China and the cruise industry’s ongoing globalization

Posted on 10 May, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

By Tom Stieghorst

The news that Royal Caribbean International is putting its new ship in China made a big splash. But sometimes it takes a surprising development to show an underlying trend that has been slowly taking shape for years.

The North American share of the world cruise passenger base has been declining, even though in absolute terms it is growing and it still remains far larger than any other source market.

Cruise lines are hungry for new growth, and China is the current gravy train that everyone is hoping to ride. But it isn’t only China. While the Quantum of the Seas is headed for Shanghai, Royal’s Voyager and Rhapsody of the Seas are spending a good part of the year taking Australians on vacations from Sydney.

And Royal is hardly alone. Carnival Cruise Lines is sending its Legend of the Seas to Australia later this year too. *TomStieghorst

Some higher-end cruise lines, such as Azamara Club Cruises, draw more than 50% of their passengers from outside North America.

The international sourcing of passengers is drawing industry attention and resources away from its historical roots in the U.S. and Canada. Cruise officials take pains to assert that North America remains a vital interest for the cruise industry and takes a back seat to no region.

It is obviously true, and yet there is a shift going on that can’t be ignored. It has implications for passengers, for travel agents, suppliers and employees of the cruise lines.

Driving the decision to diversify internationally is the public ownership of the big North American lines. The loyalties of the management of those companies isn’t to country, region or tradition as much as it is to the shareholders that they work for. As Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. President Adam Goldstein told me, it is the shareholder’s interest in long-term profit growth that was the primary factor in deploying the Quantum full time to China.

Ironically, as Royal and other U.S.-based cruise lines are looking abroad, privately owned MSC Cruises is knocking on the door, trying to gain more purchase in North America.

MSC is the line adding to its sales force, making its pitch to travel agents here to funnel clients to its small but growing North American capacity. So even as the U.S. loses a new ship (after a short season in New York) it may soon gain a new ship from a Swiss company with an Italian product.

Call it two faces of the same coin, both manifesting the further globalization of the cruise industry.

Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas bound for Asia, Australia

Posted on 8 May, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas bound for Asia, Australia

By Rebecca Tobin

Royal Caribbean International’s Legend of the Seas will cruise to Asia and Australia during the 2015-2016 season, a move that gives the line a year-round presence in Singapore.

The Legend will operate cruises to Southeast Asia from Singapore during summer 2015. It will shift to a new homeport for the line, Brisbane, Australia, in November 2015 for cruises to Australia and the South Pacific.

The Mariner of the Seas, which also will operate seasonally from Singapore, rounds out Royal Caribbean’s year-round offerings in that port.

Royal Caribbean has been steadily increasing its offerings in Asia and Australia. Last month it announced it was commiting its newest ship, the 4,200-passenger Quantum of the Seas, year-round in Shanghai; it joins the Mariner and the Voyager of the Seas in that market.

It also will operate the Explorer of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas and Radiance of the Seas in Australia in addition to the Legend, which it said was a “record” deployment there.

The Legend will depart for Asia after an April Panama Canal cruise from Fort Lauderdale to San Diego, and it will offer three sailings across the Pacific: a 10-day cruise from Ensenada, Mexico, to Honolulu; a 17-day cruise to Sydney via French Polynesia, Fiji and New Caledonia; and a cruise from Sydney to Singapore.

Social sharing via Wi-Fi to ‘change face’ of cruising

Posted on 6 May, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

The proliferation of faster Wi-Fi networks on cruise ships will help to break down barriers for those who refuse to disconnect from the internet even during holidays and transform the cruising experience.

That is according to the chief information officer at Royal Caribbean Cruises, Bill Martin, who says that the ability to download streaming content to tablets and smartphones while at sea and easily share on social networks in real time will “fundamentally change our industry”.

Seatrade Insider reports that he suggested that for the first time, cruisers will have the ability to post video clips to the internet and share content that provides a definitive taste of the cruising experience to those who have never been on one.

“We have a phenomenal product. A lot of people don’t know about it,” the executive said, noting that better internet connectivity on ships at sea has the opportunity to change that.

For those who have previously been unimpressed by Wi-Fi offerings on ships, Royal Caribbean is promising that its new networks are such an improvement, returning guests will notice a dramatic improvement.

Oasis of the seas is the first ship to have been tested with the high-speed wireless broadband, while Quantum of the Seas is expected to raise the bar again.