Royal Caribbean is putting on the full court press with it's marketing department by sending our mailers to inform their Crown and Anchor members about the recent changes to their loyalty program.
Earlier today, Royal Caribbean and Dreamworks announced their "strategic alliance" together to bring select characters from the Dreamworks film library to Royal Caribbean ships. The obvious conclusion many have made from the deal is that the move is to counter Disney's character driven ships along with Norwegian Cruise Lines' addition of Nickelodean characters to their ship. The idea seems great and obviously a push to convince families to sail on Royal Caribbean, but I think there's more here than just the characters and Shrek and his pals are merely the icing on a cake that has been baking for a while.
To the average observer, it seems like the Dreamworks deal with Royal Caribbean is a grand plan to add characters to the ships and get families to book with Royal Caribbean instead of other ships. That makes sense....if all the cruise line prices were the same. Considering that the Norwegian deal with Nickelodean was signed less than a year ago and in the press conference Royal Caribbean mentioned the deal with Dreamworks had been in discussion for longer than that, the move looks more like an attempt to counter Disney. After all, Disney is the leader among children branding and what kid doesn't want to be on a ship with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and friends?
There's just one little problem for parents who want to take their kids on a Disney ship. Price! Disney cruises are almost always more expensive than a typical Royal Caribbean cruise of equal length. Disney justifies the higher price by calling it "the Disney difference", where their premium branding commands a higher price tag. If you're planning the next family cruise, it's hard to convince the kids that a cruise on Royal Caribbean is a better deal when the kids just care that the Disney ship has lots of characters and other fun related activities.
With the Dreamworks deal, it gives Royal Caribbean some collateral to work with in the ever competitive task of marketing to kids. Now, they can flaunt characters from Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda, films that have resonated with this generation of youth, and so when parents have to plan their next cruise, it's a far easier sell to kids with these contemporary characters and the price difference between Disney and Royal Caribbean should be big enough for most to look to Royal Caribbean.
The alliance has a lot of hype going with it as Royal Caribbean is proud of the deal, but I really see the deal as being that final piece in the puzzle that they needed to get families to choose Royal Caribbean over other lines that have traditionally done well to attract the family demographic. If now you have the kids begging their parents to go on the ship that Shrek is on, I think it's a far easier sell for families to book it, especially given the price difference. Disney's prices were decent when times were great, before the great recession. Today, it's a different financial landscape and if you can save a few hundred dollars, it's well worth it and now, families don't have to sacrifice the things that kids love too.
It's always interesting to look back to the reasons why you become loyal to one brand over another. Sometimes it's inherited, such as a car brand or cereal your parents bought when you were growing up so you simply followed the family tradition. When it comes to which cruise line we choose, being fans of Royal Caribbean makes the choice a little more interesting to figure out why we "go Royal" when we choose our cruise vacation.
Above all else, I fell like Royal Caribbean offers a balance in nearly every aspect of the business. Are there cruise lines that are cheaper? Yes. Are there cruise lines that offer more? Yes. But why do we end up with Royal Caribbean? I think it goes to balance. The cost of what we pay for what we go is the best balance in terms of value for the dollar. Royal Caribbean cruises tend to be competitively priced but at the same time, the product we get doesn't make me feel like I've taken the cheap road. Given the price I pay and what I get for it, I feel like there's that perfect balance of value. I feel like the product (the ships, service, etc) are of great quality while the price is something I'm comfortable paying. Even the brand new Oasis of the Seas, which carries with it a higher price tag for novelty, isn't really that bad a price when you consider the product you get.
Beyond just what you pay, Royal Caribbean offers that balance of activities, both on board the ship and at its ports. I can definitely tell that with the last few classes of ships to debut (Voyager, Independence and Oasis), there's been a focus on building ships that just aren't floating hotels. They continuously are adding more entertainment, such as shows, physical activities, and more. With the recent announcement of the Dreamworks deal, it's further proof that Royal Caribbean is not resting on its laurels but rather, trying to innovate in a highly competitive industry and as a consumer, I can definitely see that the fine folks behind the scenes are actively working on improving things.
When you finish any vacation, there's definitely a difference between thinking "that was a good vacation" and "that was a good vacation. I can't wait to go back again!" and I definitely think those of us who call ourselves Royal Caribbean fans fall into the latter category. We have great times on board the ships and even in the middle of a vacation we're on, we're already thinking about how we can book our next vacation back on a Royal Caribbean ship. The only way that sort of thought pattern occurs is when that balance of product is just right and clearly Royal Caribbean has left a lot of cruisers thinking the very same thing, "let's go again!".
Royal Caribbean announced today a strategic alliance with Dreamworks Animation studios to provide the Dreamworks characters such as Shrek, onboard select Royal Caribbean ships. Characters from Dreamworks Animation's most popular feature films will be featured, including the films – "Shrek," "Madagascar," "Kung Fu Panda" and "How to Train Your Dragon".
The new characters will first appear on the soon-to-be-launched Allure of the Seas, which debuts in December 2010. Following Allure, Oasis of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas will receive characters on board their ships as well.
The move comes as an answer to the Disney Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line that feature their own assortment of characters for guests to meet with during their vacation. As the number two cruise line in the world, Royal Caribbean felt a need to add their own assortment of characters for their guests to meet.
Throughout the year, characters including Shrek, Fiona and Puss In Boots from Shrek; Alex, Marty and the Penguins of Madagascar; Po of Kung Fu Panda and Hiccup of How to Train Your Dragon will appear on board the ships at select times. Activities that the characters will participate in include parades, special events, special character meals andphoto meet-n-greets. Characters also will appear in an AquaTheater show on Allure of the Seas, and in an ice skating show on the ship.
There will be no additional cost to guests to experience any of these character activities.
Analysis
The move by Royal Caribbean to bring characters on their ships is interesting, although not completely unexpected. Disney introduced the idea of having characters on their ships and once Norwegian brought the Nickelodean characters, it only made sense for Royal Caribbean to make a move to counter that. Obviously this announcement will resonate most with families although the Shrek characters especially seem to resonate beyond kids.
According to a tweet by Stitchkingdom, the characters from DreamWorks Animation will be appearing as characters to meet aboard Royal Caribbean ships. This could be the announcement promised at 11am eastern today by Royal Caribbean. In a few hours, we will know more!
Update: USA Today is confirming the rumor. Characters will first arrive on Allure of the Seas and then spread to Oasis of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas. The characters will include Shrek, Fiona and Puss In Boots from Shrek; Alex, Marty and the Penguins of Madagascar; Po of Kung Fu Panda and Hiccup of How to Train Your Dragon. The characters will appear as part of exclusive special events, parades, character breakfasts and photo opportunities. Characters also will appear in an AquaTheater show on Allure of the Seas, and in an ice skating show on the ship.
We all tend to think of states like Florida or Texas when it comes to the state we leave from for a cruise, but for those in the mid-Atlantic states, there's still lots of activity out of Norfolk, Virginia aboard Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas. Enchantment of the Seas serves Bermuda as well as other Caribbean ports of call and WAVY-TV 10 is reporting many who frequent Norfolk as their departure port are loving it.
"Cruising from Norfolk is a hit with local passengers like Tom Anthony who finds it a bargain too. He is just returning.
"We live in Chesapeake so to be able to be dropped off here and get on a cruise ship and not having to travel a whole additional day to and from makes it a lot better value for us. But also the price is about what you would spend on a hotel and they throw in all the food you can eat for free and drop you off at a beautiful place like Bermuda," Anthony said."
With so many ships heading to Europe to chase the high demand there, it's good to hear smaller ports like Norfolk are still generating demand to keep ships serving that port and making it easier to get to your next Royal Caribbean cruise.
If you've been on a cruise before, more than likely, you've been to Nassau, Bahamas. Nassau has become the ubiquitous stop for most cruisers due to it's proximity to the United States eastern shore cruising ports. Many seem to have a love it or hate it opinion of the port but there's definitely good reason many ships make a stop here.
Nassau BenefitsIf you choose not to get off the ship at Nassau, be sure to look into deals on board the ship for deals as port days often bring better deals at the spa, among other locations.
Royal Caribbean Ships stopping in Nassau: Explorer of the Seas, Monarch of the Seas, Majesty of the Seas
On June 1, 2010, Royal Caribbean announced updates to its customer loyalty group, the Crown and Anchor Society. Here's a run down of these changes...
The changes seem to be for the best, as of now. There were no indications that other benefits were being removed, so it seems as though Royal Caribbean is trying to simply entice their customers to book their future cruises with Royal Caribbean with these new benefits.
Welcome to the start of the Royal Caribbean Blog. This is an unofficial and unbias look at the Royal Caribbean International Cruise Line. This blog is written by fans of Royal Caribbean and cruising in general and it's meant to be an opportunity to document, discuss and celebrate cruising aboard the many Royal Caribbean ships found around the world.
The mission of this blog is to provide interesting posts regarding various topics of the Royal Caribbean International cruise line and the ports of call it serves. We promise to provide these stories to you consistently and without being influenced by Royal Caribbean itself. The importance of being unofficial and independent is crucial to any good blog, and we resolve ourselves to maintaining the integrity of this site by standing by this rule.
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