“In the long term we are looking at a full season on a second ship,” said Anka Bröcker, managing director and partner at Iceland ProCruises.
The company charters the Ocean Diamond on a seasonal basis for Iceland cruises, most of which are 10 days, with a couple of longer trips to Greenland, according to the 2018 Expedition Market Report by Cruise Industry News.
The company’s trademark 10-day program is roundtrip from Reykjavik, with calls in Stykkisholmur, Isafjördur, Siglufjördur, Grimsey, Akureyri, Husavik, Seydisfjördur, Djupivogur and Vestmannaeyjar, making it a cruise with one port a day, and a double call on the fourth day of the voyage in Siglufjördur and Grimsey.
The program is bilingual, English and German. Two more departures were added this summer aboard Adventure Canada’s Ocean Endeavour, with strong demand from the English-speaking markets filling in capacity.
“We needed a bit more capacity for the American market. We have some great partners that are booking a lot of cabins,” said Bröcker.
New for 2019 is a September program with a six-night Northern Lights and whale watching cruise/land tour available, with three nights on the ship and three nights on land.
“The feedback we have gotten from the American market is you need shorter trips,” Bröcker said, also pointing to her seven-night express circumnavigation of Iceland.
The company is in the middle of its third cruise season and had envisioned an even split of German- and English-speaking passengers when it started.
“But now it’s at 65 percent English speaking. We are looking at single language cruises,” noted Bröcker, who runs the company from a Hamburg-based office.
“If we look into the future it would be wise to find a new ship. We are in discussions with people who want to build, we could commit to 150 to 160 days a year on a charter contract,” Bröcker said. “We are not going to Antarctica. (The shipowner) would need to find a counterpart the rest of the year.”
Currently, the Ocean Diamond fits in well – used by Quark in the winter for its Antarctica program, and then moving north to Iceland ProCruises for the summer.
Making the product unique, the company works to bring Iceland aboard. Instead of flying fish up from South America, for example, Bröcker has worked with CMI Leisure to buy locally.
Excerpt from the 2018 Expedition Market Report.
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About the Expedition Market Report:
The 2018 Cruise Industry News Expedition Market Report presents a complete 127-page overview of the entire expedition market, including capacity projections through 2027, and profiles of 30+ major players, with exclusive interviews and insight, along with trends, original data, operational coverage and much more. Original reporting, analysis and research.
