I Guess 'Roots' Are a Terrestrial (Not Maritime) Thing... Or am I Wrong?

[woodofpine]

'Brands' are the buzz-word of the cruise industry, but every Big C. "brand" - wasn't it Arison that started using the term - (Cunard, HAL, Costa, etc.) started as an independent line with its own ships, onboard crews, shoreside management, and history.

 

Now there is Azamara - two X ships presto chango - a cruise line. Is it me, or does this seem a little weird to anyone else?

 

I can't think of anything wrong with it; theses are newly refurbished smaller ships that are going to have a bit different onboard style than X and more 'exotic' itineraries. That's fair; on that basis one should expect X' Galapagos ship to go Azamara quickly.

 

But to take X bookings, presumably with their management in toto, and instantly proclaim a new "line" - with no independent history or anything else - just seems a little weird to me... I can't think of a comparable in recent US big line corporate history.

[marinearchit]

It probably came as a suprise to the passengers booked for the Journey's Maiden Voyage. Since it wasn't announced that the Journey was sailing for a new line until the day before it set sail.

Lets hope it was a postitive suprise. Otherwise this could backfire.

[ocngypz]

I guess they are thinking more like packaged goods marketers now, eg. P&G and all their misc detergents......each one a separate brand..but still P&G.

[Isaac]

I think of it like car companies. Not so much Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge where you had 3 models, nearly identical with different names. More like Toyota, with their Scion and Lexus brands. I see no problem. Ideally, they are all distinctive enough that they do not compete against each other.

[woodofpine]

It's a marketeer's world. My reaction is just a traditionalist-nostalgia thing I guess. Most of the car 'brand' started off as independent companies once upon a time - but not all (Saturn, Lexus...).

 

I guess it's no different than Starwood lodging shoreside.

[spongerob]

It's a marketeer's world. My reaction is just a traditionalist-nostalgia thing I guess. Most of the car 'brand' started off as independent companies once upon a time - but not all (Saturn, Lexus...).

Speaking of cars, I hear that Nissan is really PO'd at Celebrity for stealing the ridiculous name they'd chosen for their next SUV.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Aside from Carnival itself, the only "created" Carnival brand was FiestaMarina, circa 1994. (It didn't last long.)

 

The others were all acquired from elsewhere.

 

However, if you count P&O Princess (pre-Carnival merger), Ocean Village was certainly contrived as an offshoot of P&O.

 

American Family Cruises was (very) briefly an offshoot of Costa, again pre-Carnival.

 

Other "created" cruise brands in chronological order... Majestic America (merger of Great American River Cruises and Delta Queen), Royal Olympic (merger of Sun Line and part of Epirotiki), Crystal (from NYK), Celebrity (from Chandris), Admiral (merger of Eastern Cruise Line/Western Cruise Line and Sundance Cruises), and two very big names that are utter fabrications, Royal Viking and Royal Caribbean (both invented by a consortium of three Norwegian shipping companies each). Even Home Lines - I'm going way back here - was concocted by various existing interests including Swedish-American Line, Fratelli Cosulich and others.