EasyCruise sets sail for Barbados, eyes expansion

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LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou said on Monday he planned to seize on demand for his new no-frills cruise venture with new routes planned for Barbados, Greece and the Middle East.

EasyCruise, which made its maiden voyage on the French Riviera last month, plans to relocate its single cruise ship from Europe to Barbados for the winter.

Haji-Ioannou also said in a statement he was planning to add a second ship, easyCruiseTwo, to the Greek Islands in summer next year and the United Arab Emirates the following winter.

The expansion plans, which come ahead of his previous forecasts, followed strong bookings for easyCruise's initial French and Italian Riviera cruises this summer.

"Stelios will visit Barbados on June 18 for negotiations with the local authorities for access to their ports," easyGroup said in a statement, adding that a base at Antigua was also an option.

EasyCruise is Haji-Ioannou's latest product under the bright-orange "easy" empire, which includes an airline, car rental, finance, leisure, music and men's grooming products.

It offers short sea journeys and on-board accommodation for between 29 pounds ($52.81) and 159 pounds per cabin per night at ports where accommodation is traditionally at a premium.

The average age of passengers currently booked in was 33, largely British and Americans, the company said. Under the cruise ship's schedule, passengers can party at ports well into the morning before the ship moves to the next port.

EasyCruise hopes to relocate its existing ship to Barbados from November 2005 to April 2006, to tap into the French-speaking market with cruises to nearby islands.

A second ship would operate in the Greek Islands in summer and move to the Arabian Gulf in winter.

Haji-Ioannou founded low-cost airline easyJet in 1995 and owns 41 percent of the carrier along with his family.

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EasyCruise heads for the Caribbean
By AMY YEE
29 August 2005
Financial Times

Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder of low-cost UK airline EasyJet, is taking the company's signature orange hue to the Caribbean with EasyCruise, the industry's first budget cruise line. Cruises cost as little as Dollars 16 a night for a leg of a seven-day itinerary that includes Barbados and Martinique.

The winter season in the Caribbean, considered the hub of the cruise industry, is crucial to whether EasyCruise will stay afloat. Mr Haji-Ioannou said he would decide whether to expand the business beyond an initial Dollars 20m investment early next year. If there is enough potential, it will take three to five years to custom-build new ships and set up a base in Miami or the Caribbean.

EasyCruise launched in spring with trips along the French and Italian Rivieras. The business is loss-making but EasyCruise reported 83 per cent occupancy for August in the Mediterranean, up from 59 per cent in May. It began taking advance bookings for the Mediterranean this month.

easyCruise and Carnival: a battle on the high seas
A corporate rivalry develops as easyCruise, a bare-bones vacation line from Europe, sails its way into Carnival Corp.'s territory.
BY JOHN PAIN
Associated Press
7 December 2005

Bare-bones vacation line easyCruise is taking a swipe at industry leader Carnival in an ad being rolled out in Carnival's home turf.

easyCruise, created by the founder of the popular European discount airline easyJet, will run the ad for two months in The Miami Herald. It says: "If spending nights at sea in tacky ballrooms full of old folks is not your idea of a holiday then easyCruise.com is for you! Any similarity with Carnival ships is purely coincidental.''

Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz said Tuesday that the ad ''doesn't warrant comment.'' Miami-based Carnival Corp. operates 79 ships across 12 brands, including Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises and Costa Cruise Lines; easyCruise has just one.

The bright orange easyCruiseOne started sailing in the Caribbean last month after a successful European launch. The 170-passenger ship doesn't try to repeat the slew of amenities like movie theaters, spas and casinos that Carnival features.

''We are trying to attract a younger audience,'' easyCruise founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou said. He said the line would wait to gauge the response to the ad before deciding whether to expand the campaign.

The ad reignited a public feud between easyCruise and Carnival that erupted this summer when Haji-Ioannou called the Costa Magica's decor ''tacky'' on Sky TV. Carnival's chairman and chief executive, Micky Arison, fired off an angry e-mail chastising Haji--Ioannou, noting, ``Although, based on what I've seen of your ship, you're an expert on what's tacky.''

EasyCruise passengers get a no-frills voyage from place to place for as low as $24 per person per night, based on two people sharing a cabin.

The rooms lack portholes, and activities are limited to a six-person hot tub on deck and a bar. Meals are not included, either.

Haji-Ioannou, who goes by his first name only, made a fortune with EasyJet, which is similar to Southwest Airlines.

The London-based easyGroup now has more than a dozen businesses, all marked by a bright orange logo.

Herald business writer Amy Martinez contributed to this report.

Easycruise puts on the brakes
15 September 2007
The Times

POOR demand has forced easyCruise to focus on Greece -dropping previous trips in the Caribbean, the French and Italian rivieras and the Low Countries.

The budget cruise operator, which offers week-long cruises from Pounds 70 per person, has also cancelled the opportunity for tailor-made trips, which were loss-making.

Now the company will offer only ten, seven or four-night cruises around the Greek islands, which have proved popular this summer. All holidays are being cancelled between December 2 and February 23 as the ships, easyCruiseOne and easyCruise Life (a new vessel), are renovated and refitted.

A spokesman explained that the Caribbean had not proved cost effective as the ship used was empty for up to a month while it sailed to and from the West Indies.

The French and Italian rivieras were dropped as cabins were often empty because people would pick certain days to travel, making it difficult to fill leftover days. And the Low Countries were cancelled because of the franchise holder's financial problems. An easyCruise spokesman said: "Our mind is still open to cruises in other areas as our fleet expands."

EasyCruise started operating in May 2005.

Greek authorities say easyCruise ship runs aground in island port; no injuries, damage
13 June 2008

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - A cruise ship ran aground inside the port of the Aegean island of Syros Friday with 353 passengers and 105 crew on board, Greek authorities said. No injuries or damage were reported.

The Merchant Marine Ministry, which handles rescue efforts at sea, said the Maltese-flagged ship from the budget easyCruise line ran aground on a sandy part of the port.

The ministry said the easyCruise Life was not damaged, and a tug boat removed it from the sandy spit. The ship tied up at another part of the port for a full damage inspection and was then expected to continue its cruise, the ministry said.

EasyCruise said in a statement that the easyCruise Life had tied up safely in the port of Syros on the last day of a 7-day Aegean island cruise.

The passengers had disembarked and scheduled island tours were not disrupted. "The cruise is expected to continue normally," it said.

According to the company's Web site, the easyCruise Life has a capacity of 600 passengers. It began cruising in May.