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Carnival UK pledges to load its Vantage Fares for early bookers with added value
P&O Cruises and Cunard plan to make their early-bird Vantage Fare deals more compelling as they seek to reverse a trend that has seen customers booking later.
In March, the lines’ new two-tier fares structure will be introduced in full. Vantage Fares will offer added value such as cabin choice and a price promise, while Getaway Fares will be less flexible.
The latter option has been in place for some time as late deals, but P&O Cruises and Cunard want to build value into Vantage Fares so that Getaway Fares are only required on a limited number of cruises.
Speaking for the first time to the trade press last week before he started as Carnival UK’s new chief commercial officer, Gerard Tempest said the concept was familiar to UK travellers.
Tempest said it was a ‘happy coincidence’ his new employer was bringing in a rates structure similar to that at Premier Inn where he was previously sales and marketing director. And he said the cruise lines would look to include more incentives in Vantage Fares, such as priority booking for premium onboard restaurants or popular tour excursions.
“It’s important we load up the benefits of Vantage Fares, other than just the price,” Tempest said.
Although his immediate background is direct-sell, Tempest said he understands the agency market well having previously had roles at Thistle Hotels and Highlife Breaks.
“It looks like we [Carnival UK] have some really strong relationships and there are some partnerships with key agents we are wanting to build on and grow,” he said. “There is a whole raft of people who have never considered cruise as a mainstream holiday offering, and that’s a huge opportunity.
“We will make our brands more powerful, which will be beneficial for our agency partnerships.”
P&O to kick on from ‘Downton’ success
P&O Cruises is hoping to build on the brand recognition achieved through sponsoring Downton Abbey with a new turn-of-year campaign.
Managing director Carol Marlow said the new TV advertisement would mostly follow P&O Cruises’ tried and trusted formula of showcasing its ships and destinations.
She said the advert, which will debut during the Christmas special of Downton Abbey on Christmas Day, “shows the fabulous experience [of cruising], and has a bit of a quirk at the beginning”. Pressed to reveal more, she added: “It’s a fun piece for people who like watching the football scores.”
The wave campaign will be backed by a ‘book now’ price message, with fares leading in at £599 for a week.
Marlow described this as “incredible value” although she added it was important that the brand did not just focus on price.
“We have to be careful about lead-in prices. We do talk about the value, but the footage in the Downton campaign gets people interested in the experience rather than just the price.”
Marlow said a post-campaign analysis had shown brand awareness of P&O Cruises among its target audience was higher among those who had watched Downton Abbey than among those who had not.
“It’s worked very well – it’s driven enquiries. Against all our competitor cruise lines our awareness has held up much better,” she said.
Cunard rebalances pricing for 2013
Upmarket line Cunard says it has reviewed its pricing for the 2013 turn-of-year wave period having set rates too high in 2012.
President and managing director Peter Shanks said the line had “radically changed its pricing structure” after adopting the Vantage and Getaway options also used by P&O Cruises.
Referring to 2012, he said: “If anything, we started off a little bit high and some of the late fares have been a little bit low in the market. We have rebalanced that for 2013 – many cruises are significantly lower than this time last year.”
Shanks said that by using the strapline ‘Served just the way you like it’, Cunard would seek to position itself in the luxury holiday market competing against land‑based alternatives.
He added that the iconic cruise line could have been tempted to cut back on the product during the downturn, but it had resisted and had been investing in its ships.