Princess Cruises will not renew its CLIA membership in 1986, according to Arthur Rodney, president of the line.
However, the line would “certainly reconsider” its actions, if participation in the organization’s million dollar generic advertising campaign does not become a requirement for membership, Rodney added.
Princess has opposed the campaign because its executives do not feel that the line would reap many benefits from abroad-based campaign.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Royal Cruise Line have opposed the promotion for the same reason, and face expulsion if CLIA executives decide to make partication mandatory. A meeting to resolve that question will take place later this week, and industry spokesmen do not expect the outcome to be in RCCL and RCL’s favor.
If that should be the case, CLIA will lose 17% of its advertising budget, as a result of the departure of the three lines.
Although Costa Cruises has no intention of leaving CLIA, it has also expressed reservations about the campaign.
“A cruise line should promote itself first,” said Howard Fine, president of Costa. “Right now, many agents and potential cruisers cannot clearly identify the differences among all the lines, and we are running a great risk of mismatching passengers and ships. This will turn first-time cruisers off completely. But, if the public knows what each individual line has to offer, we can get people on the right ships the first time around, and encourage them to cruise again.”
However, Joe Paige, senior vice president of Norwegian Caribbean Lines, believes that there is a “proper and necessary role” for both generic and company advertising.
“As capacity has increased over demand, the industry as a whole must work more aggressively to implant the cruise concept in the consumers’ minds,” he said. “Cruises are one of the most misunderstood vacation options, and a joint television campaign can position them as an alternative for further investigation. Then, it is up to the individual cruise lines to actively pursue a specific niche.”
