Cruise Inc - Big Money on the High Seas - Essay Example

? Cruise Inc. Question Productivity is not entirely measured on the basis of revenue generation from one trip. At NCL, the structure of revenue generation that is sales is in a scattered form. This scattered form begins with the booking of passengers which are confirmed to go on board. A healthy part of revenue is generated from the sales of boarding in the cruise each week. It is the most important part which will discussed after the explication of several other revenue generating parts of the cruise. Once passengers are on-board, the cruise is filled with opportunities to increase its productivity. These portions mainly includes, casino, bar, shopping mall, art auction and the speciality restaurants. After the sales of bookings, these parts of the cruise help NCL to generate the desired amount of revenue. However, the initial revenue generator is the most important part to increase productivity for NCL because if the cruise has on-board passengers then it will acquire the opportunity to sell its services on better prices. NCL does stresses its focus upon the profitability and losses in terms of finance but the productivity of NCL cannot entirely be measured on the basis of its financial profits and losses. The biggest reason for this is risks which are involved in the cruising business in which a single normal challenge like rain or liquor shortage can cost significant losses to NCL. In these regards the productivity which is significantly important for NCL is not entirely measured in terms of total profits made. It incorporates the season, profits and losses, customer responses to service and most importantly the overall sales from each section of the journey. Question 2 The major target population for NCL is the middle economic class. The biggest reason for this is the severe economic crisis which every individual and state is going through. In fulfilling its aim to seek the attention of middle economic class, range of bookings and services packages varies from significantly reasonable and affordable prices to immensely elevated and high prices. Despite of prices, the service package which is provided by NCL to its customers is highly sufficient and captivating for consumers. The service package mainly includes resort, shopping mall, a total of eleven restaurants which varies in several distinct food styles, live entertainment shows of professional standards, along with a casino and a bar. These services are offered to customers while travelling in the cruise. However, the service package of NCL also includes its stop at a town where numerous entertainment activities delight all of consumers with specialty food. Lastly, NCL is the only cruise liner which owns a private island for the betterment of its service and for successfully thrives in the industry against its giant competitors. The service package provided by NCL to customers also includes a day at this privately owned island which is entirely designed to elevate the cruising experience of its customers in terms of quality. Question 3 In the steadily growing cruising industry, there are three major competitors which strive to thrive more efficiently into the business of cruising. Among the three well known corporations, fifty percent of the market in the cruising industry is captured under the giant cruising corporation called Carnival Corporation. It is followed by another cruising giant, Royal Caribbean Cruises which is dominating on the rest of thirty percent of cruising market. The remaining twenty percent of industry’s market is owned by NCL that signifies the importance of competition for NCL to survive in the industry. For NCL, the competitive priorities are entirely based on the expansion of its cruising business by acquiring more customers to consume the services provided by this corporation. To attract consumers is the one of the most important segment because these consumers are the main source of profit for any cruising company. If more consumers will be acquired on-board then NCL will have more chances to generate revenue from them. For this reason, the service package provided by NCL must be inclusive of more accessibility for all consumers and the service quality which is provided to consumers in the end of the journey must be more sufficient than the beginning. NCL emphasizes significantly on the customer response; however, the emphasis must be elevated towards customer’s ease and motivation to assure that consumers are significantly satisfied and they are willing to return to NCL instead of its competitors. Question 4 For any industry around the globe, the most fundamental and crucial element of business is to attract consumers and turn them into permanent customers which assures that the customer satisfaction for any product or service is achieved. This illuminates the importance of customers for any business. In the business of cruising, customers are attracted through the fascination and royalty of cruising along with services which are provided to them during their journey. If the focus of any cruising corporation will entirely be based on expert’s opinions regarding the quality of cruising experience, then the significant possibility may arise regarding the distinction in the experience of an expert and in a normal person. For NCL, the middle economic class is the main source of income in which there is a substantial chance of customers being having less expertise about the quality of cruising experience. In this domain, if the NCL will entirely focus their attention upon experts’ opinions regarding the quality of cruising experience without the attainment of guests’ assessment about their experience with NCL then the customer expectation might not be in concordance with customers’ experience. The assessment by the customer must be attained rather than entirely focusing on experts’ opinions because the ultimate service of cruising experience is aimed and designed for customers. Question 5 Capacity planning is considered as one of the most critical issue in the business of cruising. At NCL, capacity planning is conducted in a sufficient manner in which all kinds of economic classes can be well settled for a trip. NCL offers sixteen distinct types of rooms on different prices in which all of the economic classes can easily be adjusted on the basis of charges. The size of suites varies in NCL; the smallest suite is comprised of one bedroom for two whereas the largest is comprised of three bedrooms along with a corridor from which a good picture of the sailing cruise can be sighted. This idea of NCL is theoretically impressive in which all classes of individuals can be attracted but there is a practical problem which is associated with NCL’s capacity management. The problem is present in the boarding of passengers which does not meet the capacity of the cruise by which the potential profit which could be generated decreases to a significant extent. In order to control the gap between capacity and demand, NCL must provide more attractive offers to customers in off seasons by which the capacity can be well coordinated with demand and the rest of the profit can be acquired from the revenue generating sectors of the cruise. The amount of customers is directly proportional to the chances of sales. Question 6 There are quite a few factors due to which the supply chain of NCL has been affected. However, these factors play a crucial in damaging the potential profitability of NCL. The factors affecting supply chain of NCL are comprised of the following: Firstly, the limited working space of the cruise results in chaotic happenings for arrangements on the arrival of any cruise from the trip. It cost the management of NCL with significant loss in time. Secondly, the delivery of liquor on time which is one of the most crucial parts of NCL’s supply chain management. Thirdly, the acquirement of raw food for the whole week in time is sometimes troubling for NCL’s supply chain. In this regard, the management of NCL must increase the number of supervisors by which each work can separately and independently be delivered with perfection. Read More