21 New Ships, More Immersive Experiences Onboard and Ashore, Greater Industry Segmentation and Greener Cruising – There’s a Lot Going on in the Cruise Sector this Year.
These are really exciting times for the cruise industry which continues to grow at a rapid pace. Cruise lines are capitalising on this popularity, by investing in the creation of a number of amazing new ships, as well as spending millions in revamping existing ships with innovative new features and design concepts. The process of building a new ship – from design to keel laying to launch – generally takes two to three years, so it takes a lot of thought and planning. It is, therefore, a staggering thought that we have more than 21 new ships – including expedition and luxury – scheduled to launch next year, which is a testament to the growing enthusiasm for all types of cruises on a global scale.
Experience Becomes King
The major cruise lines are reporting that cruisers are increasingly valuing experiences over material items, and they continue to respond to this trend with an array of innovative, new and enhanced offerings both onboard and ashore. With its a movable deck cantilevered off the side of the ship, dubbed The Magic Carpet, infinite Veranda cabins designed to blend indoor and outdoor thanks to bi-fold doors and windows which slide up or down at the touch of a button, the recently launched Celebrity Edge has certainly helped to create a new standard in experiential onboard living, that other cruise lines will be keen to replicate. In fact, many of the new ships destined for launch in 2019 have already made sure that experience is key. Scenic’s new, all-suite superyacht, Scenic Eclipse – scheduled to launch in April 2019 – for example, will showcase impressive features, such as a fleet of zodiacs, two helicopters and a seven-person submarine, all geared to give passengers the best experiences of their lives.
Itineraries will Get More Immersive to Enhance Experiences Ashore
The luxury cruise sector has actively responded to its passenger preferences for unique destination experiences, rather than just fine dining and sumptuous decors, by increasingly offering exciting itineraries to unusual destinations, with a more immersive flavour and we’re expecting river and ocean cruises will follow suit. Holidaymakers – especially young professionals – are increasingly wanting an individualised travel experience to places their friends have never been to, and we continue to see increased demand for cruises to remote locations such as Antarctica, the Galapagos, the Arctic, the backwaters of Borneo and the wilds of Africa that often times are best accessed by ship. And cruise lines continue to deliver by introducing purpose-built ships created specifically for those destinations
While the ability to visit multiple places in one trip is a factor of cruising’s key attraction to many travellers, it’s also a factor that some have found to be a bit less endearing, as they’ve left little time for passengers to truly explore port stops. Many cruise lines are now starting to listen to passenger requests for more time to explore their favourite destinations, and we continue to see many cruise lines offering more overnight stop-overs on certain itineraries as well as increased port time, so that passengers can get a better sense of a place.
Service Will Be Factored In – from Start to Finish
As cruise lines continue to enhance the onboard and in-port experiences, they’re also paying close attention to homeports to ensure guests have a fantastic experience from start to finish. In partnership with Carnival UK, the Port of Southampton, for example, has invested £12m to upgrade the city’s Ocean Terminal in a move that will accommodate P&O’s next new cruise ship, Iona when it debuts in May 2020. Work began in October to increase passenger capacity at the terminal by 50 per cent and it is expected to be completed by the end of next year.
The first phase of Dover’s Western Docks Revival (DWDR) will also see a fourth berthing facility for cruise and cargo ships completed at the end of this month – allowing the port to accommodate up to four cruise ships at once. The new berth will accommodate ships up to 320m in length and has five lines booked to use the space in 2019. These upgrades will mean that more travellers can sail directly from the UK to warmer climes, without having to set foot on a plane – and the trend for no-fly cruises continues with an estimated 1.1million cruise passengers embarking at UK ports last year – a six per cent year-on-year increase, according to the latest figures.
Cruise lines are also starting to announce major port enhancements in places such as Florida, Alaska and Australia, so travellers can expect a more streamlined experience in a number of new and upgraded ports across the globe.
Greater Segmentation Will Mean Wider Choice for All Ages
The trend for even greater segmentation, as cruise lines increasingly try to differentiate their cruise offerings and provide a wider choice for all types of holidaymakers shows no sign of slowing down in the upcoming year. Cruise lines are increasingly responding to travellers’ cruise preferences by enhancing their offerings to attract specific audiences. As a result, we expect to see more adult-only offerings, specialist themed cruises – such health, fitness and wellbeing, music or gastronomy cruises – as well as cruises geared specifically for multi-generational families.
Technology Will Help Personalise the Onboard Experience Like Never Before
With the past few years being heavily focussed on keeping guests connected to home with upgraded – and less expensive – Wi-Fi options, lines are now turning to other technologies to deliver a more personalised service onboard. Wearable technology will continue to take a stronghold next year, with lines like Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Princess already leading the way with programmes that enable passengers to do everything from getting food delivered to any part of the ship to making reservations instantaneously. Celebrity Cruises has even gone that one step further by introducing a number of exciting new innovations, including push notifications via mobile phone – which puts the concierge, ship map and daily event schedule in each guest’s pocket. It will be exciting to see what innovations are unveiled by the cruise lines next year, as they increasingly aim to keep ahead of their land-based holiday counterparts.
Bringing More of the Outside – Inside
Newer ships are also consistently finding new ways to connect passengers with the outside – and Celebrity Edge has been instrumental in shaping this trend. While traditional balconies often feel separated from the cabin itself, Edge incorporates a veranda into the room. You just have to push a button and a window lowers to allow a sea breeze to come in. Its Magic Carpet also puts you at the side of the ship and on top of the ocean for an outstanding near-al fresco dining experience. Norwegian also features a fantastic observation lounge on Norwegian Bliss, and an oceanfront promenade on Breakaway and Breakaway Plus – with shops and indoor/outdoor dining and drinking options. MSC Seaside and MSC Seaview have also capitalised on ocean-view chill outs – with a huge promenade and outdoor seating that spills out from the bars on to the deck.
Cruising Gets Greener
Cruise lines continue to make important strides to improve their environmental policies. Recycling, incinerating and waste processing was cutting edge on cruise ships a decade ago, but such processes today are basic and expected. Green technologies are being incorporated into new builds and are sometimes retrofitted onto older vessels. These can include solar panels, exhaust “scrubber” systems that help minimise emissions, advances in hull design that let ships cut through the water more efficiently, cooking oil conversion systems and energy-efficient appliances.
Many cruise lines such as MSC, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Lindblad have already banned single-use plastic straws on board; with a few, such as Uniworld going one step further, by banning plastic bottles also. This trend will certainly continue – and we expect that most cruise lines will aim to eliminate as many single-use plastics onboard as possible, in time for the launch of Virgin Voyages new ship, Scarlet Lady in 2020 – which will boast zero single-use plastics on board.
Hurtigruten is ahead of the pack with its new ship, Roald Amundsen, scheduled for launch in May 2019, which will be the first of two purpose-built Explorer-class ships to feature environmentally-friendly, electric hybrid engines – the first time a cruise line has employed such technology. The engines should reduce fuel consumption by approximately 20 per cent, and will be able to sail with solely electric propulsion for up to 30 minutes, to allow for absolutely silent cruising in areas passengers might want to hear icebergs calving or sea animals calling out.
Several other cruise lines have also committed to building ships with Liquefied Natural Gas, a type of fuel that burns cleaner – cutting emissions by up to 80 per cent, and we expect this will also become a mainstream standard for most new ships in the future.”
About Adam Coulter, Managing Editor, Cruise Critic UK
Adam Coulter is the Managing Editor of Cruise Critic UK (www.cruisecritic.co.uk) a leading cruise reviews and news site, which hosts the world’s largest cruise community. He has covered the cruise industry extensively and was previously the editor of Cruise International. Adam has travelled the world by land and by sea, and took his first cruise over twenty years ago. He now travels with kids in tow, introducing a new generation of cruisers to the thrill of a holiday at sea.
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