Of the multitude of cruise lines that came and went as the cruise industry grew, Renaissance Cruises is one of the few that continues to have a lasting impact more than a decade after it ceased operations. Travelers especially liked the line’s tour approach, providing the full vacation package as well as the affordable luxuries of their 700-passenger ships. Today, its ships remain popular and many of the elements they pioneered are common across the industry.
As the cruise industry grew, much of the focus was on the broad market with firms such as Norwegian Caribbean Lines, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Carnival Cruise Lines, earning their reputations for providing fun vacations. Lagging behind was the industry’s heritage in smaller, more elite luxury ships, often referred to as cruising yachts. Sea Goddess Cruises, launched its ships in 1984 and 1985, attempting to reinvigorate the luxury segment but quickly succumbed to economic pressures forcing it to merge into the larger Cunard Line in 1986. Similarly, Seabourn Cruise Line, which launched its ships in 1988 and 1989, joined with Carnival in 1992. The prevailing view was that without the economies of scale it was impossible to run a luxury cruise line with small cruising yachts.
Renaissance Cruises took a slightly different approach to the market. At first they considered
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Long-time executive Frank Del Rio was elevated to the new position of Co-Chief Executive and began to reshape the policies. He apologized to the travel agent community, disabled the direct booking engine on the website, and reinstated agency-friendly commission policies. Agency sales quickly rose by 65% just in time for the R Seven to debut sailing in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe. By the end of 2000, Renaissance was reportedly getting nearly three-quarters of its booking from travel