The Alaska cruise industry continues to scale back their sailings out of Vancouver, as yet another major cruise line reduces its schedule for 2010.
Norwegian Cruise Line is shifting its Alaska-bound cruise ship, the Norwegian Sun away from its Vancouver base and over to Europe for next year, a move that will see Vancouver lose some 38 million dollars in revenues from the lost sailings.
The move reduces the Norwegian Cruise Line footprint in Vancouver to half of what they have this year and is indicative of the cutbacks from the major cruise lines in the wake of a new form of taxation in Alaska on cruise ship passengers.
The fifty dollar a passenger fee has become a bone of contention between the State and its cruise line operators, Vancouver is getting caught in the cross fire, with Carnival Cruise Lines having previously announced its new plans for 2010 which will see the company relocate to Seattle next year, taking 18 million dollars out of the Vancouver economy.
Prince Rupert's 2009 cruise ship has also seen reductions, with one major ships port of call at Northland Terminal cancelled this season, leaving the city to try and entice other cruise lines to take up some of the slack in 2010, that may be a job that won't find a lot of success in the short term, considering the mood of the cruise lines regarding Alaska these days!
Showing posts with label Troubles for upcoming Cruise seasons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Troubles for upcoming Cruise seasons. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Cruise ship changes will have an impact on BC’s cruise industry
While Prince Rupert prepares for the beginning of a scaled down cruise year starting this May, Vancouver is reeling from the latest announcements from two of the major players in the Alaska Cruise industry.
Just a few weeks after Carnival Cruise lines announced their cutbacks; Princess Cruises and Holland America Line have delivered more bad news for the 2010 cruise year, as both of the high profile cruise lines announced reductions in their departures out of Vancouver next year.
When all the accounting is done, Vancouver expects to lose 62 sailings next year, taking 260,000 tourists away from the city and providing for a loss in revenues estimated to be some 120 million dollars.
The announcements have shocked Tourism Vancouver officials who are watching much of that business now being re-directed to Seattle, from where many of the redirected vessels may depart from next year.
The shakeout in the cruise industry may be an indicator of things to come in BC and the West coast for that matter in the future, a long time observer of the Alaska cruise industry, Phil Reimer, outlined for the CBC that it perhaps is an indication that the Alaska cruise industry is taking on some water and may be at the end of the boom years.
The current economic troubles and the increase of taxes on arriving ships in Alaska seem to be combining to force a restructuring of the Alaska cruise industry, a move which will sideswipe many communities along the coast.
As Reimer explains it to the CBC, “Alaska has had a great run over the last 15 years, and it could be that the market is starting to diminish as the cruise lines start to discover Europe is very hot this year," all of those changes could be a bad omen for those coastal communities that have spent their monies on infrastructure and services to try and lure the ships to their hometowns.
Fewer ships and a keen eye on cost recovery will mean much stronger competition for the remaining port calls and if Reimer is correct in his assessment of the state of the industry, those port calls will continue to become fewer and fewer as the cruise industry seeks out other destinations more inclined to fit into their financial blue print.
Just a few weeks after Carnival Cruise lines announced their cutbacks; Princess Cruises and Holland America Line have delivered more bad news for the 2010 cruise year, as both of the high profile cruise lines announced reductions in their departures out of Vancouver next year.
When all the accounting is done, Vancouver expects to lose 62 sailings next year, taking 260,000 tourists away from the city and providing for a loss in revenues estimated to be some 120 million dollars.
The announcements have shocked Tourism Vancouver officials who are watching much of that business now being re-directed to Seattle, from where many of the redirected vessels may depart from next year.
The shakeout in the cruise industry may be an indicator of things to come in BC and the West coast for that matter in the future, a long time observer of the Alaska cruise industry, Phil Reimer, outlined for the CBC that it perhaps is an indication that the Alaska cruise industry is taking on some water and may be at the end of the boom years.
The current economic troubles and the increase of taxes on arriving ships in Alaska seem to be combining to force a restructuring of the Alaska cruise industry, a move which will sideswipe many communities along the coast.
As Reimer explains it to the CBC, “Alaska has had a great run over the last 15 years, and it could be that the market is starting to diminish as the cruise lines start to discover Europe is very hot this year," all of those changes could be a bad omen for those coastal communities that have spent their monies on infrastructure and services to try and lure the ships to their hometowns.
Fewer ships and a keen eye on cost recovery will mean much stronger competition for the remaining port calls and if Reimer is correct in his assessment of the state of the industry, those port calls will continue to become fewer and fewer as the cruise industry seeks out other destinations more inclined to fit into their financial blue print.
USA Today-- Holland America cuts Alaska sailings
Vancouver Sun-- Another cruise line cuts back its sailings, moves to Seattle
Globe and Mail-- Holland America Line cuts Vancouver cruises
Monday, April 21, 2008
Are there Choppy seas ahead for local cruise industry?
With the 2008 Cruise season set to get underway in a month, Shaun Thomas of the Northern View has reported that there may be some setbacks along the way to 2009 and beyond.
Rumours have circulating around town for the last few weeks that one of the major lines calling on Prince Rupert is set to pull out of this market, a threat that was confirmed for the Northern View by a Port Official on Sunday.
The un-named line, provides for a weekly port of call in Rupert and would most likely be one of the more well known names that have started to arrive at Prince Rupert’s dock over the last few years. No details were provided on what may be behind the threat to end this port on the itinerary, or if there is anything that could be done to change their mind in a short period of time.
Rumours have circulating around town for the last few weeks that one of the major lines calling on Prince Rupert is set to pull out of this market, a threat that was confirmed for the Northern View by a Port Official on Sunday.
The un-named line, provides for a weekly port of call in Rupert and would most likely be one of the more well known names that have started to arrive at Prince Rupert’s dock over the last few years. No details were provided on what may be behind the threat to end this port on the itinerary, or if there is anything that could be done to change their mind in a short period of time.
.
If one of the major players in the industry was to discontinue its service to the city, would be seen as a set back for the still in its infancy cruise industry in Prince Rupert. With that in mind Port officials were quick to point out that there are other lines that are investigating adding Rupert to their ports of call, while plans are underway to try and determine how to make the Prince Rupert port experience more appealing for the cruise lines.
The story gets a brief walk through on the Northern View website, with the promise of more details to come and a look at how Prince Rupert might try to improve the cruise ship experience, expected in the papers April 23rd edition.
Port confirms cruise line may pull out in 2009
By Shaun Thomas
The story gets a brief walk through on the Northern View website, with the promise of more details to come and a look at how Prince Rupert might try to improve the cruise ship experience, expected in the papers April 23rd edition.
Port confirms cruise line may pull out in 2009
By Shaun Thomas
The Northern View
April 20, 2008
As rumours around the 2009 and 2010 cruise ship season continue to make their way around town, Prince Rupert Port Authority Cruise Development Officer Phil Westoby confirmed that there is the threat of one of the weekly ships pulling out next year.
Westoby made the remark during a brainstorming session held earlier today at Chances Gaming Centre to look at ways of improving the guest experience in the city. However, he noted that under the usual cruise line time frame, no decisions would be finalized until this fall and that there are other lines looking at coming into town.
Look for more on this story, including suggestions on how to improve the passenger experience, in the April 23 issue of The Northern View.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
