The term “Pirate Excursion” is a fairly recent phenomenon and refers to the arrangement of a NON official Cruise Line operated Excursion. They are not bound by any particular Cruise Industry standard, often unlicensed Tourist Guides are utilized and generally they are recommended for a number of qualifying reasons, which this article will identify.
In essence to rise of Pirate Excursions has come about as hungry Operators and Touts seek to jump on the Cruise Industry bandwagon, without the consent of the Cruise Lines, in conflict with the operation and against the spirit of the Cruise Industry itself.
We all know that in the last decade the growth of Cruise Tourism has reached truly staggering proportions and in recent years at least this is in stark contrast to practically all other major recession impacted Tourism sectors. This success is built on the foundation of an excellent value service for the money the Passenger pays, offering exceptional vacation diversity and a host of other advantages over the average land vacation. The Cruise Market, averages around 10-12 new Mega vessels new builds each successive year in recent times, all between 2,000 - 5,000 passengers per ship (lower berth capacity), which extrapolates into literally hundreds of thousands of new Cruise Passengers annually.
In Europe (Mediterranean and Northern Europe particularly) Excursions comprise (or should do for a well managed vessel) 50% – 60% of the total On Board Revenue. In turn On Board Revenue should represent (for a well run Cruise Line at least, depending upon the model) one third of the total income for a Cruise Line, with the remaining two thirds originating from cabin sales. Clearly we are talking in the millions when we speak about Excursion projected revenue and having personally managed a fleet of 8 vessels (former Festival Cruises fleet) where all the On Board revenue is concerned, Excursion performance is quintessential to the overall income success and in many respects it becomes the blood lifeline of the Company, paying for the salaries on board, port fees, maintenance and a huge share of the operational costs. There is far more to organizing Excursions on a global scale than the average Cruise Passenger is aware of and one of the key components to a successful itinerary is the ability to synchronize Excursions thereby visiting the key attractions of the destinations frequented in synergy with the timing and complexity of the on board operation, meal times and activities.
With potentially millions of borderline Excursion Passengers at stake, opportunistic Agencies and Operators that have generally not invested anything into the Cruise Industry, the local destination or the product, have organised themselves to feed off the mega vessels that frequent the port cities around the world, by offering cheaper copy tours of their own.
At Festival Cruises we counted the Pirate Excursions and calculated (by dedicating crew to count people and buses) the annual losses caused by Pirate Excursions (in 2002) to be in the region of 3 million euro. After implementing a raft of proactive measures to counter the issue, we managed to reduce this dramatic loss in 2003 by 2 million euro. Since this time, the situation has deteriorated significantly on a worldwide scale and the bottom line of Cruise Lines is being seriously threatened by Pirate Excursions, which will only translate into other charges going up in the long run for the Cruise Passenger.
Now, many Cruise Passengers reading this article will immediately reply with a knee jerk reaction and say that Cruise Line operated Excursions are simply “too expensive”. What is the harm of participating in the cheaper Pirated Options on offer? There are even so called Cruise friendly Websites promoting this behaviour just because it’s cheaper! The reality however is that there is a host of reasons not to participate in Pirate Excursions. Here below is the Top 6!
Challenges and consequences of Pirate Excursions
1. NON QUALIFIED GUIDES
Pirate Excursions are commonly arranged utilising non-qualified or illegal Guides leaving no opportunity to regulate standards. The motive for this is usually to reduce Tour Costs and undercut Cruise Lines. Such practices do not respect the rights of licensed Guides, local laws and the study/work they have to do in order to obtain a professional license. The World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations WFTGA is concerned about this issue, as Tourist Guides are professionals and their trade should be respected on a global scale.
2. INSURANCE
There are often Insurance issues, whereby in the unlikely event of an accident the local small Agency and/or sales agent often do not possess adequate coverage if any. All key Cruise Lines feature Insurance that covers at least 3 million USD. This is often a requirement when contracting, depending upon the Cruise Line’s internal policy. Pirate Excursions are generally low cost and Insurance is one of the factors that are usually cut from the equation and there are no set standards. Moreover, Guests participating in non Cruise Ship arranged Excursions are not covered by the Cruise Line or ships Insurance, as they take matters into their own hands and go against the Cruise Lines recommendations.
3. DELAYED DISPATCH
As Pirate Excursions do not operate with the cooperation of the Cruise Line, they are dispatched at the very end, mixed with the general disembarkation. This can extrapolate to a significant delay, especially so on Mega Cruise Lines with up to 5,000 passengers. Timing can be critical for certain Excursions. Cruise Guests usually complain about this and there are all kinds of potential timing consequences. For example if a Pirate Excursion is late returning to the vessel, the ship will not wait, as it’s not a ship authorized Excursion. The organizers of the Pirate Excursions are unlikely to compensate Cruise Guests either. With a late dispatch this can be a common, yet major issue. Cruise Lines guarantee that regardless how late a Cruise Ship organized Excursion returns to the vessel, that the Guests will not miss the ships departure. This guarantee is easier for the Cruise Lines to uphold, as they manage the dispatch and ensure a timely departure. Excursion departures are usually coordinated with traffic and local conditions in mind also.
4. SHIP ACTIVITIES
Pirate Excursions are not coordinated with the ships activities either, such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, special on board events and entertainment etc. Often people on Pirate Excursions return to the ship only to find that they missed the main Restaurant eating times or even a major activity.
5. REVENUE
In essence Cruise Lines cover only the fundamental operational and administrative costs or most of it with the Cruise ticket itself, depending upon the Cruise Line market concerned. In reality the actual profit comes from the generation of On Board Revenue, which as previously indicated, for a well managed operation represents one third of the income. Hence, roughly speaking when many Cruise Lines sell a cabin, it is subsidised to a degree in view of the On Board Revenue potential. Excursions represent a significant part of this essential revenue for the Cruise Lines, who depend on it pay salaries, fuel, maintenance and general costs etc. Pirate Excursions and Guests that purchase them essentially wage economic war with the Cruise Line in addition to causing the above mentioned challenges, because when a Pirate excursion goes wrong, the Cruise Guest still generally complains to the Cruise Line.
6. CONVENIENCE
In most cases for ports around the world, only the official Tour Operator of the Cruise Line is permitted to enter the port with coaches (preferably parked by the ship) and official Tourist Guides for the convenience of the Guests on Security grounds. Pirate Excursion Operators that do not have the right permission to represent the Cruise Line are usually forced to park coaches outside the port, causing their Guests a further delay and hassle to embark them. The distance from the ship depends upon the port and actual docking position.
For the above mentioned reasons there is a general feeling within the Cruise Industry that something needs to be done about Pirate Excursions. At Off Radar Cruise News we will be bring you all the latest developments on this sensitive topic.
Grant Holmes
Publisher
Off Radar Cruise News
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