Cruise line bosses are confident there will not be a repeat of the price war of 2022, with one saying a “race to the bottom” in terms of low fares is “a dangerous place”.
It is important cruise lines recognise the value they offer in the market and “hold up” prices even though customers are hunting for deals, Princess Cruises’ UK and Europe vice-president Eithne Williamson argued.
Azamara’s UK managing director David Duff told delegates at the Clia Forum on Thursday (December 8) competition between international markets as they recovered from the pandemic would help lines avoid a price war even though more ships were coming online. In 2022, 28 ships launched in the cruise sector.
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Speaking as part of a panel discussion, Williamson said: “It’s important for brands to recognise the value that they have. The race to the bottom is a dangerous place.
“Our industry needs to return to profitability. It’s important that we hold the value because if you compare cruise to land-based it’s such incredible value. If we start a race to the bottom, I don’t think it’s going to help anybody.”
Duff explained how source markets covered the globe and this would help cruise lines fill their ever-expanding fleets while maintaining high pricing going forward.
“One thing that we need to keep in mind is that we operate in an international world and for a lot of our cruises we source from a lot of markets around the world,” he said.
“This year, we’ve obviously been at the forefront of coming back from Covid and so the UK and European markets have been more open for business but that’s changing for 2023.
“We’re already seeing the Australian market coming back and the US market is definitely back and buying so we’re having to compete for space, so I think that’s going to hold up prices in the summer.”
Clia Europe director general Marie-Caroline Laurent reported that 100 markets were currently open – up from 86 in January 2022 – and added that 45 markets remained closed.
Fellow panelist Giles Hawke, Avalon Waterways chief executive, said the river line had reported its “best year ever” in terms of UK passenger numbers but admitted that the brand’s low pricing had driven UK demand.
However, he added: “We’ve seen our customers who want to travel at low prices this year, come back and pay full price to travel next year because the experience is so good.”
Both Williamson and Duff said they were confident ahead of the 2022 wave season. “It will be interesting coming into wave because we didn’t have a brilliant wave this year and so it’s a key period that everybody is getting ready for and keeping everything crossed,” Williamson added.
“It’s important that we have the right price on the right cruise and we have the right guests on the right cruise. I know we’ve been trying to hold up the prices at Princess Cruises.”