SUMMER 2000 is set to be a busy time for the port of Southampton as mass-market operators First Choice and Airtours base ships there for the first time.
Traditionally, such operators have based ships in the Mediterranean, with Palma, Majorca, being the favourite port to operate cruises from. But the influx in the number of ships based out of Palma for next year has led operators to look for alternative cruise hubs.
First Choice and Airtours’ decision to base ships in England brings the mass-market operators directly in competition with UK specialists P&O Cruises and Fred Olsen Cruise Lines in the lucrative ex-UK field.
First Choice’s ship, Ausonia, on charter from Louis Cruise Line for the first time for 2000, will carry out two separate 14-night itineraries between Southampton and Cyprus.
Airtours is offering four different options on its ship, Sundream, incorporating the Norwegian Fjords, the Baltics and St Petersburg, the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean.
First Choice product manager cruising Roland Baldwin said: “For summer 2000 we felt the concentration on Palma was getting too much.
“We wanted to offer our passengers something very different to summer 1999. Our 14-night operation out of Southampton is very different to anything else in the market. We will be targeting passengers who sailed on our first charter ship, Bolero, in 1999, as well as seasoned cruisers.”
The Mediterranean Classics cruise from Southampton calls at Seville, Grenada, Corsica, Pisa/Florence, Naples, Olympia, Athens, Santorini, Rhodes and Cyprus.
The Mediterranean Highlights cruise from Cyprus calls at Crete, Mykonos, Athens, Sicily, Rome, Sardinia, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Santiago in Spain and Southampton.
Passengers fly either to Larnaca or Paphos and the ship leaves fromLimassol. Prices lead in at £899 for 14-nights on both itineraries.
Airtours head of specialist products Gary Wardrope said prices for a Mediterranean cruise on Sundream, which lead in at £799, are £500 cheaper than a similar cruise with P&O. A 14-day Baltic Explorer, calling at Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg and Copenhagen, leads in at £999.
Wardrope said: “For a lot of people, P&Omay not be exactly what they want. We have 35% to 40% repeat customers who have done Palma and Cyprus and are looking for something else. We are also aiming our ex-UK itineraries at a new audience.”
P&O commercial and corporate development director David Dingle dismissed the threat posed by First Choice and Airtours.
“It is not a concern because those companies have completely different brands and appeal to completely different sectors of the market,” he said.
However, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines sales manager Lol Nichols said: “I don’t doubt that some people will opt to go with Airtours, firstly because prices are very competitive and secondly to give it a try.
“However, we have already got an established programme and product and a very loyal clientele.Most of our product is out of Dover, so we are not head-to-head with these operators out of Southampton.”
SUMMER 2000 is set to be a busy time for the port of Southampton as mass-market operators First Choice and Airtours base ships there for the first time.
Traditionally, such operators have based ships in the Mediterranean, with Palma, Majorca, being the favourite port to operate cruises from. But the influx in the number of ships based out of Palma for next year has led operators to look for alternative cruise hubs.
First Choice and Airtours’ decision to base ships in England brings the mass-market operators directly in competition with UK specialists P&O Cruises and Fred Olsen Cruise Lines in the lucrative ex-UK field.
First Choice’s ship, Ausonia, on charter from Louis Cruise Line for the first time for 2000, will carry out two separate 14-night itineraries between Southampton and Cyprus.
Airtours is offering four different options on its ship, Sundream, incorporating the Norwegian Fjords, the Baltics and St Petersburg, the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean.
First Choice product manager cruising Roland Baldwin said: “For summer 2000 we felt the concentration on Palma was getting too much.
“We wanted to offer our passengers something very different to summer 1999. Our 14-night operation out of Southampton is very different to anything else in the market. We will be targeting passengers who sailed on our first charter ship, Bolero, in 1999, as well as seasoned cruisers.”
The Mediterranean Classics cruise from Southampton calls at Seville, Grenada, Corsica, Pisa/Florence, Naples, Olympia, Athens, Santorini, Rhodes and Cyprus.
The Mediterranean Highlights cruise from Cyprus calls at Crete, Mykonos, Athens, Sicily, Rome, Sardinia, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Santiago in Spain and Southampton.
Passengers fly either to Larnaca or Paphos and the ship leaves fromLimassol. Prices lead in at £899 for 14-nights on both itineraries.
Airtours head of specialist products Gary Wardrope said prices for a Mediterranean cruise on Sundream, which lead in at £799, are £500 cheaper than a similar cruise with P&O. A 14-day Baltic Explorer, calling at Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg and Copenhagen, leads in at £999.
Wardrope said: “For a lot of people, P&Omay not be exactly what they want. We have 35% to 40% repeat customers who have done Palma and Cyprus and are looking for something else. We are also aiming our ex-UK itineraries at a new audience.”
P&O commercial and corporate development director David Dingle dismissed the threat posed by First Choice and Airtours.
“It is not a concern because those companies have completely different brands and appeal to completely different sectors of the market,” he said.
However, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines sales manager Lol Nichols said: “I don’t doubt that some people will opt to go with Airtours, firstly because prices are very competitive and secondly to give it a try.
“However, we have already got an established programme and product and a very loyal clientele.Most of our product is out of Dover, so we are not head-to-head with these operators out of Southampton.”