Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) will pull its 167,700-gt cruiseship Norwegian Joy (built 2017) out of the Chinese cruise market next year, replacing it with the 75,300-gt Norwegian Spirit (built 1998), a ship that is nearly half its size.
This shifting of ships is yet another concrete sign that the Chinese cruise market has not fully lived up to the hype about its vast potential growth possibilities and its need for the biggest and newest ships.
The Norwegian Joy was custom-built for China, and NCL says it will now have to spend a cool $50m refitting the ship to make it suitable for the North American cruise market before it is deployed to Alaska and Mexico next year.
The work will likely include redesigning the entire main pool deck will have to be redesigned, along with changes to retail and gaming spaces. Restaurants changes will likely include replacing galleys custom-built for Chinese cuisine.
NCL is the latest of a number of cruise lines that have scaled back their presence in the Chinese market. In recent months Princess, NCL, MSC, Costa and Royal Caribbean have all announced capacity cuts or ship-switches that have reduced their presence in the market.
While there is no question that China has become one of the cruise industry’s fastest growing markets, the rush by cruise players to deploy their biggest and newest ships into China has led to a large oversupply situation that has driven down yields.
A more rational, measured approach to growth that will allow demand to catch up over the next few years is clearly what is needed.
