Ncl joy, new market?

[Mslmesq]

i see the ship is moving on to alaska, etc. will it still be primarily a Chinese clientele, or is that changing?

[UnorigionalName]

i think they remodeled it after the bliss. all the chinese restaurants, casino, and karaoke look like they are gone on the deck plan.

 

I think it's supposed to be for american now. they moved a smaller ship to china.

[Froggitt]

I don't understand how they managed to fail in the largest and fastest growing market in the world with a middle class looking for somewhere to blow their newly minted cash.

[GA Dave]

I don't understand how they managed to fail in the largest and fastest growing market in the world with a middle class looking for somewhere to blow their newly minted cash.

 

RCCL pulled a ship out of China too, from what I was told.

[BirdTravels]

i see the ship is moving on to alaska, etc. will it still be primarily a Chinese clientele, or is that changing?

Nope. NCL is investing $50M to rip out all of the Chinese facilities and “Americanize” the ship. The Joy will be based on the west coast (for now). Currently offering free airfare to Seattle.

[BirdTravels]

I don't understand how they managed to fail in the largest and fastest growing market in the world with a middle class looking for somewhere to blow their newly minted cash.

Similar to the Epic failing in year round cruises in Europe. Adapt and adjust to market demands.

[JamieLogical]

Currently offering free airfare to Seattle.

 

It's only "free" from VERY select markets. It's allegedly "discounted" from most, but in my case it would cost me almost $200 more per person to go with Norwegian's "discounted" rate from my local airport.

[Froggitt]

Similar to the Epic failing in year round cruises in Europe. Adapt and adjust to market demands.

A numpty could have told them that they weren't going to fill a 4,000 pax ship out of Barcelona or Rome in January with all the rain and snow in Europe at that time of year, unless they market it as a floating hotel for a week and discount to the levels that they do out of Florida in winter, which they didn't or couldn't do.

[sprint180]

Where do you go to see the free/discounted air? Or do you call? I don't see anyone.

[mking8288]

I don't understand how they managed to fail in the largest and fastest growing market in the world with a middle class looking for somewhere to blow their newly minted cash.

We have expatriate friends that cruised in that region on RCI and Princess, but will not book the Joy & travel to Shanghai for it. Reviews & feedback about the cruise experience hasn't been all that positive for that vast market. Reference these 2 local reviews written by the Chinese (use Google Translate to get a feel for what was said) ... long lines, waits, food quality, etc. - however biased & perhaps not entire accurate. A # of photos taken onboard in the reviews ...

https://bbs.qyer.com/thread-2813163-1.html

https://bbs.qyer.com/thread-2799835-1.html

 

The 4 nights or 5 nights itineraries that make 1 day stop in coastal Japan, apparently, with 2 stops for more duty-free shopping, not appealing to everyone on the cruise. Onboard duty-free shops, said, to be packed with lookers but very few actual buyers. Casino probably did okay as a whole. Specialty dining and drink prices, including the sale of soda & bottled waters - in USD - aren't for many cruising the Joy, too rich for their middle class blood ... Another element that didn't work in NCL's favorite is the cancellation of a day stop in South Korea, which also shortened its regular itinerary - the decisions, however, beyond NCL's control as it was more of the Chinese government's decision (as I understood it to be ...) The devaluation of their currency, RMB vs. the rising USD exchange rates not helping with the sales, although they couldn't possibly forecasted that several years ago in pricing the product, or could they ??

 

Sailing onward to the next season, the ship probably could serve the Hawaii market well, replacing the POA and do the weekly 7 days ... with its port intensive & overnight stops, and live with its pool & hot tub design. Tendering for Kona would be a major challenge, of course for 5,000 souls.

 

Maybe, the Joy could've followed and sail the Asia route like that of the Jewel this coming season, to a TP across to Hawaii & then the Alaska season ... once they do some of the retrofitting and upgrade/enhancements.

 

In other "local" review links that we've seen, that green space on the open/sun deck did not appeal to anyone ... mabye, they need to schedule some (free) Tai Chi & Yoga classes each morning ... while the "kids" played in the hot tubs.

 

As for OP's question - IMHO - the Joy can still appeal to the "affluent" upper middle class market in China, as local T/A have organized groups to cruise abroad and we've definitely seen them on other NCL ships. Many of them do spend money in duty-free shopping and play in the ship's casino.

[BirdTravels]

Where do you go to see the free/discounted air? Or do you call? I don't see anyone.

The air promotion was offered for a few days. Went away. And I got an email saying it was back. Try this link https://www.ncl.com/cruise-deals/air-promotion