Tag Archives: Costa

Costa Serena to Sail from Taiwan to Japan this Fall

Posted on by
Reply

Taiwan International Ports (TIPC) announced that the Costa Serena, which returned to sailing in Asia this year, will offer cruises to Japan in the fall of 2023.

The Costa Serena will sail three cruises to Okinawa, Japan from the Port of Kaohsiung in time for the mid-Autumn and National Day holidays in September and October.

In addition to sailing to Japan, the ship will return to Taiwan for regular homeport cruises first based out of Keelung and then Kaohsiung from July through October.

The Port of Kaohsiung has already set an all-time record this year with 157 cruise ship calls as of May 28, including 27 port-of-call visits.

The TIPC has recently opened a new Kaohsiung Port Cruise Terminal Building where automated smart passenger handling systems are being tested at the moment.

Upon completion, TIPC also plans to expand and upgrade the Penglai Cruise Terminal.

Royal Caribbean Sails Up as Largest Brand in the Industry

Posted on by
Reply

Royal Caribbean International will be the largest cruise brand in the world by 2029 noticeably ahead of Carnival Cruise Line, according to the 2023 Cruise Industry News Annual Report.

The Royal Caribbean brand will have an annual global capacity of approximately 6.5 million passengers in 2029, compared to 5.4 million for Carnival Cruise Line.

Royal Caribbean will sail 30 ships versus 27 for Carnival.

While Royal Caribbean will be the largest globally, based on known deployment and the current orderbook of new builds to be introduced, Carnival will most likely continue to dominate in the Caribbean where the brand tends to concentrate its deployment.

The other largest brands on a global scale in order of size will be MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess, Celebrity, AIDA, Costa, TUI and Holland America.

Two question marks would be what happens in China with Carnival’s joint Adora venture that could grow quickly when the Chinese market returns, and if more Costa ships were to be transferred to Carnival’s Fun Italian Style product.

The 2023 Cruise Industry News Annual Report is in digital and printed formats. Order today by clicking here.

Big Three Cruise Corporations Set to Spend $2 Billion Food in 2023

Posted on by
Reply

Norwegian Bliss in Ponta Delgarda, Azores. Photo credit Spancejunkie2 (Flickr)

Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings are on pace to spend roughly $2 billion on food and beverage items in 2023,( according to Cruise Industry News estimates).

This is based on third-quarter spending this year, which saw Carnival spend $259 million, Royal come in at $195 million and Norwegian at $77 million.

Compared to the last “normal year” in 2019, food spending was up at Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. The former spent roughly $150 million on food in the third quarter of 2019, while Norwegian spent $57 million.

Both companies have seen fleet expansion since then. Royal Caribbean Group not only completed its acquisition of Silversea but has welcomed a number of new big ships such as the Wonder of the Seas, Celebrity Apex and Celebrity Beyond.

Norwegian has also seen growth with the additions of new builds for the Norwegian and Regent brands since the third quarter of 2019.

Carnival, meanwhile, saw a reduction in food spending while growing with big new ships, but has also disposed of over 20 ships from its fleet over the same period.