Royal Caribbean Inks Shanghai Rolex Masters Sponsorship

Royal Caribbean Inks Shanghai Rolex Masters Sponsorship

Royal Caribbean International has solidified its commitment to the Chinese market by renewing its partnership with the Shanghai Rolex Masters tennis tournament.

The cruise line will continue as the Official Cruise Line Partner for the 2026 and 2027 editions of the event, marking a strategic extension of its high-profile sports marketing initiative in the region.

The renewed multi-year deal sees Royal Caribbean retaining its title sponsorship of the “Royal Caribbean Masters Practice Court” at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena and maintaining its exclusive branded skybox, offering guests premium viewing and interactive experiences.

This collaboration aims to fuse the world of elite sports with the brand’s signature “Live. Love. Cruise.” vacation lifestyle.

Benjamin Bouldin, Vice President and Managing Director, Greater China at Royal Caribbean International, stated that the partnership aligns with the brand’s mission to create deep connections with consumers’ passions.

“As an international brand also rooted in Shanghai, we are honored to renew our partnership with this iconic tennis event,” Bouldin said. “We believe exceptional experiences are not just about ‘arriving,’ but about resonating deeply with what people love”.

Michael Luévano, Tournament Director of the Shanghai Rolex Masters, welcomed the continued alliance, noting Royal Caribbean’s success in integrating its vacation concept into the event last year and creating memorable fan interactions.

Royal Caribbean: More New to Brand Guests

Royal Caribbean: More New to Brand Guests

Independence of the Seas in Southampton Photo credit Spacejunkie2 (Flickr)

“In the second quarter, the per cent of guests were either new to the brand or new to cruise surpassed 2019 levels by a wide margin, and we have seen post-cruise repeat booking rates nearly double 2019 levels,” said Jason Liberty, CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, speaking on the company’s second-quarter earnings call.

“While we have made positive strides in narrowing the gap to land-based vacations over the last several months, cruising remains an exceptional value proposition, allowing us to outperform broader leisure travel as we seek to further close the gap to land-based vacations, drive better revenue and welcome even more happy customers,” he said.

Liberty said that the company had double the web traffic now compared to 2019.

“In addition, our travel partners are now fully back up and running and delivering more bookings than they did in 2019,” he continued. “Our improved commercial capabilities have allowed us to capture this quality demand and expand our share of the guest wallet.”

Part of the new brand strategy has been the company’s investment in the short cruise market, with refurbished ships and Perfect Day at CocoCay. That strategy takes the next step in 2024 with the new Utopia of the Seas, which will be positioned year-round in the short cruise market.

“Utopia will be the first Oasis-class ship that will be entirely focused on short cruises in the Caribbean, supporting our strategy of competing with land-based vacation alternatives and driving new-to-cruise customers into our vacation ecosystem as we seek to close the value gap,” Liberty said.

“Demand and pricing for Utopia have far exceeded our expectations.”

New Royal Caribbean Ship Leaves on Sea Trials

The wonder of the Seas Royals 5th Oasis Class cruise ship.

Royal Caribbean International's new Wonder of the Seas has departed on sea trials from Chantiers de l'Atlantique where she is under construction.

The Oasis-class ship will now spend a few days at sea, testing systems and performance with teams from the shipyard, vendors, class society and other stakeholders aboard. 

Originally set to debut this year, the Wonder will now enter the cruise market in 2022 and become the biggest cruise ship in the world, and the fifth Oasis-class ship in service after the Oasis, Allure, Harmony and Symphony of the Seas.

The ship is being deployed to China and will be the first Oasis-class ship to sail in Asia. She could arrive in the market as soon as spring 2022 should those plans hold. 

MSC Cruises chief warns yields could drop amid mass growth

MSC Cruises chief warns yields could drop amid mass growth

MSC Seaview

Cruise line yields could fall in the future due to the volume of new ships entering the market in the next decade, according to the boss of MSC Cruises.

A total of 106 ships are expected to launch between 2017-26, including 12 alone from MSC Cruises. Other mainstream cruise brands such as Royal Caribbean International has six ships on its order books and Norwegian Cruise Line has seven. 48 expedition and luxury ships are also planned.

Asked whether occupancy levels were at risk of falling from so much growth, chief executive Gianni Onorato told delegates at the ITT Conference in Sicily: “No, we are not crazy. But in difficult times it can have an impact on yields more than occupancy. So I think this will be more of an issue than occupancy levels.”

Onorato said the slowdown in cruise bookings last year in the UK was due to a “lack of capacity” in 2017 and said he was very “optimistic” about the British market going forward.

He said the biggest challenge facing cruise lines was future proofing ships which are built to last 20 years.

“Knowing what guests want in 2040 when you’re building them now is very difficult to predict so we need to have a flexible mindset and be able to follow guests’ needs (in terms of technology) but at the same time maintain human contact,” Onorato said.

MSC Wins Bid for Durban Cruise Terminal

MSC Wins Bid for Durban Cruise Terminal

MSC Opera

The Durban Cruise Terminal will be getting a significant upgrade as KwaZulu Cruise Terminal, a joint venture between MSC Cruises and Africa Armada Consortium, has won the bid build a new two-ship terminal and operate it for the next 25 years.

It also underlines MSC’s leadership position in the South Africa cruise market, where it remains the only company with a significant presence.

MSC plans to start construction later this year with a completion date of 2019. The cruise company owns 70 percent of the venture. 

Australian cruisers increased 20% in 2013

By Tom Stieghorst

The number of Australians who cruised in 2013 rose 20%, outpacing every other sizable cruise market, CLIA Australasia said in a report.

Australia’s growth surpassed Germany (9%), France (9%), North America (3%) and the U.K./Ireland (1%), according to the report’s executive summary.

Last year, 833,348 Australians cruised, up from 694,062 in 2012.

More than 11.7 million passengers from the United States and Canada cruised last year, according to CLIA. But Australia’s growth means that 3.7% of its total population has been on a cruise, exceeding the 3.3% figure for North America.

CLIA Australasia projected it will reach the 1 million passenger threshold by 2016; a previous forecast targeted 2020. 

Optimism in the cruise market

By Tom Stieghorst

Is the cruise business in the process of turning a corner? 

There’s no objective proof that it is, but as with improvements in the general economy, turning points are often discernable only in retrospect.

Subjectively, it feels like something is happening. Business feels like it is getting better. People feel primed to spend again, and travel is one of the areas they want to spend more money on.

Some travel executives have been saying this for awhile. “I do feel like travel is back,” said Michelle Fee, CEO of Cruise Planners, who noted her company is having a record year for both franchise and travel sales. 

The legs for a turnaround are in place.  The stock market is consistently hitting new highs. Equally important, home prices have been resurgent for some time now. Unemployment remains a drag, but the jobless rate is several points below its peak of a couple years ago. Driven by a potential easing of tensions with Iran, oil prices have fallen for the past four months, which should give cruise lines leeway to offer better fares without destroying the bottom line.

The prevalence of fare sales and promotions suggest that the bedrock seven-night domestic cruise market is still in recovery. But cruise lines continue to make impressive gains in cost reduction, leaving room to fill ships profitably at somewhat lower prices.

Individual agents who are having good years are not hard to find. “Personally, my business has been fabulous,” said Muffett Grubb, a Cruise Holidays franchisee in Knoxville, Tenn., who said travelers are loosening their wallets to take cruises in Europe rather than the five-to-seven-day Caribbean trips of 2011-12.

Likewise, Rose Stevenson, who owns a Cruise Holidays franchise in Charles Town, W. Va., said she’s doing well and that clients have a comfort level with Alaska and Hawaii cruises they didn’t have before.

Kevin Weisner, president of Cruise Holidays, said that in the big picture, success depends on market segment. Once you take the first-time cruiser out of the equation, “business is very, very healthy,” he said.

Those consumers that have never been on a cruise became tougher to persuade after the Carnival Triumph incident in February. But memories of that incident are fading, and barring some sort of lightning strike for the third year in a row, the cruise industry could finally be on its way to the smooth sailing it used to enjoy routinely during a good economy.

If November turns out to be a tipping point, that’s something everyone in the cruise industry could be thankful for.