Royal Caribbean International, which has operated in the Chinese market for the last few years, will significantly step up its game in June 2012 by repositioning the flagship of its Voyager class of vessels to China.
The 137,276-gross-ton Voyager of the Seas, once the world's largest ship, is twice the size of the Legend of the Seas, which Royal Caribbean has been operating in the Chinese market since early 2009. The Legend will remain there in spring 2012 for its fourth season.
The Legend accommodates 1,804 passengers, so by adding the 3,114-passenger Voyager, Royal Caribbean will boost its capacity in China by 173% in a single stroke.
In making its announcement in Shanghai last week, the company said the Voyager would introduce concepts never before seen in Asian seas, including the cruise line's Royal Promenade, a "street" running nearly the length of the ship; numerous and varied dining venues; and a diverse collection of sports facilities.
Royal Caribbean tapped the Voyager, the first of five in its size class, for the China venue partly because that's "the way it worked out logistically," said Adam Goldstein, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International.
But there was another reason: "The Voyager probably has the greatest name recognition. ... We felt that would resonate" with the China market, he said.
Royal Caribbean positioned the Rhapsody of the Seas in China in early 2008 and replaced it with the Legend the next season. Goldstein said the line had learned a lot while deploying those vessels in Chinese waters and had "a lot of reasons to expect continued growth" in that market.
He said the company found that "the Royal Caribbean experience was very popular with the Chinese, and they will pay for it." In addition, he added, "The government values the benefit of the cruise economy" and will work to make it feasible.
Besides, he added, "cruising is still a very, very small piece of the China travel equation," meaning the potential is great.
"There are hundreds of millions of Chinese developing the economics to be able to travel," Goldstein said.
China has been on the cruise industry's radar for some time, but it's only been in recent years that several lines have made inroads there. Malaysia-based Star Cruises has long been active in Asia, and it currently offers cruises that include Hong Kong on the SuperStar Aquarius. (See story below for hotel plans in China.)
Costa Cruises, meanwhile, was the brand cruise giant Carnival Corp. picked to enter the China market when it was the first cruise company to win the right to embark citizens at Chinese ports, in 2006. The 1,308-passenger Costa Classica is currently offering cruises from Shanghai that call in South Korea and China.
In spring 2012 the 1,928-passenger Costa Victoria will cruise from Shanghai to South Korea and Japan.
Other lines also offer cruises to, and from, China, albeit on a more limited basis.
'Predominantly' Chinese passengers
When the Legend sails from Chinese ports, Goldstein said, its passengers are "predominantly Chinese," and Americans have represented a single-digit percentage. He expects the same passenger ratio for the Voyager.
This is typical for cruising, Goldstein said, regardless of whether a ship is homeported in New Orleans, Brazil or Dubai.These days, the bulk of passengers hail from somewhere near the departure points, while "Americans are becoming a smaller percent of travelers generally."
That jibes with the experience of at least one Royal Caribbean top producer. John Krieger, president of Cruise & Tour Center in Dallas, said that while cruising is 70% of his business, it was always a struggle to sell clients on the cruises that involve long-haul flights.
For China, he said, he could sell river cruises as part of land packages, but he did not expect to sell Royal Caribbean's sailings out of Chinese ports. Describing himself as a "real fan" of the company, he nevertheless said his Royal Caribbean International bookings involve trips closer to home.
Even so, he said he saw the latest move as "a natural extension of [Royal Caribbean's] global thinking."
Krieger, who has attended Royal Caribbean top-producer events, said the company "has been real smart and laid the groundwork for this" years ago.
Based on the size of China's population, he said he expected that "this has got to be a home run."
For those Americans who do sail on the Legend or Voyager out of Chinese ports, Goldstein said, the trip will often be a North Asia experience, not just Chinese. Although Chinese passengers will predominate and their tastes will influence entertainment and food, the ships' itineraries will take in Korean and Japanese ports and in some cases Vladivostok, Russia. These trips, which are usually for seven days but can be as short as four or as long as 10, depart from Shanghai or farther north, from Tianjin near Beijing.
Some sailings also operate from Hong Kong to places like Taiwan, China's Hainan Island and Vietnam, Goldstein said.
Itineraries will be roughly the same for the two ships, and they will homeport in China for the country's March-to-October cruising season, although the Voyager will get a late start in its first year.
An education in cruising
Because the Chinese, who buy their cruises through local retail travel agencies, are dealing with counselors with no cruise experience, Goldstein said, "It is incumbent on us to do a lot of educating of travel agents." That training, he said, will be facilitated by the Internet.
China and neighboring countries on the Royal Caribbean itineraries "want to be part of the cruise economy," Goldstein said. Unfortunately, he added, their customs and immigration personnel are still getting used to whole shiploads of people arriving and departing in the same day.
On the other hand, the prospective hosts are attending to their infrastructures. Shanghai has two new terminals, including the newer and larger Shanghai Port Wusong Cruise Terminal, which will accommodate the Voyager.
Tianjin debuted a new terminal last year, which accommodates vessels of Voyager's size, and Hong Kong is building a terminal at the old Kai Tak Airport. Goldstein said that Singapore is also developing a new facility.
As for China's prospective travelers, Goldstein said, "They need to understand this is not just a ferry" but a travel experience.
Royal Caribbean will not be taking gambling to the extremes seen on many ships operated by Asia-based cruise lines. While Royal Caribbean's ships have casinos, Goldstein said, "We go to great lengths to point out that there is an array of experiences, and we try not to dwell on the casinos."
In its announcement last week, Royal Caribbean said that for both its ships it would create a wider variety of products tailored specifically to Chinese passengers, "including more Chinese-language services, authentic Chinese food and culturally appropriate recreational activities."
Because ships can host passengers of so many nationalities, Goldstein said, the line keeps adding language assistance.
Likewise, he said, over the years, it has made the entertainment "more visual and musical and less English-centric." Besides, he said, "there are so many options, passengers pick and choose what makes sense" and "aren't stuck with the English-language comedian."
As for staffing, Goldstein said Royal Caribbean undertook a "disciplined process" before deploying in China. It placed Chinese-speaking crew on ships across the fleet and trained them "to deliver the Royal Caribbean experience." It then selected a crew for the Legend, and today about 60% of the vessel's crew are Chinese speakers. The majority of the crew that interface with passengers speak Mandarin, but a Royal Caribbean spokesman said a "fair number" speak Cantonese.
Goldstein said the company would make the same effort with the Voyager and expects Chinese speakers also will account for about 60% of the Voyager's crew when the vessel goes into China.
This time, he said, "we are ahead of the game," and he is optimistic the company will be able to line up both the language and service capabilities that it requires.