Cruise News

No one disputes that China is a promising market for the cruise industry. But new players can use as much help as they can get reaching customers.

As cruise lines find that customers want to spend on experiences, will they seek to offer more personalized options in shore excursions, dining, drinks, and onboard offerings? We think there is potential to further customize what cruise passengers can buy, even on mass-market brands.

River cruising doesn't just have age problems, its brands are competing on the quality of their on-shore experiences in an effort to lure in a new generation of cruisers.

As cruise executives often say, having ships all over the world means some areas boom while others struggle. At the moment, China-Korea tensions are hurting Royal Caribbean's business in Asia, but other regions are strong.

Carnival Corp. is seeing strong demand and a willingness to pay more in its key markets. That's good news for the company and the industry in general, but China will warrant close attention if the dispute with Korea is not resolved quickly.

Celebrity Cruises had a lot of time to think about what it wanted on a new type of ship — 10 years, in fact, since the last class was designed. The line has added some concepts and features that we expect to see more of in the coming years.

Cruises aren't inherently political. But as the conversation at an annual cruise conference showed, it's hard to talk about the industry without discussing the potential effect of a new administration in Washington.

There’s a lot to unpack in this lawsuit — and it’s pretty clear that Kevin Sheehan and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings wish much less would have been included. When one former CEO sues another, it’s not going to be pretty.

The "world's largest cruise ship" title gets a lot of attention from cruisers, and Royal Caribbean knows it can pretty much apply the term to any of its Oasis-class ships. More important than a title is the experience, and the cruise line seems to have found the right mix of features to get passengers on board.

Like other cruise lines, Norwegian is thinking far into the future when it comes to China. Will the fledgling market keep up with the supply growth?