Stein Kruse Interview (Princess Comments)

[macusr]

New interview w/ Stein Kruse, CEO of Holland America Group (which the Princess brand reports under) at the one year mark of being in this role.

 

http://www.seatrade-insider.com/news/news-headlines/from-newbuilds-to-new-leaders-kruse-lays-out-the-vision-for-his-holland-america-group.html

 

Many interesting comments about Princess which I can't recall being stated on the record like this before:

"There will be more big ships for Princess, a scalable brand that will spearhead expansion globally, he said. From 18 ships today, it has the potential to be 'much bigger.'"

"The new Princess ships compete directly with Royal Caribbean's, in Kruse's view."

"With the small Ocean Princess for sale, it's safe to assume Pacific Princess is not far behind."

"Future ships will not be smaller than the 143,000gt Royal Princess platform."

[Alessandrina]

Thanks for the link.

Interesting.

Cheers.

[Times Prince]

that's sad. the smaller ships are nice.

[Princess Patches]

I will be sorry to see the smaller ships sold. I loved sailing on the Ocean. I imagine once the Panama Canal expansion is complete they can use the larger Grand Class ships for the canal, which will free up the Coral and Island for the exotic and around the world cruises currently done by the Ocean and Pacific.

[Host Jazzbeau]

When they announced that Princess would report to the head of HAL, I was worried that this was bad news for Princess. This interview is very good news for Princess (except for the part about seeing Royal Caribbean as their peer -- I thought Princess was a step above!). But it shows me that they still haven't figured out what to do with HAL. There is room between Princess and Seabourn for a premium line. Keeping HAL ships smaller and even building new small ships (in the Prinsendam size) would allow them to differentiate from Princess and offer a good alternative. If the product is demonstrably better, they could charge higher per diems and make a profit from small ships.

[paul929207]

Thanks for the link. I will also miss the little girls when they are sold off.

[VOR]

The real question for me is the Grand's.

 

Grand princess is 16, Star and Golden just a few years behind.

 

As for competing with RC, the new ships look like RC ships so.....

[bdjam]

I find it unfortunate that "smaller" ships are not on the horizon for Princess (and I'm thinking in the 2500 passenger range as I know the future for the real small ships is limited). Just off Ruby Princess, it worked fine for a 3000 passenger ship, but as the ships get bigger the whole objective of being at sea gets more and more diluted as it were. I realize the business objective is to make the shareholders happy...it's unfortunate that it's at the expense of the experience.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Personally for me, the 103-114,000 gt ships work for me. I don't need the rock climbing walls or ice skating rinks or even what RC considers the WOW factor. Going on a cruise for me is a chance to relax, read a lot of chick lit books, and compete in plenty of trivia.

[Mom33]

The Coral and Island will be the"little girls" eventually.:)

[macusr]

When they announced that Princess would report to the head of HAL, I was worried that this was bad news for Princess. This interview is very good news for Princess (except for the part about seeing Royal Caribbean as their peer -- I thought Princess was a step above!). But it shows me that they still haven't figured out what to do with HAL. There is room between Princess and Seabourn for a premium line. Keeping HAL ships smaller and even building new small ships (in the Prinsendam size) would allow them to differentiate from Princess and offer a good alternative. If the product is demonstrably better, they could charge higher per diems and make a profit from small ships.

 

Yeah I think of Celebrity more as Princess' peer than Royal Caribbean, but I've never sailed on RCI so my opinion isn't fully vetted there.

[macusr]

I find it unfortunate that "smaller" ships are not on the horizon for Princess (and I'm thinking in the 2500 passenger range as I know the future for the real small ships is limited). Just off Ruby Princess, it worked fine for a 3000 passenger ship, but as the ships get bigger the whole objective of being at sea gets more and more diluted as it were. I realize the business objective is to make the shareholders happy...it's unfortunate that it's at the expense of the experience.

 

It seems like they're ceding that small ship cruising business to lines higher up the Carnival fleet (HAL or less likely Seabourn), but in reality I think it means those customers who really want a small ship experience (sub 1000 passenger) will look to Azamara, Oceania, and the new Viking Ocean ships.

[RocketMan275]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2126180

 

This article was posted yesterday in the HAL forum. It's interesting to compare what posters in both forums have to say.

[RDC1]

When they announced that Princess would report to the head of HAL, I was worried that this was bad news for Princess. This interview is very good news for Princess (except for the part about seeing Royal Caribbean as their peer -- I thought Princess was a step above!). But it shows me that they still haven't figured out what to do with HAL. There is room between Princess and Seabourn for a premium line. Keeping HAL ships smaller and even building new small ships (in the Prinsendam size) would allow them to differentiate from Princess and offer a good alternative. If the product is demonstrably better, they could charge higher per diems and make a profit from small ships.

 

I think the part about new ships being competitive with Royal Caribbean is more about future ship size, not the style and features, based upon where it was discussed in the article Based on this article I would expect Princess to announce a 5000 passenger build sometime in the next 5 years.

 

The approach between brands is fairly clear. If you like smaller ships you are going to have to go up market to more expensive brands or move over to HAL. However, there doesn't see to be a brand under CCL that lines up against NCL's Oceania and RCI's Azamara which is in the size similar to the Pacific Princess, the 650 passenger range. It would appear that someone could operate that size ship at a lower price structure than Oceania and Azmara. Of course they might expect those customers to go to HAL and P&O, if they don't want to move upmarket.

 

Bottom line is Princess price structures means larger and larger ships.

[Northender]

Personally for me' date=' the 103-114,000 gt ships work for me. I don't need the rock climbing walls or ice skating rinks or even what RC considers the WOW factor. Going on a cruise for me is a chance to relax, read a lot of chick lit books, and compete in plenty of trivia.[/quote']

 

I so agree with you. If we wanted that "stuff" we would be cruising on RC.;)

 

By the way, if you book on HAL do you get the cruise days/credits added to Princess?

[RDC1]

I so agree with you. If we wanted that "stuff" we would be cruising on RC.;)

 

By the way, if you book on HAL do you get the cruise days/credits added to Princess?

 

No. Cruise credits do not transfer between HAL and Princess.

 

Also, HAL does not offer Veteran OBC like Princess does.

[bdjam]

I think the part about new ships being competitive with Royal Caribbean is more about future ship size, not the style and features, based upon where it was discussed in the article Based on this article I would expect Princess to announce a 5000 passenger build sometime in the next 5 years.

Actually the competition is nothing new. Caribbean Princess - built before the Carnival deal - was originally built as a direct competitor to the RCI ships in the Caribbean. The true head to head never came to fruition - first because of the merge deal with RCI, then because of the differences in the product - but this isn't something that's just for the future. Although I do think it a shame that Princess might allow RCI and it's floating shopping malls to influence the Princess product.

The approach between brands is fairly clear. If you like smaller ships you are going to have to go up market to more expensive brands or move over to HAL.

I wouldn't mind going over to HAL, but the cruise experience isn't the same and that's what really matters. One thing that you can say for Princess is that over the last 15 years or so, even as the ships have gotten bigger, the experience has remained much the same. Those of us who got hooked on the 1600 passenger ships can keep coming back to the bigger ships and expect the same quality of experience. The deal breaker for me will be when Princess builds them too big and either has to include the shopping mall features to get people to sail them, or they become so populous that the experience is spoiled.

Bottom line is Princess price structures means larger and larger ships.

With all the new technology you would think someone could manage to build a smaller ship that was cost competitive with the larger ships that are out today. Edited November 13, 2014 by bdjam

[macusr]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2126180

 

This article was posted yesterday in the HAL forum. It's interesting to compare what posters in both forums have to say.

 

Thanks for sharing the link to the HAL forum cross-post!

[JimmyVWine]

The Coral and Island will be the"little girls" eventually.:)

 

And this bothers me. While those ships might be "little girls" in terms of passengers, they are "bigger" than the Grand Class ships, checking in at 965 feet versus 951 feet. Which means that once Ocean Princess and Pacific Princess are gone, there are a whole lot of great itineraries and ports that will no longer be served by Princess. While Coral and Island may be the new "little girls" because they are skinnier, with lower tonnage and fewer passengers, at 965 feet, they probably cannot (or will not) dock or tender at many of the ports on the Caribbean Connoisseur itineraries which include:

• St. Vincent, St. Vincent & the Grenadines
  
• Tobago (Scarborough), Trinidad and Tobago
  
• St. Barts
  
• Martinique
  
• Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
  

Take away itineraries such as these and Princess (in the Caribbean) can get very boring very fast. Same holds true for some unique spots in the Med. (Mallorca, Nice, Patmos, Sete). Does Princess think that ports are going to react to the "must get bigger" mentality and build docks that will accommodate 1100 foot ships? Or is the long term corporate goal to become so main stream that these 1100 foot monsters can only sail into and out of the "same ol', same ol'" ports with no options or variety? Is it a smart play to tell your customer base: "If you want to go to St. Barts, Martinique and Virgin Gorda, you now have to pay many, many times what you are used to paying and join us on Seabourn." Bottom line....as the ships become homogeneous, the itineraries will as well.

Edited November 14, 2014 by JimmyVWine

[Cruise Junky]

I've docked at Martinique on Sea Princess. But, I agree, so many ports will be gone

[Northender]

No. Cruise credits do not transfer between HAL and Princess.

 

Also, HAL does not offer Veteran OBC like Princess does.

 

Thank you. :):)

[Jimbo59]

I hope Princess will add back the wrap-around Outside Promenade deck that is missing on Royal and Regal.

 

And mybe add another pool or two.

[jdellachiesa]

I hope Princess will add back the wrap-around Outside Promenade deck that is missing on Royal and Regal.

 

Amen to a wrap around Promenade on all ships!! :thumbup:

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Forums mobile app

Edited November 15, 2014 by jdellachiesa

[richstowe]

New interview w/ Stein Kruse, CEO of Holland America Group (which the Princess brand reports under) at the one year mark of being in this role.

I have to say it is impressive how Stein Kruse has mapped out the future of so many

leading cruising brands. I was frankly amazed how open he was in spelling out his plans .

I understood there is an overlap between HAL and Princess (and every other mass-market cruise line)

but believed HAL was skewed older and for those who wanted a more traditional environment.

 

His comments that"He's working to ensure his lines have the resources they need to distinguish their brands"

and that " Cruising has not become a commodity." are interesting. It reminds me of the days at GM

where they hoped you would migrate up among their various brands.

 

Again ,you may not agree with all his plans but the breadth of his ambitions is very impressive.

[scottlad]

What I've always loved about Princess is that it has such a wide variety of itineraries, ships, and experiences. That's ultimately why we picked Princess for our first cruise back in 2001. It was true then and it is true today.

Based on Stein's comments, it sounds like that isn't necessarily going to be the case down the road, assuming his vision comes to fruition.

 

If their thought is that guest will go elsewhere for the small cruise experience or for the more unique itineraries, that assumes that the "Princess" experience isn't part of what guests come back to experience. I understand that the economics of ship building favor the larger ships, but to flat out say that all new builds going forward will be at least the size of Royal/Regal is shortsighted. That statement wasn't an actual quote attributed to Stein, so I'm curious if Stein said that explicitly, or if the writer inferred it.

 

If his idea is that you are expected to move to other members of the Carnival family for small ship or exotic itineraries, then they're going to have to look at reciprocal frequent cruiser benefits and allowing credit to be earned on other brands, otherwise you hurt your most loyal passengers.

 

The Royal Caribbean comparison has its pluses and minuses. I honestly have had zero desire to sail on RC until the Oasis class ships had been out a while and even then it is really only to see just what the experience is like on one of those behemoths. The Quantum class looks like an excellent product, however, and I'd be interested to try it out. I agree with Kristin that it's more a choice between Celebrity and Princess for me rather than between Princess and RC.

 

I extended an invitation to Carnival CEO Arnold Donald to have dinner next time he's back home here in St. Louis so we can chat about some of these things. We have mutual acquaintances here in town, and he has a close association with the business school where I work, so one of these days we're going to cross paths. lol :)