WITH a length of
362 metres, the
Harmony of the
Seas encompasses the
combined innovation and
class of her sister ships
in the Royal Caribbean
International fleet. While
critics may question whether
bigger is better, RCI execs
are adamant that Harmony
was designed to deliver that
“wow factor” that guests are
looking for and that her size
was simply the enabler.
“We haven’t designed
these ships because we
want them to be larger, we
want them to be better,”
says Richard Fain, chairman
and ceo of Royal Caribbean
Cruises.
RCI considers its
ships an investment in
‘guest experience’ and
instrumental in helping to
grow the number of people
cruising each year.
“We find that our
customers go home and
tell their friends about what
they’ve experienced. As
a result, more and more
people want to try cruising,”
says Michael Bayley,
president and ceo of RCI.
In response to questions
about whether the size of
the ship might alienate
certain travellers, he says
that often people who travel
on RCI’s larger ships are
surprised at the quality and
richness of the experience.
The sheer scale of
Harmony’s offering enables
it to appeal to a broad
market, whether travellers
are older, younger or multigenerational
families.
“We’re constantly adding
new features to appeal to a
broad demographic,” says
Michael.
Beyond its impressive
features, Harmony also
endeavours to impress
guests through personalised
service, which it manages
to deliver despite its
size. Hotel director, Joao
Mendonca, says it’s
the small things that
differentiate RCI from other
cruise lines. He says staff
are trained to be highly
guest-centric, learning
guests’ names quickly from
looking at their sea pass
cards and making sure they
take care of guests’ needs
within 24 hours. “Staff are
trained to know what guests
want,” he says.
What do agents say?
Agents who attended the
pre-inaugural voyage were
impressed with the ship’s
offering, saying its status
as the largest cruise ship
in the world together with
its “amazing on-board
ambience” will appeal to
cruisers.
“Like the other two ships
in the Oasis Class, it will be
very popular in comparison
to other cruise lines, simply
because of the features on
board such as Central Park,
the dining experiences,
Abyss, water slides,
amphitheatre and ziplining,”
says Cruise Corner cruise
expert, Aaminah Sarang.
She says these are the
things that help clients
choose a good ship to
sail on.
Harmony is a complete
resort destination in itself,
says Chrissa Karanastasis,
luxury cruise and travel
expert of Cruise Corner.
“Seven nights on board is
not enough to experience
everything on offer.”
Aaminah says Cruise
Corner has already booked
passengers on the Harmony
for the summer season in
Europe even though the
ship was only launched on
May 21, and is still quoting
for 2016 and 2017.
“Most of the sailings
for Europe 2016 (May to
October) are almost fully
booked.”
Agents can earn decent
commission on booking
these cruises but, as
Tracey Olivier, reservations
consultant for Thompsons
Holidays, points out,
commission is only offered
on the cabin fare and not
on any other services,
including port taxes,
shore excursions, drinks
packages, gratuities or
NCCF charges. “In order
for cruising to be lucrative,
agents need to sell many
staterooms to a large
number of passengers
and not just normal inside
staterooms. Staterooms
that are of a higher category
make decent commission.”
The ultimate incentive
THE “wow” factors that
go hand in hand with the
RCI brand and ships are
a significant draw card
for incentive groups, says
Dalene Oroni, group and
incentives manager for
Cruises International.
“Harmony is sailing in
the Med this year, which
presents a great opportunity
to sell this product to the
corporate and incentive
market. Most of my
incentive groups prefer the
Med due to more convenient
flight times.” The Med
itinerary combined with the
opportunity to sail on the
biggest, newest and most
innovative ship in the world
will play a big part in getting
incentive groups on board,
Dalene says.
“Not to mention all the
entertainment on offer –
something different and
magnificent for the group to
experience every evening.
They will never get bored.”
The free conference
facilities offered on board
RCI ships are another
advantage for agents selling
to the MICE market. “Free
conference rooms and
equipment are ideal for
the incentive client who
would like to incorporate
a conference day or two,”
says Dalene.
“Incentive groups can also
buy out restaurants for the
group and make it their own
for the evening.”
Book your next cruise
For one season only
(June to October 2016)
Harmony will embark
on seven-night Western
Mediterranean voyages
from Barcelona. From
November it will return to
the Caribbean for sevennight
Eastern and Western
Caribbean cruises from
Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
A seven-night Western
Mediterranean cruise
departing from Barcelona
on October 16 starts
from R16 945,50pps.
The cruise stops in
Palma; Marseilles; and La
Spezia, Rome and Naples;
returning to Barcelona.
On-board packages
(beverages, speciality
dining, land excursions
and WiFi) are available
for purchase prior to and
during cruising.
