 20% in early season
• American Safari pops cork on vintage voyage