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Cruise

The
rightfit

G

rant Holmes, a cruise specialist

at Inchcape Shipping Services
(ISS), has worked in the cruise

industry since 1999 and has noticed a great
number of trends which are shaping the way ship

suppliers and agents work with cruise lines.been seated and ordered their meal at the table, so this is one
way the industry has changed onboard some vessel types,Customer-led

The cruise industry is extremely customer (‘guest’) focused, while others have retained more traditional ways. Some ships
so any supplier working in this sector should familiarise have an all-inclusive option too and this is getting away from

themselves with the different types of vessel found in today’s the tradition of dinner with the captain.”
Make the bid
cruise industry. Mr Holmes said: “Around 75% of the cruise
ship industry is represented by three big groups – Carnival Describing the procurement process itself, Mr Holmes said

Corp, Royal Caribbean and NCL Group – and within these Carnival Corp provides a good example of how such processes
groups there are three different types of vessel.have changed over time: “Carnival Corp now has three sub-

“Mega cruise ships (typically ships which have a capacity of divisions but in the past, you had to deal with all of their cruise
2,000 guests or more) are very focused on their brand lines independently. Part of my role is to educate all our staff as to

definition and they can appeal to many different people who how these changes will impact on their work because it’s a big
cruise for different reasons. In the past, the mega ship was seen change. In a way it was more complicated before because you had

as a destination itself but now this has changed and to make 10 different bids but now you only need to make three. In
destinations are becoming more and more important.the past, you were using your own bidding structure and

documentation to make the bid, and though this does still happen “Then there is the discovery category, which typically

with smaller cruise lines, large groups such as Carnival Corp have involves more traditional vessels in terms of age and operations
a bidding platform online where everything is submitted.”and the main focus by far is on the destination. These vessels

tend to have a capacity of between around 500 to 2,000 “Before I joined ISS I was consulting for a number of tour
guests, depending on the vessel in question. These ships are operators, preparing them for this change, and now these

smaller and more agile and so they can get into smaller ports. changes are also impacting on port agencies. I think it’s the
They offer a different mix of itinerary than mega ships and you nature of the business that unfortunately, when it comes to the

get all the customary things that take place onboard a more ticket price of the ships, the selling price is going down and so,
traditional cruise ship, in terms of entertainment and activities there is increased competition within the industry and in

– it is still quite traditional in the discovery category of vessels tourism overall. Of course, we are also dealing with a
but not so much onboard mega ships.worldwide recession so if ticket prices are down, then all costs

onboard must be consolidated and reduced and this is exactly “The third category refers to luxury vessels and these ships

what the cruise lines are doing.”have a capacity of 500 or fewer – it’s all about five star service
and visiting exotic destinations. These kinds of vessels are “One of the main challenges now is that ordering supplies

actually starting to consider costs more than ever before, but for one cruise line is a completely different ball game to
they will never compromise on quality. They are instead looking ordering for another and sometimes quality can be

at getting a better price for the same high quality.compromised if a supplier tries to put a square peg in a round
hole so to speak. When it comes to cruise clients, you really “On mega ships, although the quality is high, buffets have

need a bespoke solution for each one,” Mr Holmes said. ubecome the norm whereas in the past, all guests would have

Issue 63 2014
22 The SHIP Supplier