How Carnival plans to sail through the wave
Sophie GriffithsWith more focus on the trade and a rising interest in long-haul destinations, Carnival UK’s sales heads tell Sophie Griffiths about trends and plans for 2019
It might have been a slower start to wave this year, but cruise lines are confident of a strong 2019 and are gearing up for further investment in the trade to achieve that goal.
That was the conclusion of the sales heads of all six cruise lines within Carnival UK.
Speaking to TTG ahead of Carnival UK’s annual UK Cruise Awards in London last week, they agreed that while 2020 sales were flying, the market for 2019 sailings had started more “softly” this year as Brexit stories hit the headlines, prompting ongoing consumer uncertainty.
“We’re seeing a lot of interest when we look at our web traffic,” said Nathaniel Sherborne, director of trade sales at P&O Cruises. “The interest is definitely up year-on-year, but some people are yet to make decisions. I think people are waiting to see what happens next [with Brexit].”
Rachel Poultney, director of sales UK and Europe for Princess Cruises, added the late return to school after the Christmas holidays had also had an impact. “The market started a bit softer than anticipated. Kids went back to school a bit later, which impacted sales and pushed bookings back a bit. Since then, though, things have really started to pick up,” she said.
Cunard sales director Gary Anslow said the line had managed to “counter any softening” by starting the year 75% sold for 2019 sailings – three percentage points higher than when the line commenced 2018.
Elsewhere sales heads noted how agents had responded to changes in booking patterns. Luke Smith, head of international sales at Carnival Cruise Line, said agents had reacted by focusing on other areas: “We’ve seen some travel agents operating differently. For instance, pushing long-haul because these destinations are unaffected by Brexit,” he said.
Others also agreed long-haul destinations were proving popular. Poultney said Japan was selling particularly well for Princess. “It’s doing great,” she said. “Especially as we’ve tied a number of itineraries in with the 2020 Olympics.” She also noted Australia was “doing incredibly well”, both for this year and next.
Wendy Lahmich, director of sales at Holland America Line (HAL) and Seabourn, said South America and Alaska were proving popular for HAL, while Europe was still performing well for Seabourn, alongside Asia and Australia.
Meanwhile, Anslow said it was the line’s 2020 round-the-world voyages that were proving particularly attractive to guests. “We have more guests booked on our full round-the-world sailings on both Queen Victoria and Queen Mary at this point than any other year,” he revealed.
Elsewhere, the sales heads discussed the value of travel agents, and the fact they’re able to reassure those customers who might be concerned by the continued political uncertainty.
“It’s about going back to basics with customers,” Lahmich pointed out. “Agents need to remind them what’s included in a cruise and explain to them why it’s such a great way to see the world.”
Looking at forthcoming agent plans for 2019, the sales heads for all lines agreed the trade remained key to their performance.
“Trade is king,” said Smith. “We are entirely reliant on them.” He highlighted the importance of the line’s advisory board, which comprises eight frontline agents – known as ‘Fun Ambassadors’ – and said their feedback had proved invaluable. “Having the trade direct us in what we are doing is brilliant,” he added. Carnival Cruise Line has also produced a 36-page travel agent manual.
Princess, meanwhile, will be ramping up its ship visit numbers, with 1,000 spaces available for agents in 2019 – a 30% increase year-on-year.
The line is also calling at seven additional new UK ports this year, with 50 visits planned in total.
“We’ve changed the way our ship visits are run so agents can really experience what it’s like to be on a cruise ship,” Poultney added, with agents offered hosted ship tours, the chance to sample a meal in the main restaurant, as well as experience some of the onboard entertainment.
Seabourn will be “going on the road” this year Lahmich said, with a series of agent events hosted in luxury venues. “We’re trying to do something different and give agents an immersive experience while explaining the brand proposition,” she added.
Elsewhere, HAL will be hosting a series of Amsterdam weekends for agents to visit its ships, while Smith said Carnival Cruise Lines was planning to launch dedicated training events across the UK, adding: “We’re trying not to go to the same places everyone else goes to, so we’ll be looking at locations away from London, Birmingham and Manchester.”
Cunard is still capitalising on the excitement around its joining of the Shine Rewards club, with numbers nearing 6,000 – 5,000 of which signed up in the first four weeks of launch, Anslow revealed.
He added the line had doubled its number of ship visits last year – a figure it would maintain in 2019, with the visits available in a number of UK locations including Glasgow, Liverpool, Dublin, Belfast and Southampton.
Meanwhile Sherborne said P&O would be increasing its “One Day Holiday” ship visit programme, which enables agents to experience the ships as a cruise guest. He added the line was also keen to explore ways to bring the One Day Holiday concept to agents who can’t get to Southampton.
“We know it’s hard for a lot of agents to travel to Southampton, so we are looking at taking these One Day Holidays on the road. We want to bring the experience to them rather than them having to come to us,” he teased, adding that more details would be revealed later in the year.
Sophie Griffiths
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