Seabourn has it, Crystal Cruises offers it and Silversea is on top of it – more luxury cruise lines are moving towards fully inclusive travel and Cunard may be next in line to offer the convenient fare type.
Speaking to media earlier this year, Cunard’s International Development Director, David Rousham, said the line is in the process of creating all inclusive packages because it’s an “expectation” amongst luxury travellers.
He explained that feedback from passengers, especially those travelling in the line’s high-end Grill suites, revealed that there’s an expectancy that the fare covers almost everything onboard.
Currently, the line’s Grills package offers a number of onboard specialties free of charge, “but not many”. As a result, Cunard is cooking up various fare packages that would cover more onboard treats such as drink, laundry, gratuities and Wi-Fi.
“We’re looking at different areas we want to package.”
David Rousham, Cunard International Development Director
“Research found people want different levels of support, some want drinks to be included, others want Wi-Fi and others laundry. So we’re looking at the different areas we want to package.”
While for the moment Rousham says the line is concentrating on bringing inclusive travel to the Grills sector, he did admit that it could eventually lead to all three Cunard ships offering all passengers fully inclusive travel.
“If that were to be the case it would be phased in. Grills would be the lead. Changes are coming to Grills this year, which would be standard package changes.”
David Rousham, Cunard International Development Director
Meanwhile, Rousham also revealed that Australians are slowly gaining more presence onboard the line’s vessels, particularly in the Mediterranean.
He said last year there was a 15 percent increase in Aussie passengers on Mediterranean cruises compared to the prior year, a growth he attributed to our commitment to travel regardless of political disturbances in the Eastern Med.
While we’re the line’s second largest market for world cruises, Rousham admitted that the average Australian cruisers has changed for the line, with more Aussies taking shorter cruises.
“There has been a mindset shift in Australia because of the capacity of vessels being homeported out of the country,” he said.
“That’s a really important change and I’m seeing there’s an expectation for shorter cruises.”
