> As for "Mediterranean Cruise Holdings", this very
> well might be some new corporate entity created
> specifically to hold the WP&YR, which is why it
> may not show up yet. Could very well be a
> partnership amongst cruise lines, hence the new
> entity.
I'd thought of that. It isn't unusual at all, or for there to be some holding company. Some of these big corporations are several layers deep and you don't immediately realize how many recognizable companies are under common ownership. I've also seen instances where instead of trying to coordinate the divisions, they are expected to compete against each other and only the strong survive.
> Regardless, cruise line ownership of the WP&YR
> would bode well for survival, but in a
> prepackaged, shrinkwrapped and mass-marketed sort
> of way. Not so much for charters, I would fear,
> as getting a giant corporate monolith to
> understand and work with railfans can be rather
> challenging.
Obviously serving the cruise business would be their primary focus, but if railfan oriented events produce a profit, especially with underutilized resources, they will likely continue. The danger, in my opinion, is many of these higher end recreational/dinner operations get so involved in the customer experience (which is within managements' understanding and experience), and as long as the trains run on time, they often ignore the actual investment/oversight required to keep the railroad sound and safe. Lower end operations tend to become so involved in running trains or short on cash, that the customer experience becomes secondary. I've also seen a small operation that was spending so much on a 15% ticketing fee for a local travel agency that didn't do much but foul things up, advertising costs and an overpriced caterer doing basically box lunches, that less than half of the gross income was available for the actual train and railroad.
Hopefully everything works out for the best here. I still need to get up there and ride it some day.
