Ferrin, who joined NCL in January – taking over from Nick Wilkinson – said the introduction of the Free at Sea programme, allowing guests to choose two of five onboard services for £99 had driven the boost in sales.
“In the vast majority of cases, the UK consumer picks the drinks package and speciality dining. That’s really resonated with the UK market and the agent community,” he said.
Harry Sommer, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ president, international, Harry Sommer said Ferrin had “personally has done a great job of reinvigorating some of our trade relationships”.
He praised the way Ferrin had “treated our agents more as partners, built long-term plans with them and put commercial terms in place that are more simple and easier to get behind”.
“I credit him with those plans he put in place 60 days after coming onboard. That has done a tremendous job in accelerating our sales,” said Sommer.
Discussing Brexit’s impact on the UK market, Ferrin said NCL “and everybody else” had experienced a “softening” in demand ahead of the UK’s initial EU exit date of 31 March but since then, the line hadn’t “seen any measurable so dramatic”.
“Of course it can always change and we don’t know how it’s going to play out so we’re watching it as all people are,” he said.
Sommer said despite the uncertainty, NCL had enjoyed “fantastic results” in the UK year-on-year with “re-engaged partners across the board”.
“Could it have been even better if not for the spectre of Brexit? Probably. We’ll see what happens. For us any scenario is OK, as we’ve lived through this last year fine but having some end to this is what we need. I’m not pro-Brexit, I’m not anti-Brexit – I’m pro-consistency and pro-peace.”
