FEATURE The changing nature of cruise itineraries How are cruise lines adapting their itineraries to adapt to meet new market dynamics? Which ports and destinations will benefit? Executives from Marella Cruises, Windstar Cruises and Virgin Voyages share their insights Cruise itineraries were much simpler to plan a few years ago. Typically, customers were offered a seven- or 14-night journey – especially if taking a fly-cruise – or a voyage of various lengths if disembarking and embarking from/to the same port. However, the sense is that planners must be a little savvier in meeting the needs of both new and experienced cruise guests when developing itineraries today. I asked three well-known itinerary planning executives from very different cruise lines how they see things changing, what they are doing about it and what support they need from the port and destination community to achieve their goals. For Jess Peterson, director of destination experiences and itinerary planning at Windstar Cruises, it is all about avoiding overtourism and adapting to climate change. “Both are definitely changing tourism behaviour and especially in the Med and for higher end travellers,” he says. “Summers in prime Mediterranean locations are increasingly hot and crowded.” Windstar Cruises is tackling this in two ways. “First, in the summer, we are putting increased focus on smaller ports,” explains Peterson. “As a small-ship line, Windstar Cruises has always done this, but we traditionally mix smaller destinations with marquee ports like Santorini and Mykonos in Greece, since our guests still want to visit those places. We are DAVID SELBY David Selby was formerly a cruise line managing director and now works as a port and destinations consultant. 40 The port and tourism authorities are collaborating together to improve the cruise guest experience in Castellon, Spain
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