Despite demand for destinations further afield and customers appearing willing to spend more on their trips, agents conceded the traditional wave season may never return.
Anthony Blackmore, owner of Crook-based cruise specialist Cruise365, revealed there had been lots of enquiries last week for US cruise departures after this summer’s Fifa World Cup which finishes on 19 July.
But he added so far this week his sales staff had been responding to enquiries for cruises around Japan and Asia.
Club Voyages managing director Sam Ballard and Adore Holidays and Cruises managing director Ian Gilder both believe customers are being “more adventurous” with their enquiries this year.
“Cruise is seen as such a good option when you want to go to exotic destinations where you can visit as many places as possible in one sailing,” Ballard explained.
“I think a cruise is a perfect option for that kind of trip, plus you get all your usual benefits such as only having to unpack once.”
Blackmore added: “Cruise is ideal to see those destinations because it offers such good value for money.”
Meanwhile, Gilder said: “We’re not as busy as we expect to be but we’ve done some good bookings. It’s quality over quantity.
“We’ve made some long-haul bookings for Japan and some with Disney Cruise Line. We’ve sold Celebrity’s Japan product and done some tours in Kyoto and Tokyo with bullet train transfers.”
Gilder added: “People seem to be getting more adventurous. I’m disappointed as I’m a bit behind the run rate where I want to be. We had a very good December. We expect to lose money in October, November and December but that wasn’t the case in December.”
'The best of both worlds'
Ballard stressed that given how Club Voyages is a long-haul specialist, his retail staff and his homeworkers have moved quickly to meet demand for Japan and create cruise-and-tour itineraries which feature the bullet train.
“One thing missing from doing a Japan cruise is the bullet train. That is an intrinsic part of the Japan experience at least for the enquiries that we get,” he said.
“We’ve created a pre-cruise stay in Hakone which involves the bullet train. We’re trying to build something where clients are getting the best of both worlds because, yes, the cruise is ideal but equally to compliment it with a stay in ryokan and do Fuji and the rest of it.”
Blackmore revealed the traditional cruiser is currently the easiest demographic to convert, while families are tending to shop around and try and find “the unicorn” deal which doesn’t exist.
“We’re giving a lot of families quotes but they’re taking a lot longer to convert,” he continued. “They’re shopping around but they’re losing out on the price because they think they can play the system.”
Phil Evans, Swansea-based agency Cruise Nation’s managing director, said wave sales took until after Christmas to take off before bookings briefly tailed away again around New Year’s Eve.
However, Evans said booking levels were soaring again with sales tracking 17% up year-on-year and if they continue as they are the cruise sector could expect to see a return to the bumper wave seasons of 2018 and 2019.
“I would not say it is a traditional wave season. If you look at 2018 or 2019 the numbers were phenomenal, but we’re on track to hit those numbers if we continue at this rate.”
Evans echoed Blackmore’s views around the US and the recent power plays from President Trump, saying: “We’re seeing strong demand for the Caribbean, in particular. We’re not seeing this stuff with the US playing on people’s minds.”
