Being smaller poses a happy problem for Regent Seven Seas Cruises and
Oceania Cruises, both of which are seeing a significant migration of
passengers from cruise lines with bigger ships. Post-pandemic cruise
demand shows that 76% of passengers are new to the brands, up from 66%
pre-pandemic.
“New customers are considering cruising as a travel experience, and
we have also noted a shift in preference among the cruise brands. We are
seeing seeing a lot of movement in passengers, particularly from the
bigger 3,000- to 4,000-passenger ships from other cruise lines to our
smaller ships, which accommodate 700 to 1,200 passengers,” says Steve
Odell, senior vice president and managing director, Asia Pacific, Regent
Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises.
We want to emphasise to agents that they should turn their attention to the premium luxury business because there's much more profitability to gain from it.– Steve Odell, SVP and MD, Asia Pacific, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises
Odell shared that both cruise lines are seeing very early booking
times, and with passengers planning way in advance, cruise itineraries
lined up for the 2023 to 2024 season are steadily filling up their
slots.
He
added that cruise duration has increased alongside the demand, going
from 10 nights to 14 nights or more, with bookings reflecting higher
spend in premium accommodation categories.
The
numbers not only reflect the strong rebound in desire for travel
experiences, but also in the prioritisation of quality choices and in
unique once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises' 150-day world cruise on Seven Seas Mariner in 2025 will be open for bookings on 14 June.
“Our 140- and 190-day world cruises for both Oceania and Regent were
sold out within a few hours,” says Odell. He added that Regent's 150-day
world cruise on Seven Seas Mariner in 2025 will be open for bookings on
14 June, with pre-registration starting 1 June.
Despite the strong numbers, Odell reported that both cruise lines are
looking closely at positive trends to strengthen their product
offerings even further, one of which is the rise of the solo traveller.
Recognising this demand, particularly in the luxury segment, Oceania
will be introducing six solo staterooms on its new Oceania Vista.
“When
we started selling the cruises on Vista last year, all the solo cabins
on all the cruises were sold out right away,” says Odell. Oceania
Cruises will be introducing a total of 56 solo staterooms onboard
Regatta, Nautica, Insignia and Sirena from 25 September to 1 October
this year. There are no solo staterooms offered by Regent Seven Seas
Cruises.
In the face of current demand, Odell highlighted that while the
cruise industry is set to make waves again, there aren’t enough travel
agents still active on the market to manage the volume of business.
“We want to invest more time in the training and education of
qualified agents, and to see them get back into the business.
Importantly, we want to emphasise to agents that they should turn their
attention to the premium luxury business because there's much more
profitability to gain from it," says Odell.
Seven Seas Explorer, which is arriving in Singapore waters in
December, is fully booked for its Asia Pacific season, all through to
Japan in April. New ships Seven Seas Grandeur and Oceania Vista will
arrive in April next year.