A couple of weeks ago I asked for your opinion about all the new innovative ship features we keep hearing about, like Celebrity’s Magic Carpet.
I received responses from many of you who expressed dismay at these innovations, stating that you would place a much higher value on better food and more personalized service.
Here’s a comment from Karen, who summed it up nicely:
“I am turned off a bit with all the new “innovations”. I would rather a smaller ship, better destinations, great service, fabulous food and superb entertainment. I am an older cruiser, without kids and it seems to me the cruise lines are trying to get younger families on board, and everything is focused on that. […]”
It seems that Karen and others like her are not alone in their feelings on this topic.
There are two cruise trends emerging in 2017:
- Small ships, and
- Ships bound for the Chinese market
As cruising continues to grow as a preferred vacation option for many people, the cruise lines have been pressured to bring more and more ships to market. The trend for the last many years has been to build more ships of a significant size, which drives costs per passenger down, and makes cruising more affordable for everyone.
This year is a little bit different. Yes – it is true that the Majestic Princess (3600 passengers), and the Norwegian Joy (3900 passengers) are both coming to market in the next few weeks, but both these ships are intended for the Chinese market adding great capacity in East Asia.
The rest of the ships making their debut in 2017 are decidedly smaller – reinforcing the solid growth we have seen in the luxury small ship market. While there will always be a market for cheap Caribbean cruises, it appears as though many people are getting tired of being herded around crowded ships and ports of call, so they are demanding something different.
The cruise lines have responded.
Viking Ocean is launching two new ships this year. The Viking Sky entered service in February, and the Viking Sun is scheduled for this fall. These two ships join Viking’s existing ocean fleet for a total of four vessels each carrying 930 passengers.
Silversea is also putting another ship, the Silver Muse into service this month with a total of 596 passengers.
Lindblad is bringing the National Geographic Quest to market in the early summer, and it will take 100 passengers to Alaska in the summer months, and down the Pacific Coast of the Americas in the winter months.
Star Clipper Cruise Line is launching its 300 passenger Flying Clipper towards the end of this year. This is a luxury sailing vessel that will service Europe in the summers, and the Caribbean in the winter months.
We will be watching in the next couple of years to see if more cruise enthusiasts literally “jump ship” from the mass market lines to smaller, luxury vessels.
However, it is probably a safe assumption that the cruise lines will have done some market research prior to spending hundred of millions of dollars on new ships, and this is indeed what will happen. Stay tuned.
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I look forward to hearing from you.
Sue Bradley
Sue Bradley
