Mitsubishi Heavy to Shrink Shipbuilding Operations -Report

Posted on 10 October, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

The AIDAPrima built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

TOKYO, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is planning to stop taking new orders for large passenger ships, downsizing its shipbuilding operations due to a slump in orders, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Sunday.

The plans by Japan’s fourth-largest shipbuilder come as new shipbuilding orders have declined 80 percent so far this year, the Nikkei said. Citing unidentified sources, it said the company was considering splitting off its planning and design division and sharing shipyards with other companies.

A spokesman for Mitsubishi Heavy, which also builds aircraft and defence equipment, said the report was not based on information provided by the company and declined further comment.

Mitsubishi Heavy took a 103.9 billion yen ($1.01 billion) loss on its cruise ship construction operations in the year ended March, having delayed the delivery of a cruise ship produced for Carnival Corp by more than a year.

The Nikkei said Mitsubishi Heavy was planning to reduce risks in its shipbuilding operations by focussing on building smaller ships, which have simpler specifications. ($1 = 102.9000 yen) (Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Paul Tait)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.

Carnival Corp reports strong forward bookings following record summer

Posted on 27 September, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

Overall forward bookings for Carnival Corporation cruise brands for the first half of 2017 are ahead of the same time last year at “considerably” higher prices.

The disclosure from the world’s largest cruise line conglomerate – which accounts for 10 lines including P&O Cruises and Cunard – came as it projected profit growth of almost 25% this year.

The group reported net income for the three peak summer months to August 31 up to $1.4 billion from $1.2 billion in the same period last year.

President and chief executive Arnold Donald said: “We delivered the strongest quarterly earnings in our company’s history affirming our ongoing efforts to expand consumer demand in excess of measured capacity increases and leverage our industry leading scale.

“Revenues during the peak summer season were bolstered by strong performances from both our North American and European brands and across all major deployments including the Caribbean, Alaska and Europe.”

Looking forward, the company said: “At this time, cumulative advance bookings for the first half of next year are ahead of the prior year at considerably higher prices.

“Since June, booking volumes for the first half of next year are lower than the prior year, as there is less inventory remaining for sale, at significantly higher prices.”

Donald added: “We are well on track to deliver nearly 25% earnings growth in 2016. With cash from operations expected to reach a record $5 billion this year, we continue to fund our growth and return cash to shareholders.

“Looking forward, we are well positioned for continued earnings growth given the current strength of our booking and pricing trends in 2017.”

Familiar themes emerge at CruiseWorld China

Posted on 23 September, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

From left: Alan Buckelew of Carnival Corp., Adam Goldstein of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Frank Del Rio of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Gianni Onorato of MSC Cruises.

BEIJING — To U.S. travel agents, the themes that emerged from this week’s CruiseWorld China might have seemed reminiscent of issues that surfaced over the past three decades of cruise industry development in the U.S.

“We need to bring across the idea that the cruise is the destination, instead of just a mode of transportation,” said Zheng Weihang, executive vice president and secretary general of the China Cruise & Yacht Industry Association.

Adam Goldstein, chairman of CLIA and president and COO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., added: “A vast number of people have no idea what a cruise vacation is about, what happens onboard and how it offers great value.”

And Anthony Kaufman, executive vice president of International Operations for Princess Cruises, counseled that a travel agent’s responsibility includes “understanding the uniqueness of each cruise product and imparting that knowledge to the consumers.”

Although much of the conversation sounded like Cruise Sales 101, not all of the issues facing a quickly-growing, rapidly evolving industry have a North American parallel. The vast majority of cruises in China are charters, with cabins sold by a handful of mega-agencies, some of them larger than the cruise lines themselves. They, in turn, rely on a network of sub-agencies to help them fill ships.

The sustainability of the charter model was called into question by most of the cruise executives present, though none called for abandoning it outright. The general consensus was that it has helped the market get to where it is today, but more diversity in sales options will be healthier for long-term growth.

Calling charters a “force-feeding” model, Zinan Liu, Royal Caribbean International’s president of China and North Asia Pacific region and chairman of CLIA North Asia, said the charter model was successful in the past six years when consumer awareness was low and the sales force of cruise lines small. He predicted it will likely continue to coexist with other distribution models.

Kaufman noted that it continues to be the foundation for China’s cruise market and at present enables travel agencies to maintain better control of the customer experience and pricing. But, he said, whether it continues to dominate might depend on individual company strategies.

That each of the four largest cruise lines was represented by a top corporate executive suggests that China’s potential is still very much front of mind:

• Carnival Corp. COO Alan Buckelew provided an overview of the company’s 10 brands and revealed that the most luxurious Princess ship yet built will sail Chinese waters.

• Goldstein wore two hats. As chairman of CLIA, he provided an overview of industry growth, with a focus on China, and as president and COO of RCCL, he promoted Royal Caribbean International ships.

• Norwegian Cruise Line Holding Ltd. CEO Frank Del Rio provided updated details about the Norwegian Joy, a ship being built specially for the Chinese market, whose inaugural cruise is slated for June 23.

• MSC Cruises CEO Gianni Onorato provided more details after having announced the day before that a second ship, the Splendida, would be heading to China to join the Lirica.

In addition to the international development and regional line executives quoted above, onstage were Buhdy Bok, president of Costa Group Asia; David Herrera, president of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings China; Roger Chen, chairman of Carnival Corp. China; Harry Sommer, executive vice president for international development at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings; Helen Huang, president of Greater China, MSC Cruises; and Fan Min, chairman and CEO of SkySea Cruise Line.