Travel Agent - August 6, 2007 - (Page 38)

Cruises Cruise Views & News Defining Regent Seven Seas M any front-line agents liked the former Radisson Seven Seas Cruises product, but felt it needed a bit more “luxury cache.” Now, after the line’s switch to the luxury Regent brand, a $20 million fleet refurbishment and adoption of all-inclusive pricing, agents say it’s a positive transformation. “One of my agents, Diane Kimczak, just got off the Seven Seas Voyager,” says Sally Goldwasser, president, Unique Travel of Palm Beach, a Virtuoso agency. “I asked her how she felt about it and she just raved.” Goldwasser says Kimczak felt the soft good upgrades were wonderful and the bed very comfortable. “Even the sitting area of the cabin was modernized and improved,” notes Goldwasser, who says Regent’s new all-inclusive policy also “makes it much more comfortable when having drinks at the bar or wine with dinner.” In July, Travel Agent interviewed Mark Conroy, Regent Seven Seas’ president, about the brand changeover. Here are SUSAN J. YOUNG travlsusan@aol.com excerpts from that conversation. First, we’ve heard rumors of a new trade gala? EXCLUSIVE TO TRAVEL AGENT: While we haven’t had a Top Producers’ cruise previously, I can tell you that we will probably do our first trade gala later this year—most likely just before the holidays in the Caribbean. We’d like to recognize those agents who really do well for us. luxury name. Customers often didn’t know us if they got a mailing or saw an ad. They viewed us more in the competitive set of Carnival or Royal Caribbean. People know the Regent name as a luxury brand, so we get much better direct mail and ad responses. The Regent name also helps travel agents make the sale with new customers; often they don’t have to explain who we are. And while some luxury brands weren’t interested in partnering with us previously, that’s changed. We have a few things in the pipeline with luxury suppliers. Stay tuned. You’ve raised fares? How do you compare with other luxury lines? We’ve raised rates to compensate for including liquor and gratuities in our fares. Rates vary by voyage but generally pricing is up 13-15 percent. Our lead-in pricing used to start at about $300 per guest, per day; that’s now $350 per guest, per day in the Caribbean and $450 per guest, per day elsewhere. Competitively, we’re usually priced slightly below Silversea and somewhat cheaper than Seabourn. Crystal’s stateroom types vary widely, so pricing comparisons also vary. How has the Radisson-to-Regent switch gone? It’s actually gone better than I thought. In hindsight, I wish we’d done it two years earlier. Although the Radisson name was a good name, it wasn’t a Regent’s Seven Seas Navigator How’s business faring? This is our best year yet with a 15 percent increase in sales without any capacity increase. For 2008, we’re also off to a great start; we’re currently 21 percent ahead of [where we were at the same date in 2006 looking at bookings for this year]. Why so many upgrades? Why not just a name change? We couldn’t just change the name and have nothing else different. That’s why the re-branding took a little longer than we thought. We had to come up with different elements. We were already planning the Continued on page 40 38. TravelAgent August 6, 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Travel Agent - August 6, 2007

Contents Editor's Letter News You Can Use Cover Story - Passports and Visas: What Clients Should Know About Them EUROPE: Capella Debuts Two Properties This Year LAS VEGAS: The De-Theming of Luxor HAWAII: Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea Renovates CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA: Cruising the Panama Canal Lavishly CARIBBEAN & BAHAMAS: Bahamas’ Grand Isle Resort & Spa News and Notes Meet the U.S.V.I.’s Tourism Commissioner CRUISES: Defining Regent Seven Seas HOTELS: InterContinental Harbor Court Baltimore Agent Exchange Luxury Travel Expo Update Ad and Edit Index Classified Marketplace People & Places

Travel Agent - August 6, 2007

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