Princess to give up its in-house Retail Operations

[LACruiser88]

 

Princess has struck a deal with Harding Travel Retail to run retail operations on all of their 14 ships.  Many on CC have complained about the boring same/same retail options on Princess ships.  We'll see how this changes the onboard retail experience???

 

Princess Cruises and Harding Travel Retail have announced a partnership, with the line foregoing the running of its retail operations in-house.

Holly Payne | Sep 14, 2021

Harding will manage the retail operations of all 14 Princess Cruises ships plus the line's forthcoming three vessels.

The current Princess retail team will join Harding.

[CineGraphic]

Has a start date been announced?

[cr8tiv1]

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/people-opinions/harding-hires-ex-rmy-group-executive-sam-haley-and-industry-veteran-victor-patience

 

I'm not sure this will be an improvement.  Executive comes from EFFY.  I did not like that change either.  Where will I spend my OBC?  

[azbirdmom]

On the Majestic this summer, they no longer had port tees or ballcaps.  And they didn't have the outlet or daily sales in the aisleways (there were some but not every day).  I thought it might just be one of the temporary changes due to Covid but it sounds like they are aiming higher in terms of merchandise available for purchase onboard.

[CineGraphic]

Harding also has contracts with P&O and Cunard.

[dockman]

 Maybe if people didn't spend so much $$ on a lot of semi worthless stuff in the shops the cruise lines would stop trying to turn every square foot of space on new builds into more and more shops?  You know things like a decent wide promenade deck and library ,more lounges/bars, etc?

 

I really just don't get the obsession of doing any serious shopping on a cruise ship....don't we all get enough of shopping malls, walmart, target, amazon etc while at home on land?

 

Yes I know many consider shopping to be a sacred right.  One or two shops seems to me adequate to satisfy most....and yes I know that without shop revenue the bean counters would then want to raise cruise prices to make up for lost revenues.

[Mary Ann 2]

51 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I'm not sure this will be an improvement.  Executive comes from EFFY.  I did not like that change either.  Where will I spend my OBC?  

We will see I guess.  We gave up shopping for jewelry onboard after an EFFY purchase my daughter made and the diamond fell out of a $2000 ring within hours of buying it.  They refunded her, but we no longer even look if their quality control is that poor.  I hope this doesn't jack up the prices of Princess brand/logo merchandise.  On our Alaska cruise last month, I was surprised that there weren't more Princess logo shirts available, but just chalked it up to they weren't finished restocking after not sailing for so long.

[LACruiser88]

8 minutes ago, dockman said:

I really just don't get the obsession of doing any serious shopping on a cruise ship....don't we all get enough of shopping malls, walmart, target, amazon etc while at home on land?

I'm glad my wife didn't see your comment...

[2 cruises a year]

8 minutes ago, dockman said:

 Maybe if people didn't spend so much $$ on a lot of semi worthless stuff in the shops the cruise lines would stop trying to turn every square foot of space on new builds into more and more shops?  You know things like a decent wide promenade deck and library ,more lounges/bars, etc?

 

I really just don't get the obsession of doing any serious shopping on a cruise ship....don't we all get enough of shopping malls, walmart, target, amazon etc while at home on land?

 

Yes I know many consider shopping to be a sacred right.  One or two shops seems to me adequate to satisfy most....and yes I know that without shop revenue the bean counters would then want to raise cruise prices to make up for lost revenues.

Like, Like, Like, couldn't get enough likes in for you!!  I agree with every word.

[pms4104]

Will the Harding people share in the crew incentive, being an onboard revenue source?

[loge23]

Yet another significant change for Princess, following Jan Swartz's ascension to Group President.

Keep in mind that Jan was hired away from Bain where she served as a outside management consultant. I mention this because management consultants are rarely concerned with brand legacy and more focused on brand efficiency - not necessarily a bad thing, but it does always bring significant change to a firm's operations if their recommendations are taken. Obviously, hers were and are still.

As for this change, think of the Princess shops as Mom & Pops. Comfortable, friendly, and fairly predicable. Then, Effy changed the paradigm. So the Mom & Pops are being replaced with the Big Box stores - scaled down, of course, but the comparison is valid. Again, not necessarily a bad thing, but different it will be. Will Elites lose their 10% discount, for example, and what will become of the merchandise mix?

Meanwhile, the competitive environment is forcing its' own changes as Princess will now try to differentiate itself in a sea (no pun intended) of highly corporatized offerings amongst the high-occupancy cruise lines. 

All of this is creating new opportunities for smaller ship lines, like Regent, Viking, etc. 

Of course, all of this is occurring before most of us have had a chance to return to cruising. I think we'll be a bit surprised, but hopefully delighted, at what we find when we do. But don't expect the same experience that you were used to before the plague.

 

[Steelers36]

For me, the shops are something I walk by and hardly notice.

[Syracusefan44]

https://www.dfnionline.com/lead-stories/princess-cruises-harding-announce-blockbuster-retail-partnership-14-09-2021/ 

[dides]

That's interesting. We tried to buy some ship-specific playing cards on Sky Princess at the beginning of this month and they were still waiting for their stock to arrive. I was told the pandemic was causing problems with the supply lines.

 

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by dides

[Mike45LC]

As long as they still stock sundries.  I've bought Tums, Tylenol and other essentials on board. 

 

Not much else, except for cruise-line t-shirts if sufficiently marked down (e.g., Mex Riv merchandise on an Alaskan cruise).  So Effy can do what it wants to without bothering me.

[LawDog61]

I am wondering if this is a cash raising move by CCL. Owning the right to sell on a cruise ship must have significant economic value, and perhaps CCL sold off the right to sell onboard for big $$$

[loge23]

6 minutes ago, LawDog61 said:

I am wondering if this is a cash raising move by CCL. Owning the right to sell on a cruise ship must have significant economic value, and perhaps CCL sold off the right to sell onboard for big $$$

I'm pretty sure they didn't do it to lose money, but that $$ has to come from somewhere and Harding isn't doing it to lose money either.

[CeCe_]

1 hour ago, dockman said:

 Maybe if people didn't spend so much $$ on a lot of semi worthless stuff in the shops the cruise lines would stop trying to turn every square foot of space on new builds into more and more shops?  You know things like a decent wide promenade deck and library ,more lounges/bars, etc?

 

I really just don't get the obsession of doing any serious shopping on a cruise ship....don't we all get enough of shopping malls, walmart, target, amazon etc while at home on land?

 

Yes I know many consider shopping to be a sacred right.  One or two shops seems to me adequate to satisfy most....and yes I know that without shop revenue the bean counters would then want to raise cruise prices to make up for lost revenues.

 

There is a Medallion to take orders and delivered to where you are.  Do you need more lounges/bars?  

 

 

[pms4104]

2 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

Harding also has contracts with P&O and Cunard.

And recently completed an insolvency operation and a sale to a US hedge fund.

[2 cruises a year]

17 minutes ago, loge23 said:

I'm pretty sure they didn't do it to lose money, but that $$ has to come from somewhere and Harding isn't doing it to lose money either.

So we all have a pretty good idea where those $$$ will come from.

[2 cruises a year]

7 minutes ago, CeCe_ said:

 

There is a Medallion to take orders and delivered to where you are.  Do you need more lounges/bars?  

 

 

Yes, more lounges/bars.  There is nothing like a good watering hole. 

[sfaaa]

Oh no, terrible news. Where am I going to buy those fake gold chain by the yard, $15 for two cheesy T and crappy $10 plastic watch on last sea day ? I still have some empty space I need to fill in my basement storage room. 

[CineGraphic]

45 minutes ago, LawDog61 said:

I am wondering if this is a cash raising move by CCL. Owning the right to sell on a cruise ship must have significant economic value, and perhaps CCL sold off the right to sell onboard for big $$$

 

CCL has effectively eliminated the expense of running a shop.

It is now the responsibility of the contractor to travel to trade shows for merchandise, and to pay graphic designers to design shirts and souvenirs.

Can you imagine how much money Princess has laid out in the past for a mere t-shirt order?

Now, they are in it for a percentage of sales, without any of the hassle of stocking or staffing the shops.

 

[dockman]

54 minutes ago, CeCe_ said:

 

There is a Medallion to take orders and delivered to where you are.  Do you need more lounges/bars?  

 

 

I always thought of the old nice libraries and crows nest as more of a lounge where one could go and sit and enjoy a bit of solitude...i am all for more solitude spots to include nice teak loungers on a proper wrap around walking deck....i would gladly trade several shops for more public spaces.

[dreaminofcruisin]

3 hours ago, dockman said:

 Maybe if people didn't spend so much $$ on a lot of semi worthless stuff in the shops the cruise lines would stop trying to turn every square foot of space on new builds into more and more shops?  You know things like a decent wide promenade deck and library ,more lounges/bars, etc?

 

I really just don't get the obsession of doing any serious shopping on a cruise ship....don't we all get enough of shopping malls, walmart, target, amazon etc while at home on land?

 

Yes I know many consider shopping to be a sacred right.  One or two shops seems to me adequate to satisfy most....and yes I know that without shop revenue the bean counters would then want to raise cruise prices to make up for lost revenues.

 

...and then if they got rid of the artwork, just think of all the extra space!   😉