Page 9 - Cruise Industry News Secondhand Market Report

Intro /

“There is nothing left from the AIDA era,”
said Theophilides. “The ship was in good
condition but just had a different look and
feel for that market. So we’ve completely
redone all that and changed the passenger
flow, making it more conducive for our three-
and four-night cruises.”
A new phase of investment will include
exhaust gas cleaning and shore power instal-
lations for the Discovery, and shore power
and automation systems for the Journey,
which already has an exhaust gas cleaning
system.
Differentiators
“What distinguishes us is that we have
a full in-house management company for
technical, marine and hotel operations,” said
Theophilides. “That works tremendously in
our favor in terms of purchasing.
“We do a benchmark on this every few years and look at
potentially outsourcing some items, but we always come out
more efficient, especially on the hotel and food and beverage
purchasing side.”
Theophilides said one of the reasons the company was able We stay in ports longer;
to absorb and refurbish capacity quickly and on time was thanks when there are other ships
to having its own in-house ship management, thus completely
controlling the process. pulling out we are still

Itineraries there, allowing the guests
“Our key ingredient has always been differentiating ourselves to immerse themselves in
through our itineraries,” Theophilides said. “When we say des-
tination immersion, I really mean it and we show it. We stay in destinations and nightlife.
ports longer; when there are other ships pulling out we are still
there, allowing the guests to immerse themselves in destinations
and nightlife.”
That is the recipe, so to speak, the company is leaning on as
it opens new operating areas in the Adriatic and Arabian Gulf.
Deployments in both those regions grow in 2025. The company 2027 and 2028
will spend more time in the Adratic next summer in a butterfly Celestyal planned to announce its 2026 deployment in June at
rotation with the Eastern Mediterranean, allowing guests to com- press time, and Theophilides explained he was already looking
bine two unique seven-day itineraries into a two-week cruise. The at 2027 and 2028.
Arabian Gulf deployment will also grow, with a longer season “We have aspirations to grow and are understanding what that
planned for 2025-26. looks like in terms of deployment and how much capacity you
Theophilides said bookings were good for the Arabian Gulf pro- can bring on,” he said.
gram and the company was still getting bookings for this season’s “The experience of identifying vessels that make sense for
upcoming repositioning voyage that at press time was scheduled us isn’t that straightforward. We are happy with the vessels we
to go through the Suez Canal. brought in, but it is challenging to find a midsized vessel that has
Depending on the security situation, the company may elect the operating specs and capabilities we need for maneuverability
to reposition the ship without guests, he said. They have also and our tendering operations.”
built in time to reposition to Europe in 2025 and go around While there is no time frame, the company wants first to make
Africa if needed. sure the initial investments in the Discovery and Journey are
Part of the new deployment strategy is an effort to get guests completed, and that they are in full year-round operation.
back on the Celestyal ships. Theophilides said the company would be careful about growth.
“We surveyed past passengers and found 83 to 86 percent want “We don’t want to lose our charm and what we are known for,”
to come back and sail with us again to different parts of the world,” he said, noting intimate ships and service delivery. “We want to
said Theophilides, underscoring that the destination immersion stay with what is true to the brand and not digress from what made
the company offers in Greece will always be core to the program, the brand known and successful in the past.
with a weeklong product and three- and four-night itineraries that “It’s about consistency while growing into other operating
typically visit two ports per day. areas and delivering what people expect aboard Celestyal.” 

Cruise Industry News: Secondhand Market 1983 – 2024 15