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Norwegian Cruise Line said its partnership with Nickelodeon won’t be renewed when it expires at the end of the year.
Nickelodeon characters such as SpongeBob Square Pants and Dora the Explorer have been on select Norwegian ships for the past three years.
“These experiences will not appear on Norwegian Escape and on Norwegian Epic as of October 2015 and on the remaining four ships beginning in January 2016,” the statement said.
In some cases, Norwegian will have to dismantle fixtures, such as the SpongeBob characters that decorate its water play parks. There have also been Nickelodeon character meet-and-greets, a poolside show, an arts and crafts experience and a Nickelodeon-themed Pajama Jam Breakfast.
Norwegian said it will continue to make investments “to further elevate our family programming” on its ships.
With the addition of Dr. Seuss characters and the makeover of Camp Carnival into Camp Ocean on some of its ships, Carnival Cruise Line has more appeal than ever to the family cruise segment.
The changes, announced a year ago, bring an instantly recognizable name to Carnival's kids offerings.
"For Dr. Seuss, as soon as you mention Cat in the Hat, they already know who it is," said Ana Klacinski, youth director on the Carnival Freedom.
It's a step up for Carnival, which competes at sea with characters from Nickelodeon (Norwegian Cruise Line), DreamWorks (Royal Caribbean International) and, of course, Disney on Disney Cruise Line.
Now Carnival offers a kids parade through the Freedom once each cruise, led by characters from "The Cat in the Hat," as well as a Green Eggs and Ham breakfast featuring Sam I Am.
At the same time, Carnival has significantly improved the kids facilities on the Freedom and other ships. Seuss is now playing on 10 of Carnival's 24 ships, and Camp Ocean has been installed on the Freedom, Breeze, Magic and Triumph.
The big change is to give each age group its own themed space to play in, from Penguins (ages 2 to 5) to Stingrays (6 to 8) to Sharks (9 to 11). Klacinski said kids are excited to see the play space has lost its day-care vibe.
"They have a name, but not only that, they have their own space that they don't have to share with anybody," she said. "And they love it."
The Freedom also received a Dr. Seuss Bookville area adjacent to Camp Ocean. It provides space for unscheduled time that children and parents can play together and an introduction to Seuss books guests may not know.
Part of the magic of the Seuss parade is its mystery, Klacinski said. It begins with an announcement that Seuss characters are onboard and an invitation to gather in a lounge 15 minutes before the parade. No one knows quite what for. When the time is ripe, a chant begins: "Dr. Seuss is on the loose!"
One by one, the characters are introduced and then the parade begins, through the ship, with kids banging noisemakers and keeping the chant going until arrival at the ship's main theater, where they're invited on stage for a group reading of "The Cat in the Hat" while parents watch.
"It's like a good, family-friendly event and comedy show at the same time," Klacinski said.
The Green Eggs and Ham breakfast, held later in the cruise, attracted about 50 kids and parents on the cruise I was on. Food, including mint-green scrambled eggs, is served by wait staff attired as Thing One and Thing Two from "The Cat in the Hat," and Sam I Am appears to greet and hug kids.
Chuck Soukop, a passenger from Punta Gorda, Fla., said he was delighted with the upgrades to Freedom's kids programming. "It's nice to have something for the kids to do that isn't as expensive as Disney [Cruise Line]," he said.
Cruising with the family might be the best vacation value short of pitching a tent in your backyard. A family cruise includes all meals, most onboard activities and stops at different ports for the family to enjoy as they see fit.
According to Cruise Line International Association, the fastest-growing segment of the market is the 25 to 40 age group. Young families in this demographic — as well as families with older kids — have the opportunity to spend less and get more on a cruise, if they know how.
For starters, families on a budget should decide which cruise line best fits their family, budget and style of vacation. Disney Cruise Lines, for instance, offers the most kid-friendly activities, but at a steeper price. On a Disney cruise, however, there is always something going on, including parties, character autograph sessions, musicals, movies, games, princess parties, animation lessons and more.
Carnival Cruise Lines, on the other hand, often offers an affordable cruise for families on a budget. And most of the Carnival ships now offer waterslides, rope courses, miniature golf and Camp Carnival, where kids ages 2 to 11 years old can spend most of the day with other kids in an activity-based program. Kids 12 to 14 can join Club C and play video games, participate in talent shows, have pool parties and more. Teens 15 to 17 go to Club O2 and enjoy their own nightclub-like room where activity leaders keep them entertained. Club O2 sometimes offers special excursions as well.
Royal Caribbean Cruises contracted with DreamWorks to offer Hollywood-style cruises that kids love. Children and adults alike enjoy 3-D movies, parades and character meals. Barbie also joined Royal Caribbean last year — at a cost of $199 per child, the kids can participate in the Barbie Premium Experience aimed at cruisers 4 to 11 years old. Royal Caribbean Cruises also offers special dining for children ages 3 to 11. After young ones finish eating, staff members escort them to the kids club while parents enjoy a romantic dinner at a more relaxed pace.
Holland America Line (HAL) offers Club HAL for kids ages 3 to 17, providing karaoke, pajama parties, swim parties, scavenger hunts, video game tournaments, pizza making and talent shows. Club HAL activities are supervised by full-time staff, all of whom hold degrees in education, childhood development, recreation, leisure studies or other related fields. Families with teenagers might want to consider HAL for its great teen program. The Loft — or The Oasis, depending on the ship — is an entire deck accessible via a secret passageway that is devoted to teens. It features a nightclub venue, a juice bar and a swimming pool. Some teens can choose to participate in digital workshops, culinary classes or other educational programs too.
Norwegian Cruise Line partnered with Nickelodeon and offers a wide variety of activities for kids of all ages. Younger ones will enjoy Dora’s Dance Party, meet and greets with Nickelodeon characters or a themed arts and crafts party. Kids as young as 6 months to 12 years old can sign up for Splash Academy, but at least one parent or adult must accompany kids ages 6 months to 3 years. Teens up to 17 enjoy Entourage, where they play sports, take part in theater and fashion workshops or have pool parties. With “Free Style” cruising, families can do what they want, when they want, including dining. This freedom makes for a more relaxed schedule without the hassles of strict timelines.
MSC Cruise Line’s Divina offers a robust complimentary childrens program. Kids ages 3 to 12 years old can experience Kids Club all day long, with MSC staff supervising. It also offers High-Seas Hangouts for teens 13 to 17 years old. The Teen Club offers dance classes, a virtual world arcade, sports, games and tournaments. At night, teens can play trivia, enjoy live music and dance. Teens can also get a pre-paid “Teen Card” for small onboard purchases.
Stateroom Options Some of the cruise lines offer a “kids sail free” program and charge only for room taxes and gratuities. Others offer specialized cabins with drop-down bunks or sofa-beds to accommodate up to five family members. These rooms book fast because they provide the best value for a family and should be booked as far in advance as possible. Booking these rooms works best with younger kids — families with older kids capable of being on their own should consider two rooms. Some cabins also have connecting doors, and balcony rooms also have the ability to open the outside partition between cabins to create a single bigger balcony shared by the family.
“I suggest one outside room and one inside room across the hall,” said West Coast Travel’s Jim Manning.
Most cruise lines now offer family-style suites, with one or two bedrooms and a central living area that can be used as an additional sleeping space with fold-out couches. These rooms cost more but can provide the ideal space for families who want to stay together but have some privacy as well.
When to book the family cruise also plays an important role in saving big dollars for the family. Deals during wave season might include shipboard credits, discounted airfares, free shore excursions and room upgrades.
Other ways to stretch a family vacation budget include cruising during shoulder seasons. For instance, in the Caribbean, peak season begins in late November and runs through June. Booking before or after peak season will help families save. Shoulder season in Alaska would be the first one or two cruises of the season and the last one or two at the end of the season.
“You should also consider ‘repositioning cruises’ for your best price,” said Manning.
Repositioning cruises are often priced lower because they occur during the shoulder season and they don’t start and end at the same port. These cruises may increase the airfare costs for a family, but could also work in a family’s favor, depending on where a cruise begins or ends. Repositioning cruises sometimes work well for reunions because family members come from different cities.
Planning a family reunion onboard a cruise ship can solve many problems, including where to go, who does the cooking, who cleans up the mess and how much it will cost. Since cruise ships offer so many room categories with different price points, everyone who comes to the family reunion can choose the room and shore excursions for his or her budget, while enjoying the same high-quality experience.
Fleet-wide renovations planned for Norwegian ships
Norwegian Cruise Line has revealed it plans to invest $250 million (£147 million) in fleet-wide renovations that will take place during the course of 2015.
The NEXT makeover programme will focus on bringing "new enhancements, experiences and transformations" across the fleet and will include improvements to food and drink facilities, as well as entertainment amenities.
According to the firm, the renovations will bring older ships inline with the more modern Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway liners.
Kevin Sheehan, chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line, said: "The youngest fleet at sea continues to get even better with our robust enhancement taking place over the next two years, and we want to continue to provide fresh and relevant experiences to our guests every time they sail with us.”
The firm will continue its partnership with children’s television network Nickelodeon and plans to create further entertainment options for its youngest passengers.
According to Norwegian, the iConcierge app will be rolled out to all ships and Wi-Fi facilities will be upgraded. In addition, touch screens and digital signage will be fitted across the whole fleet.
Further technological improvements are planned, focusing specifically on improving efficiency and reducing the carbon footprint of the fleet.
Norwegian Cruise Line has set out on a major overhaul of its fleet, which will see the giant investing a quarter of a billion dollars over the next year.
The company is investing $250 million in a fleetwide renovation project called Norwegian Next that will see many of the entertainments and dining venues from its newer Breakaway-class ships rolled out across the rest of its fleet in the coming months.
A number of ships have already been refurbished recently including Norwegian Jewel and Norwegian Spirit. Norwegian Gem is set to get a makeover this year, while Norwegian Star and Norwegian Epic will go into the dry dock in 2015.
The Norwegian Next programme features a large number of changes including entertainment, children's activities and onboard connectivity. In terms of the dining establishments found on Getaway and Breakaway, Norwegian will be bringing O'Sheehan's Bar & Grill and Carlo's Bake Shop to all of its ships, along with the Sugarcane Mojito bar.
It will also be bringing the main dining room on the other ships in line with its newest vessels and introducing Garden Cafes. There will also be new wine and cocktail menus, while bartenders and wine stewards across the rest of the fleet are set to receive additional training.
Among the new children's activities will be more Nickelodeon entertainments and a special area at the cruise line's private island Great Stirrup Cay. It is also introducing new bars on the island and ensuring that passengers calling here have access to larger beach areas and more cabanas.
"The youngest fleet at sea continues to get even better with our robust enhancement program taking place over the next two years," said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Line's chief executive.
"We want to continue to provide fresh and relevant experiences to our guests every time they sail with us. We are investing significantly in making sure that our guests have the vacation of a lifetime and fully experience what it means to Cruise like a Norwegian."
Norwegian Cruise Line has no plans for brand expansion
By Tom Stieghorst
FORT LAUDERDALE — Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings will stick with its core competencies and not acquire or start brands other than its flagship Norwegian brand, CEO Kevin Sheehan said at the CruiseWorld event on Friday.
Sheehan said he looked at several acquisitions after he came to Norwegian in 2008 but decided against them.
“I don’t want to create distractions for our team,” Sheehan said. “We have so many opportunities with our brand.”
In addition, Sheehan told travel agents that Norwegian is a variety of brands under one name. The Haven ship-within-a-ship luxury areas on Norwegian ships function as a luxury line, he said. He also cited a focus on solo cabins, family programs with Nickelodeon and the Pride of America ship in Hawaii as other brand-like experiences within Norwegian Cruise Line.
Sheehan said he is working hard to keep Norwegian focused on its own long-term future and goals, now that the company has become publicly traded. He said he would have preferred to go public later, but the private-equity owners needed some “affirmation” for their investors.
“I have always said to our investors, I know you are watching the next quarter, but I’m watching the next five years,” Sheehan said.
The next big event on Norwegian’s horizon is the arrival of Norwegian Getaway, which will sail from Miami year-round. Norwegian last had a ship sail seven-day cruises year-round from Miami 10 years ago.
Sheehan said he has tried to keep Norwegian’s ships consistently positioned to provide stability for travel agents, and that a limited number of ships left Miami as a seasonal market, until now.
Getaway is in the final stages of construction and is expected to arrive in New York in early February for a week’s duty as the Bud Light Hotel at the Super Bowl before coming to Miami for its maiden voyage.
Sheehan pointed out that Norwegian started the modern cruise industry in Miami 45 years ago.
“It’s just getting back to where we should have been all along,” he said.
Sheehan was the third cruise CEO to address CruiseWorld attendees, following talks by Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. CEO Richard Fain.
In 2011, Carnival Cruise Lines concocted Fun Ship 2.0, a package of branded experiences meant to rejuvenate its older ships and provide a consistent fleetwide product.
The anchor was a 40-something celebrity chef with spiky blond hair and a brash, everyman demeanor.
Two years later, Carnival has served more than 1 million hamburgers at Guy's Burger Joint, and Food Network star Guy Fieri has been exposed to millions of Carnival guests.
"It just goes to show you how successful you can be aligning yourself with a celebrity that fits your brand," said Carnival Cruise Lines CEO Gerry Cahill.
Fieri is just one of dozens of brand names now sailing the seven seas, as cruise lines increasingly forge partnerships with recognized commodities that reinforce their market message.
A familiar brand is a bridge that first-time cruisers can safely cross to try cruising if they're uncertain about what it is. Agents can use what they know about clients to find the brand that excites them, then leverage the emotion the client associates with that brand to drive home a sale.
Scott Koepf, vice president for marketing at Avoya Travel, said, "The key is to know your customer and then present the brand that actually resonates with what that customer's interests are."
The roll call of brands at sea includes kids' favorites like Nickelodeon, DreamWorks and Hasbro, entertainment ranging from Dancing With the Stars to Blue Man Group and celebrity chefs from Todd English to Geoffrey Zakarian and a host of others.
Mass-market lines with the biggest budgets tend to have the broadest stable of well-known names, though upscale lines also partner with upscale brands. Oceania Cruises, for example, has partnerships with Lalique crystal, Wine Spectator magazine and the designer Ralph Lauren.
At every price point, cruise lines affiliate with names that mean something special to a target passenger base and help define a unique selling proposition in the market. For Carnival these days, that boils down to two buzzwords: unpretentious and fun.
Fieri fit the bill on both counts. While some celebrity chefs strive to impress with refined meals and elegant presentation, Fieri's signature show is called "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives."
His personality is down-to-earth but outgoing and a bit outrageous. There's nothing on the menu at Guy's Burger Joint that is hard to pronounce, said Lania Rittenhouse, vice president of product development at Carnival.
"We did some research, and Guy Fieri scored very, very high in terms of who our guests like to watch and who they related to," Rittenhouse said. "He was just a rock star, and everyone loved him. There was this chatter he created."
Carnival is in the process of installing a Guy's Burger Joint on 16 of its 24 ships. It was important that the burgers be free of charge, Rittenhouse said. "We want to deliver the best burger at sea, and not only that, but have it the best value, so we have it complimentary."
In entertainment, Carnival has partnered with comedian George Lopez to manage and supply talent to a branded comedy club. Lopez is known for his plainspoken take on Hispanic family life.
A deal with Hasbro brings branded toys and games into the mix. Carnival plans a Twister game on the Carnival Sunshine, which will debut in May. "Our guests love game shows," Rittenhouse said. "They're the kind of people who like to be in the audience or on the stage. They participate, they're very vocal, and they love challenges.
"When we took a look at who was out there to see who was all-American and who had a lot of brands people grew up with ... Hasbro has that cachet," she said.
No secondary brands
At Royal Caribbean International, the brand watchwords might be top-shelf and innovative.
"We don't want to be affiliated with secondary brands," said Vicki Freed, Royal Caribbean's senior vice president for sales, trade support and service. "We want to be the best brand in the category."
Examples include fashion names Coach and Guess, ice cream purveyor Ben & Jerry's, children's characters created by DreamWorks Studios and vintage diner concept Johnny Rockets.
In the coffee category, Royal made a deal with Starbucks to serve its name brand on the Oasis and Allure of the Seas, and a second Starbucks brand, Seattle's Best, on other vessels.
"The coffee is more expensive than having our own little Royal Coffee Emporium," Freed said. "But that first-time cruiser, when they come aboard and they see brands they're familiar with, they go 'oooh.'"
Royal's newest brand partnership is with Mattel, which makes America's favorite doll, Barbie. To appeal to young girls and their parents, Royal is incorporating a Barbie movie night and Barbie story time into its Ocean Adventure youth club. A $349 Barbie Premium Experience is also offered on a dozen Royal ships and should be fleetwide by May. It includes lots of Barbie merchandise, a fashion show, a Barbie-themed cabin and other extras. Freed said the price is more to offset costs than to make money.
"We're not looking to make significant dollars off of this," she said.
Perhaps no line has been as active in signing brand partnerships as Norwegian Cruise Line, where the desired market profile can be summed up as edgy and contemporary.
Sailing with Blue Man Group
One of the first brand names to define the latest iteration of Norwegian is Blue Man Group, a trio of humanoid actor-musicians who wear bald caps and uniform blue makeup.
"Everyone loves Blue Man Group," said Norwegian CEO Kevin Sheehan. "But it is a little different when you think about the traditional cruise entertainment with the old-fashioned Broadway shows, where [the cast] is running around dancing and singing like they've been doing for 40 years on the ships. "When I say to anyone in New York or anywhere, we have Blue Man Group, they always say 'Oh my God! You have Blue Man Group on the ships?' It's like an $80 or $90 show in Vegas, and they can watch that for free as part of their cruise fare."
Other familiar names on Norwegian ships include Nickelodeon children's characters, Second City comedy, Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian and the "Howl at the Moon" dueling piano show.
The company's latest branding frontier is the Norwegian Breakaway, a New York-centric ship debuting in May. It has formed a number of partnerships with New York institutions large and small to help recruit first-time cruisers from the area where it will homeport.
A high profile example is the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, who will serve as godmothers to the ship. Breakaway will also have Sabrett hot dog stands and a pastry shop based on the reality show "Cake Boss."
One factor driving the growth of branded partnerships has been the large number of new franchises created by cable TV.
"Cake Boss" first aired on the TLC channel in 2009. It follows baker Buddy Valestro and his family as they operate Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, N.J. In its first season, 2.3 million people, on average, watched each episode.
Andrew Coggins, a business professor at New York's Pace University who follows the cruise industry, observed, "What TV brings is widespread brand awareness; it reaches a wide market."
Other examples include the Hub, a digital and satellite TV vehicle for Hasbro products created with Discovery Channel. And, of course, Disney Channel, which has synergies with Disney Cruise Line -- a line that was itself created from one of the most recognizable consumer brands. Another hit show that has crossed over to cruising is ABC-TV's "Dancing With the Stars," which pairs accomplished dancers with celebrities in a season-long competition.
Performers from the show will headline six Holland America Line theme cruises in 2013 and 2014, and dance lessons and shows developed in collaboration with the program will be featured on all 15 Holland ships.
The price tag for brand partnerships is rarely disclosed, and the Holland-ABC deal is no exception. All Holland Executive Vice President Rick Meadows would say is, "It's an investment, but it's worth it."
Deals not made, partnerships dropped
Some intriguing tandems never make it to the alter because of financial cold feet. The luxury suite section of Norwegian Epic is branded "The Haven," but it could have carried the St. Regis name. Likewise, the legendary Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn was considered as a partner for the Epic's steak restaurant, but no agreement was reached.
"We kind of edged away from a lot of those," Sheehan said. "To do the deals, you had to give them economics."
Cruise lines can recoup some of the upfront expense by charging for branded experiences onboard. On Royal Caribbean, it costs $4.95 to get into Johnny Rockets, although the food itself is free. A Ben & Jerry's cone runs from $2.50 to $4.75, even though there is free ice cream elsewhere on Royal ships. Royal Caribbean's Freed said that most branded products are not big contributors to onboard revenue, and some of the most expensive deals Royal has signed cost the passenger nothing.
"DreamWorks is a completely complimentary experience," she said. "We took a brand that we pay a lot of money for, we do the complimentary character breakfasts, we don't charge for those, we do the parades, an ice show with DreamWorks characters. There's even an Aqua Theater show."
Some brand partnerships aren't meant to last. The Cirque du Soleil deal with Celebrity Cruises has fizzled, and Cunard did not put a Todd English restaurant on its most recent ship. The chef's draw with foodies isn't what it once was, Cunard Vice President Stan Birge said.
An early effort at Costa Cruises to ride a brand was its 1999 partnership with Zeffirino, a renowned restaurant in Genoa. It didn't work because of the line's multinational clientele.
"What may be big in Italy probably in the U.S. is going to be unknown, and vice versa," said Ruben Perez, Costa's general manager for North America.
As cruise lines increasingly source passengers from outside their traditional waters, they either have to tailor their brands to regional markets or have partners that have global traction.
Royal Caribbean thinks it has found such a brand in DreamWorks, Royal President Adam Goldstein told an audience at the recent Cruise Shipping Miami convention in Miami Beach.
"I think its very compelling to first timers that such entertainment appears on our ships, not only in the United States but, for example, in China where, if anything, the characters are more popular than they are here," Goldstein said.
For travel agents, brands can be a chance to demonstrate value both to customers and to cruise lines.
Andrea Botto Joyce, a Cruises Inc. agent in Wallkill in New York's Hudson River valley, said she uses Royal Caribbean's new Barbie tie-in to market to families with small children.
"I think people tend to spoil their children on vacation and want them to get a dream experience, so I think this package would interest many people who have little girls between the ages of 4 and 11," she said.
But Joyce said many clients don't know about Barbie yet, and might find out only after it is too late.
"It shows how important a travel agent is to someone, because they could go on the Oasis and see the [Barbie fashion] show happening, and they would like to have had their child be part of it."
Koepf, of Avoya Travel, said agents likewise are invaluable to cruise lines that have invested in brands but need agents to match the right customers with the right brands.
He said agents shouldn't lead with the brands, because not every one appeals to every client.
"If Norwegian has Nickelodeon, but I don't have kids, then I'm not interested. I don't care," he said.
Once you find a client's hot button, however, a brand that speaks to that interest can be a final argument that wins the sale for an agent.
"It's a huge benefit for them to close by saying, 'Well if you like blues, you like jazz, guess what this ship has? If you like Broadway musicals, guess what this ship has?" Koepf said. "Those are all very strong closers, basically."
