Dialogue between cruise ports and destinations, lines and service providers is more important than ever as the cruise industry returns to full capacity, was the message from cruise line panelists at Tuesday morning’s Cruise Europe conference.
Opening the conference, keynote speaker Sacha Rougier, head of itinerary planning & shore experiences, Explora Journeys noted: ‘the status quo is no longer valid and we need to work hand in hand as we grow from the 250 ships that are already back in service to 270 (100% of the CLIA member fleets) by August.
Overcoming challenges
Referencing the value of industry associations like Cruise Europe, Rougier said: ‘we rely on ports and destinations to overcome obstacles, crisis and to work hand in hand on important topics. These include unmanaged tourism, sustainability, health and safety, and operational issues.’
She added, ‘today we do face a new set of challenges that have to be handled regionally and not by single countries or destinations.’
Cruise associations must provide their members with guidance, opportunities, creativity and programmes that strengthen the region, she said.
Baltic backing
How cruise lines plan their deployment in post-Covid Europe with an ongoing conflict in Ukraine and rising energy prices was a topic of discussion.
Chris Coates, director Ambassador Cruise Line noted its new ship Ambience is currently sailing in the Baltic with a re-arranged itinerary that excludes St Peterburg and an overnight stay in Stockholm added. ‘While the Ukraine conflict has dampened sales, the UK cruise market and silver travel sector remains resilient with pent up demand evident – underpinned by encouraging occupancy levels and strong advance bookings for summer 2022 and winter 2023.’
Michael Schulze, director of cruising at Phoenix Reisen noted his company sails between 10-15 Baltic cruises a year and whilst Russian ports have been replaced for this year, it is still included on /24 itineraries: ‘if you are in tourism you must be optimistic but if we can’t go there then in time we will find alternatives.’
Sander Groothuis vp port and shore operations Carnival UK said the Baltic is very important to the company’s two brands and ‘planning for 2024 is happening now with Baltic key to that deployment with or without St Petersburg.’
Crystal Morgan, senior director deployment planning Princess Cruises confirmed the brand is still including St Petersburg in 2023 itineraries as of now.
