RCCL deal to double Harding Brothers business

Gavin Lipsith

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In a big blow to Starboard Cruise Services, UK cruise concessionaire Harding Brothers has sealed three big contracts with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines

UK cruise concessionaire Harding Brothers has announced three major retail contracts with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) which it expects to double its turnover over the next three years. The deals mark Harding’s first steps into the US mainstream cruise market—and will be a disappointment for Starboard Cruise Services, which until now has held all RCCL retail contracts.

The contracts cover two ships in new luxury brand Azamara Cruises, three big new ships for Celebrity Cruises and a new ship for Royal Caribbean International. Combined with a three-ship contract with Oceania Cruises starting next month, the deal will allow Harding to double its turnover, and staff, in the next three years, according to Harding managing director Harold Gittelmon.

“With these contracts we are extending our strategy from achieving dominance in the UK cruise market and the US luxury cruise niche into the mainstream US cruise market,” Gittelmon told RavenFox.com.

The first contract covers two ships under Azamara Cruises, which was launched on May 4. The cruise line features butler and concierge services in every suite, a five-star +dining experience and an itinerary of exotic destinations that only small ships can reach Azamara Journey first sailed on May 5 and Azamara Quest comes into service in October.

For the largest contract, with Celebrity, Harding was chosen because the cruise line was looking for “an operator that genuinely recognises the difference in cruise brands and is flexible enough to work up an exciting and unique retail offering”. The ships accommodate 2,850 guests each, with the first coming into service in October 2008. They are Celebrity’s first new ships since 2002, and the onboard shopping facilities will be a departure from typical cruise ship design, said Gittelmon.

Royal Caribbean International’s Independence of the Seas will accommodate approximately 3,630 guests when it comes into service in April 2008, and will be the world’s largest cruise ship alongside sister ships Freedom of the Seas and recently-launched Liberty of the Seas.

For more analysis of this major contract win, see DFNI June 15, out next week.