Article in USA Today-New Ships

[Rosethorn40]

I came across this article originally published in USA Today (It was on MSN) about upcoming new builds in the cruise industry. Princess has an unnamed ship coming for 2019 that I was unaware of, and there are a staggering number of berths from most of the major cruise lines between now and 2022. Where are they going to put all of these ships? Not surprisingly, for most of the major players (Carnival, NCL, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Holland America, Celebrity & Costa) they are staying with the bigger ships. I can see ports becoming even more crowded, and more of "bumping" (On our last cruise we were originally scheduled to go to Naples, but were bumped to Elba due to overcrowding). Anyone else think the market is going to be oversaturated?

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/cruises/a-guide-to-new-cruise-ships-on-order/ar-BBwNBW1?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=spartandhp#page=1

[DrivesLikeMario]

If you add in all the river boats coming out soon, you really have a lot of new ships in the next few years. :eek: It's hard to fathom that there are that many people to fill all those ships. I guess more competition is good for the consumer but I'm with you - I don't want to be in ports that are so packed with cruise passengers that you lose the essence of the place you're visiting.

 

I guess there will be a ship (or a few) for every person's taste. The more you cruise, the more you realize what you want out of your own cruise and where you feel most comfortable. I can assure you we'll be aiming for less crowded ports and ships that carry less passengers.

[mamaboss]

Interesting, thanks for posting the article!

[Pam in CA]

Cruise Critic has had an article with an updated list of new ships being built for ages. Years? There've been quite a few articles on CC as well as other sites about the new ships on order.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=167

[Micahs Grandad]

Cruising industry doing very well now and expect market to grow so they are expanding their fleets. Believe Princess has a total of three more Royal class ships on order

[jasmith52]

Where are they going to put all of these ships?

 

I suspect that at least some of those ships are going to serve the growing Asian/Chinese market.

[Kenswing]

Cruise Critic has had an article with an updated list of new ships being built for ages. Years? There've been quite a few articles on CC as well as other sites about the new ships on order.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=167

 

Wow! There are some HUGE ships coming out in the 2019-2020 time frame.. :eek:

[Skai]

There absolutely is a 'bubble' that most all of the mainstream cruise industry is failing to observe all the while blinded by their ever-growing 'arms race'.

 

There will eventually be a 'bust' to this current 'boom'.

 

This type of vacation is becoming less and less exclusive across the mainstream spectrum. Great for the value/bargain consumer, not so great for those unable to adapt or accept the changes from what originally drew them to cruising decades ago.

 

Cruising with <1000 pax (or even <2500) pax is a much noticeable different experience compared to cruising with >2500 pax(or even 4000+ pax).

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing this.

 

Keith

[caribill]

There absolutely is a 'bubble' that most all of the mainstream cruise industry is failing to observe all the while blinded by their ever-growing 'arms race'.

 

There will eventually be a 'bust' to this current 'boom'.

 

 

In case markets are saturated, cruise lines have said they have two options:

 

o Relocate ships (inventory) to other parts of the world

 

o Sell older ships

[Micahs Grandad]

Will be interesting to see how the industry is doing in a few years

[Hlitner]

Do not understate the mention of the mass market lines permanently porting ships in the Far East. The Chinese market is huge (billions and billions) and cruise lines are competing to get a foothold in that market. Sometimes, we Americans think we are the only people on earth.....but Asians really love to travel. Consider that RCI has already moved their relatively new Quantum of the Seas to Shanghai where she is now doing short 3-8 day cruises primarily for the Chiinese market. They even made some modifications to the nearly new ship...to enhance its attraction to the Chinese market.

 

For those who remain skeptical about the Chinese tourist market....we were recently in Niagara-on-the-Lake (Ontario) and the town was packed with Asian day-trippers (mostly Chinese). We noticed that many of the Chinese ladies were carrying lots of shopping bags. The potential of 1.3 Billion people doing more and more travel is huge!

 

Hank

Edited October 12, 2016 by Hlitner