F&B: Food Spend Steady
Serving up fine cuisines along with comfort food in their many dining venues and crew quarters, food spending per person, per day aboard cruise ships ran from $9.02 to 9.46 for the publicly traded companies in 2012, including lobster tails and filet mignon. Last year, the biggest spender on food was Royal Caribbean Cruises at…
Shipbuilding: No Compromises: Europa 2
When the passengers are paying an average of $800 a day, the ship better be perfect. “The Europa 2 is a contemporary version of the Europa. We looked at what we’re good at on the Europa and are making it better on the Europa 2,” said Dr. Henning Brauer, director of newbuild for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises….
HNA Enters the Asia Cruise Market
2013 promises several crucial milestones for the Chinese cruise market. Apart from the record number of ships calling on Chinese ports, the biggest and most important event may have been the maiden voyage of the Henna on Jan. 26, 2013 by newcomer HNA Cruises. HNA Cruises, established last year, is the first domestic luxury cruise…
Luxury: Crystal Mission: To Be Best
“Our focus is on constantly refining our product,” said Gregg Michel, president of Crystal Cruises. “We never stand still; we continue to innovate – to provide the best food and beverage experience, service, onboard entertainment and enrichment programs.” He pointed to the drydocking of the Crystal Symphony last year which completed a five-year, $65 million…
Itinerary Planning: Guaranteeing Traffic
This year, Grand Turk will be the fourth-busiest port in the world for Carnival Corporation brands in terms of transit passengers, according to Giora Israel, senior vice president of port and destination development. He said more than 800,000 passengers are scheduled to visit Grand Turk in 2013. He singled it out as an example of…
The Caribbean: 2013 Edition
The lion’s share of the global cruise industry’s capacity is still in the Caribbean – and even up for 2013 – just slightly, according to Cruise Industry News estimates. The playing field, however, is cramped and competitive – with lots of ships on similar routes, leaving from the same homeports and demanding more and more…
Itinerary Planning: What’s Trending?
Itinerary planning comes down to numbers, simply put – operating costs and shore excursion revenue, but also passenger attraction. “We look at market demand before looking at the cost side when planning itineraries,” said Neil Palomba, corporate operating officer at MSC Cruises. Guest satisfaction is the most important planning criteria, also according to Crane Gladding,…
Finance: Europe Is Swing Factor
While earnings guidance for 2013 is upbeat from Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line, Europe is the swing factor. Carnival said on its year-end earnings call that it expects higher yields in North America and lower yields in Europe. The U.S. and the Caribbean are expected to be the main drivers for…
Norwegian Lands Safety Culture
American Maritime Safety (AMS) awarded Norwegian Cruise Line the 2012 Quality Ship Management Award for implementation of quality control systems that enhance crew member efficiency and reduce marine casualties. AMS underlined Norwegian’s adherence to safety standards, and Rick Harper, initiator, developer and implementer of Norwegian’s Safety Culture Concept (also the company’s director of safety, training…
Editorial: Safety First
This year had hardly gotten underway before we again were reminded how important safety at sea is. Ships’ officers have told us repeatedly that their first priority is safety – for passengers, crew and ship. Yet, five crew members were killed in a lifeboat drill accident on the Thomson Majesty in February. On the very…