Oceania Cruises reports that several new company booking records were achieved during the month of August including phone volume, new reservations and pricing performance.
The month of August set new booking records for the company while the one week period of August 23rd through the 29th marked the busiest week on record. August 31st registered as the biggest single booking day in the company’s history. Oceania credits the record booking activity to the culmination of promotional offers on its popular 2010 European Collection voyages which expired at month-end.
“The tremendous demand we are witnessing for the Oceania Cruises experience is extremely gratifying and speaks to the strength of our brand and value proposition,” stated Bob Binder, president of Oceania Cruises.
Thirty-two of the line’s 2010 voyages are already sold out and overall pricing has strengthened back to the record setting 2007 and 2008 pre-recession levels which prompted the line to raise prices on over 40 percent of its 2010 departures effective September 1st. Another price increase is slated effective January 1, 2010.
“The demand and pricing strength Oceania Cruises is experiencing showcases the
resilience of the cruise industry in the wake of a challenging economy and demonstrates once again how important vacations are to consumers," stated Frank Del Rio, chairman and CEO of Prestige Cruise Holdings, parent company of Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. "What we are seeing is an industry-wide trend that Oceania’s sister brand Regent Seven Seas Cruises is also enjoying."
Travel agent partners are also reporting record booking levels as consumer confidence strengthens. “Oceania Cruises, along with all of our cruise industry partners, have done a phenomenal job of marketing the value of cruise travel and driving consumers into the offices of agents,” stated Brad Anderson, co-president of San Diego-based Anderson Travel and Miami-based America’s Vacation Center.
Oceania Cruises is expecting the remainder of the 2010 European Collection to continue selling at a brisk pace and has moved-up the introduction of its 2010-2011 Winter Collection voyages to September 15th in order to provide agent partners with additional itineraries and sales opportunities. The line’s hotly anticipated 1,258 guest Marina, the first ship designed specifically for the Upper Premium market, is expected to go on sale during the 1st quarter of 2010.
Oceania Cruises offers award-winning itineraries to 300 ports in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Asia, and the Americas aboard three luxurious, 684-guest ships: Regatta, Insignia and Nautica. The 1,258-guest Marina, the first ship designed specifically for the Upper Premium market segment, joins the fleet in winter 2010.