Oceania Cruises Makes Move Into Luxury Market Official

Don’t call Oceania Cruises upper premium anymore. The brand, which essentially invented the “upper premium” category when it debuted in 2003, is firmly re-positioning itself as a luxury brand.

“For years we have been told that we deliver a luxury product,” said Michelle Yukhtman, senior director of paid media and performance marketing at Oceania Cruises, during panel onboard Oceania Allura’s inaugural sailing.

Added Nathan Hickman, chief commercial officer of Oceania, during a one-on-one sit-down with Travel Market Report, “At a certain point, if we’re building to a luxury standard and if our guests are telling us its luxury, maybe we do ourselves and our guests a disservice by pretending that we’re not.”

Before Oceania could go public with its new positioning, however, the brand had to figure out what its version of luxury is. Afterall, sister brand Regent Seven Seas Cruises, already holds a prominent spot in what Jason Montague, chief luxury officer at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, calls the “ultra luxury” space.

Where does that leave Oceania and how should travel advisors be positioning the brand to their clients?

To start with, Montague told TMR, Oceania already has the luxury hardware, the luxury service, and the luxury culinary program.

“When you look at this ship [Allura] and see the furnishings and the spec that we’re building to, it’s luxury. Then when we talk to our guests, they say it’s luxury,” said Hickman. “Then it goes from, what are you building to what are you offering. We know that from the service and the culinary program that we have, we’ve already been delivering that.”

Luxury of Choice & Customization

According to Montague, what the Oceania guest truly wants is choice and the ability to customize their cruise, from what they do onboard to what they’re spending their money on. That’s part of the reason the line recently changed its value-add program to include a choice of either included beverages or a shore excursion credit.

For instance, while one client might see a glass of wine at lunch and dinner as their idea of luxury, others see having that glass of wine included as an annoyance.

“There is a growing number of guests who don’t drink, so not only is that glass of wine not luxury but it’s an irritant to think that they’re paying for something that they’re not going to use,” Montague said. “So, they can have a shore excursion credit. It’s about that luxury of choice.”

This desire for choice, both Hickman and Montague said, is particularly important as many first-time Oceania guests are moving “up” from the larger contemporary or premium cruise lines. They’re used to a large choice of restaurants and entertainment options and they don’t’ necessarily want to give that up.

“They’re stepping up from larger ships, coming to get personal service and smaller atmosphere. That doesn’t mean that they want to give up on the choices and amenities that they’ve become accustomed to,” Montague said. “It’s that luxury of choice, not just in terms of what’s included but what options they can have to create their own experience onboard.”

New Brand Pillars

As part of Oceania’s repositioning efforts, the line is tweaking both its brand pillars and branding emphasis to align with its new goals.

“Branding,” Yukhtman explained, “is a reason for guests to choose us… It’s the promise that we put out into the world.”

To start with, Oceania has replaced its three long-time brand pillars – the finest cuisine at sea, award-winning itineraries, and small ship luxury – with what Yukhtman called the new “fab four”: immersive destinations, intimate luxurious ships, genuine hospitality, and the finest cuisine at sea.

Additionally, Oceania is reordering the way in which it presents itself to consumers.

“We know from our guest satisfaction scores that at least half of people who are on our ships are because of the itineraries,” Yukhtman said. “It’s the reason why people choose us. They keep coming back for those next two pillars.  It’s the refined, elegant atmosphere that our ships provide to our guests. It’s that authentic, personalized service that we provide through our staff.”

Finally, the “finest cuisine at sea” is the exclamation point that Oceania uses to cap off what it has to offer, she said.

Easier for Travel Advisors

TMR asked Montague and Hickman if the change in brand positioning is making things confusing for travel advisors who have become experts in communicating the Oceanian upper premium value proposition to clients.

It’s the exact opposite, they both said.

“What we’re doing now makes their job easier, because calling ourselves upper premium, that’s insider talk,” Hickman said. “People understand what luxury is.”

He added, “When we talk about that luxury of choice, I think it’s actually an easier talk track for our partners.”

It’s a message Hickman said they’re already hearing from travel advisors.

“The response to our repositioning with these ships and what they see and then when you add the changes that we’ve made with our inclusions, it’s like, “I can sell this. This is not a heavy lift.””

Oceania Cruises vs Regent Seven Seas Cruises

We asked Montague and Hickman to help travel advisors differentiate between the Oceania guest and RSSC guest.

In many ways, there is overlap, but how each customer wants to pay for their cruise and how they experience the value that comes with their cruises is different.

With Oceania, guests get the luxury of choice. Not everything is packaged in and guests can choose to add what is of value to them. With Regent, it’s all packaged in.

“Some guests just love the I don’t want to worry about anything. Other guest say, I don’t want to pay for something if I’m not using it. I want to do it my own way,” Montague explained.

Additionally, Oceania offers an easier on-ramp to luxury cruising with standard staterooms and even inside staterooms that are less expensive than the all-suite Regent ships.