[討論]Cruise Lines Catch Rising 『Wave』

Although several cruise lines are constrained from giving specific information about their sales results until their earnings are formally announced, there is enough evidence to show that 2005 is starting with a spectacular Wave period. Throughout the industry, the news shows greatly improved sales volume, stronger yields and firming pricing and bookings going much further out, partly because inventory is shrinking fast. Lisa Bauer, CTC, Royal Caribbean International』s senior vice president of sales for North America, said the success of the Wave period has been the culmination of everything the company is doing. 「It all came together,」 she said. 「The cold weather and snow in the Midwest and Northeast have triggered our special ad campaign, the booking contest got a lot of focus, momentum has been huge on the home office makeover contest and we started taking our new travel show booth on the road. 「We had it in Chicago, then New York and at NLG, and we』re getting raves about the virtual reality. Kids are climbing the rock climbing walls and then telling their parents they want this experience on vacation. All Areas Doing Well Bauer said all cruising areas are doing well, with Alaska and Europe still benefiting from pent-up demand. 「Bookings are further out,」 she added. 「People now know pricing will be higher if they wait, and they may not be able to get the cabin and price they want, so they are booking earlier.」 Andy Stuart, executive vice president of marketing, sales and passenger services for Norwegian Cruise Line, said the company is experiencing a strong Wave period, which was sustaining its strength into the fourth week. He said people are booking farther out simply because there is less inventory available close in. He said all areas are doing well and that Hawaii is booking strongly. 「We are happy with the demand for both ships, since of course Pride of America will be in Hawaii the third week of July,」 he added. 「Pricing is strengthening across the board and we have a generally optimistic outlook.」 The sustained strength of the Wave period was also stressed by Rick Meadows, senior vice president of marketing and sales for Holland America Line. 「We see it likely to continue for several more weeks,」 he said. 「Agents are getting the value message through on Europe, so Europe is looking very good, as is Alaska.」 Meadows said HAL finds very heavy interest in Alaska, and that the brand is benefiting from good marketing and strong consumer feedback there. 「We are definitely able to increase pricing,」 he noted, 「and people are getting the message that pricing will go up in time, so they are booking earlier. Groups especially are coming in early, although we still have good availability through the main summer season in Alaska and Europe.」 Costa Up 115% Costa Cruises reports a superb beginning of the year. Bookings during the first week of 2005 were 115% higher than the same week in 2004. Europe is even hotter than the overall picture for Costa, with a 144% year-over-year increase. The first three weeks of 2005 showed 83% higher than the first three weeks of 2004. The Wave also started with a bang at Oceania Cruises, according to president and CEO Frank Del Rio. The company began the year 68.7% sold for 2005 and 10% sold for 2006. 「Last year, we started the year 42% full; this year we are starting 69% full. We will soon run out of inventory,」 Del Rio said. As of Jan. 26, Oceania was 74% sold for 2005. Del Rio said yields are up 17.1% and prices are firming. As a result, Oceania is bringing out the Europe 2006 brochure much earlier than before, on March 1 as opposed to June 15 last year. 「Libya is really hot,」 he added. 「We decided to stay longer in Europe this fall, because our clients tend to prefer Europe to the Caribbean. We wanted to have a special itinerary for the late fall season, so we arranged a special 12-day cruise out of Barcelona. It was introduced Nov. 1 without appearing in a brochure, and we haven』t spent a nickel on it, but it was 92% sold by Nov. 5. 「We now have a second departure Nov. 17-27 from Athens to Barcelona, which also goes to Libya and Tunisia, and it is 23% sold since its introduction before Christmas.」 Del Rio said the line』s new Far East itineraries are selling 「off the charts,」 although the brochure will not be out until mid-February. 「A third of the inventory is now sold,」 Del Rio said, 「and the Feb. 20, 2006, Bangkok to Beijing is 51% gone already.」 With all this success, is he thinking of adding more ships to the three Oceania will have by the end of 2005? 「No, three ships is enough,」 Del Rio answered. Radisson Seven Seas Cruises director of strategic marketing Andrew Poulton said the line also came into 2005 with a dramatically solid base. 「By the beginning of the year, we were 35% ahead of where we were at the start of 2004,」 he said. 「Then, on top of that we』ve been seeing a 30%-35% higher volume of bookings during the Wave period so far.」 Firm Pricing Poulton said pricing is firming at rates 5%-10% higher than last year』s, depending on deployment, and that people are, in general, booking 6-9 months ahead, as opposed to 3-4 months previously. One area with a higher percentage of close-in bookings is the Caribbean, where there is the greatest competition, but Poulton said the region is virtually sold out after a slower start. 「Alaska is phenomenal and Tahiti is incredible,」 he added. The announcement last week that the Radisson Diamond has been sold and will be leaving the fleet, in June, is adding to scarcity of available staterooms. 「This, in turn, drives stronger bookings as people realize that they must get their staterooms while they can,」 he noted. 「It』s a self-propelling process.」 For the first time in its history, RSSC will be bringing out a cruise atlas for 2006 covering all itineraries. It will make its appearance in March or April. 「We』ve been through three pretty tough years,」 Poulton stated. 「It』s wonderful to see such big, solid, sustained gains.」 Deborah Natansohn, Seabourn Cruise Line president, also reports that booking volume remains strong, particularly for the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, where the weak dollar enhances the comparative value of cruises. Making its move for expansion in the North American market at a fortuitous time, MSC Cruises is having a very strong Wave. Rick Sasso, president and CEO of MSC for North America, said all indicators show a very good winter. The company is pleased that many new agents are selling MSC. Brisk Med Sales Sasso added that the line is seeing a brisk pace in Mediterranean bookings for summer and sales volume is surpassing inventory so it expects to fill its 2005 cruises. 「We』re also building a strong platform for the future,」 he added. SeaDream Yacht Club will be opening up future sales early and publishing its 2006 schedule in February because of rapidly disappearing inventory. Larry Pimentel, CTC, Sea- Dream president and CEO, said the line is more than 70% sold out at the beginning of the year. 「I never saw anything like this,」 Pimentel said. 「As a corporation, we are now slightly under 50% up over the whole of 2004. We are seeing 46% yield improvement.」 Describing his reaction as 「somewhere between exceedingly positive and euphoric,」 Pimentel said, 「The indus- try has limited inventory, increased pricing holding firm and better yields. The stars are aligned.」 （資料來源：Travel Trade 1.28.2005）