Ambassador Cruise Line says larger cruise lines have “extremely aggressive” pricing in the lates market as they need to discount in order to fill bigger ships.
However, the cruise line’s chief commercial officer told a Travel Weekly webcast that his company was not involved in such deep price-cutting.
Speaking at the launch of the line’s second ship, Ambition, Phil Gardner said: “I have seen what a lot of the bigger cruise lines are doing with prices in the market. It is extremely aggressive in lates.
“Unfortunately, that is the nature of having bigger vessels with such big capacity; ultimately, lower prices are needed to fill the ships.”
“That is not really the market we play to.”
He said Ambition has an “intimate feel”, adding: “Our brand presence in the market has always been focused on primarily going after premium value with mid-sized ships.
“We have roughly 1,200-1,250 guests on most of our sailings on this ship…slightly smaller than Ambience.”
He continued: “What we want to do is make sure that we are talking about our product; talking about what we consider to be an affordable quality – which means we have a relevance to the lates market not driven by price but driven by an affordable quality, with the service that we aim to surpass people’s expectations week in, week out.”
He said sales have been “overwhelming” and “incredibly positive”, with a “strong” performance year on year.
Ambassador Cruise Line released its itineraries last month for the 2024-25 season, featuring the third season for first ship Ambience and the second for sister ship Ambition.
“The launch beat all of our records and Ambition took a very healthy share of those sales,” he said.
“We could not be more pleased. It has gone phenomenally well.”
Gardner also hailed the role of travel agents across the UK for supporting the cruise line’s sales and policy of no-fly departures from regional ports.
“We have really embraced the idea of sailing from regional ports,” he told the webcast.
“That’s my favourite part about the ship – that connection with regional ports and connection we have to all of the travel agents who work for fantastic sales in those areas.
“It is a fantastic way of engaging with the trade community.”
Verhounig pointed out that no-fly cruises from regional ports meant customers could avoid the kind of chaos seen at airports last year – and highlighted how passengers at Newcastle’s port could be in their cabin to start their holiday within 10 minutes of arrival.
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