Royal Caribbean International will sail from Shanghai with the 2019-built Spectrum of the Seas in April 2024, marking the brand’s return to China.
The Anthem of the Seas will reposition to Singapore for the 2024-25 cruise season, starting homeporting operations in October 2024.
Singapore was the first homeport in Asia to allow ships to restart cruises in late 2020.
Since then, the Spectrum of the Seas has been sailing cruises primarily from Singapore ranging from three to four nights.
The Spectrum of the Seas will reposition to China and will start offering sailings from Shanghai in April 2024. The ship will visit ports in Japan including Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Fukuoka and Nagasaki.
From Hong Kong, the Spectrum of the Seas will offer eight sailings with visits to Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam.
After reopening for cruise ships in January, Hong Kong is expecting to receive a total of 160 calls from 16 cruise lines through the end of 2023.
“We are still doing a lot of engagement, so, hopefully, towards the end of the year we’ll be able to receive even more ship calls,” Kenneth Wong, Hong Kong Tourism Board General Manager for MICE and Cruise, told Cruise Industry News during an exclusive interview.
“I now look forward to receiving more cruise ships in Hong Kong. That’s the number one priority,” he added.
To do that, the city came up with a “total package” that includes funding support, marketing cooperation and help with itinerary planning along with neighbouring ports, Wong explained.
“I also look forward to creating more interesting itineraries because, during the pandemic, all ports in the world and in Asia closed. Now, some of the destinations and ports are trying to reopen and pick up a bit,” he noted.
The scenario gives Hong Kong an opportunity to work with other ports to create new itineraries, Wong added.
According to him, the city currently offers a mix of deployment with not only ports of call but also homeport operations.
“We want to bring in more homeporting, which could actually give a very sustainable business for Hong Kong. We welcome those turnaround calls as well as ports of calls,” he explained.
Reasons for the transit visits include the new developments and attractions introduced by the city, Wong said.
“I think the cruise line as well as their customer would like to see the new happenings in Hong Kong through their excursion programs.”
Jason Liberty, President and CEO of the Royal Caribbean Group, shared some insight on the company’s deployment and sourcing plans for the upcoming year.
Speaking on Thursday’s third-quarter earnings call, he revealed hopes for a return to normality in 2023, focusing on a strong U.S. market.
“While we are still early in our planning cycle, 2023 is shaping up to be a strong year for the company and in the return to normal, typical business,” Liberty said.
“Our overall capacity will grow 14 per cent compared to 2019 on account of ten new ships which have joined or will join the fleet across our brands during this period,” he added, noting that the growth will be achieved despite previous ship disposals.
Liberty also said that deployment across markets is “relatively unchanged” compared to 2019 with the Caribbean representing just over half of the overall deployment and Europe with almost 20 per cent.
“Asia is in the low single digits, with no planned deployment in the high-yielding China market,” he said.
About 18 per cent of the U.S. population is within driving distance to a U.S. homeport, Liberty added, with the “Short Caribbean” product upsized by 35 per cent compared to 2019.
Perfect Day at CocoCay has also been an important part of the deployment, with 65 per cent of the guests sailing on Royal Caribbean International’s Caribbean itineraries in 2023 set to visit the private destination in the Bahamas. The number of calls is up 30 per cent from 2019, he said.
“We expect almost 80 per cent of 2023 guest sourcing to come from North America as we continue to see particularly strong demand from that customer,” Liberty said.
Royal Caribbean’s multi-brand strategy also allows for efficient guest sourcing around the world, he added.
“Our global brands’ appeal and nimble source model allows us to attract the highest yielding guest and partially mitigate the impact from a strong dollar.”
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