I attended the Ensemble Travel Conference in the Palm Desert area and spent the past 5 days immersed in a world that I love. It is a place full of all things cruise and travel and one in which I am extremely comfortable. It is my world and has been for more than 3 decades and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing many people I have known for over 25 years. I spent time with wonderful and successful women who have worked with me in several companies – some dating back to the 1980’s and they are still an important part of my life. It is truly a proud moment for me when I see them in their successful and rewarding careers, doing so well.
I was able to spend time and converse with the movers and shakers in the cruise industry and talk “cruise” constantly. Something I have every desire to continue to do. I never get tired of it and there is always something new to share or to learn.
I am most certainly a blessed woman and when people ask me if I plan to slow down – I say, “NEVER – they will take me out with my boots on!”
Andy Stuart from Norwegian Cruise Line was as engaging as ever on a panel with Edie Rodriguez of Crystal Cruises, Xavier Mufraggi from Club Med and Gus Vonderheide from Hyatt. Naturally the cruise commentary was my focus and as the moderator was Jeff Drew, himself a long time cruise guy enjoying his new “retirement career”, the panel was lively, entertaining but also informative.
Naturally the 1st topic for Norwegian was their upcoming acquisition of Regent Seven Seas and Oceania Cruises which is to be finalised in the next month or so. Andy discussed the fact that there are 2 other public companies – Royal and Carnival Corp who have a number of brands in their portfolios. Norwegian sees having the addition of Regent in the luxury space and Oceania in the upscale cruise category is a very good fit with their mainstream and contemporary cruise space. There will be opportunities to leverage purchasing power and merge certain operational and administrative departments (legal as an example) but Andy indicated that the 3 separate sales teams for each of the brands would remain and continue their viability. A good idea all around. The brands should be kept separate with their unique identities but merged behind the scenes where logical. This way the distinction of each brand remains but synergies of “better together” will apply.
Edie was telling us about the success of their Northwest Passage itinerary which will sail in August 2016 and opened for sale to past guests this past summer. Crystal certainly possesses a “secret sauce” and does so well with their alumni who are constantly looking for new itineraries. This is a definite home run as within 3 days the vessel was sold out with $35 million worth of business put on the books. Very impressive indeed. There is also a wait list of more than 600 guests for this unique and lengthy itinerary sailing from the Pacific to the Atlantic through the Northwest Passage with a separate ice-breaker ship along for the ride to get rid of any pesky icebergs/flows!
Vanessa Lee with Ron Tereshyn of 510 Travel & Uniworld’s Guy young
I had lunch with the lovely and affable Guy Young of Uniworld – a river brand I think very highly of and we chatted about the River Tosca’s return to Egypt in October 2015. Another good sign of the times. This gorgeous ship offers a combo of land stay and a Nile river cruise. The hotel used in Cairo is the Four Seasons for a few nights followed by a leisurely sail down the Nile for 7 nights. A new brochure will be out in December to highlight and welcome back this 41 room ship.
And at dinner with SeaDream I learned of their fabulous wine voyages happening in 2015 – 8 departures with a focus on itineraries in France, Italy and Spain. These journeys are ideal for wine enthusiasts eager to learn more about various wines, visit vineyards, enjoy tastings on board and also partake of fabulous dinners with special wine pairings – and more! Plus a transatlantic crossing in April will afford guests the opportunity to take a Level 2 wine certification course while they sail from North America to the Old World.
I will be sailing on the new Regal Princess next week attending their “Love Boat” themed christening and will happily report back on that soon.
