Cruise Lines

I've come across the sad story of Bill Burr on the TW Blog, a regular cruiser who has just discovered that all is not as it seems when cruiselines recommend certain shops in ports around the world.

Recently I was quite dismayed to learn that one of my favourite shops [in Gibraltar] is not one of the 'recommended' shops promoted by the shopping lecturers aboard ship. When I questioned the owner, I was shocked to learn that he had been asked, not only for a large sum of money for advertising, but also for hefty percentages of whatever the shop sells to 'recommended passengers'.

I can't believe it! Or maybe I'm just a little gullible, but I always thought that Shopping Lecturers were working for the benefit of the passengers. Now I find that all they are doing is lining their pockets by pushing hapless shoppers into shops that are, in all likelihood, more expensive than their competitors (after all, they have to pay thousands of dollars for the privilege!).

Maybe I'm just a little cynical, but I assumed cruiselines were doing this for money from the moment I took my first cruise and have therefore always steered clear of shops brandishing cruiseline stickers.

In fact I can't believe Mr Burr really thought cruiselines were expending time and energy on port talks to get nothing in return. They want you to buy what are often very expensive excursions and spend money in shops that will give them a kick back.

After all, they are not charities and if they want to keep the headline costs of cruises as low as possible, they have to make their money elsewhere.

I wrote a piece for my Telegraph column recently on cruising in a "bubble" that included the following:

Go on a cruise to the Caribbean and the ships’ daily newsletters will even have a map of “approved” shops where it is safe to buy.

Safe to buy? Whatever happened to caveat emptor? If the price seems too good to be true, chances are it is, but if it shines and you like it, do you really need cruise ship approval before you buy?

The same can equally be said on Gibraltar or anywhere else around the world you end up on a cruise.

I note that Mr Burr cruises a lot with Royal Caribbean. He may be interested to know that on a trip to the Baltic with Princess Cruises, I was given very detailed information on how to get into the cities where it was not obvious, even in Gdynia, where they explained how to get to the train station (taxi), buy a ticket (not so easy in small town Poland where they don't speak English and my attempts at Russian were not appreciated!) and catch the train to Gdansk.

Princess is not faultless, if indeed recommending shops for a percentage payback is a fault, because they also have their recommended lists at various ports. But I really appreciated the fact they were doing something for passengers that did not make them a penny, but saved me plenty.

Richard Fain might be chairman and chief executive of Royal Caribbean Cruises, the big boss of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises, but give him a wave and surf board and he's really just a kid at heart, as these pics from Independence of the Seas show. What a great sport.

But surely you've done this before, I asked, as he emerged half-drowned from the FlowRider (this is the third one on Royal Caribbean ships). "Yes, but it's hard you know." I do actually - but it's also great fun.

This month's prize for the most contrived cruising link has to go Trips Worldwide for the following:

She weighs more than 80,000 family cars or 32,000 adult elephants and at 1,112 ft. is longer than 37 double-decker buses… If you don’t fancy rubbing shoulders with 3,999 other passengers, a holiday aboard the new 160,000-ton Independence of the Seas may not be for you…

Tailor-made specialist, Trips Worldwide, has opted for more bijou vessels, Coral I & II (both around 108 ft. long) for its four-night Galapagos wildlife cruise, part of a longer two-week itinerary that includes a stay at Huaorani Ecolodge in Amazonian Ecuador. Departures from London by air are available daily.

The words bandwagon and jumping spring to mind. Any other entries gratefully received...

Good to see that Ocean Village's ship Ocean Village the original (how I wish they could come up with something simpler - how about Ocean Village One given there is now an Ocean Village Two?) now has a Club Lounge.

Ocean Village Two, launched in April 2007, had a Club Lounge when I cruised on it last summer and it proved a fantastic place to get away from the masses and enjoy a much more personal service.

Of course there is a catch. It is only available to passengers staying in top-grade AA or BB suites and it costs £70 per person. But for that you get unlimited access to the lounge, continental breakfast, afternoon tea, unlimited soft drinks, free alcohol served between 5pm and 8pm and free access to the Internet, so it is a bit of a bargain. Even more so given children of lounge-paying passengers can go in for free and still get the free soft drinks.

Nice move OV. Now how about that name?

The number of Europeans - including the British - taking a cruise has hit the four million mark two years earlier than expected.

According to the European Cruise Council, numbers leaped 17% last year to hit the new record, which is up from 2.6 million five years ago. The ECC had predicted four million in 2010.

The UK is way ahead of the rest with 1.3 million passengers. Germany comes second with 763,000, up 8% on 2006, followed by Italy at number three with 640,000 passengers, up 24% on the previous year.

Another ship is leaving Norwegian Cruise Line's NCL America, the US-flagged company with mostly American crew set up to cruise within Hawaii (others can cruise to the islands but there are strict cabotage laws that the NCL America operation was designed to circumvent).

According to Cruise Critic, Pride of Aloha will revert to being Norwegian Sky, go into dry dock for the casino to be put back (no gambling allowed in waters around the 50th state) and Freestyle 2.0 upgrades to be added, and will start sailing three and four-night cruises between Miami and the Bahamas in July.

The ship was originally going to join the Star Cruises' fleet - Star being the parent of NCL - having previously been deemed unsuitable for the investment needed on the upgraded amenities.

This is the second ship to leave NCL America - Pride of Hawaii has been reflagged and renamed Norwegian Jade and is now sailing in Europe - leaving just one vessel, Pride of America, whose future must also now be in serious doubt.

It's a shame but not a great surprise. NCL America has been dogged with problems since it started, not least because the Americans proved less then enthusiastic about spending months away from home on a cruise ship - and wanted proper wages to boot.

It's been a costly lesson but NCL deserves marks for trying.

I was amazed to read this week that Louis Cruise Lines has sold the 42-year-old Princesa Marissa. Not because it has been sold; more that Louis still had the ship in the first place.

I had the misfortune to sail on it once, thankfully for just two nights, and have to say it was a perfect example of how not to do it - a dingy cabin. iffy food and cheesy entertainment.

Worst of all, when we boarded in Limassol, Cyprus, the ship was listing, which made me doubly alert on the lifeboat drill.

Thankfully I survived the experience and even carried on cruising (there is surely a film there somewhere?) despite their best efforts to put me off.

Incidentally, Louis has also sold the Serenade, which unbelievably was even older (it has another 10 years on Marissa), as part of a fleet upgrade programme. You may remember it has just bought Norwegian Dream and Norwegian Majesty from Norwegian Cruise Line.

Now we know why.

Just back from a meeting with Bernard Carter, sales and marketing director UK and Europe for Oceania Cruises, and I'm pleased to report all is well in its upper premium world.

Except for August 12, that is. Oceania has wait lists for wait lists on all its ships for much of the rest of the year - what's that about a credit crunch? - but Nautica's August 12 12-night sailing in the Med is proving about as popular as the proverbial ham sandwich at a Jewish wedding.

OK, so that's an exaggeration, but there's enough space left for Oceania to have been inspired to come up with some incredible offers - £818 per person for an inside cabin. It is cruise-only and it is an inside room, but you can have a balcony for £1,126 per person, which is a real bargain.

Don't blink or you'll miss them...

Louis Cruise Lines' Aquamarine had to make an emergency stop in Milos after a five-foot breach in the ship's hull was discovered. That's a hole to you and me.

According to Cruise Critic, the ship safely docked carrying 872 passengers and 407 crew, all of whom are expected to stay on board while emergency repair work is carried out. Cruise Critic reports:

A spokesman for Louis Cruise Lines blamed the ship's contact with the pier [while departing from Iraklion, Crete] on high winds and the pier's lack of protective rubber fenders, and said that the damage never posed any danger to passengers.

Nevertheless, it must have brought back chilling memories for Louis and the passengers. Last year, its ship Sea Diamond struck a reef in Santorini and sank, losing two French passengers, presumed dead. Aquamarine was due to go to Santorini before changing course to Milos.

All this talk of holes and breaches has not gone down well at Louis Cruise Lines.

They reckon Aquamarine's hull suffered "cosmetic damage" that was above the water line so there was never any danger to passengers.

The ship docked at Milos for a sticking plaster repair and is being fixed in Piraeus today. It is due to leave the port this evening on its next sailing.

Passengers are being compensated for missing Santorini, which was the last port. There were no Brits on board.

It's been a busy time at the Aker Yard in St Nazaire, France. Norwegian Cruise Lines' F3 keel-laying last month, a coin-laying ceremony for MSC Cruises' Magnifica this.

Like smashing Champagne, coin laying is all about good luck. MSC laid a specially-minted gold coin bearing the City of Venice coat of arms on one side and the cruiseline's logo on the other, Aker Yards laid a 1978 50 French francs silver coin.

Magnifica will be a sister to the newly-launched MSC Poesia, have 1,259 cabins and carry a maximum 3,779 passengers. It will join the fleet in spring 2010.

With its yacht-style cruising and fares that take your breath away (yes, I know, they are all-inclusive but even so!), there are some who would say Yachts of Seabourn is already in with the in-crowd.

However, it gets even more "in" for 2010, when the ships will be making more calls at that jet-set heaven otherwise known as the France Riviera. St Raphael, Bandol and Antibes are all slated for visits, as are a few other millionaire playgrounds - Portofino in Italy, St Barts in the Caribbean, the Isles of Scilly. Where? Don't worry I do know - have actually been there a few times - and while it might not quite be up there with the rest, it's a beautiful place nonetheless.

2010 also marks Seabourn's first world cruise, on Seabourn Odyssey, which launches in June 2009, expanding the ultra luxury segment of the cruise industry for the first time in six years, according to president and CEO Pamela Conover.

As it's the first of three Seabourn ships on order, each for 450 passengers, and Silversea is building too, could it be that luxury is not longer a luxury, it's a necessity?

At last, only four months after I was due to get a first glimpse of Balmoral, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines' new ship, I am on board.

Formerly Norwegian Crown, the vessel was acquired from Norwegian Cruise Line last year and has been stretched - literally it was cut in half and a new bit inserted - so it takes around 400 more passengers.

It was due to set out on its maiden voyage under Fred Olsen colours in January but the work overran and the first cruise was delayed until February.

Is it Fred still? Actually yes. Despite being bigger, it does have that oh so British Fred feel that ageing Olsen groupies know and love. Not quite so intimate though, and there are more lost souls aged over 60 wandering around, still not sure where everything is.

More interesting still... yes, you can see the join.

Cruising fans of Carrie and the girls will be in seventh heaven with Princess Cruises' decision to show the entire first series of Sex and the City on Sea Princess' Movies under the Stars big screen as the ship cruises out of Southampton this summer.

A reason to book? For some, maybe. I remember trying to watch this once on TV, but went back to watching paint dry as it was more exciting. Just what was the point?

Agents who attended the first day of the Association of Cruise Experts' cruise convention in Southampton yesterday had a great opportunity not just to see Crown Princess, which was on its way to Copenhagen to start a summer season of sailings in the Baltic, but also pick up some really practical and helpful hints and tips on how to profit from selling cruising from Princess Cruises head of brand marketing Pieter van der Schee (there is a repeat presentation on Monday so don't panic if you missed it).

This was the event ACE business development director Andy Harmer didn't think could happen. With the three-day convention proper starting Monday, he reckoned maybe 50 agents would turn out for the Friday Premiere.

In the event, there were 150 or so (and many of them are so keen to learn more they will be back in Southampton on Monday for the rest of the convention) which means a total 850 agents will be attending the convention over the four days.

That's an incredible result considering the American equivalent of ACE only manages to attract 1,000 agents. Just think how many more agents there are in the US!

If you are one of the many who was too late to secure a place at the convention, keep an eye on Travel Weekly, which will be reporting all the news and views from the event.

And remember to follow the advice you give your customers next year and book early! 

Aren't people ungrateful? The guys at Fred Olsen went to all the trouble to put an art gallery on the newly-stretched Balmoral - actually it's a corridor that has pictures on each wall, but no matter. It's a lovely space and there are some really eyecatching paintings as opposed to the ghastly stuff the cruiselines dress up as art and try to flog at auction at hugely-inflated prices.

 In my column in the Telegraph this week I wrote:

Since emerging from the shipyard as Balmoral, the vessel also has a smart new top-deck swimming pool where there was none before, and an art gallery with some striking paintings. As it doubles up as the corridor to the main restaurant, I suspect many passengers won't notice the pictures as they race for their food.

But the reality was even worse. Just after writing that, a couple was walking towards me. He turned to her and said: "This is a complete waste of space, isn't it?"

According to a new survey, we Brits are totally ignorant of the continent just across the water. You know, the one they call Europe. Seems we are also a sad bunch of philistines.

Interesting letter in Travel Weekly this week about gratuities, which always manage to raise a few heckles among the British cruising fraternity. Why? Well as the letter says, a tip is supposed to a reward for good service. Ah yes. But not where cruising is concerned.

On a cruise, the gratuity is an extra cost dressed up as a tip to save cruise lines having to pay crew higher wages, which they don't want to do as it would mean having to charge more for the cruise itself.

How else can you explain the fact that Royal Caribbean International allows passengers to pre-pay their gratuity? So you are rewarding service before you have even stepped onto a ship. Make sense of that. Or that Costa Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line have replaced gratuities with compulsory service charges?

Other lines automatically add the gratuity to your on-board account and you can ask for it to be taken off or for the amount to be reduced, but it takes a hard person to dare look so mean.

Cruise lines argue that putting the tip on the bill is for passengers own good. Saves them having to find lots of extra cash at the end of a holiday - and it is a lot. From about £30 per person per week, which is £120 if you are travelling with the family. So they have a point.

But it would be a stronger point if they asked when passengers check in,"would you like us to add the £5 a day gratuity to your cruise account?" - and then explain the reasons. I suspect there is the likelihood too many would say no, which is not what the cruise lines want.

I have heard a prominent cruise line CEO say he would love to remove gratuities and pay crew more (OK, not his exact words, but it's what he meant) if other lines did the same, but he wasn't going to put himself at a competitive disadvantage. Understandable.

The big question is why the Brits - and the Spanish also, I am told - dislike tipping so much. Cruise lines say we are mean, embarrassed, not sure how much to tip (which is why they tell us).

I think it's more that we dislike being told what to do. Get the Brits on a package holiday and they will follow their tour leader over a cliff, but when it comes to money they want to think for themselves, tip because they want to, because they feel have had good service.

There is also something not quite fair - or British! - about going up to a bar to get a drink and having to tip for the pleasure.

There are ways to escape tipping. It's not the done thing on a luxury line - affluent cruisers don't want to be troubled by anything so common as money! - but then you pay a lot for the privilege.

At the other end of the scale, cruise lines like Island Cruises, Ocean Village and Thomson Cruises, aimed squarely at the Brits, have got it right by taking tipping out the equation.But I bet many passengers also leave something for their cabin steward/ess or favourite barman as a genuine thank you. It would be interesting to find out.

Congratulations again to Andy Harmer and the team from the Association of Cruise Experts - and that includes everyone in the accounts and training departments (sorry Andy, couldn't help perpetuating the myth) - for a great cruise convention in Southampton this week.

There might have been one or two hiccups, but it was brilliantly attended by the people it was aimed at - the agents - and there were some very good speakers imparting a lot of useful information.

We touched on the US elections courtsey of Terry Dale from Cruise Lines International Association, the American version of ACE, and had mighty mice and nudity courtesy of Royal Caribbean International UK and Ireland MD Jo Rzymowska.

If none of this makes sense, by the way, book early and make sure you are at the conference next year, wherever that might be.

I am also intrigued by the speaker who vanished so completely from day two. Poor Mario Martini, from God knows where, who was going to give what promised to be an intriguing talk entitled "how cruise destinations are fundamental". Who'd have thought it? The ultimate ignominy surely was that no one even seemed to notice when he didn't take to the stage.

Sadly, the one thing that let it all down was Southampton, that great cruise capital of the Europe (so we were told), which can only field a rather grim football stadium for conferences of any size.

We either melted or froze during the exhibition and sessions, starved or gave in and dined on what must have been the leftover sandwiches when British Rail catering closed down.

In fairness, the food at the Speakers' Dinner - also in the football stadium - last evening was fine and there was plenty of wine to help it down so by the dessert it didn't really matter anyway.

And I suppose at least I can now tell anyone who is in the slightest bit interested that I have been inside a football stadium and even seen the pitch - just!

Interesting story on the Cruise Critic website about an American couple who have been banned from cruising with Royal Caribbean International.

Apparently they were regular cruisers with the brand, but managed to find faults with every cruise they took. These were vocalised to the world through travel websites and when Royal acted to rectify the problems with financial sweeteners - on-board credits, money off future cruises - they told the world of that too.

Cleverly they always praised Royal and rebooked with them so it never looked like they were after money. Of course they weren't. But now the game is over. Let's face it, cruiselines can't afford to allow others to learn the rules.

Somehow I'm finding it hard to feel sorry for these guys, who have been pouring their hearts out on US TV, but I do have sympathy for Norwegian Cruise Line. Apparently they have discovered - and love - NCL's Freestyle cruising!

Regent Seven Seas Cruises president Mark Conroy reckons world cruising is becoming more popular because people are simply taking their offices globetrotting as well.

Regent now has Wi Fi on all its ships so guests can now work whilst on a long voyage. This allows access to the rest of the world at their convenience. Regent Seven Seas Society Silver and above members are offered complementary Wi Fi so they can communicate via the internet for as long as they please with no extra charge.

 

Work your way around the world - but without the backpack. What a fantastic concept. No wonder Conroy also reports that world cruising is a growing sector of Regent's market - so much so that they are offering more long voyages in 2009 to meet demand.

Other interesting world cruise facts from Regent:

* 20% of Regent's world cruise bookings come from the UK.

* 70% of world cruisers are repeat customers.

* a 116-night all-inclusive world cruise with six-star Regent (with all drinks, alternative dining and tips covered) costs less than a 105-night non-inclusive cruise (non of the above covered) on Cunard's five-star Queen Victoria - £291 per person per day against £296.

Who says they can't afford luxury?

Project Genesis is dead, long live Oasis of the Seas. Oasis? As in a fertile spot on the desert? Well, yes. But also a place of refuge, relief or pleasant contrast, according to Royal Caribbean International.

Apparently Royal Caribbean received 91,000 entries in a Name that ship competition run with USA Today to find a name for the giant 220,000-ton, 5,400-passenger ship launching late next year.

Interesting to see how quickly the name catches on, given it has been known as Genesis for so long. Royal only had to add "of the Seas" at the end and they would have saved a lot of time and effort.

To be in with a chance of winning, entrants had to suggest two names, so we now also know that the second Genesis - sorry, Oasis - ship, launching in 2010, will be named Allure of the Seas.

The Brits have really caught on to Far East cruising Italian-style, a beaming Marco Rosa, UK managing director of Costa Cruises, tells me.

For the first time ever, he was able to report to HQ that his office has booked more Brits on a Costa cruise than his Italian-based counterpart has booked Italians.

OK, so it was only for the line's new cruises from Hong Kong, but that's still quite an achievement given the Brits are usually number five source market for the line, behind the Italians, French, Germans and Spanish. No wonder Rosa was so happy.

He also reports an unexpected surge in bookings from the UK for summer 2008, despite credit crunches, rising prices and falling house values - and the fact one would have thought most people would already have booked this year's summer holiday by now.

"We have already reached our 2008 target, which was 34% higher than for 2007, so anything else is an unexpected bonus," he says, adding that forward bookings for 2009 are ahead of this time last year for 2008.

Rosa reckons it's all down to better brand awareness among agents. "We don't get asked what we do any more or how many ships we have. Thet are all amazed when they come on board. I don't know what they expect."

Passengers on Azamara Cruises, the better-than-Celebrity brand from the Royal Caribbean stable, had a real treat as their ship popped into London this week on the way from Barcelona to Copenhagen - namely what passes for a port in one of Europe's leading capital cities.

Port? Actually, it's a pontoon just down river from Tower Bridge that has been covered with portacabins that you weave through in order to get to the ship - and that's after enduring a tortuous tender transfer from the other side of the bridge.

No matter. There was a fabulous view of Tower Bridge from the aft end of the ship and it must have been fun squeezing through the Thames Barrier - for passengers at least. Captain Carl admitted he pulled his stomach in as he manoevered through with just 15 metres to spare on either side.

Thames boatmen notwithstanding, I finally managed to get on board with some of the top people from Royal Caribbean for what was a first glimpse of an Azamara ship for all.

Except it was a bit like deja-vu for anyone who has been on Princess Cruises' Royal Princess (Swan Hellenic's Minerva II as was) or any of the Oceania Cruises' ships.

Obviously Azamara Journey been tweaked here and there - actually there have been $19 million of tweaks to add 32 bigger suites, a cafe, bar and change the carpets. Sadly the money didn't stretch to real teak on the pool deck so there's a plastic faux alternative but the wooden sun loungers with comfy mattresses helps to make up for that.

They have also put in new alternative restaurants, which come with no charge (that's one of the better-than-Celebrity bits) and look lovely. But so does the eat-when-you-like main dining room. Again, so much more advanced than its X-rated big sister with its fixed dining.

And at the moment, as the brand is not yet well known, it doesn't cost any more, and sometimes even less. That's got to be well worth a second look.

Want to know what luxury looks like?

Here's the hull of Yachts of Seabourn's new ship Seabourn Odyssey, on its way from the Gulf of Venice, where it was built, to the T Mariotti shipyard in Genoa, where the rest of the ship is being put together in time for its June 2009 launch.

It's Seabourn's first new ship for six years and will mark a big step forward for the ultra-lux line - or at least so we are told. Hard to picture from this giant lump of steel.

Forty-one years after smashing a bottle of bubbly against Cunard's QE2, the Queen will be in Southampton on Monday to bid the ship a fond farewell.

The ship, for anyone who has been on Mars, has been sold to the Dubai government to become a floating hotel, and sets off for its new home in November after a series of sell-out farewell voyages.

The Queen will tour of the ship, meet some of the crew and then settle down to lunch with former prime minister Baroness Thatcher.

On a signal from the Queen, Cadet Jennifer Haynes will sound QE2's whistle to salute Queen Mary 2, which will also be in port. Being very polite, Queen Mary 2 will respond with a whistle.

There won't be a dry eye in the house.

News reaches me that Lucien Freud's portrait of a naked, pregnant Kate Moss will be on Star Cruises' SuperStar Virgo's voyages from Hong Kong this summer.

Is this supposed to attract bookings from passengers not excited enough at the thought of seeing Vietnam and China. Please tell me it can't be true.

Cruising kids - or should that be parents? - have never had it so good.

Not only do under-18s cruise for free all-year round with MSC Cruises, now the line is offering 30% discounts on excursions for under 14s. That's good news for mums and dads bewildered by cruiselines that count 12-year-olds as adults when to comes to all things financial while forbidding them access to adult areas of the ships.

I also love MSC Cruises' Teen Card for 12-17s that parents can charge with 30 or 50 euros at the start of the cruise, leaving teens free to spend, spend, spend as they want on board - until they use up all the credit, that is.

Parents can then either take their teens back under their financial wing or recharge the cards - presumably after a few lessons in the art of money management.

Good to see Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Jade in Southampton last week sporting the line's new Freestyle 2.0 upgraded features.

The ship is homeporting in Southampton this summer - the first time NCL has based a ship at the port - and sailing to the Med with an average 1,500 British passengers per cruise - a very healthy number, especially for a first season (there are also Americans and a few northern Europeans).

Freestyle 2.0 has all sorts of good features - a welcome glass of bubby for everyone on embarbarkation, and thicker mattresses and better-quality linens in the cabins. If you're into seafood, I guess it's also good news that they are offering more lobster on the menus.

But then there are the flags. Sounds so cool - relax on your sunbed, wave a flag and a waiter will come and take your order. The reality? The word tacky springs to mind.

I feel sorry for the crew who have to keep the flags in some kind of order. Bets, please, on how long they will last.