TUI Group Selling Hapag-Lloyd Cruises to Its JV with Royal Caribbean

[Host Jazzbeau]

TUI Group Selling Hapag-Lloyd Cruises to Its JV with Royal Caribbean

I'm not sure what this means for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.  Will they become the ultra-luxury brand of RCL?

[Host Jazzbeau]

Here's another report:

TUI, Royal Caribbean Enlarge JV to Include Hapag-Lloyd

[Catlover54]

I received an unsolicited letter from HL cruises about the change, and assurances that the ultra luxury product and pax experience HL offers will not change.  My guess is that enough Germans were calling with worries that to abort having more of them, they just sent out a form letter.

I certainly hope they do not change and become Carnivorized, the way SB allegedly did.

HL has been the last refuge for independent luxury.

 

We shall see . . . .

[English Voyager]

2 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

I received an unsolicited letter from HL cruises about the change, and assurances that the ultra luxury product and pax experience HL offers will not change.  My guess is that enough Germans were calling with worries that to abort having more of them, they just sent out a form letter.

I certainly hope they do not change and become Carnivorized, the way SB allegedly did.

HL has been the last refuge for independent luxury.

 

We shall see . . . .

Given the joint 50% shareholding, why would the German half wish to see HL Cruises become 'Americanised'?

[Catlover54]

To save money in expenses and maximize profits, perhaps? That is the usual reason behind buyouts, and my understanding is they hope to improve economies of scale by going big (and they do,  at the expense of customer service, but they know if they can keep prices down, people are used to putting up with mediocre customer service if they can pay less, like with airlines or cell phone service providers).  

 

 I am typically full of dread whenever I have to get on the phone to deal with a not very bright humanoid, after a long phone tree and website exploration does not address my concerns.  

 

HL cruises has a good website, SB does not, even though SB HQ is in the Seattle area, Microserf mecca, so they have no excuse other than penny pinching.  I hope it stays that way on HL.

 

 

[Jacqueline]

I checked out the Silversea board and the consensus is that all is well with their transition  . No complaints. So that’s a positive.

HL has three expedition ships and the growth in the cruise market is luxury soft adventure, so that is no doubt one of the reasons the acquisition.

i can see the panic amongst Germans for sure, as it is a beloved product with a solid fan base.  The English felt that way when Cunard went to carnival. 
Frankly, I would be happy if English was the he first language on the international ships. This comes into play more on the expedition ships as their are many more announcements through the day. Whenever there was something interesting to see we were the last to know. I’d just follow the Germans ! Then typically the Germans would talk over anything in English. My only complaint. 

 

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