IS ULTRA-VOYAGER STILL on the table? Royal
Caribbean International president Jack Williams said the proposed
3,600-passenger, 160,000-ton megaship will be a topic at a board of
directors meeting in mid-September. That means the company will
miss its first deadline, Aug. 31, to place a firm order with
shipbuilder Kvaerner Masa-Yards. But Williams said all that means
is that the potential delivery of the ship in 2006 would be delayed
by a month. And, he said, the company was "really pleased" by the
improvement in the euro-dollar ratio. Monday, it hovered at
$1.09-to-1 euro.
WILLIAMS, CEO RICHARD FAIN and other Royal
Caribbean execs were chatting with Travel Weekly and travel agents
during the post-christening cruise of the Serenade of the Seas,
Royal's latest 2,110-passenger Radiance-class ship (actress Whoopi
Goldberg christened the ship Friday). Here's what they had to
say:
• For all intents and purposes, the Serenade is a carbon copy of
last year's debut, the Brilliance of the Seas. "If it's not broken
don't fix it," Williams said.
• Royal Caribbean is confident the Voyager of the Seas will perform
well when it gets to New York next spring for a series of nine-day
Caribbean/five-day Canada and New England cruises. Williams said
the Voyager-class turned out to be "a more versatile ship than we
imagined originally. We had no thought to have a ship out of Port
Canaveral," where the 3,114-passenger Mariner of the Seas will make
land in November.
• Execs said Royal Caribbean isn't considering lowering its option
period on deposits down to 24 hours, as other major lines have
recently done: The line instead takes a flexible, cruise-by-cruise
approach to the length of the option period. When Fain asked how
many travel agents in the audience would like to keep the policy
as-is, an overwhelming majority of agents raised their hands or
clapped.
• The line has been working on making improvements as per travel
agent feedback, said vice president, sales Lisa Bauer. Some
upgrades: Royal made its Seminars at Sea program more competitive;
agents can now personalize documents with their agency name; this
week, Bauer said, the line is reorganizing its incentives
department.
CRUISE-PASSENGER NUMBERS increased 7% in
second-quarter 2003 compared with last year's second quarter,
according to the Maritime Administration (MARAD). Among other
findings: Port Canaveral, Fla., replaced Fort Lauderdale as the
second largest cruise-departure point as several Fort Lauderdale
ships redeployed to summer destinations. The western Caribbean,
meanwhile, remained the most-visited destination, but Alaska moved
into second place, accounting for 16% of passenger days. MARAD's
study includes 10 cruise lines that operate ships with a capacity
of more than 750 passengers each.
IN AN EFFORT TO BROADEN ITS TARGET MARKET and
reach the "mature boomer" -- folks ages 50 and up -- Delta Queen
Steamboat Co. will next year initiate three- and four-day cruises
from New Orleans on its largest ship, the American Queen, and pair
it with three- or four-day stays in the Big Easy. In addition,
DQSC's new executive vice president, industry vet Bruce Nierenberg,
said the cruise experience itself will cater to the younger crowd
by offering more active pursuits [golf and bike excursions were
mentioned] on and off the ship.
SARS AND IRAQ "severely affected" Asia-based
Star Cruises, which posted a net loss of $29 million in its second
quarter, compared with net income of $29.5 million for
second-quarter 2002. SARS, it said, "decimated demand" in the Asia
Pacific region. The NCL Group, which includes Norwegian Cruise Line
and Orient Lines, recorded a 103.6% occupancy rate, down from
105.1% in Q2 2002, and net yields dropped 4.3% in the second
quarter. The NCL Group's operating income, meanwhile, fell about
50%, to $113 million. The second-quarter results also included $3.9
million in costs associated with the explosion onboard Norwegian
Cruise Line's Norway; Star said the NCL Group expects profits to
fall an additional $7 million in the second half of the year.
A $50 PER PASSENGER head tax proposal in Alaska
is staying alive, even though Alaska's lieutenant governor's Loren
Leman denied certification of the initiative petition. Supporters
of the head tax said they promptly remedied sections of the
proposal that were in question and Thursday sent it back to the
lieutenant governor for approval. If it's certified, which attorney
Joe Geldhof said he "hopes" will happen by early September, it's
still a long way from reality: the environmental groups sponsoring
the initiative would need to collect nearly 23,000 signatures.
Alaska legislators could then draft a bill based on the petition or
the proposal would end up on the next statewide ballot.