Major Cruise Companies Set for Significant Growth Through 2022

The major brands will continue to get new megaships into the future. (photo: Sergio Ferreira)

The cruise industry’s growth trek will continue into the future, as current data from the 2015-2016 Cruise Industry News Annual Report shows significant capacity increases occurring over the next seven years.

Carnival Corporation will take its industry-leading position from roughly 10 million passengers this year to an estimated 13 million by 2022.

Royal Caribbean, meanwhile, will grow from over 5 million passengers to at least 7 million, and possibly more with no orders yet on the books for the 2020s.

Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruises will see the most significant percentage growth between now and 2022. Norwegian is set to increase capacity by some 50 percent while MSC could double its 2015 capacity by 2022 based on seven new ship orders from an estimated 1.5 million to 2.9 million passengers

Ship withdrawals will be relatively insignificant as ships leaving fleets will generally be smaller, older vessels, while new tonnage coming in is expected to be of the megaship variety.

About the Annual Report:

The Cruise Industry News Annual Report is the only book of its kind, presenting the worldwide cruise industry through 2025 in 350+ pages. Statistics are independently researched. See a preview of last year’s edition by clicking here.

The report covers everything from new ships on order to supply-and-demand scenarios from 1987 through 2021+. Plus there is a future outlook, complete growth projections for each cruise line, regional market reports, and detailed ship deployment by region and market, covering all the cruise lines.

Norwegian adds cruise tours in South America

Norwegian Cruise Line said it has developed three cruise tours for guests booking its South America itineraries on Norwegian Sun.

One of the cruise tours includes three days pre- or post-cruise in Buenos Aires and includes a tango lesson from professional dancers. A second adds a two-day eco-tour in the region of Iguazu Falls, as well as a visit to a working ranch.

The third tour includes a three-day adventure on Easter Island and two days in Santiago, Chile.

Norwegian Sun will cruise through South America from November 21, 2015, through April 9, 2016, sailing alternating eastbound and westbound 14-day voyages between Santiago and Buenos Aires.

Renderings Leaked Of New Ship For Virgin Cruises

The cruise industry can hardly keep a secret anymore and today we learned even cruise lines that don’t technically exist aren’t exempt.

virgin cruisesVirgin Cruises, Richard Branson’s new cruise line, is set to make waves by 2019 and promises to deliver a cruise experience not yet offered by any other cruise line. Today, the cruise industry has been granted a peek into Branson’s plans thanks to a lawsuit filed against Virgin Cruises by Colin Veitch, the former President and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line. Veitch, a former partner of Branson, claims the Virgin Group stole his plans for a “Virgin style” cruise line.

The lawsuit, which has now been made public, shares detailed renderings of ships that could potentially sail for the Virgin fleet. The designs leaked through the lawsuit show a red hulled ship sporting a unique bow design, a split superstructure similar to Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, and even a skydiving simulator similar to the one found aboard yet another Royal Caribbean ship, Quantum of the Seas.

virgin 2The renderings, while undated, would appear to share similarities with many modern cruise ships sailing today, notably with the Royal Caribbean ships mentioned prior.

The new Virgin Cruises brand states they will debut two new ships focused on offering a high end, yet mainstream, cruise experience to cruise passengers. While Virgin has been successful with this unique approach in other industries, Virgin may find difficulty in cornering a market that has already been captured by cruise lines such as Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity.