Renewed ships and plenty of innovations, including in the field of sustainability. The ferry companies have a lot of novelties to report this season. It’s going to be a busy summer. Stena Line
‘Renewal of the ships is well received’
Bookings for next summer have started energetically at Stena Line, with its Dutch headquarters in Hoek van Holland. “Despite an extensive renewal of the ships in the past winter period (docking period), we are seeing positive booking figures, also in the high season,” say Chris Weijers (Regional Marketing Manager) and Bryan Dijk (Commercial Manager Travel). Where are the growth opportunities for Stena Line? ‘There are opportunities for further growth, especially in the early and late season. An example of this is our ‘Rail & Sail’ product. This allows travelers to buy a combined ferry and train ticket. After arriving from Harwich International, you will travel by train to London Liverpool Street. In addition, due to the renewal of the ships, a larger capacity has been realized on day departures. Especially in the high season, we see this as a growth opportunity. In addition, we are open to more intensive cooperation with existing and new (retail) partners. With this, we want to continue to grow in the early and late season.’ The Stena Hollandica and Stena Britannica have been given a major makeover. What are the reactions of passengers? ‘The innovation has been received positively. Passengers love the open spaces, extensive family amenities (Family Hub) and the Plus Lounge, where guests can sit quietly. The Family Hub features a play area and entertainment for children. The Plus Lounge can be booked at an additional cost (from 8 years old, ed.). This space comes with free snacks, drinks (non-alcoholic and house wine) and service.’ What’s next? ‘During the renovation of the ships, explicit attention was paid to sustainability. For example, half of the furniture has been reused, the lighting has been replaced by LED lamps and environmentally friendly urinals have been installed. In addition, the underside of the ship is provided with a silicone paint that ensures that the ship experiences less resistance from the water. This saves us 774,000 litres of fuel per ship on an annual basis. At the same time as the ship was renewed, passenger capacity has also increased. The renewal of the ships is an important reason for the increase in the number of bookings this year.’ 
How is the collaboration with the retail sector going? ‘The cooperation with retail partners is going well. Our group bookings in particular, but also individual bookings, are the result of correct cooperation with various retail partners.’ Do you have any tips on how retail can sell you even better? ‘Think of Stena Line on a tour of England. No stress at the airport, just enjoy the sea view. Travelers can take unlimited (as long as it fits in the car) luggage. In addition, ‘Rail & Sail’ is a product to offer to customers. For a city trip, you can easily combine the crossing with a connecting train journey from Harwich to London. Night sailings (10:00 pm – 6:30 am) do not require accommodation in London, and travelers can enjoy a full day in London. The holiday starts with us on board. Enjoy the view, snacks and drinks and tax-free shopping.’
Tour Stena Line offers travel agents a guided tour aboard the Stena Britannica or Stena Hollandica, to see the result of the refurbishment with their own eyes. You can send an e-mail via contact.nl@stenaline.com.
Moby Lines
‘A lot of last-minute bookings this year’
“The Dutch market is a very important one for us, which can be seen on our website, on which we advertise partly in Dutch,” says Barbara Krahulik, managing director at Moby Lines Europe GmbH. “We work with the most important travel agencies and offer a very fast and clear reservation system via the internet. With independent ticket issuance, simple booking request and price calculation.’ Krahulik indicates that the ferry provider is very satisfied with the current booking figures, noting that there are many last-minute bookings this year.
‘In terms of target group, however, we have not noticed any major changes, families are and remain an important target group for us. In the early and late season, we see a lot of bookings from motorcyclists and motorhome owners.’ Moby Lines certainly sees growth opportunities, as evidenced by the ‘significant increase in capacity’ that took place this year. Krahulik: ‘Including on the routes to Corsica. We also offer more cabins in general and on the Livorno-Olbia-Livorno route we operate the largest ferries in the world in Moby Fantasy and Legacy (newly built).
V-Class
What distinguishes the shipping company according to her? “We offer an exceptionally high quality of service, and on the new ships Moby Fantasy and Moby Legacy we also offer a new type of restoration. With Moby Night, we also offer the option of renting a cabin on the ship the night before departure on the Livorno-Bastia route and spend the night there. And for the discerning guest, the V-Class service. V-Class is a service that meets the needs of the most demanding customers. This is a special service linked to the purchase of a cabin or suite (V-Class) and consists of a package of exclusive services, including breakfast in the room or the American breakfast buffet with a pre-assigned table in the restaurant. The crossing starts in a cozy cabin or suite equipped with the best comforts: a relaxing shower, a little rest, perhaps in front of the TV, to start your vacation in the best possible way.” 
DFDS
‘Renewed ships’
The Danish shipping company DFDS presented its renewed King Seaways in IJmuiden this spring. All of the nearly 550 cabins on board have undergone a major makeover. This also applies to the almost 500 cabins of the Princess Seaways, which, like the King Seaways, sails on the route between IJmuiden and Newcastle in northern England. DFDS suffers from the luxury problem that the ships are fully booked fairly quickly during the high season, says Albertine Hofland, Global Sales Manager at DFDS. ‘This is especially true on the IJmuiden-Newcastle route and the Copenhagen/Fredrikshavn-Oslo route.’
Puzzling
This is mainly due to the fact that the car deck fills up quickly, as the number of places on the car deck is smaller than the number of cabins. “It is always a real challenge for us to transport tall vehicles such as motorhomes but also caravans, because the more high decks we need, the fewer places for regular vehicles. Since there is also some freight to be taken along, this means puzzling in the high season to be able to offer all types of travellers as much availability as possible in periods when there is more demand than supply.’ As far as IJmuiden-Newcastle is concerned, the growth opportunities for DFDS lie mainly in Q1 and Q4 and weekdays in the off-season. “In addition, we can still grow in the number of people per cabin and also in terms of passenger mix. But there are still plenty of growth opportunities for the Dutch market on our other routes, especially the Baltic routes and on the English Channel.’ The reactions to the renovated cabins on the IJmuiden-Newcastle ships have been very positive, says Hofland. ‘Of course, there are always people who expect the cabins to suddenly be much more spacious, but it was not possible to rebuild the ships in that way. Passengers particularly appreciate the fresher, more modern look of the cabins. A lot of bookings were already in before we could show the updated cabins, but we are ahead of last year, so we assume that it has certainly helped with the positive trend in the number of bookings.”
Retail
DFDS has resumed its cooperation with the retail sector, after a number of years of the retail commission being completely abolished. ‘A few years ago, just before corona, we reintroduced the committee. Travel agents are responding enthusiastically, especially now that more and more parties are refraining from giving commission. They also know how to find us better and better; We get quite a few requests for agent accounts. We also notice that people are increasingly looking for an alternative to flying because of sustainability.’ When asked how agents can sell DFDS even better, Hofland says: ‘Even better collaboration may go hand in hand with getting to know our agent system better. And signing up for our (regular) newsletter, so that agents know what current offers there are for the direct market. In general, these can also be booked through agents. In addition, travel agents can also easily book our products through tour operators, both group travel and individual travel.” 
Tallink Silja Line
‘Focus on the Netherlands’
With summer approaching, Tallink Silja Line is looking more emphatically at the Dutch market. The shipping company wants to be more visible as the shipping company that transports holidaymakers to destinations in Finland, Sweden and the Baltic states. Tallink Silja Line has a fleet of fifteen ships on the Baltic Sea, which sail all year round, says sales manager Olga Vanbergen. Tallink Silja’s fleet carried more than 5.5 million passengers last year. The routes connect popular destinations such as Helsinki, Stockholm, Turku and Tallinn, with daily departures throughout the year. The shortest sailing time is two hours, coupled with a frequency of departures of up to six times a day on the Helsinki-Tallinn route. In addition, Tallink Silja Line has four premium hotels in Tallinn and Riga. The latest addition to the fleet is the ferry MyStar, built in Finland, the second ship to be powered by LNG. The ship has been awarded the Shippax Ro-Pax Interior Design Award 2023 for its guest comfort and sustainability standards. P&O Ferries (Advertorial)
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