MIAMI ? In a lively panel presentation at the ASTA Global Convention, three competing cruise line executives discussed the challenges of balancing onboard experiences with customer preferences, the importance of destinations in cruise choices and the most effective strategies for selling cruises.
The discussion, moderated by Arnie Weissmann, editor-in-chief of Travel Weekly, was spirited, at times contentious, and the audience of 450 or so broke into applause and laughter several times.
With the cruise market now encompassing age groups from babies to boomers and well beyond, ?the beauty of cruising is that we can appeal to great demographics that evolve as public demand evolves,? decreed Richard Fain, chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. ?Our ships offer elements that appeal across the spectrum.?
The solo traveler, a market ignored for years, is now being tapped by Norwegian Cruise Line, said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian?s president and CEO.
?Our Breakaway ship relates to the solo traveler as well as other age groups in the type of onboard experiences we offer,? Sheehan said. ?This is the future of cruising, and we have to continue to be on the cutting edge, not the bleeding edge, of the industry.?
He added that the demographics of the cruise market emphasize the role of travel agents because the choices for the consumer are so overwhelming.
?Agents are the critical part of this equation and we need to simplify choices for agents and show that we are more consistent than in the past,? Sheehan said.
Key differences between river and ocean cruising were emphasized by Viking Cruises Chairman Torstein Hagen.
?Viking is a river cruise line, and we say that the destination is key,? Hagen said. ?We can show your clients Europe; we can show them culture and geography. The onboard cruise experience is not that important to us, and this has worked out well.?
Viking?s customers are 55-plus, ?have worked hard, are retired or should be,? Hagen said. ?I don?t need to climb rock walls on cruise ships, and neither do they. Let?s be definite about who our customers are.?
Even so, Viking is about to venture into ocean cruising with four ships currently on order. ?Two are financed, and we?re working on the others,? Hagen said.
Viking?s first ship, which will carry 928 passengers, enters service in April 2015 in the Mediterranean. It is 80% sold out and is being marketed as an all-inclusive to the 55-and-older segment, he said.
There will be no babies, no screaming teenagers, no casinos or water slides,? Hagen said.
Fain agreed that destinations are key because they are ?the starting point of the decision-making process. Where appropriate, our ships stay in port for two to three days for destination immersion, but offering the customer variety, value and choice are important,? he said.
Sheehan asserted that Viking does not have a lock on the 55-plus market.
?Norwegian offers the right situation for that age group,? Sheehan said. ?Our cruises are multigenerational and have attributes for that experience. We offer a destination on the ship and a destination off the ship.?
Fain said that he saw shared enjoyment as being a key element of cruising.
?My grandchildren like to climb the rock walls. I like to watch them,? Fain said. ?Cruise lines need to communicate all that we offer and get the message out that cruising isn?t just for sedentary people.?
As for all-inclusive cruise pricing, Sheehan said the issue is complicated.
?We?re faced with the competitive nature of pricing,? he said. ?All-inclusive knocks you out of the market. Cruise prices haven?t moved for about 20 years, which has forced the industry to come up with new ways to be profitable.?