Arcadia at Sea
Carnival unveils moves to storm British cruise market?
Carnival Corporation & PLC, the Anglo-American cruise shipping conglomerate, unveiled moves to reshape its operations in Britain that include an order for a new ship, as well as the reshuffling of tonnage between three of its brands. A deeper look at the matter suggests that the group is launching a strategy for the British market whereby whatever a competitor may have on offer, they will have it too.
Cunard Line will release the 85,000 gross ton Queen Victoria, currently under construction at Fincantieri in Italy to P&O Cruises, which will introduce the 1,968-passenger vessel as Arcadia next May. Given that the 1973-built Caronia of 24,300 gross tons will be delivered to the Saga group later this year, Cunard will be down to Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2 until 2007, when the new Queen Victoria is to be delivered.
A source involved with the first ship of that name said that the 1,848-passenger Vista class vessel originally ordered for Holland America Line and transferred to Cunard prior to the formation of Carnival Corp & PLC, imposed restrictions as to what could be done to adapt it for Cunard. For example, the interior could be changed, but the layout of the public spaces, could not. With a ship purpose built for Cunard, Carnival says it wants to bring the new Queen Victoria in line with the ocean liner style of the existing Queens.
P&O Cruises will receive the biggest ship that has ever flown its house flag when Arcadia joins its fleet, but it will also take delivery of the 44,348 gross ton Royal Princess, built in 1984, from Princess Cruises. It will be renamed Artemis as MD David Dingle told CBR, “It will operate ex UK cruises in the summer - base port under negotiation - with the likelihood of some long voyages in the winter.” P&O Cruises will lose the 1998-built Adonia of 77,441 gross ton when she goes back to Princess Cruises and she will revert her original name of Sea Princess. However, rather than catering mainly for the US clientele as the rest of the Princess fleet, it will be targeted towards at the British market, with summer cruises from the UK and winter ones from Fort Lauderdale in the US.
The British cruise market produced 960,000 passengers last year - an increase of some 16 per cent year-on and second only to the North American market. With the 1million passenger mark obviously to be broken this year, it is no surprise that it plays a substantial role in the portfolio of Carnival’s products. With these moves, Carnival has positioned itself to take on competition from any direction.
The introduction of Sea Princess as the earmarked Princess product to the British market will coincide with Royal Caribbean International (RCI) introducing 14-night cruises with its 69,140 gross ton Legend of the Seas from Southampton next May. RCI has made public its plans to grow its non-US passenger base and with Sea Princess, Carnival will show its flag when RCI takes the step in this direction.
Artemis, meanwhile, appears to be taking on Fred Olsen Cruise Lines (FOCL), the Ipswich based operator of three ships. It caters mainly for the 60-year plus market segment and underlines small ship ambiance. Its vessels range in size from 10,000 to 28,000 gross tons. Artemis will be a tough competitor for ships like the Black Watch, FOCL’s largest vessel, as this was built back in 1973. On the other hand, FOCL may find it hard to renew its fleet with three large groups now dominating the industry.
Cunard’s plans called for positioning Queen Victoria in the Mediterranean for fly cruises and P&O Cruises may do the same – the ship recently introduced as Caribbean Princess, of Princess Cruises, was originally meant to go to P&O Cruises and be based there. Should Arcadia end up in the Mediterranean, it would provide the Carnival Empire with a product that in these terms takes on the likes of Thomson Cruises – but with a superior vessel.
In actual fact, the first counter-offensive Carnival took against RCI on the British market happened in the Mediterranean last year, when it introduced Ocean Village, a new brand aimed at the 35 to 55 market with a 63,524 gross ton ship of the same name. Its introduction came a few years after RCI and its UK partner, the tour operator First Choice, had commenced operations of Island Cruises, using the 40,132 gross ton Island Escape, transferred from RCI where it served as Viking Serenade.
Ship transfers involving the British market
| Ship name |
gt |
pass. |
built |
from |
to |
tbn |
| Adonia |
77,441 |
1,950 |
1998 |
P&O Cruises |
Princess |
Sea Princess |
| Queen Victoria |
85,000 |
1,968 |
2005 |
Cunard Line |
P&O Cruises |
Arcadia |
| Royal Princess |
44,348 |
1,200 |
1984 |
Princess |
P&O Cruises |
Artemis |
| Queen Victoria |
85,000 |
1,850 |
2007 |
Cunard – newbuilding order |
|
|
