The Beginning of Luxury Cruises

The airline industry has long attempted to segment the air travel market in order to effectively target its constituents. The classic airline model consists of First Class, Business Class and Economy, and the demographics that make up the classes have both similarities and differences to the other classes. For instance there may be similarities between business class travellers on a particular flight, but they will not all be travelling for the same reason. An almost-universal characteristic of air travel is that customers do not fly for the sake of flying; the destination is the important element and the travel is a by-product, a means-to-an-end that involves the necessity of an aircraft that gets the customer from point A to point B.

Summary: The cruise line industry has been experiencing a period of massive expansion over the last decade thus heightening the competitive profile for the industry in terms of market share and competitive rivalry. Now cruise industry is one of the most competitive across all.

* Travel agencies: Travel agencies have strong relationships with the cruise industry as they book around two thirds of their cruise. Although this percentage is declining due to the growth of consumer knowledge and technology the percentage of cruisers using travel agents is relatively strong. (UCLIA)

Carnival is “The World’s Most Popular Cruise Line” with 24 “Fun Ships” operating voyages ranging from three to 16 days in length to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, New England, Europe, and Bermuda. Carnival’s success is attributed to its marketing program directed towards

Carnival Cruise’s, Disney Cruises and Norwegian was the only other clear competitors to RCL but in terms of subsidiaries Crystal Cruises was the only direct rival in terms of size and scale and position in the industry but in analyzing the demand increase from 1999 to 2001 a 16.7% increase in demand showed that Celebrity cruises had to maintain their position as a luxury brand to continue being a major player in the industry. The demand was strong and the competition was average, as it relates to entries to market the cruise line industry requires multiple stipulations and regulations required thus unless one of the major players mentioned above acquired a smaller cruise line to increase in operations and services Celebrity’s position was relatively strategic and smart. The competitive landscape was relatively small so quality improvement process should be the main focus during this time, they already created the process needed to offer superior service thus tweaks such as management training, career progression programs and increases in standard of performance programs would set Celebrity’s consistent quality assurance position in the industry to better

Cruise lines have been classified into three separate entities, luxury, premium, and contemporary. The three classification allow for choices on what kind of

It is difficult for new cruise lines to enter this market since the level of star-up capital required is extremely high given the average cost of a cruise ship and the

There are nine main cruise line, these include Ambassador International, Carnival Corporation, Crystal Cruises, Disney Cruise Lines, Louis Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Silversea Cruises and Star Cruises (Cruising). The major cruises out of these are Royal Caribbean and Carnival Corporation. These cruises line are known for using their popularity to their advantage by raising their prices at any given time. But on the other hand, all the ships are comparable. All passage can anticipate the equivalent experience on board. In addition Rivalry is at a peek because getting rid of a cruise industry cost more than to just keep into development.

Launched just 8 years ago, today, the Jetstar Group consists of a network of value-based air carriers that deliver high quality air passenger services for budget-minded travelers across Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific region. Beginning with just 400 employees, the company currently employs more than 7,000 people and carries about 20 million passengers a year. To gain some insights into how the Jetstar Group achieved this impressive growth in such a short amount of time, this paper provides a review of the relevant literature concerning the air passenger industry in general and the business strategy used by the Jetstar Group in particular. A summary of the research and recommendations for this company are provided in the paper's conclusion.

A few international differences affect the operations of cruise lines. Differences include political/legal, geographic, economic, or sociocultural. Since cruise lines are an international business, they are affected by these differences. Many cruise lines choose to flag their vessels in countries that have “lower taxes and less stringent employment practices required by the laws of those countries” (The Cruise). However, some governments may choose to subsidize the ship industry in order to secure contracts for their domestic firms. Many ships are built in order to be appealing to the eye, but with cruise ships going to so many different places, they have to be designed not only to accommodate the economic reality of the mass market, but also the cultural preferences of the clientele.

The final uncontrollable force affecting the cruise line industry is competition (Montalvo, 2007). This is probably the least influential force since 91% of the cruise line industry is made up of three companies-Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Star. These three organizations are world-famous and have developed the cruise concept to the point that there is a cruise that will fit just about every person’s destination dream and budget reality.

In 1972, Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL) was found by entrepreneur Ted Arison. Mr. Arison’s vision involved making cruising, a vacation experience once reserved for the rich, available to the all individuals. Carinal Cruise Lines achieved the ability to carry more passengers than any other cruise line, which lead to Carnival becoming the largest cruise line in the world. By 1987, Carnival Cruise Lines earned the distinction, “The Most Popular Cruise Line in the World.”

During the recent economic contraction, the cruise industry has been continually changing with more carriers purchasing larger ships. This is part of an effort to offer better amenities when attracting upscale cliental. However, the industry has become more competitive and the total number of players has increased exponentially.

The global cruise industry continues to be the fastest growing travel sector in the world with strong consumer attention and substantial cruise line investment in a diversity of mind-blowing ships that travel to the most exotic locations in the world and offer exceptional vacation experiences.

The cruise industry has definitely evolved over the years to meet the changing demands and expectations of its passengers. The most important changes in the industry over the years are the introduction of shore excursions, new cruise routes and changes in the ships themselves. The first cruise ships offered few to no excursions while all the modern cruise lines offer over 100 excursions per cruise. These excursions can include participating in an actual boat race in Philipsburg, climbing waterfalls in Ocho Rios and scuba diving which is always very popular among passengers. They are designed to give the passengers a new and thrilling experience that they cannot attain at home. In the old days, the only cruise routes available were transatlantic and small European routes. The transatlantic route became unpopular in the 1960’s as air travel shortened travelling time from less than 20 hours by air versus four days by cruise. However, with the launch of newer,