Agents have reported that the publicity generated by the collapse of All Leisure’s two specialist cruise lines Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery last week has not slowed cruise sales.
Seamus Conlon, chief executive of cruise.co.uk, told TTG: “We are finding the market to be very strong. We were substantially up during December with more than double-digit growth and we’re seeing that continue into the first few days of January.
“We’ve not been particularly affected by All Leisure as they were very minor for us and a lot of their business was direct.
“At the moment, we are seeing a lot of interest in traditional cruise lines, such as P&O, which appeals to the older age groups. The dominant area for bookings is the Med.
“Experienced cruisers book early in January because they know what they want. The new-to-cruisers tend to shop around and look at land-based holidays – they like to research prices and usually book towards the middle and end of January.”
Graham Dullop, director of Cruise Club International, said sales had been “going great guns” and the agency’s phones had been “going berserk” in recent days with bookings, although the company also had to rebook some All Leisure clients on to new cruises.
“I’m very impressed by how sturdy the cruise market is – we’ve not been affected by the collapse of this company,” he said. “We had a very good beginning and middle of December, as well. January and February is still the peak booking period for cruise.”
Dullop praised the post-Christmas marketing efforts of major cruise lines for helping to create strong demand. “Summer Med is doing well – both for fly-cruises and cruising from the UK,” he added. “The northern ports, such as Scandinavia, Russia, Norway and Iceland, and river cruising are also selling well.
“Cunard is looking strong, and P&O as well. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity have had good exposure in the press and that’s feeding through.
“We expect Voyages of Antiquity to benefit as it offers similar products to the two failed companies.”
