Cruise trends 2014
NEW YORK, USA — 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.”
Two of 2014’s new ships are sure to turn heads. The colourful exterior of Norwegian Cruise Line’s ship Getaway, which debuts this winter and will homeport in Miami, features a mermaid cavorting amid turquoise and yellow swirls. It was designed by Miami-based Cuban-American artist David Le Batard, also known as “LEBO.”
Getaway will homeport in Miami and is a sister ship to Norwegian Breakaway, a New York-themed ship that debuted in 2013. Getaway carries 3,969 passengers, has 18 decks and two unique offerings: the Illusionarium, part restaurant, part magic show, and the “Grammy Experience at Sea,” with performances by Grammy winners and nominees, plus exhibits of Grammy-related artefacts.
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, modelled on the London Eye, offers a bird’s-eye view 300 feet (91 metres) above the water. The ship debuts in November.
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.
The incidents even changed the way travellers book cruises. The percentage of cruises booked online had been increasing fast until last year, according to a study released in December by PhoCusWright.