Today started with a panel with top executives from Regent Seven Seas, Oceania, AmaWaterways River Cruise Line and Globus Family of Brands (GFOB).
Later in the day, I had a “Day at Sea” on land with both Oceania and AmaWaterways, followed by 1:1 meetings with representatives from both of these and also GFOB and Virgin Voyages
Here are some of my key take aways from today.
Shawn Tubman SVP of Regent Seven Seas spoke about the luxury cruise lines having more space per passenger on board already, which means social distancing will be easier to achieve, and he indicated that many premium passengers might use this opportunity to move up to the smaller ships, particularly on reviewing the value proposition of all that is included. They have noticed a higher percentage of passengers, 85%, booking the entire itinerary of their recently 2023 World Cruise as opposed to what would normally be 50% on the full itinerary, suggesting that people are looking to do those once in a life time bucket list trips. He is excited to debut their new ship Seven Seas Splendor.
Gary Murphy Co-Owner and SVP of Sales for AmaWaterways, has seen Europe for the 2nd half of 2021 selling well from summer on, suggesting this is when the cruising public is betting that things might be back to normal. AmaWaterways is currently successfully cruising on the Rhine with only Germans on board at a reduced capacity of 100 passengers. They are still hopeful that there might be a return to normal cruising in March and will be ready for this if the situation allows. Their Nile cruises are currently 70% sold. They have not seen the need to lower prices due to the level of demand and also as they expect to be sailing at a reduced capacity.
Globus Family of Brands includes Globus for First class touring, Cosmos for affordable touring, Monograms for independent travel with a local host, and Avalon River Cruises. Avalon has seen their shorter river cruises selling well. Globus has 5 “Undiscovered North America Vacations” on offer in 2021 for those people looking to stay closer to home and get off the beaten path and see some less commonly travelled destinations. This is in addition to their usual large portfolio of trips on offer across the world. Italy and UK trips remain very popular, and they have a wide range of trips across the US and Canada,.
Oceania saw great success with their Labor day sale and expects to have another similar promotion for Black Friday! More 2022 itineraries will be released in November and their 2023 World Cruise is expected to be released in early 2021. Oceania’s typical clientele is the well travelled baby boomer, who appreciates great food and fine cuisine, but wants a more relaxed, less formal feel on board. Oceania now offers the feature to search by shore excursion as well as by destination. The specialty restaurants are included on Oceania, by appointment with Red Ginger being a favorite. Oceania’s executive culinary director Jacques Pepin has served as personal chef to 3 French head’s of state. They now offer a wide selection of free fitness classes included.
Oceania has select sailings with promotions for past passengers and single travelers, and All Aboard International Co. has a number of Oceania sailings with an exclusive promotion of FREE gratuities.
Virgin will have 2 ships sailing in 2021, Scarlett Lady and Valiant Lady with itineraries to the Caribbean, sailing out of Miami, all featuring a stop at the Beach club at Bimini, and itineraries to the Mediterranean all featuring a stop in Ibiza. 2 more ships will be on the way to total 4 with the third debuting in 2022.
Many of the vendors featured stressed how important, now more than ever, it was for people to book with a travel advisor.
Stay tuned as All Aboard is hoping to have to have virtual cruise nights with some of these and other travel vendors in the months to come.
To learn more about, or to book with any of the vendors mentioned contact Philip on (954) 478 6392 or allaboardintl@gmail.com
All Aboard International Cruises and Travel 