Getaway introduced in New York, but thoughts drift to warm Miami

By Arnie Weissmann

ABOARD THE NORWEGIAN GETAWAY — The frigid January weather in New York has kept most industry guests and media away from the Norwegian Getaway's distinctive outdoor attractions during the ship's inaugural sailing.

Few took advantage of the open-air dining on Waterfront, let alone the ropes course, water park with slides or other top-decks attractions.

The ship is a structural clone of its older sister, the Breakaway, which debuted last year, and having the passengers stay largely indoors kept them focused on the shifting of emphasis from themes of New York, where Breakaway homeports, to Miami, where the Getaway will be based.

“I like the subtle touches of Miami,” said Karen Giantomasi, client services supervisor for the online travel agency Cruise Direct International Voyager. “The mojitos in place of Champagne, Cuban food at the buffet.”

But many travel counselors said the shift in geographic emphasis inside really just supports the biggest change of all — that this ship will soon have a southern point of departure.

Although Wendi Randal of Liberty Travel in Pittsburgh doesn’t have clients in either homeport, the cold weather emphasized to her the importance of having a warm gateway. “You want [clients] to be able to try everything that’s outside, and you don’t want the weather to hinder that.”

One discerning couple didn’t mind at all that, other than the tweaking of restaurant and bar themes, the interiors were virtually identical. Sitting quietly and unnoticed at a side table at Sugarcane Mojito Bar off the atrium was Craig Cannonier, premier of Bermuda, and his wife Antoinette. 

He had been aboard during the inauguration of the Breakaway (which sails to Bermuda), and on this sailing was again in a suite in the Haven, the private area atop the ship which caters to upscale travelers.

“We’ve broken away, we’ve gotten away, next we’ll stay away — stay away from land,” he said. (He said he wasn’t worried about competition for Bermuda from cruising, and believes that port visits ultimately lead to subsequent longer land stays.)

As for the lack of differences — he did notice that “here, you have a mermaid painted on the outside” — he was sanguine. “They took a model that worked and built another. Why do something else? It’s not the same itinerary, so why not build a replica that works and take it to another destination?”

“We’ll bring our family aboard [the Breakaway] on our next vacation, down to our 3-year-old grandchild,” added Antoinette. “They do a good job.”

Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara to run as separate businesses

By Lucy Huxley 

RCL Cruises Ltd is to create three individual businesses for each of its brands in the UK, claiming they have each now grown to a size that warrants “increased focus and investment”.

The new structure, which will take effect from January 1, 2014, will see current associate vice president & general manager Jo Rzmowska become managing director for Celebrity Cruises. A recruitment process is already underway both internally and externally for separate managing directors for the Royal Caribbean and Azamara Club Cruises brands.

Each individual managing director will also get his or her own commercial, marketing and sales teams, as well as separate agent trainers and trade marketing budgets.

But the proposed structural and operational changes also include the consolidation of guest and trade call centres around the world – including the UK and Ireland team based in Addlestone in Surrey - into just three multi-lingual contact centres in Guatemala, Romania and the Netherlands, operated by an external partner, Xerox.

Under the proposal, the Royal Caribbean International and Azamara Club Cruises UK and Ireland guest and trade service call centres would be operated from Guatemala, resulting in the potential redundancy of 100 people. A period of consultation with potentially affected employees in Addlestone has begun today.

A Celebrity Cruises guest and trade services team, dedicated to the UK and Ireland, will be set up in the UK, employing 50 people.

Dominic Paul, who remains as vice president and managing director of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the proposed restructure was an important milestone in the history of the global RCL Cruises Ltd business:

“The only other market that we have this kind of focus is North America. This is the first time we have given any other market such attention. We have seen that when a market gets to a certain size of importance, this is the structure that works best to grow.

“The UK is the second-largest market globally and this move is a recognition of the growth achieved so far and to best position each cruise line for future development and growth.”

The three RCL brands collectively in the UK and Ireland have seen 8% growth in the last five years versus the overall cruise market in the UK and Ireland which has grown at 3% in the same period.

Asked if it meant the company, which is the second largest cruise operator in the world, would deploy more than the current five ships to the UK as a result of the restructure, Paul said: “This underlines our commitment to the UK market. We are investing in the brands and see the future potential for more growth. We hope that this will mean we can bring new ships into this market.”

The company said the partnership with Xerox would allow it to address efficiency challenges that are common in any business that has experienced rapid global expansion.

“As a renowned leader in this area, Xerox supplies the contact centres of many customer service focused brands globally. This proposal follows an extensive global review specifically looking at the operational efficiency of multiple guest and trade service centres around the world,” a statement said.

“All of the proposed changes are being reviewed in order to best position the business for future growth, whilst maintaining a competitive edge and strong customer service for trade partners and guests.”

Rzymowska said of her new position: “I am very passionate about all three of our brands, but the Celebrity role is the opportunity that I have been asked to look at and I am very happy with that.”

She described the search for her counterparts on the Royal Caribbean International and Azamara Club Cruises brands as “significant” because they are such “key roles going forward”.

And commenting on the creation of separate teams below them, she added: “There will be opportunities for the [current] team.”

Rzymowska said agents could expect to see more attention paid to them under the new structure.

“Everybody is in business to run a profitable business. And we believe that the trade seeing more of us, and us being able to give them more focused, dedicated time and more investment, will result in increased profitability for them.”

Rzymowska added: “Changes made earlier this year to the commissions structure are working for the business. There are currently no plans to make any changes to the base commission structures of Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises, including when the dedicated brand teams take effect in January 2014.”

Seabourn the latest cruise line to ban in-room smoking

By Tom Stieghorst

The smoking lamp has just about gone out for passengers who want to light up in their cabin.

Seabourn Cruises, the last major holdout among U.S. cruise lines, announced that starting next February, it will longer allow smoking in staterooms on its six ships.

Passengers will still be able to smoke on verandas, with some exceptions, and in designated public areas on deck and on terraces.

The policy was changed, spokesman Bruce Good said, “based on feedback from Seabourn’s guests and travel professional partners and to better align us with consumer trends.”

Seabourn was just about the only North American cruise line that still allowed in-cabin tobacco use.

The trend to curb smoking mirrors restrictions on land in the U.S., where the habit has declined and concerns about the effects of secondhand smoke have increased.

About 18% of the adult U.S. population smoked last year, down from 45% in the early 1950s.

Maurice Zarmati, a longtime Carnival Cruise Lines executive and currently senior global consultant to Costa Cruises, recalled that at one time, smoking was completely unrestricted on ships.

“It was overwhelmingly up to the individual,” Zarmati said.

Today, in the U.S., the tables are turned, and nonsmokers are increasingly dictating the smoking regime on ships. The move to ban smoking in cabins gained momentum in 2011 when Carnival, Princess and Holland America Line all outlawed it.

Now the battleground has moved to the balconies, where Disney Cruise Line and Cunard Line have become the latest to enact a smoking ban. Disney’s new constraints start Nov. 15.

Cunard is waiting until after its 2014 world cruises. Next year, effective on Queen Victoria from April 28, and on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth from May 9, balcony smoking will be banned.

“This change .. means that all passengers will be able to enjoy full use of their private balconies, without the effect of drifting smoke” from a nearby balcony, Cunard said in a statement.

There isn’t a consensus yet. Balcony smoking is still allowed on Carnival Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International, the three biggest players.

Smoking rules began to change in the 1980s. As on land, smoking at sea was first restricted in the dining rooms, which were divided into smoking and nonsmoking sections.

Carnival Cruise Lines took a big leap forward in 1997 when it made one ship, the Carnival Paradise, completely smoke-free. That lasted five years, but pricing lagged other ships of its class.

“If you throw a party and not that many people come, you have to throw a different party,” Carnival Cruise Lines’ then-president Bob Dickinson said at the time.

Today, the practice is to keep most areas smoke-free, but have a few open deck spots or spaces in some bars and casinos reserved for smoking.

This works even in Europe, Zarmati said. Few smokers will refuse to cruise if they have some venue for their habit, he said.

“There are some, but I have to think the percentages are small,” he said.

Even so, some of the most promising new markets for cruise lines are countries like Japan and Korea, where smoking rates are much higher than in the U.S.

A Princess Cruises spokeswoman said there had been no accommodations made for a series of Japan cruises on the Sun Princess this summer.

China has the most smokers of any country, about 350 million. If that market takes off, it could be a challenge for Western cruise firms.

“It would be interesting to understand how the Chinese operators handle it, or how they handle the nonsmokers,” Zarmati said.

Cunard managing director pays tribute to Sir David Frost

By Hollie-Rae Merrick 

Image via Shutterstock

Tributes have been paid to broadcaster Sir David Frost who died of a suspected heart attack while on board Cunard's Queen Elizabeth.

Frost, 74, was onboard the ship to give a speech on Saturday according to the BBC.

Peter Shanks, managing director of Cunard Line, said: "Sir David Frost was a remarkable journalist and broadcaster. Cunard had a proud association with him over many years.

"On behalf of us all at Cunard Line I would like to extend our deepest sympathy to his wife, family and friends."

Queen Elizabeth left Southampton on August 31 on a 10-day Mediterranean cruise to Civitavecchia (Rome).

A statement on BBC News said: "His family are devastated and ask for privacy at this difficult time. A family funeral will be held in the near future and details of a memorial service will be announced in due course."