Royal Caribbean chases Taiwan’s market of ‘keen cruisers’

From left: Royal Caribbean’s Flemming Nielsen, International Cruise Council Taiwan’s Martin Lin and Royal Caribbean’s Angie Stephen on board Ovation of the Seas

Honing in on the Taiwan fly-cruise market, Royal Caribbean International was in the state last week to highlight its upcoming cruising experiences in a media and trade event on board the Ovation of the Seas.

According to the Asia Cruise Trends Report commissioned by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), Taiwan is one of the largest source markets in Asia with a 25 per cent growth in passengers from 2016 to 2017.

With Taiwan a market of “keen cruisers”, Angie Stephen, managing director, Asia-Pacific of Royal Caribbean Cruises, expressed the company’s wishes to help Taiwanese discover the company’s new offerings in Asia and other parts of the world over the next two years.

In particular, Royal Caribbean International will deploy two Quantum Class ships in South-east Asian waters in 2019.

Royal Caribbean’s newest ship, Spectrum of the Seas, will debut in Asia in May 2019. The first in the Quantum Ultra class of ships will boast the cruise line’s first private enclave for suite guests, new stateroom categories, innovative dining concepts, and first-at-sea features.

This is the second time the cruise line is deploying a brand-new ship to Asia for homeporting, which it says underscores its ever-growing confidence in the region.

Another Quantum-class ship set to homeport in this region from November 2019 is Quantum of the Seas. The 18-deck high, 168,666 gross registered ton ship can carry 4,905 guests in total.

source: TTG Asia