Travel Agent - September 1, 2008 - (Page 46)

CRUISES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 44 and I have spoken to the shipyards. It’s a matter of doing the right thing at the right time.” Michel says that Crystal has invested nearly $40 million over 24 months in its existing ships. The Serenity in November will have its Crystal Cove and Plaza lobby area redesigned and a new bar will replace the old. New decor will line the fifth- and sixth-floor walkways that lead to staterooms and, perhaps most importantly, 12 AA-category staterooms will be turned into eight Penthouse Suites. These premium accommodations will be able to con- TRAVEL AGENT: A new ship hasn’t been ordered yet, but you are working on its design. What’s happening there? MICHEL: The new ship will probably have larger staterooms than we have in our standard staterooms today. And, with this crossgenerational travel that we’re seeing, we need more flexibility; the rooms that are connecting have to connect in the right way and [unobtrusively]. As the rooms get larger and we have connectivity, we would be able to get a third berth in there comfortably. We can also see offering more alternatives with Eric Graves, vice president, sales/field sales for Crystal; Bill Smith; Mary Jean and Brad Tully, The Cruise Professionals; Aida Vincelli, The Cruise Professionals; and Gregg Michel. The Cruise Professionals was Crystal’s top-producing agency for 2008 that are important signature parts of the Crystal product. The Promenade area is something that we would like to keep. Software will continue to be innovative as the new ship comes along. My idea of the ship is if you are building a ship, you’re not building a ship for today’s market. The ship is not going to come out until 2014, but you’re not even building it for 2014, you’re building it for 2018 or 2020 because you’re going to have that ship for 15 to 20 years. My personal opinion is that a lot of the ships that are being built today are being built for today’s market. They don’t have that innovation that’s typical of the way Crystal has built their ships. When the Harmony came out, it was innovative and when the Symphony came out, when the Serenity came out and I think that ship that Crystal will come into the market with will be exactly what the market would expect Crystal can do. TA: How do you evolve the onboard experience to keep up with consumer demand? MICHEL: You have to stay current and you have to even be a little ahead of the curve on those kinds of things. And you know what? You have to offer the guests things that they may not even be expecting. So we deliver beyond expectations. That’s what’s expected of us, coming up with ideas that that they haven’t even thought yet that they want. SMITH: Today’s consumer is so knowledgeable. They’ve experienced and done so much, it’s a challenge. They want it now and it’s got to be personalized, it’s got to be an experience. If you’re not delivering those things, they’ll turn around and walk away from you in heartbeat. TA: How closely do you look at the hotel industry to see what they’re doing? They’re in a similar situation; people go to a hotel room and they expect things that they have in their homes now to be in this room. MICHEL: Well, that’s on the hardware side. You know, when you think of the activity that the average hotel offers vs. what we offer, there’s really no comparison. A hotel provides the facility, the accommodation, but when you get into all of these activities and fun things, we’re really looking beyond that because hotels just don’t provide those kinds of experiences. They don’t capture guests in the same way. We’re in the restaurant business, so we’re looking at food and wine. We’ve developed an entire cocktail menu using fresh ingredients and we’re nect to existing staterooms. This latter piece of news drew applause from the travel agents in attendance, which, as a group, had generated $119 million in revenue for Crystal in 2007. That number is up from $91 million in 2006. Travel Agent’s Editorial Director, Ruthanne Terrero, spoke with Michel, as well as Crystal’s senior vice president of marketing, Bill Smith, on the Gala Cruise, where they touched upon topics as varied as what the luxury line’s new ship will look like, to the new affluent consumer whose demands for luxury experiences seem to show no boundaries. 46 | TravelAgent September 1, 2008 choices in the food arena. We can also see improving on the space-per-guest ratio in the dining rooms; in fact, we could see upping the bar on the whole space-per-guest ratio on the entire ship. SMITH: I don’t see us really expanding the capacity of the ship, though. The number that we’re at is around 1,000 and that’s a great number. Now, the new ship will become larger just because you want larger staterooms and more public space, but as far as a density of the ship, we like the size that we are so we will stay with that. I think there are also certain features of the Crystal product, the Palm Court [for example],

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Travel Agent - September 1, 2008

Travel Agent - September 1, 2008 Online Now Contents Contributors From the Editor From the Publisher Europe: Apartment Rentals Offer a Different View of Paris Pacific/Asia: Authentic Sarawak Culture and Longhouse Experiences are Highlights of a Visit to Malaysian Borneo South Pacific: Fiji’s Denarau Island Offers Paradise within a Paradise Las Vegas: As Business Slows, Discounts and Deals are in the Cards at Many Vegas Properties Central & South America: São Paolo, Brazil, is Ideal for Business or Leisure Vacations Caribbean: The Caves in Negril, Jamaica, Offers Quiet Luxury Rosecita Jeffers Takes Over the St. Kitts Tourism Authority Cruises: Crystal Cruises is Making Plans and Changes for the Future Keeping Cruises Affordable with These 12 Tips for Clients Cover Story: Top Supplier Sales Reps Hotels: At Chicago’s Stylish Avenue Hotel, the Kids are all Right Bali is Reinventing Itself as a Family-Friendly Destination Tours: GOGO Worldwide Vacations Renews its Commitment to the Travel Agent Community Agent Profile: Ramesh Kalicharran Looked for His Roots and Helps Others Find Theirs Agenda: Fam Trips, Deals & Incentives, Calendar Luxury Travel Expo The YTB Controversy Rages On The Latest News From the Caribbean Australia Promotes Australia New Flagship to Relaunch Orient Lines Classified Marketplace Agent Access In the Spotlight Editorial Index Advertising Index Trendwatch

Travel Agent - September 1, 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.