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Cruise Holidays of Clarkson: “The
Time to Book Travel is Now!”
As Zaneta and I look back at our respective
work careers, Zaneta in education and Joe in management
consulting, we have come to realize the rich experience
the travel industry provides. It was in Dubrovnik last
year on a Galijun ship – a replica on a 16th
century galleon – when our guide for the evening
expressed the benefits of working in the industry best.
She said, “You get to stay at top hotels, eat at the
best restaurants, visit amazing places, learn about the
cultures and history of the world, meet interesting
people who enrich your life ... but don't expect to
retire on your earnings”. We had this conversation
sailing back to port after an enchanting concert onboard
by the Dubrovnik Chamber Orchestra. The galleon had
dropped anchor next to a straight-up rock face – a
spellbinding stage for the performance.
In this newsletter we would like to update
you on our recent events, and ask you with some urgency
to consider recent value propositions from suppliers of
travel. These value propositions are significant, are
about to expire, meaning lost savings on 2013 travel.
There are many, virtually covering the globe.
Recent Events
We had a group departure in May; the
Enchanting Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel, Lucerne and
Zurich with a visit to Floriade. Our Russian Waterways
group departs later this month as they travel from St.
Petersburg to Moscow.
And we had a magnificent turnout for the
Classical Music Delights on the Danube reunion so
graciously hosted by Joan and Herb Williams at their
magnificent home. The reunion lasted over six hours and
several traveled considerable distances to attend.
Wonderful people and an enjoyable time
together!
Trends in travel – time limited
value opportunities
Each year, around October, we hold a
presentation at our store where we compare various
cruise lines (“suppliers”) one to the other. Last year,
we announced that the aggregate passenger capacity of
the river cruise lines had virtually doubled in five
years. This dramatic growth is also evident with the
ocean cruise lines as new ships are built and older ones
refurbished.
Suppliers in this industry invest hugely
with the bet that their onboard amenities will attract
their target markets. The variables they manipulate to
attract and sustain passengers are: destination /
voyages, onboard experience, price, and what we term the
“total cost of travel”. The suppliers’ common objective
at the end of the day is to maximize vessel utilization.
In the following, we will attempt to illustrate how this
heightened competition translates into value for you,
the traveler. We will present this as “Issue”, followed
by a paired “Traveler Opportunity”.
Issue 1: Destination /
Voyages
A cruise line’s freedom to act is limited
by the number of ships in its fleet. Essentially, how
many simultaneous geographical presences can the
cruiseline accommodate? Climate is also an important
consideration in this differentiating factor;
specifically, winter in the northern hemisphere, summer
in the southern. There are “best times” to travel;
“white nights” in June in Russia, avoiding the monsoon
months in Cambodia (“Riches of the Mekong” voyage),
“cooler” months in North Africa, etc.
Traveler Opportunity 1: Destination
/ Voyages
“Repositioning”
cruises have existed from the beginning of time as the
ship’s operations move from one geographical region to
the other. Many take advantage of the lower fares
associated with repositioning voyages.
Cruise lines have become more adept at
planning “back to back” voyages. Here, the first and
second legs of the voyage stop at different ports of
call and provides a continuing learning experience to
the traveler. Purchasing both segments together saves.
Back to backs can have a duration ranging from two weeks
to several months. The same concept applies to “Grand
Voyages” or “World Cruises” where consecutive segments
of the Grand Voyage can be purchased together at
savings.
Issue 2: Onboard
experience
Onboard experience is directly related to
target market segment and is the key determinant of the
size and design of the ship, the onboard activities and
amenities, number and experience of crew members, ship
capacity in terms of number of passengers, onboard
entertainment, lectures, dining experience, cabin
outfitting and more.
In European river cruising, competition
amongst cruise lines has resulted in even more luxurious
ships, the introduction of balconies, and the
“stretching” of ships to the maximum length allowed on
these rivers. The “stretching” was necessary to
counteract the loss of cabin space the balconies
required. All (river) cruiselines now include wine with
dinner, the already excellent gourmet cuisine experience
has been dramatically enhanced, and theme cruises (such
as wine, culinary, etc.) abound with well known and
established sommeliers and chefs. Passenger capacity per
ship remains fairly constant on European rivers due to
size limitations.
Target markets are more clearly delineated
in the ocean cruise line arena. There are a handful
operating in the “luxury” market, others in the
“premium” market and yet others in the “mass” market
(these are terms the industry uses to define market
segments). Excluding “Expedition” ships, designed
typically to icebreaker specifications and carrying
generally around 150 passengers, the passenger capacity
of ships operating in these markets vary significantly
from segment to segment. Luxury cruise lines range in
passenger capacity from 200 to 700; premium from 700 to
almost 3,000, and mass up to 5,000 (all numbers being
approximate). More and more, we see intense competition
in all markets; however, in the luxury segment we see
the main points of differentiation as gourmet dining,
going the extra mile to satisfy passengers, exquisite
shore excursions conceived with limitless imagination,
etc. (Amenities in this class have already been
established as uniformly superb.)
Traveler Opportunity 2: Onboard
Experience
Matching a cruise line, a ship, and
itinerary compatible with your lifestyle, and very
importantly, with the intent of the
voyage (i.e. a family outing, a sorority, a bridge club,
meetings at sea, a romantic anniversary, or satisfying a
destination item (or “bucket-list”)) is critical to the
success of the travel experience, and should not be
taken lightly. This is where we come in; use our
services, consult us, the topic is complex and ever
changing; our consulting services remain free and
oftentimes the scale of the Cruise Holidays franchise
(within the Travel Leaders consortium) provides
amenities that are not available to the general public.
You win, we win!
Issue 3: Price and “Total Cost of
Travel”
Europe has been by far the favoured
destination of us Canadians, but we have been
experiencing some soft demand in this region. Naturally,
most of us have roots there and wish to trace our past,
or learn and appreciate Europe’s rich history. This soft
demand and (now) excess passenger capacity in this
region has led cruiselines to extend their competition
well beyond “onboard experience”. They now compete on
early booking discounts, and this is working for many,
as 2013 voyages fill up.
Travel Opportunity 3: Price and
“Total Cost of Travel”
As a matter of course, we continuously
survey the market in order to position ourselves to
serve you better. We use this information to create our
“Travel Picks” (a full list is on our website, www.clarksontours.ca). Our “Travel Picks” represent significant
value offers on voyages for which you have stated
interest. Here they are in general:
1.
BOOK NOW (by June
30th 2012) to save significantly on 2013
voyages. Crystal
Cruises, Regent Seven Seas
Cruises, Oceania
Cruises, Silversea Cruises
and Avalon
Waterways all have significant early booking
discounts for 2013 voyages that cover the world and vary
in amount depending on destination. We invite you to
access our website at www.clarksontours.cato view our selection, many of which we
have added value such as added concerts, opera, and
tours to places that will interest you. We include a
sampling of these value-added voyages at the end of this
newsletter.
2.
Book by June
8th for AMA Waterways’ “Riches
of the Mekong” – several 2012 departures. See our
“Current
Promotions” page on our website.
4.
In our own
customized tours, our prices are all-inclusive and
include gratuities, taxes and international air
disregarding an upward trend in air fares. We refer to
these as “Value-added voyages”. Ask us about these or
view them on www.clarksontours.ca.
5.
BREAKING
NEWS! We have limited space on the ONE and ONLY sailing
to South America AND Antarctica in December of 2013 on
Crystal Cruises! AND we offer $600 per person shipboard
credit. But you HAVE to book by June 30 to take
advantage of the space AND save $1,000 per person. Watch
the video -- this will fill quickly! CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
OF XMAS / NEW YEAR CRUISE -- SOUTH AMERICA AND
ANTARCTIC
An invitation to join Zaneta and Joe
on two upcoming voyages.
As you can see, booking travel before June
30th promises to provide significant value.
Zaneta and I have had the pleasure of
travelling with many of you, and we have selected two
voyages that we will escort together -- by far our
preferred way of travel. We describe these voyages below
and invite you to join us:
1.
“The
Deluxe Orient Experience” departing Toronto
November 2nd 2012 for Bangkok. This is a land tour,
filled with activity designed to provide an
understanding of ancient culture at our places of visit,
and experience then influence of this past on today’s
lifestyles. And music, art, stunning landscapes and
architectural wonders all form part of the total
experience.
There are a total of twelve hotel nights –
Bangkok, Singapore, Bali and Hong Kong and with three
nights on board the Eastern and Oriental Express.
2.
Crystal Cruises’
“Canary
Island Classic” departing Toronto April
9th 2013. Alexa  Petrenko of the New Classical
96.3FM radio station will join us on this voyage, and
will be available to meet, socialize with you, and share
her experience with 96.3 and her vast exposure to the
world of classical music. Alexa hosts “Oasis” that airs
weekdays from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM and “Sunday Night at
the Opera”. This voyage visits the powers of the Old
World, Portugal and Spain, the steamy kingdom of
Morocco, and the revered Canary Islands. There is much
to see, learn, experience and do on board and on shore.
We invite you to come with us. Note we are in the
process of adding concerts etc. however don't wait to
book! Bookings before
June 30th 2012 carry a savings of $1,000 per
person. It does not hurt to know that Crystal
Cruises’ has been voted # 1 by Conde Nast for 17 years
running.
We thank you for your business and we stand
ready to review and discuss how you can achieve your
travel plans or dreams and advantage of existing value
offers. Please call us at 905 855 1700 or email
info@clarksontravel.ca for more information. Our address is 1739
Lakeshore Road West, Mississauga ON L5J 1J4 and there is
ample free parking at the rear of our
store.
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On arrival in Ljubljana April
1st our guide Maja and our driver Elvir
greeted us at the airport and transferred us to our
5-star hotel – Hotel Lev (the Lion). In no time, Maja
had us all charmed with her enthusiasm, her personality,
knowledge and excellent communication skills. 
indeed scenic. We drove by skiers,
through exceedingly long tunnels, the infamous “Eagles
Nest” – Hitler’s hideout and stopped for a break at one
of the most scenic road stops I have ever seen. The
Amadeus Royal lay in wait for us at Passau; we boarded,
freshened up, relaxed, and gathered for the Captain’s
welcome cocktail and for the first of many briefings
from Gabriel our cruise Director.
and dedication that sets them
apart. Lueftner’s shore excursions were insightful and
provided me with information I had missed on previous
visits to the same locations.
In Bratislava, the capital of
Slovakia, George our guide towered over us all at 6ft
8ins. He took us up to the highest point in Bratislava,
overlooking the castle and where 6,800 soldiers are
buried. The castle had been destroyed several times and
is still being restored – one of many testimonies to the
pride of history we humans share. Our evening concert
performed at Clarisse Church (great acoustics!) capped
the day. 
the ruins of an enormous Slavic
castle high above the point where the Danube makes an
180 degree turn towards Budapest, and Esztergom, the
birthplace of the first Hungarian King, St. Stephen, the
location of his coronation January 1st, 1000,
and the start of the Hungarian State. 
virtually empty streets, visited
Schoenbrunn Palace, and attended a rousing performance
at the Kursalon – where the waltz master Strauss used to
play. We sailed from Venice just before midnight for
Weisenkirchen, a hillside town with terraced vineyards.
There, at the early hour of 10:00 AM we were treated to
some excellent whites. We then drove to Durnstein, known
for its Gothic blue-spired church and as the place where
Richard the Lion Heart had been jailed. Melk Abbey was
next; best described as the Monks’ creation of heaven on
earth. Our ship had sailed to Melk and we boarded her
bound for Passau, where Pavel, our guide and Peter, our
driver waited to transport us to 
Prague where we would spend three
nights. 
We explored Prague on our final
day, and we were blessed once more with perfect weather.
At the Farewell Dinner at the President Hotel, Bill
Anderson reviewed the tour, led singing to lyrics he had
written; something that Bill has done in the past. Keith
Nicholas did a Belafonte rendition.