The small-ship luxury side of the business has witnessed some noticeable rate deterioration in the past two years after ambitious expansion programs.
With the arrival of the Queen Elizabeth in October, big-ship luxury line Cunard will have launched three large new liners in six years, so Cruise Week asked Executive V.P. Jan Swartz how she felt Cunard's expansion will affect rates.
"I think the Cunard brand is more than able to source passengers for a three-ship fleet, and I think we will be able to absorb the growth quite nicely," she replied. "The Cunard brand has incredible global appeal, and we're able to source literally from all over the world."
International sourcing is nothing new to Cunard. Even prior to the launching of QM2, execs would point out that Cunard sourced from 40 different nations. But as other lines shift from primarily North American sourcing to a mix of Europeans and North Americans, Cunard is heading in the other direction.
"For North America in particular, there's a big change, with the Queen Elizabeth enabling Queen Victoria to sail from the West Coast, providing some real exposure to West Coast clients,” says Swartz. “Having a three-ship fleet enables Cunard to deploy ships with a consistent, broad North American product offering."
She emphasizes that the economics make sense for increased promotional efforts by agents. "Unlike other products like river cruising, Cunard has significant capacity. If you're going to promote a date and get enough passengers to get a group, that can very easily happen at Cunard because we have a lot of berths."
Swartz concedes the biggest challenge is getting more agents to take the time to learn the product. "There are many more agents who can effectively sell Cunard," she says. "One of the biggest barriers we encounter as a sales force is that some are a bit overwhelmed by the question of: 'How can I talk intelligently about Cunard to potential clients?'”
To Swartz, the short answer to that question is Cunard Academy. “We've created more than 30 courses to help agents get educated on all the important details about selling the Grill accommodations, the onboard ambiance, the Insights program, etc.,” she reports. “The commission cheques are large, so it can be very lucrative, and Cunard typically has very loyal repeat clients."
