CRUISE NEWS
Cruise ship orders dry up
Jane Archer
travel.weekly@rbi.co.uk
The cruise industry’s failure
to order new ships beyond
2012 is causing concern for
the shipyards.
Speaking at the fl oat-out
of P&O Cruises’ Azura last
week, Fincantieri Monfalcone
director Paolo Capobianco
hailed the Italian shipyard’s
relationship with Carnival
Cruises, which has had 46 new
ships built since 1990.
However, Capobianco said
if no new orders were placed
in the “short to medium term”
he could not guarantee “full
workloads for all the sectors in
the production line”.
After almost a decade of
boom years, when one ship
is fl oated out, only for a keel
to take its place in the dry
dock within days, orders for
new ships have dried up. As
soon as Azura was out of dry
dock, the yard was preparing
to start work on Cunard’s
Queen Elizabeth.
Yachts of Seabourn’s new
10 | Travel Weekly | July 3 2009
CRUISE SHIP LAUNCHES 2009/10
NAME CRUISE LINE TONNES COST LAUNCH PASSENGERS HOME PORT
Equinox Celebrity Cruises 122,000 £450m July 2009 2,850 Rome
Dream Carnival Cruise 130,000 £400m Sep 2009 3,650 Florida
Lines
Oasis Royal Caribbean 220,000 £730m Dec 2009 5,400 Florida
International
Deliziosa Costa Cruises 92,700 £300m Jan 2010 2,260 Europe
Eclipse Celebrity Cruises 122,000 £450m Apr 2010 2,850 Southampton
Azura P&O Cruises 116,000 £420m Apr 2010 3,100 Southampton
Epic Norwegian 153,000 £570m May 2010 4,200 Florida
Cruise Line
Queen Elizabeth Cunard 90,400 £425m Aug 2010 2,058 Southampton
Allure Royal Caribbean 220,000 £730m Dec 2010 5,400 Florida
International
Source:PSA
ship Seabourn Odyssey was
launched on June 24, just a few
weeks after Costa named two
ships in Genoa. Another fi ve
vessels are due this year, and
next year there will be at least as
many again leaving the yards.
While there is nothing to
worry about immediately
– the Passenger Shipping
Association said there were
39 cruise ships on order
between now and 2012 – the
concern is that no orders have
been placed beyond that date.
It’s not really surprising.
While the shipyards worry
about the future, cruiselines
are having a tough time,
not just in trying to secure
passengers and profi ts during
the recession, but because
the strength of the euro
against the dollar has sent
the cost of new ships soaring.
Conversely, though, as long
as cruiselines are as confi dent
as they say about continued
passenger growth in the
cruise industry – and provided
they have the secure fi nancing
needed to buy millions of
pounds worth of new ship –
this could be the best time
to place an order. After all,
there is no competition
from other cruiselines, and
the shipyards are desperate
for business.
Capobianco said: “It is
more important than ever to
focus on improving effi ciency,
so we are in a position to
stimulate demand by off ering
ships at competitive prices.”
One industry insider who
declined to be named said:
“We need the new tonnage
if we are going to continue to
grow the business. I think we
will see new orders coming
through soon for delivery
after 2012.”
Seabourn drops price
to attract UK cruisers
Yachts of Seabourn aims
to double its UK passenger
numbers this year after an
aggressive pricing campaign
aimed at raising the profi le
of the luxury cruiseline.
UK-based EMEA director
Andy Magowan is predicting
Seabourn will carry 4,000
Britons this year, twice as
many as in 2008, following the
launch of Seabourn Odyssey in
Venice, Italy on June 24.
Magowan said that in 2007
the cruiseline carried just
1,500 “seriously hardcore”
UK passengers who didn’t
really have to be sold anything
as they have always cruised
with Seabourn.
Magowan said: “With a
new ship giving us 30% extra
capacity, we decided to go
out aggressively on price,
and target passengers who
would normally cruise with
P&O Cruises or Cunard, who
would have never considered
Seabourn before.”
Odyssey is Seabourn’s
fi rst ultra-luxury ship in six
years. It has capacity for 450
passengers, which is more
Seabourn
Odyssey was
launched
in Venice
on June 24
than twice as many as each of
its three other ships.
It will be followed by two
sister ships in 2010 and 2011,
costing nearly $1 billion.
Magowan hopes to appoint
two or three on-the-road
sales people for the UK over
the next 18 months, as well
as growing the sales and
marketing team.
❯ For more pictures of
Seabourn Odyssey, go to
www.travelweekly.co.uk/
travelhub
www.travelweekly.co.uk
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