Exciting Cruise News

Exicting Cruise News

Did you see in our Abilene Reporter News last week the announcement from Royal Caribbean Cruise Line about their newest ship coming into service? The Symphony of the Seas had her maiden voyage last week over in Europe where she will be until next fall when she will re-position to their home port in Fort Lauderdale.

She has beds for 6,680 passengers and with a crew of 2,200; that ship becomes a small, but vibrant “city” each week. As one person described her, she is a destination herself....with various restaurants, attractions, Broadway-type presentations such as “Hairspray”, attraction of all sorts, and a multitude of activities, there is never a lack of things to do or see. This ship, like several others that Royal Caribbean has, features 3 pool zones, 3 water slides, 2 surf simulators, a miniature golf course, and a large rock climbing wall. 

Last year RCCL introduced the prototype mega-ship, Harmony of the Seas, and she too has the same type of attractions and features. Interestingly, they score near the top of the guest-satisfaction surveys, and the demand for this type of cruise experience is through the roof. Evidence of that is that RCCL experienced the best year ever in number of cruise passengers last year as well as the best financial year ever. 

Carnival Cruise Lines introduced their new ship, the Carnival Horizon, and that increased their fleet to a record size of 26 ships with a double-occupancy capacity of over 70,000 passengers per week.

Norwegian Cruise Line announced last week that they were offering an ALL-INCLUSIVE cruise with unlimited drinks on the Norwegian Sun for 3 and 4 night sailings to the Caribbean and Bahamas. A first for this type of cruise vacation. And they are introducing “Bliss” this summer!!

Not to be outdone, the river cruise market continues to draw a crowd too. Viking River Cruise Line is the largest and most recognizable river cruise line in operation, and they have just announced that they were building 24 new vessels, in addition to the 65 ships already in service. The founder and chairman of Viking says “the big guys advertise that the ship is the destination”. He counters that “we say, no, it's the destination that is the destination”. And from all indications, his philosophy is working.

One thing that no doubt has helped raise the awareness of river cruising is Viking's advertising presence with their TV ads. I know I see them every Sunday on “60 Minutes”, and they promoted the very popular Downton Abbey on PBS. They also have an aggressive sales approach by heavily discounting airfare from US cities. But another interesting strategy that has become very effective for them is that to take advantage of the air discount, you have to pay in full soon after making the reservations. With our group last November, most of the folks made their reservations in Feb. and March of 2016; the attraction was $100 airfare from DFW to Amsterdam and back from Zurich. However, they had to pay in full by the end of March, 2016, but the trip did not take place until November 22, 2017. It took them a year and a half to vacation; a heck of a deal, and a heck of a trip!!

Viking is not the only river cruise line that is booming. AmaWaterways announced that they were launching 3 vessels in 2019, wider than any other of their ships. Crystal Cruises also has four new ships being put into service this year and next year. Scenic River Cruises, an Australian river cruise presence with ships in service in Europe also touts new builds.

It's fun for us helping guests experience a cruise vacation of any type, so give the experienced agents at The Travel Factory a call where we help you “manufacture the vacation of your dreams”. Reach us at 698-1421 or visit us at 4150 Southwest Drive in the Plaza at Park Central.