20 Newbuilds for the bullish expedition cruise market, as the intended one from POSEIDON EXPEDITIONS, will emerge in nearly all fleets over the next years.
POSEIDON EXPEDITIONS is inching closer to confirming a new ship in time for the 2020 Arctic cruise season.
Older vessels in the expedition cruise market will get into massive troubles, as they will loose their compatability towards the newcomers. Most of these new vessels are more enviromental friendly, with lesser carbon footprint, more luxuries on board, state of the art communication sytems, new security solutions, etc.
by Earl of Cruise
POSEIDON EXPEDITIONS was the first to open the most remote Russian
Arctic regions to travelers. In 2005 the unique route was worked out for "Pearls of the Russian Arctic" icebreaker expedition. The program
included visits to Novaya Zemlya, Oranskie Islands, Vize Island, Severnaya Zemlya, Queen Maud Bay, Birulia Bay, port of Dickson, ruins of Khabarovo GULAG, Vaygach Island. These expeditions would not have been possible if not Russian Nikolay Savelyev could have organized it. The Russian Arctic Sea is a military zone ...
"We’re going to be operating a new vessel starting with the 2020
Arctic season," said Steve Wellmeier, North American Sales Director for POSEIDON EXPEDITIONS. "With all the new tonnage coming online there will
be a lot of competition; we want to make sure we can maximize our
efforts with the new vessel."
SEA SPIRIT - courtsey POSEIDON EXPEDITIONS
While the company is still negotiating the deal, it expects the ship
to be in the 150-passenger range, giving it the opportunity to visit
more landing sites in Antarctica.
Before then, however, its business as usual for POSEIDON EXPEDITIONS, which
operates the SEA SPIRIT, originally one of the first set of boutique cruise vessels for defunct RENAISSANCE CRUISES, on a year-round charter agreement from SUNSTONE.
In addition are handful of summer departures on the nuclear powered 50 YEARS of VICTORY.
50 YEARS of
VICTORY - courtsey POSEIDON EXPEDITIONS
The company got its start as POSEIDON EXPEDITIONS Arctic Voyages in 1999,
offering charter voyages on icebreakers to the North Pole and Russian
High Arctic. Offices were setup in the UK and Cyprus and an
international passenger sourcing strategy was put in place led by Russian owner
Nikolay Savelyev.
Since then, sustainable growth has seen more charters, longer
seasonal operations and the year-round deal to sail the SEA SPIRIT. An Australian sales office was opened in 2014, and has since been expanding. Unique about the SEA SPIRIT's season is a handful of intense expedition voyages to Franz Josef Land, a Russian Archipelago.
"There is appeal there because it is a new Arctic destination," said Steve Wellmeier. "We go there directly from Svalbard."
SEA SPIRIT in Greenland - courtsey POSEIDON EXPEDITIONS
The SEA SPIRIT ventures south to Antarctica for the winter, running a
longer season than most operators, starting in early November. Setting the product apart, according to Wellmeier, is the company’s expedition team.
"That is what creates the experience for passengers. They are the
curators for the voyage, creating the experience passengers will take
home with them," Steve Wellmeier told. With 20 expedition ships on the orderbook, Steve Wellmeier said the trend was moving toward the luxury end of the market.
"Everyone seems to be upgrading to the upper end," he continued. "We
don’t consider ourselves luxury. Our rates are much more mid-level. Our
accommodations, food and service are at a premium level. People look at
the ship, the per diems and the size of the rooms and look at the
reviews we get and say `this looks like a good deal – lets book.´"
Even in the expedition market we will see more moderate pricings. These offers are of the kind of "Luxury is the destination" ... but the prices will be and must be higher, as in the premium (mass) market the margins are to small for good or big revenues. Therefore the ships grow bigger, the service is lessening, and less crew is slaving for more passengers ... The expedition market but is preventing the trend to big and bigger ships, because of straigther enviromental regulations. Therefore the expedition market will stay as a domain for the real luxury market - exploring the world with champagne, oysters and caviar ...
Remeber there is no internationl equality for "premiun", "luxury" ... Each company is declaring for itself, what is "luxury'" or "premiun", there is existing even a category named "6star" which is created only for marketing and adverts.
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