This month, many of the ships operated by the North American-managed cruise brands will begin making their way back home across the Atlantic. Their return comes with the revelation that 2009 was not a huge success for cruise lines sailing Europe, but it wasn’t a complete disaster either.
For some cruise lines, but not all, the summer of 2009 in Europe was a summer of discontent. Some ships pulled out of port carrying far below full capacity (think luxury lines), but most managed to fill nearly every berth, although at yields that were less than hoped for but adequate nonetheless given the state of the economy. How is the summer of 2010 shaping up?
Cruise sellers tell us that early sales, while not exceptionally robust, are encouraging. They also say there are a few surprises in the mix. One is that many of the vessels that are booking well will fail to touch any destination in the Med or the Baltic. That is to say that river cruising is showing considerable strength for 2010 bookings.
Diana O’Regan of San Simeon Travel in Cambria, California, says at her agency, sales of river cruises are actually outperforming ocean cruises, at least during this early-booking period.
It’s a similar story for Ralph Cooper of Bon Voyage Travel in Tucson, Arizona. Cooper says river cruises comprise 25 percent of his 2010 bookings for Europe. That’s a huge number, he says, because river cruises historically have been a much lower percentage of his overall cruise sales.
Several cruise sellers, Cooper among them, also report that Oceania Cruises is showing strong advance sales. “Because of its pricing, Oceania manages to get the best early commitments of all the cruise lines,” Cooper says.
For the 2010 season, Oceania will introduce 30 new destinations and 24 new itineraries in Europe. The diversification is primarily to give Oceania’s repeaters new choices, says Matilda Jerosimic, Regatta’s onboard cruise consultant. One new destination that clients on board Regatta were showing interest in when we cruised last week: Spitzbergen, the Norwegian archipelago that sits well above the Arctic Circle.
Also kicking off Oceania’s 2010 European cruise season is a feature much requested by guests: the inclusion of soft drinks and bottled water at no extra charge.
Luxury Contenders
For 2010, Crystal’s newly announced two-for-one pricing offers savings of nearly $800 per person when compared with 2009 (calculated from minimum category stateroom) on 11-day Baltic or 12-day Med cruises. And Crystal too has new itineraries on the books, including a new seven-day British Isles cruise with maiden calls in Holyhead, Wales, and Portland, England.
Competitor Silversea not only floats out a new ship, Silver Spirit, but also a number of new ports of call in 2010: Le Verdon, near Bordeaux on the west coast of France; Rimini, Italy, between Ravenna and Ancona, with excursions to the Republic of San Marino; Ile Rousse, France, on Corsica’s northwest coast; and Cardiff, the capital of Wales.
One itinerary that has not yet made ink in Silversea’s brochures is a new sailing on Prince Albert II. The itinerary will sail from Lisbon, Portugal on April 28, with stops in Leixoes (Oporto), Portugal; La Coruna, Spain; Bilbao, Spain; overnight in Bordeaux, France; Nantes, France; Saint-Malo, France; Guernsey, Channel Islands; Honfleur, France; and ending in Portsmouth, England on May 10.
Regent is dedicating more beds to Europe for 2010, says Andrew Poulton, director of corporate communications for RSSC. “The big news for us is that we will have Seven Seas Voyager and Seven Seas Mariner doing full seasons in Europe, ” he says. Voyager will continue to offer Northern Europe sailings, while Mariner will be in the Med. (Seven Seas Navigator will replace Mariner in Alaska and Asia). Regent will also offer some longer Med cruises, 10 to 14 nights, and more visits to Egypt and the Holy Land.
With the introduction of Seabourn Sojourn in June, Seabourn will have its two newest vessels operating in Europe as well as two of its older, smaller ships, Spirit and Legend. Sojourn will cruise the summer in Northern Europe before joining Odyssey, Spirit and Legend in Southern Europe and the Med.
New ports of call for Seabourn include Argostoli, Cephalonia, in the Greek Isles; Heraklion, Crete, also in the Greek Isles; Ponza, Italy; Szczecin, Poland; Torshavn, Faroe Islands; Trondheim, Norway; and Zadar, Croatia.
Premium Brands
In the premium sector, Princess Cruises has quite a lot of diversity on the books next year, with 39 European itineraries, 96 departures and visits to more than 130 destinations. For the 2010 season, Princess added 11 destinations, including seven maiden calls and four where Princess ships are returning after an extended absence.
New ports include Lübeck, Germany; Iteá, Greece; Argostoli, Greece; Khios, Greece; Eidfjord, Norway; Koper, Slovenia; and Nice, France. Also new to the season are Newcastle, England; Portimão, Portugal; Tangiers, Morocco; and Constanta, Romania.
Ocean Princess will kick off a series of new seven-day Interlude itineraries visiting the Greek Isles, Western Mediterranean, Scandinavia, Norway or Ireland and Scotland. These shorter voyages can be extended with an optional hotel stay in London or Rome for a 10-day vacation.
Other new itineraries include a 12-day Mediterranean Odyssey on Star Princess between Rome and Venice; an 11-day European Rivieras journey from London to Rome; a 16-day Rome to Rio transatlantic departing December 4; and a 25-day West Africa Adventure, departing from Florence on October 27.
Holland America Line tops Princess with sheer numbers, 54 itineraries calling at 142 destinations with 11 maiden calls, including Bodrum, Turkey; Calvi, Corsica, France; Famagusta, Cyprus; Fort William, Scotland; Heimaey, Iceland; Kotor, Montenegro; Molde, Norway; Monemvassia, Greece; Peel, Isle of Man, United Kingdom; San Antonio and Ibiza, Spain; and Vlissingen (Flushing), the Netherlands.
HAL also introduces a new ship, the Nieuw Amsterdam, which will operate in Europe with five other HAL ships. Also new for 2010: Eurodam and Westerdam will offer departures from Rotterdam and Dover that will feature the Baltic, Norwegian Fjords and Northern Europe.
Look Mom, No Flights
For those who would like to see Europe without flying internationally, Maasdam will sail a 35-day Voyage of the Vikings cruise departing July 17, roundtrip Boston. The intinerary will call on ports in the north eastern provinces in Canada as well as in Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, England and the Netherlands, with overnight stays in Amsterdam and Reykjavik.
Celebrity shuffled ships earlier this summer. Solstice will shift from Europe to year-round Caribbean in 2010. And Century is being redeployed in Europe on a series of Mediterranean sailings that include the French Riviera. Constellation takes over Century’s 2009 itineraries, sailing 12-night Scandinavia and Russia and seven-night Mediterranean itineraries that call on Genoa instead of Portofino. Also, on May 9, Constellation will sail a new, one-time, seven-night Norwegian Fjords voyage roundtrip out of Amsterdam. And she will offer a one-time, 12-night cruise to the Arctic Circle on June 21, roundtrip out of Amsterdam.
That leaves Celebrity Equinox, which will sail the 12-night open-jaw voyages from Barcelona to Venice being offered on Celebrity Summit this year. The new Celebrity Eclipse, due out next year, will be homeported in and sourced from England.
New ports for Celebrity in 2010 will include Alicante, Spain; Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy; La Spezia, Italy; and Gran Canaria, Canary Islands. Also, Celebrity is revisting Genoa, Italy, last visited in 2005; Hamburg, Germany, last visited in 2002; and Toulon, France, last visited in 2000.
Azamara sends both ships to Europe for the third consecutive summer, with a total of 93 ports visited throughout 39 sailings. Azamara will visit nine European ports for the first time in 2010: Bastia, Corsica; Chania, Greece; Korcula, Croatia; Katakolon, Greece; Skiathos, Greece; Zakynthos, Greece; Trieste,Italy; Gijón, Spain; and Liverpool, England.
Azamara also will offer 53 overnight stays in 13 ports across 33 of its 39 sailings. Fourteen sailings include more than one overnight stay. Overnight stays will be offered in Florence (Livorno), Sorrento, and Venice, Italy; St. Petersburg, Russia; Barcelona, Spain; Stockholm, Sweden; Istanbul, Turkey; Edinburgh (Leith), Scotland; and London (Greenwich), England. Additionally, the line will stay overnight in four European ports for the first time in 2010: Bordeaux, France; Berlin (Warnemunde), Germany; Athens (Piraeus), Greece; and Monte Carlo, Monaco. Late-night stays departing at 10 p.m. or later will be offered in 21 ports.
Azamara’s Europe sailings will be based out of six turnaround ports: Copenhagen, Denmark; Athens, Greece; Rome and Venice, Italy; Barcelona, Spain; and, for the first time, Istanbul, Turkey.
Family Friendly
Beginning in June, Disney Magic will cruise four, 12-night Northern European Capitals itineraries, roundtrip Dover, England, with calls at Oslo, Copenhagen, Warnemunde, Germany, (for Berlin), overnighting in St. Petersburg, then cruising to Helsinki (alternating with Tallinn, Estonia), Stockholm and back to Dover. Four “at sea” days are in the mix for downtime of what is typically a destination-intensive cruise.
At the the summer season in Northern Europe, Disney Magic returns to the Med for 10- and 11-night cruises with three new ports of call: Tunis, Malta, and Corsica.
News & Blog Categories
Trending Posts
Recent Posts
Featured Posts
Travel Insurance with AIG Travel Guard
We have plans. Lots of them. Why? So you can easily find the one that fits. And with our plans, it’s not just about coverage. It’s about unique services. Lost your bag? We can help track it with Bag Trak®. Or we can cover your losses if it isn’t found. It’s simple. We have the coverage options and assistance services you want for your globetrotting travels. Read More
Travel Restrictions by Sherpa What to know
Future Cruise Credits What to know
If you are holding on tight to your Future Cruise Credits (FCCs) waiting for the perfect time and itinerary to put them back in use, many of them expire soon! Now is a great time to check the status of your FCC with an All-Travel Travel Advisor. Read More
Real ID Deadline Extension
Starting on May 3, 2023 travelers who elect to use a state-issued driver’s license at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport checkpoints must ensure that they are Real ID-compliant, which is designated by a star in a circle in the upper right corner of the license. Read More