Parsman Posted May 25, 2008 #1 Share Posted May 25, 2008 I notice intoday's press that FOCL, in conjunction with a large travel agent, is advertising a holiday linking "Black Watch" Mediterranean cruise number BW0904 in early May 2009 with journeys to or from Venice on the Orient Express. It sounds a great combination and is very attractive to me but is pricey. Unfortunately I shall be returning from a cruise on the "Balmoral" a few days prior to the trip so it will not be a reasonable option. I wonder what others think? I wonder if this is an attempt to go "up market" or is more a reaction to the intense competition in ex-UK cruising. This competition in the cruise industry is really hotting up and with fuel costs rising rapidly and surcharges being introduced I wonder who will be the first group to crack and call it a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anorak33 Posted May 25, 2008 #2 Share Posted May 25, 2008 Hi I hope you enjoy Balmoral, I know we did. I never thought FO was downmarket but I see what you mean about going upmarket. Cunard used to link Concord with QE2, it was a successful combination, and strangely sometimes cheaper than booking just the flight. Maybe this will be a similar partnership? FO is getting to be be quite big now with all the new ships. I did wonder if they would be buying NCL Majesty or Dream but I hear (unconfirmed) that they will probably go to Louis Cruises from Cyprus. As far as who gives up first in what I agree is becoming an extremely difficult marketplace - I would think that in our area it will be the smaller older ships, not of FO,(he has other interests which can subsidise cruising for a while) but ones operated by holiday companies. They sell on price, and if the low price cannot be provided because of high fuel and other costs, and cruisers disposable incomes go down (I know mine is) then they won't keep them going. I noted this week that my Carnival shares have sunk badly,and that Star Cruises (parent of NCL) have gone from a high of 61c to as low as 18c a share, currently at 21c. And of course Star sold off half NCL last year to Apollo Management for 1 cool billion as it is believed they were close to running out of money. Anyway it is true to say we live in interesting times. And that cruising, once very expensive, got cheap and now is on the way back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigted Posted May 25, 2008 #3 Share Posted May 25, 2008 I notice intoday's press that FOCL, in conjunction with a large travel agent, is advertising a holiday linking "Black Watch" Mediterranean cruise number BW0904 in early May 2009 with journeys to or from Venice on the Orient Express. It sounds a great combination and is very attractive to me but is pricey. Unfortunately I shall be returning from a cruise on the "Balmoral" a few days prior to the trip so it will not be a reasonable option. I wonder what others think? I wonder if this is an attempt to go "up market" or is more a reaction to the intense competition in ex-UK cruising. This competition in the cruise industry is really hotting up and with fuel costs rising rapidly and surcharges being introduced I wonder who will be the first group to crack and call it a day. This not new. In Oct/Nov 2007 we were on Boudicca doing a 21 night Adriatic cruise. There was a swap of about 90 people in Venice with some getting off to return home on the train and a similar number getting on in Venice to do the homeward leg of the cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsman Posted May 26, 2008 Author #4 Share Posted May 26, 2008 As a regular on FOCL over many years I am aware that there were cruises with rail links involved. However, the Orient Express is somewhat more upmarket and expensive than SNCF or other European railways. Add to this the "civilisations" programme which is being widely advertised in the broadsheet press supports my case that the campaign to go upmarket is well and truly under way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsTW Posted May 26, 2008 #5 Share Posted May 26, 2008 With so many cruise ships to choose from, new ideas that are different are going to attract people.........combining a cruise with the Orient Express is definitely appealing, although probably too pricey for many. However I'm sure that there will be many takers! ;) I think most companies will need to use their ships to attract a wider range of customers. P&O has done this with the launch of Ventura aimed primarily at families...... Only time will tell as to who succeeds but with the number of new builds happening it seems that there is great optimism! :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anorak33 Posted May 29, 2008 #6 Share Posted May 29, 2008 I have just spoken to management at Fred Olsen and they inform me that they (Fred Olsen) are NOT combining this cruise/train combo - it is a separate company who are putting the two together, with FO providing the cruise component under contract. Not that it makes any real difference...................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mufi Posted May 30, 2008 #7 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I got an e mail from a (who must remain unnamed ) TA a couple of days ago offering a 7 night British cruise on Boudicca in early June for £28 pp per night. Well, not much luxury market there and not a lot of profit for the opperator after paying the TA some commission. Of course the Orient Express is available to those who can afford it and it is no skin off Fred's nose either way, but times are obviously getting hard in the cruise industry and may get harder yet before we are finished. P&O are also in the cutting room as well when the sail date is near and it is obvious that the ship will sail part empty without some "offers you can't refuse" Interesting days!! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aplmac Posted June 19, 2008 #8 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Fred Olsen appeals to ‘Middle England’ market 18/6/2008 _______________________________ Fred Olsen Cruise Lines launched its 2009/10 worldwide brochure last night in London at what marketing director Nigel Lingard referred to ‘as this critical point in our development.’ Having added a fifth ship to the fleet in 2008 plus currently stretching one ship.. ‘Ideally’, he added, ‘we might not have increased capacity so dramatically in one year but the opportunities for us to expand are scarce so we felt we had to seize the opportunity.’ Lingard remarked, ‘the total extra capacity bought into the UK market this year is well above all our expectations, so we find ourselves operating in a very challenging environment.’ Claiming the lines’ special appeal to the mature ‘Middle England’ market Lingard said, ‘our key selling features remain the same – a very British ambience on board, smaller ships, friendly atmosphere, excellent cuisine plus destination-rich itineraries featuring extended stays or overnights in ports of call.’ Despite the development of new media Fred Olsen’s audience still enjoys perusing a detailed brochure according to Lingard, ’so the latest offering for 2009/10 is over 200 pages offering our widest ranging ever cruise programme: -five ships, 160 cruises and 312 ports of call in 134 different countries and islands.’ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mufi Posted June 22, 2008 #9 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Which translated means "we slipped up" David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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