Anytime Richard Branson announces something new, a number of us pay attention.

This is simply because he has a track-record of redefining industries. There is no doubt that some of his ventures have turned out to be more successful than others, but if anyone has ever flown on Virgin-Atlantic, you will know it’s a very different experience than any of the North American carriers offer.

So what does this mean for cruise?

We don’t really know yet, because even though the first sailing is in just 3 years, very few details have been released.

There’s all the normal marketing talk that they have started with “a blank sheet of paper”, and that it won’t be like any other cruise experience, but the actual details are a bit sparse.

Here’s what we do know:

• It will be for adults of 18 years or older. This is a bit of trend reversal, but their target market is clearly not families.
• The first generation of ship will be about 110,000 tons, and will carry about 2800 customers. This puts it at about the same size as the Princess Grand Class ships, and slightly larger than the RCCL Radiance Class ships.
• There will be about 1150 crew, making the crew:passenger ratio about 2.43. This makes it about the same as Carnival, Norwegian, Princess or RCCL.
• The ship is being specifically designed for environmental sustainability. They haven’t released any details, but they are claiming they will be the most eco-friendly ships at sea.
• The staterooms will about 86% balconies, with the next 7% being Ocean view (bucking the trend away from OV cabins), and the remainder being inside cabins.
• They refer to their customers as “Sailors”, as opposed to “guests” or “passengers”. What this actually means, is not clear yet.
• Their target market will be those that have not cruised before, and millennials. I think this is really smart. Even though the cruise industry is growing like crazy, MOST of the vacationing population in North America has NOT taken a cruise yet. Virgin might be the one to talk them into it.
• The experience is said to be inspired by yachting. How you do this on a ship over 100,000 tons, with 2800 passengers will truly be a test of Virgin’s innovation.
• Their first sailing is in 2020, and will be out of Florida to the Caribbean.
• It is not clear what price point they will be pursuing. The crew to passenger ratio, and passenger space ratio would put them somewhere in the mass-market space, likely positioned between Royal Caribbean and Princess, but whether they charge a premium for the Virgin Brand we will have to wait to see. With the information available, it would be difficult to see them competing with the luxury ships.

They are also offering people the opportunity get access to the sailing schedule and reservations prior to the general public by placing a $500 deposit (per cabin) now. Although this is 100% refundable for any reason, I’m not sure I’d suggest this unless you are a huge Virgin fan (or you’ve got lots of $500 bills sitting around doing nothing).

It’s my hope that Virgin truly lives up to its brand promise of redefining the industry. It would be really cool to see what innovations they can come up with. So far, it appears that the Virgin marketing machine is in full gear – we’ll have to wait to see if the product lives up to the hype.

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

Bob and I did our first Seabourn cruise in 2017, and it was a great orientation to the world of small ship cruising. With only 450 passengers, we got to see a side of Alaska that we had been unable to enjoy on our previous Alaskan Cruises.

We are literally bombarded with marketing materials every week from all the cruise lines, so I have become a bit skeptical about which offers I should pass on to my clients.

But when Seabourn sent me a notice about the sale they have running between now and December 12, I took some notice.

Seabourn is offering Suites for the price of Ocean View Staterooms on 26 sailings in 2018. I won’t list all of them, but here are a few of those offers:

Date – Days	Price per person	Departs	Arrives	Cost per day
May 15 – 21 Days	$5499	Kobe, Japan	Vancouver (via Alaska)	$261
April 7 – 18 Days	$4999	Barbados	Lisbon	$277
March 19 – 16 Days	$4999	Singapore	Bali	$312
April 22 – 19 Days	$5999	Dubai	Athens	$315
March 24 – 14 Days	$4499	Barbados	Barbados	$321
March 31 – 7 Nights	$2499	Barbados	Barbados	$357
November 2 – 12 Days	$4999	Venice	Athens	$416
September 11 – 14 Days	$5999	Anchorage	Vancouver	$428
February 11 – 36 nights	$15,999	Capetown	Singapore	$444

When you consider all the inclusions on Seabourn, some of these prices are an absolute bargain. If you’ve ever been on a cruise, and your room charges exceed your fare, you’ll appreciate the value of these Seabourn inclusions:

• All gratuities
• Most drinks (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic). Unless you’ve got really expensive tastes in wine or scotch, you can read this as “All Beverages”
• All specialty dining including the Thomas Keller dining room. Even if you’re not a foodie, it’s nice to try a dining experience that would cost you $250/seat if you were on land.
• All suites – the prices above are for balcony suites. As odd as it seems, the thing I found most impressive were the bathrooms – the one in my suite on Seabourn is bigger (and far more finely appointed) than my bathrooms at home.

When you compare the total cost of some of the trips above, with a comparable cruise on a mass-market line, these could be much better value – and that’s before you place any value on the luxury amenities and service you get on board.

The only catch to this Seabourn offer is that is must be booked by December 12. If it’s of interest, please be sure to let me know.

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

The South Pacific continues to be world’s fasting growing cruise market. I suspect this is partly because when many of us are suffering through short days and cold nights in the Northern Hemisphere, our neighbors in the Southern Hemisphere are enjoying the height of their summer. It is also a very safe and easy place to travel.

The one variable that holds people back from the South Pacific is the unpredictable cost of flights. There is no way around the distance – from any of the west coast gateways, it is usually a 14 hour flight to Sydney or Auckland.

So, while no one can change the lengthy flight time, Paul Gauguin cruise line has taken the guess-work out of the cost of air, by including round trip airfare (from Los Angeles) in their cruise fares.

Paul Gauguin has only one ship, and they only operate exclusively in the South Pacific. If you want to be immersed in the Polynesian culture of Tahiti and French Polynesia, then this is the ship you want to be on.

It’s also a great way to enjoy snorkelling, scuba diving and other water sports that are just not available in other parts of the world. There is a watersports marina platform at the back of the ship where you can take out a paddleboard, kayak or windsurfer.

The Gauguin is only 20,000 tons, and holds 330 passengers, so you can get into some of the smaller islands and bays that larger ships can’t get to. And when you consider all the inclusions, the pricing is quite competitive:

• Round trip airfare from LA
• Pier transfers
• All specialty dining
• Most wine, beer, spirits, waters and coffees
• Gratuities
• Most watersports

So I quickly searched all the 2018 departures, and here are a few examples of what I found:

• February 3^rd – 7-nights to the Society Islands from Papeete – starting at $5145 per person.
• January 17^th – 10-nights to the Society Islands and French Polynesia from Papeete – starting at $5845 per person.
• January 6^th – 11 nights to the Cook Islands and the Society Islands from Papeete – starting at $6145 per person.

Most of the cabins on the Gauguin are verandas, and there are no inside cabins, so the pricing here on a per-day basis is even more compelling. Once you back out the air cost, and the value of the other inclusions, these cruises are selling for under $300 per day, or about what you’d pay to have a balcony cabin on some of the mass-market ships.

If the South Pacific is on your bucket list you might want to look at Paul Gauguin. I don’t think there’s any doubt this is the way to see the area in and around Tahiti.

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

 

When someone contacts me to book an Alaska cruise, one of the standard questions I ask them is, “why Alaska”?  This helps me make sure I’m putting them on the right ship at the right time to see everything they want to see there.

Where I’ve run into problems is when people want to take an Alaskan cruise to see the Northern Lights.

While nothing is impossible, it is very unlikely to see the Aurora Borealis on an Alaskan cruise. This is mostly a contradiction of timing – the Alaska cruise run is May through September, and the best time to see the Northern Lights is October through March. This kind of makes sense – in the summer months, it doesn’t get dark much in Alaska, so even seeing stars can be a challenge.

There are now two options available for those who want to see the Northern Lights from the deck of a cruise ship.

Both options are in Norway, and both cruises will put you north of the Arctic Circle in months when it is dark enough to see the Northern Lights. For those collecting geography points, it’s also worth noting that your Alaskan Cruise doesn’t get anywhere near the Arctic Circle (Anchorage is about 400 miles South of there).

The first option is on Hurtigruten cruise line, and is round-trip from Bergen, Norway. Hurtigruten has gone so far as to guarantee you will see the Northern Lights, or they’ll offer you another cruise for free. The ships that do this run also act as ferries to some of the many communities they visit on the 12-night journey from Bergen, up past the Arctic Circle and back. You won’t find Broadway shows on this cruise line, but if you’re looking for an authentic expedition experience that visits small villages in a remote part of the world, this could be for you. Prices for this cruise start at about $1700 USD per person.

The other option is on Viking Ocean. Starting in 2019, the Viking Sky will take a 12-night Northern Lights cruise starting in London, and finishing in Bergen. If you want to see the Northern Lights, and also want a first-class cruise experience, this is the better option for you. Viking is best known as the largest river cruising company in Europe, but they are quickly making a name for themselves on the oceans as well. Travel and Leisure Magazine named Viking Ocean the Best Ocean Cruise Line in 2016, and Cruise Critic awarded Best New Ship to the Viking Star in 2015. It will cost you about $5800 per person to get on this ship.

Until now, my standard response to people who want to see the Northern Lights has been to send them to Churchill, Manitoba (in Canada) during the winter months. While this is still a viable option, it is not near as comfortable as travelling the Norwegian Coast by cruise ship. The two options above offer two completely different experiences – perhaps one of them is right for you if the Northern Lights are on your bucket list.

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

As regular readers of this blog know, I am very cautious about passing on “deals”. This is partly because every other travel agency is constantly pushing these things out, and I worry that I would just become part of the noise. The other reason is that the cruise lines constantly have promotions, which are usually just variations on a theme.

I’m looking for promotions that stand out, and offer true value.

The latest promotion from Azamara made me take some notice.

For those who are perhaps unfamiliar with Azamara, they are one of the luxury, small ship operators. They have only 3 ships, each of which is positioned as a floating boutique hotel. Unlike the mass-market brands, Azamara is intended to be all-inclusive, meaning that your drinks, gratuities, some shore excursions, and transfers are all included in your fare. Perhaps most importantly, with fewer than 700 guests, you never have to wait in any significant line ups.

For the month of November, Azamara has a “Double Upgrade” offer, giving you a Veranda Stateroom for the price of an Inside.

When you consider the inclusions, this promotion could get you on one of Azamara’s luxury ships for a lower overall price than you would pay on one of the mass-market ships.

Here are some examples:

• Spain, France & Tuscany: 7-nights, departing Barcelona June 16, 2018 for $2299
• Thailand & Viet Nam: 10-nights, departing Singapore November 26, 2018 for $2999
• Cuba & Grand Cayman: 10-nights, departing December 11, 2018 for $3299
• Denmark, Netherlands & UK: 11-nights, departing Copenhagen August 30, 2018 for $4399
• India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia: 19-nights, departing Dubai November 7, 2018 for $5789.

All of these are base prices, per person, and with the current promotion will get you into a Veranda Stateroom.

There are dozens of different voyages, but the list above will give you an idea of itineraries and costs. When you consider that on the mass-market cruise lines, your on board charges often equal or exceed your fare, these prices look particularly attractive.

If you’ve been thinking about a smaller ship cruise, then this might be worth looking at.

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley