 |
Regent Seven Seas offers cruises to locations from Alaska to Antarctica, as well as luxury round-the-world trips |
US/UK. Harding Brothers has won the contract to operate the retail shops on board Regent Seven Seas Cruises from January 2009, cementing the company’s position as the leading operator in the US luxury cruise market.
Regent operates three ships on its Seven Seas’ itineraries: Voyager, Mariner and Navigator, all offering luxury round-the-world cruises plus destination trips to Africa, India, Alaska, Antarctica, the Caribbean, South America, Asia Pacific, Europe/Scandinavia, the South Pacific and more.
Harding Brothers CEO Neil Harding said: “Winning the Regent contract is a real coup for us, securing Harding Brothers’ position as the leading onboard shop operator in the US luxury cruise market and enabling us to further improve our support and service to all the companies we service in the region.”
Harding Brothers said it aims to upgrade the existing retail offers to better cater for guests. It plans a programme of guest jewellers and will also introduce specific destination collections not previously seen on cruise ships.
Voyager and Mariner, both with 700 guests, will be stationed in Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale respectively in January before leaving on Regent’s “˜Masterpiece Series’ World Cruises. To mark the voyages Harding Brothers has commissioned bespoke 14ct Globe pendants which map the ships’ journeys with major destinations accented by precious diamonds. Both ships will have five Harding Brothers staff on board.
Navigator (490 guests) will lie in Fort Lauderdale in February with four Harding staff running the shop. Sailing down to the Caribbean and back, Navigator will be the first vessel in Harding’s fleet to showcase watches by Joseph and Thomas Windmills – described as “unique timepieces which mark an exciting return to Old English watch making values and materials”.
 |
“Winning the Regent contract is a real coup for us,” says Harding Bros CEO Neil Harding |
In addition, several top jewellery designers will be showcasing their collections on board the Regent vessels, including Caroline Dadlani, Christin Van Geuze and D’Annunzio.
A new logo range, tailored to the Regent guest profile, is also being developed.
Harding also offered a frank assessment of the onboard retail business during this period of economic instability, and said the company was reviewing its offer across the range.
“The current global economic downturn presents an unusually challenging environment,” he said. “We are reviewing all categories, putting a far greater emphasis on value propositions and broadening the range, particularly in areas such as fine jewellery, to ensure all price points are covered across the range of ships on which operate.
“We remain convinced that the more specific to the cruise experience our offer is, the more we will continue to maximise revenue onboard. The recent launch of Solstice has been greatly encouraging, particularly with the sale of three Solstice diamonds on the inaugural cruise.
“We are also putting a lot of effort into ensuring price competitiveness throughout all the itineraries, principally the Caribbean, to ensure we remain broadly competitive with the offers guests are greeted with when they step ashore. However, we are competing with business models with a far different margin structure and cost base, so it is not straightforward.”
He added: “Value propositions such as liquor, tobacco and fragrances continue to be strong and our watch business is going through the roof. Clearly, though, we can only sell to the guests that are onboard and, if figures reduce, then we have to be more innovative and bespoke to increase revenue spend per head. It’s challenging, but it’s what we pride ourselves on being particularly good at.”
[comments]
MORE STORIES ON HARDING BROTHERS
Harding Brothers to unveil a dazzling retail experience onboard Celebrity Solstice – 25/06/08
Harding Bros takes onboard retailing to fresh heights with latest cruise ship launches – 30/04/08
Harding Brothers appoints ex-Allders and Nuance executive Trevor Moore to top buying role – 12/03/08
