Steve Jones
Another month, another “game changing” development in the cruising sector. It’s hard to keep up. And that’s the problem. Authorities are not keeping up. In mid-april, Royal Caribbean announced that Ovation of the Seas will operate a series of voyages from Sydney between January and April 2017. Currently under construction in Germany, Ovation will be the cruise line’s third Quantum class vessel, and the largest liner to sail in local waters. The growth of Royal Caribbean has been rapid since it opened its local office in 2009 – growth that has been mirrored in the overall cruise market, with Carnival, and others, similarly expanding their capacity. And ever since that boom began, the cruise industry has been involved in a dialogue with authorities over how Australia can capture and exploit the economic benefits of future growth. The problem is, that dialogue has achieved next to nothing. That’s not to imply criticism of Carnival Australia chief executive Ann Sherry who has worked tirelessly, if fruitlessly, to convince politicians of the need to improve Sydney’s port infrastructure. So too the local boss of Royal Caribbean, Gavin Smith. But, by and large, a long term solution to the capacity squeeze is as far away as it has ever been. As I see it, there are two major factors holding back progress.
The first is the cruise industry’s failure to present a united voice. Garden Island, the favoured option for all concerned, is simply not going to happen. But Carnival and Royal Caribbean can’t agree on where else to construct new facilities, with Carnival favouring a Sydney Harbour solution while Royal Caribbean has pushed for the less glamorous Botany Bay. The second reason is a simple reluctance of politicians to approve anything involving significant amounts of money that does not involve education, health, or any other domestic issue.
Clearly there are logistical issues. But if there was a genuine will, there would be a way. And that is the bottom line. There simply is no political will. Still on cruising, Royal Caribbean has taken the marketing battle to Carnival in recent weeks with a multimillion dollar advertising push. But part of its promotional activity may have backfired. The cruise line partnered with Channel Seven for what will surely become an example of how not to produce branded content – content which is paid for by a brand but dressed up as genuine entertainment. The program, Tom, Rach and Rosso Go Cruising, saw three celebrities experience facilities on board Voyager of the Seas. It awkwardly captured what passengers can expect, was watched by 571,000 people – and was awful viewing. That wouldn’t have mattered had it not drawn the ire of ABC’S Media Watch program, seen by 667,000 city viewers. The show saw host Paul Barry castigate the program as an “hour long advert” before dragging up health issues that befell the cruise line as far back as 2012. A harsh lesson in how a different approach to advertising can have unexpectedly negative side effects.
...a long term solution to the capacity squeeze is as been’ far away as it has ever