Tag Archives: Beijing

Royal Caribbean to deploy Ovation of the Seas in China

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Anthem of the seas shown above

Royal Caribbean International said it will deploy Ovation of the Seas to China in 2016. The ship is the second newbuild that will be devoted to the Chinese market.

The 4,000-passenger Ovation will be homeported in Tianjin, near Beijing, adding a fourth port in China to Royal Caribbean’s lineup.

In May, Royal Caribbean will redeploy its Quantum of the Seas to Shanghai from its current homeport in Bayonne, New Jersey. Ovation is also a Quantum-class ship, meaning two of the three Quantum ships will be sailing from China year-round.

No other cruise line has put a newbuild in China, much less two.

“We are furthering our commitment [to China] by bringing two of the world’s newest and most advanced Quantum-class cruise ships to the region,” Royal Caribbean President Michael Bayley said at a news conference in Beijing.

Ovation of the Seas, the third Quantum-class vessel, is scheduled to enter service in spring 2016. The second Quantum ship, Anthem of the Seas, will make its debut in Southampton, England, on April 22 and will sail from New Jersey after a summer season in Europe.

Bayley said that Royal Caribbean is taking other steps to strengthen its cruise operation in China. It has created a curriculum with Tianjin Maritime College to train culinary and restaurant service employees and hired more than 3,000 students since the academy opened in August 2014, Bayley said.

Also, Royal Caribbean is investigating potential Chinese drydock facilities to revitalize Legend of the Seas as early as 2018 and potential logistics centers in China to supply its ships deployed in the region.

It is also looking at an inbound-tourism business model that would bring thousands of North Americans to visit China.

The addition of Ovation will bring to five the number of Royal Caribbean ships sailing in China by 2016. In addition to Quantum and Ovation, the cruise line has positioned Mariner of the Seas in Shanghai and Voyager of the Seas in Hong Kong. Legend of the Seas will sail from Tianjin in 2016 until Ovation’s arrival, and then reposition to Xiamen.

A 52-day cruise from Southampton to Tianjin on Ovation opens for sale on March 26.

Caribbean cruises losing market share, says Cruise Holidays

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Cruise deckA smaller percentage of cruisers have booked Caribbean sailings for 2015, according to a forecast by Cruise Holidays International.

The survey shows 50.5% of cruise bookings for next year have the Caribbean as their destination, down from 54.8% in 2014.

Europe is gaining, with 12% of ocean cruises booked there next year, up from 10.4%. European river cruises account for 6.7% of bookings, up from 5.7% last year.

Cruise ship capacity in the Caribbean peaked in 2014 and is currently scheduled to begin declining in the second quarter of 2015, leaving fewer available berths.

The 2015 Cruise Trends forecast is based on bookings by 1,300 agents affiliated with Cruise Holidays.

A Dutch waterways cruise beginning in Amsterdam again is the most popular river cruise for 2015, followed by the Rhine/Main/Danube cruise through Central Europe, the Rhine Valley cruise, and a cruise through France on the Seine and Rhone rivers.

River cruises departing from two cities in Myanmar joined the list of top five non-European river cruises, after cruises departing from Beijing and Shanghai (tied for first) and one departing Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
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Princess to launch China cruises from Shanghai

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Princess to launch China cruises from Shanghai

By Tom Stieghorst
Princess Cruises will enter the China market for the first time next May, homeporting the Sapphire Princess in Shanghai for the summer.The 2,670-passenger ship will offer three- to seven-day cruises to South Korea. It is expected to carry 70,000 passengers over a four-month season, mostly from China.Princess would become the second Carnival Corp. brand sourcing passengers from China.
Costa Cruises began sailing there in 2006.Carnival Corp. has opened offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu to support its operations in China.
The 2014 China season will feature four itineraries: the seven-day itinerary will take passengers to the Korean capital of Seoul, the beach resort of Busan and the island of Jeju before returning to Shanghai; the five-day cruise will call at Jeju and Inchon; the four-day itinerary will call at Busan and Jeju; and the three-day cruise will call at Jeju.