Will this impact Azamara?

Royal Caribbean are acquiring a 67% stake in Silversea.

http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/royal-caribbean-is-buying-majority-stake-in-silversea-for-1bn.html

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Interesting!

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Wow, interesting indeed! As to the question, hard to tell, but Silversea are in a different luxury sector to Azamara so there shouldn't be any conflicts. Time will tell.

Phil

But they are in the sector Azamara aspires to be in. Could be a very good move

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But they are in the sector Azamara aspires to be in. Could be a very good move

 

 

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They are way off, both the ships and the product. No better or worse. Just different. That’s how it should remain in my view.

Phil

They are way off, both the ships and the product. No better or worse. Just different. That’s how it should remain in my view.

 

 

 

Phil

Agree with that Phil, problem could come if “Corporate” doesn’t see it the same way.

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Not sure what to make of this? We have been on Silversea many times and Azamara once. Ilove them both...but Azamara only has 3 ships...they really are more alike than different in my opinion, wouldn’t surprise me if Azamara gets folded into Silversea at some point since Silversea has a much better name recognition and more ships...time will tell...

Royal Caribbean are acquiring a 67% stake in Silversea.

 

http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/royal-caribbean-is-buying-majority-stake-in-silversea-for-1bn.html

 

 

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They seem to be doing a good job of spoiling Azamara, maybe they will have a go at Silversea now.

If you go to @AzamaraJourney on Twitter, you will see Azamara is already promoting its relationship with Silversea. I think time will prove me right.....Silversea will takeover Azamara ...

Time will tell but I suspect to get synergies talked about there will be a very close alignment between the two brands. It could be hard to differentiate the two brands. I have an open mind as to whether this is good or not so great news!

Just been to a presentation by Larry P and there was no mention of this. Wish I’d had this info then! As an aside, he was very interesting to listen to, and extremely eloquent. His passion for Azamara is evident. I was very impressed by his vision, and his philosophy on travel in general. My understanding of what Azamara is trying to achieve has certainly been altered, and for the better. I particularly liked his attitude towards his crews, stating that they were the companies biggest asset. I wouldn’t disagree with that!

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Seabourn is now manged through Holland America and we have seen various changes as a consequence, it could be that Silversea will be a good fit for Azamara.

This is great news for everyone at Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.! I’m very excited about this new development.

The investment in Silverseas expands RCL’s portfolio; further developing its best-in-class portfolio across all key cruise segments. This partnership allows RCL to now offer both ultra-luxury and expedition small ship cruising, and offers guests more vacation options than ever.

Specific to the thread’s title, this will NOT impact Azamara. You will continue to receive the same level of service and destination experience that you have come to expect from Azamara.

Time will tell but I suspect to get synergies talked about there will be a very close alignment between the two brands. It could be hard to differentiate the two brands. I have an open mind as to whether this is good or not so great news!

What would be very good or great is that we could use our loyalty points here. Not sure how..but as a new guest get everything free that we get on AZ or Celebrity. I thought this line had good cabins and food.maybe 2020 for me

If you go to @AzamaraJourney on Twitter, you will see Azamara is already promoting its relationship with Silversea. I think time will prove me right.....Silversea will takeover Azamara ...

I think you are wrong. If you look at the business model of the two lines before this was announced they are in different marketplaces. Royal keeping them separate gives them a wider share of the market. Silversea absorbing Azamara doesn’t make sense.

If you’d said the same two years ago I might have wondered because Azamara still hadn’t found their feet. Since then they have established themselves in different areas of the world and are profitable. So absorbed into Silversea? No. Whether any other changes happen within Azamara because if it, well that’s Royal's decision and they are already here!

Phil

I think it will be very interesting in five years time whether the market can cope with four brands - if it can, the RC group has to be very clear on each brand what it stands for - Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have drifted closer. They are going to have to give a lot of thought how they differentiate Azamara and Silverseas. (I know they are different just now but will they drift). I agree with Bonnie it is a very interesting time and one can only see it as positive. The markets have seen it as positive today but they are concentrating on synergies and cost savings in most of their comments - that is where the challenge might come, delivering that whilst keeping four distinctive brands.

One thought, might some of the planned new builds change brand????

Just received an email with a video link from the owner of Silversea to its Venetian members. In short, it says that the influx of cash will allow them to continue to add ships and distance themselves from the growing ultra luxury market. I love Silversea, Celebrity and Azamara ..so I think its great for me. Wlll be interesting to see what happens with Azamara..3 old ships and nothing in the works for new ships...On a side note, can not wait for our trip in 2020 on Azamara to the Black Sea...very unusual destination...should be fascinating ...and I do love the R class ships!

To me this is much like NCL having Oceania and Regent (with Azamara and Silversea being equivalent products to both of those respectively). I see them as two different products.

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Just received an email with a video link from the owner of Silversea to its Venetian members. In short, it says that the influx of cash will allow them to continue to add ships and distance themselves from the growing ultra luxury market. I love Silversea, Celebrity and Azamara ..so I think its great for me. Wlll be interesting to see what happens with Azamara..3 old ships and nothing in the works for new ships...On a side note, can not wait for our trip in 2020 on Azamara to the Black Sea...very unusual destination...should be fascinating ...and I do love the R class ships!

I too love the R ships. Even if they are old. Properly maintained they have their place, but not in the luxury market. And in 5 years they’ll be not far off 25 years old.

Having Silversea with their smaller ships may give Azamara the impetus to build new, whilst it maintains their place in the market. You can tell I’m a fan of the smaller ships, friendly and less formal atmosphere and interesting ports without paying the higher price the luxury lines command. Of course Silversea has the Expedition emphasis now too. Interesting times for sure.

Phil

Five of Silversea's ships are older than anything in Azamara's fleet – including one from pre-R ship Renaissance – so in this segment age doesn't seem to matter.

Five of Silversea's ships are older than anything in Azamara's fleet – including one from pre-R ship Renaissance – so in this segment age doesn't seem to matter.

That’s a good point!

Phil

Just been to a presentation by Larry P and there was no mention of this. Wish I’d had this info then! As an aside, he was very interesting to listen to, and extremely eloquent. His passion for Azamara is evident. I was very impressed by his vision, and his philosophy on travel in general. My understanding of what Azamara is trying to achieve has certainly been altered, and for the better. I particularly liked his attitude towards his crews, stating that they were the companies biggest asset. I wouldn’t disagree with that!

 

 

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We were at the same presentation, and agree with all of the above.

It was a pity that Larry P (and Richard T) had other commitments and couldn't stay longer.

One other thing which Larry mentioned was that there will be improvements to their website & pre-cruise process coming later this year.

I too love the R ships. Even if they are old. Properly maintained they have their place, but not in the luxury market. And in 5 years they’ll be not far off 25 years old.

 

Having Silversea with their smaller ships may give Azamara the impetus to build new, whilst it maintains their place in the market. You can tell I’m a fan of the smaller ships, friendly and less formal atmosphere and interesting ports without paying the higher price the luxury lines command. Of course Silversea has the Expedition emphasis now too. Interesting times for sure.

 

Phil

Indeed, we live, and cruise, in interesting times.

Carnival "copes" with more than four brands. NCL hasn't merged Oceania and Regent. More rank speculation.

Carnival "copes" with more than four brands. NCL hasn't merged Oceania and Regent. More rank speculation.

CCL is actually the brand with the biggest identity problem. Carnival is clearly mass-market. Seabourn is clearly ultra-luxury. What divides Princess and HAL? They are both in the premium area, with ships too large to fit entry-luxury [except one very old HAL ship that doesn't have good enough food for this segment]. CCL claims that HAL is above Princess in their pecking order, but its reputation as the entry-way to the nursing home belies that. They are the ones that need to focus on separating image.

NCL has three very clear price points [NCL mass-market; Oceania entry-luxury and Regent luxury (not so sure about 'ultra')].

RCL suddenly is the only company that covers all four price segments: Royal Caribbean mass market; Celebrity premium; Azamara entry-luxury; Silversea ultra-luxury. All clearly defined, each operating in the black in their area. Looks like a winner to me!