The cruise sector will be under increasing pressure to fill capacity unless consumers start considering a holiday at sea as on a par with regular land-based holidays.
Royal Caribbean sales director Ben Bouldin issued the warning just days before taking trade partners to the shipyard in Germany where the line’s three new ships are being built.
“Over the last few years the industry has struggled to grow the [UK] cruise market beyond 1.7 million people,” he said.
“This has to change if every line is to fulfil its aspirations – Royal Caribbean included – or else we’ll be really up against it.”
Royal is preparing to launch Quantum of the Seas in November, followed by sister ship Anthem of the Seas in spring 2015.
The line claims the two new vessels will begin to “change people’s perceptions of cruising” due to their technical and entertainment advances.
But, taking a sideswipe at Princess Cruises, which recently allowed one of its ships to be featured in a reality TV show, Stuart Leven, Royal Caribbean UK director, cautioned:
“Clearly the hardware alone won’t be enough to dispel the myths of cruising, which unfortunately continue to be reconfirmed by others, if we’re to really open up our products to the broader land-based marketplace – the 28.3 million outside of those who cruise regularly.”
Leven added: “We’ll be approaching things quite differently. We worked the social space hard during the recent Princess fly-on-the-wall documentary with the message ‘Cruising doesn’t have to be this way!’, and this is really just the start.”
Bouldin said: “Our two new ships will provide holidays like no other and, as such, the strapline we’re using for Anthem is ‘This changes everything’. There is no aspect of our business we are not reviewing to improve for both our trade partners and our consumers.”