Serving up fine cuisines along with comfort food in their many dining venues and crew quarters, food spending per person, per day aboard cruise ships ran from $9.02 to 9.46 for the publicly traded companies in 2012, including lobster tails and filet mignon.
When the passengers are paying an average of $800 a day, the ship better be perfect.
“The Europa 2 is a contemporary version of the Europa. We looked at what we’re good at on the Europa and are making it better on the Europa 2,” said Dr. Henning Brauer, director of newbuild for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.
2013 promises several crucial milestones for the Chinese cruise market. Apart from the record number of ships calling on Chinese ports, the biggest and most important event may have been the maiden voyage of the Henna on Jan. 26, 2013 by newcomer HNA Cruises.
“Our focus is on constantly refining our product,” said Gregg Michel, president of Crystal Cruises. “We never stand still; we continue to innovate – to provide the best food and beverage experience, service, onboard entertainment and enrichment programs.”
This year, Grand Turk will be the fourth-busiest port in the world for Carnival Corporation brands in terms of transit passengers, according to Giora Israel, senior vice president of port and destination development. He said more than 800,000 passengers are scheduled to visit Grand Turk in 2013. He singled it out as an example of a successful company-developed port to meet the needs for an accessible, efficient and attractive destination.
The lion’s share of the global cruise industry’s capacity is still in the Caribbean – and even up for 2013 – just slightly, according to Cruise Industry News estimates.
Itinerary planning comes down to numbers, simply put – operating costs and shore excursion revenue, but also passenger attraction.
“We look at market demand before looking at the cost side when planning itineraries,” said Neil Palomba, corporate operating officer at MSC Cruises.
While earnings guidance for 2013 is upbeat from Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line, Europe is the swing factor. Carnival said on its year-end earnings call that it expects higher yields in North America and lower yields in Europe. The U.S. and the Caribbean are expected to be the main drivers for Royal Caribbean.
