Published on : Monday, January 27, 2014
After a series of disasters, companies have been forced to focus on experience, with more sophisticated entertainment and broader cuisine options, rather than sheer ship size.
A couple of eye-popping new ships, the ever-growing popularity of river cruising, and efforts to restore consumer confidence are among the headlines in cruise news as 2014 unfolds.
But don’t expect ships to keep getting bigger. Instead, look for theme park-style attractions and new offerings in dining and entertainment. Here are some details.
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), which represents 95 per cent of cruise capacity worldwide with 63 member cruise lines, forecasts 21.7 million guests will cruise this year, up from 21.3 million in 2013.
The Caribbean remains the world’s most popular cruise destination, included on 37 per cent of global cruise itineraries, followed by a 19 per cent share for the Mediterranean.
More than two dozen cruise ships will launch in 2014 and 2015, but the race to make every
vessel bigger than the last is subsiding from several years ago, when Royal Caribbean‘s Allure and Oasis set records with capacities of more than 6,000 passengers apiece.
“I think the size of the ships — Allure and Oasis — is as big as it gets,” said CLIA president
Christine Duffy in an interview. Instead, Duffy says, the new emphasis is “on more bells and whistles.”
The most-anticipated new ship of 2014 is Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas, with dazzling first-at-sea attractions: simulated skydiving, bumper cars and an observation capsule called The North Star. The capsule, modeled on the London Eye, offers a bird’s-eye view 300 feet (91 meters) above the water. The ship debuts in November.
More cruise lines are banning smoking on balconies in addition to cabins. After all, if you’re a nonsmoker, you don’t want smoke from the neighboring verandah blowing back into your room. Disney, Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Crystal are among the lines that no longer permit balcony smoking; Cunard will join them later this year.
But most ships still offer some designated smoking areas onboard, which may include decks, casinos and select clubs.
Meanwhile, the Mediterranean-based MSC Cruises company is hoping to win over Americans with its first U.S.-based ship, MSC Divina, which recently started sailing year-round from Miami to the Caribbean.
The cruise industry has had a rough few years, beginning with the January 2012 shipwreck of the Costa Concordia, which killed 32 people. In September 2013, the Concordia was finally pulled upright in a complicated engineering feat, but the vessel is still in the waters off the coast of Italy and its captain remains on trial.
The bad news continued last year when Carnival had several mishaps, with passengers stranded at sea, ships towed back to port and cancelled trips. The negative publicity depressed prices and revenue for the company.
Carnival has also added consumer-friendly offerings like Seuss at Sea, a branded children’s
program, and Carnival Live, a just-announced series of onboard concerts that begin this spring featuring big names like Jennifer Hudson, LeAnn Rimes, Daughtry, Jewel and Lady Antebellum.
River cruises are offered around the world, from the Danube to the Mississippi to the Yangtze, but Spencer Brown says this year’s “hot places to watch” include Myanmar and France’s Bordeaux region.
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Tags: royal caribbean cruise
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