LUXURY brand
P&O Princess Cruises is to sail into the uncharted waters of the mass
market with the start of £549 trips from Palma.
The cruiseline is
to rename P&O Cruises’ Arcadia to launch its new style of informal holidays
under the brand Ocean Village in May 2003. The name of the ship will be
unveiled later this year.
P&O Princess
managing director David Dingle said the Ocean Village concept’s main competitor
will be the First Choice/Royal Caribbean venture Island Cruises, which is also
based in Majorca. However, it will not follow other mass-market operators.
He said: “Airtours
and Thomson are closer to conventional cruising with set meal times, for
example. Island Cruises will be our closest competitor. There will be no
P&O branding on the ship and we will have buffet dining, cabaret
entertainment and look different to current P&O ships.”
Dingle said the
average price of a one-week cruise in the western Mediterranean will be £700
per person, but there will be a lead-in price of £549. A two-week cruise will
cost £1,000.
Ocean Village will
be aimed at the 35-55 age group and at people who have dismissed cruising as
too formal.
“Cruising has a
low penetration in the UK holiday market – half of that in the US – so we need
to appeal to people in the whole holiday market,” said Dingle.
More ships will
join the Ocean Village brand as P&O can switch ships from its other
cruiselines, added Dingle.
He said that
although P&O will not have its brand on the new ship, agents will still
deal with the cruiseline through sales contacts. Sales for Ocean Village start
in July.
The
1,692-passenger capacity Arcadia is 12 years old and will have a £5 million
refit.
The ship will have
eight bars, two swimming pools, five restaurants which include a bistro with
food developed by Ready Steady Cook’s celebrity chef James Martin, health spa
and shops. Ocean Village managing director Nick Lighton is currently recruiting
staff for the new cruiseline.