From a chartered river ship to new Grand Voyages, from positive booking statistics to Middle East itineraries, here's a look at four news developments of Transcend Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Cunard Line and Windstar Cruises.
Transcend Charters Former Crystal Mahler
Transcend Cruises, the global charter-only river cruise company that launched last year at Seatrade, announced that it will begin operations earlier than expected—in 2023. Transcend is building two new ships and those will set sail in 2024 and beyond; however, the line said that “due to exceptional response” to its concept, it’s going to utilize an existing ship contracted from Riverside Luxury Cruises so it can begin service this European river cruise season.Travel Agent has learned that the vessel is the former 110-passenger Crystal Mahler (now the Riverside Mahler).
Transcend's charter with Riverside will run through the end of 2024. During this charter period, the vessel will be branded Transcend Ascent and sail as the Transcend Advance on the Rhine and Moselle rivers in 2023,with wider deployments through December 2024 on customized group itineraries.
Matthew Shollar, Transcend’s founder and chief visionary officer, says, "This opportunity means we are able to utilize a well-regarded, innovative luxury vessel,” and begin to introduce the Transcend product. The approach is to have custom-designed programming and tailored food and beverage programs.
“Retail river cruise demand is at all all-time high, the charter customer has fewer options, and we are happy to deliver a new solution,” Shollar added. “Our new-build process that began during the middle of a pandemic and amidst global economic uncertainty has taken longer than we would like.”
So, Shollar believes the ability to host Advance by Transcend on a former Crystal vessel will allow the line to introduce the Transcend formula and service concept now and meet immediate charterer needs, while it finalizes its own purpose-built river ship platform.
“Ships have a soul,” says Jennifer Halboth, CEO, Riverside Luxury Cruises, Americas. "They are meant to sail. It was not a part of the Riverside Luxury Cruise strategy to sail all five ships within our fleet in 2024. This partnership allows us to lend out our hardware, while the entire experience on board will be developed and operated by Transcend.”
By exclusively serving private groups, rather than sales to individual retail passengers, Transcend’s approach will be to move the vessel to the location the client chooses. Group events and charters are Transcend’s only focus.
The first new-build Transcend ship will set sail for the 2025 season. Advance by Transcend is currently accepting charter requests subject to availability for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
Silversea Adds More Grand Voyages
One of the top trends discussed at Seatrade was strong consumer demand for lengthier cruises. Thus, Silversea Cruises is launching two new Grand Voyages for 2024, and with those additions, the 2024-2025 Grand Voyages collection stands at eight, the most ever for the ultra-luxury line.
One is the 43-day “Grand Voyage Mediterranean 2024.” Silver Spirit will sail to 34 destinations in 13 countries. Travelers will explore the Iberian Peninsula, Monaco, Croatia, Israel and many more regions within the Mediterranean. The ship will overnight in Cadiz, Spain; Alexandria, Egypt; Naples, Italy, and Jerusalem, Israel. In Dubrovnik, Silversea’s guests will wander back in time through one of the world’s most spectacular medieval towns, accompanied by the famous Dubrovnik Guards in period dress. They'll then visit the 15th-century Revelin Fortress for canapes, drinks and performances from Croatian entertainers. The sailing will conclude in Piraeus (Athens) on November 16.
The second new Grand Voyage is the 66-day “Grand Indian Ocean Expedition 2024,” in which guests will visit 45 destinations in 12 countries. Silver Cloud will depart Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha), South Africa, on April 4, 2024, and the voyage will conclude in Darwin, Australia. Guests on this extravaganza voyage will receive an included, two-night, pre-cruise overland program to Shamwari, a private game reserve in South Africa. They’ll head out for game viewing and attend the cruise line’s Bon Voyage dinner reception.
Cruise highlights will include exploration of Madagascar’s jungle, beach time and snorkeling/diving in the Maldives, and visiting the UNESCO-listed Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania. Wildlife viewing is on tap at the Seychelles’ Bird Island and Addo Elephant Park in South Africa. Plus, this voyage takes guests to Australia’s remote Kimberley region.
Cunard Sees Strong Demand From Americans
Within the past eight weeks, Cunard North America has witnessed a 64 percent increase in booking volume, compared with the same period in 2019. Even considering greater overall capacity and more itineraries with the opening of Queen Anne (Cunard’s first new ship in 14 years) bookings, that’s still a robust increase.Cunard officials also are seeing greater demand for the longer voyages, and many of the guests seeking those are new-to-brand. One interesting factoid? Some 60 percent of Cunard’s guests booked since the turn of the year are new-to-brand passengers.
During a press conference, Matthew Gleaves, Cunard’s VP Commercial for North America and Australasia, was joined by joined by Jackie Chase, director of public relations for North America. They explained that Cunard has invested in North American trade support. It's added BDMs and increased the team at individual contact centers, which advisors use, to 10 people.
Queen Anne’s arrival later this year will enable Cunard to go farther and for a longer, extended time in certain regions of the globe. So, officials told us that the line will extend the Australia season to spend more time there, for example. In 2024, Cunard will offer an extended Alaska season with Queen Elizabeth on the West Coast. And in summer 2024, Queen Victoria will offer longer voyages.
Windstar Expands into the Middle East
Windstar Cruises is expanding to the Middle East in November 2023 on the all-suite, 312-passenger Star Legend. A 10-day “Sparkling Sands & Cities of the Persian Gulf” will operate from Dubai, U.A.E., to Muscat, Oman, and in reverse, to ports in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. The ship will operate 11 departures in 2023-2024. The first sailing on November 23, 2023, can include optional tickets to the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In addition, a new James Beard Foundation Culinary Cruise has been added, with the chef yet to be announced, for the February 1, 2024 cruise.
Also in the Middle East, Star Legend will sail a nine-day “Arabian Nights and Egyptian Days” voyage from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Aqaba (Petra), Jordan and in reverse, as well as an 18-day “Wonders of Arabia” sailing from Athens, Greece, to Dubai, U.A.E.
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