Optimism, Big Plans Take Center Stage at Seatrade Cruise Conference

There’s nothing more symbolic of optimism in the cruise industry than new ship orders and there were plenty of those creating buzz at this year’s 39th annual Seatrade Cruise Global Conference in Miami Beach last week. Even before the conference’s always-standing-room-only President’s Panel, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Ltd. had announced a massive order of eight new vessels over the next 10 years.

During the show, Scenic Group announced a third yacht for Emerald Cruises, MSC announced its third World Class ship, and Windstar Cruises announced it had acquired two new ships for its fleet.

During the President’s Panel, moderator Anne Kalosh, senior associate editor at Seatrade Cruise News, pointed out that Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has 13 ships on order, Royal Caribbean Group has nine, MSC Cruises has eight, and Carnival Corp. has four.

When asked where their confidence comes from for such large orders, Harry Sommer, president & CEO of NCL Holdings Ltd. said “Demand is incredibly robust. Guests are coming back. Their repeat rates are at historical high levels, and this gives us incredible optimism for the future of the company. We see the future of the cruise industry is bright.”

“Any of us could order a lot of ships should we choose as you look at the next 15 years,” said Josh Weinstein, president, CEO, and Chief Climate Officer at Carnival Corporation & plc. “It is remarkable how boisterous this environment is and I don’t think it’s fleeting. As a matter of fact, we keep breaking myths. We keep getting to the younger generations… The net is going to keep getting cast wider and wider.”

New-to-cruise
Speaking of wider nets, the panel of CEOs spoke briefly about the growth in new-to-cruise customers, with Jason Liberty, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group (and CLIA’s Global Chairman), saying new-to-cruise typically accounts for about one-third of annual cruise passengers.

“You think about it, if 10 million new people are coming in, that number will grow each and every year,” he said, adding they are four to five times more likely to cruise again “once they’ve had the experience.”

Liberty attributed the growth in new-to-cruise numbers to social sharing.

“Sharing around social media and people who were detractors seeing their friend kayaking next to a glacier and they turn to their spouse and they say, wait a second, one, you can do that on a cruise? And, two, why aren’t we doing that? That just keeps bringing in more and more,” he said.

Both Sommer and Weinstein agreed.

“We now have 31 million people getting off our ships and going home and telling their friends and family who have never cruised before, you don’t know what you’re missing, this is amazing,” said Weinstein.

Sommer said: “The ubiquity of social media really helps with this endeavor,” he said. “The studies that we see, nearly universal, they’re referrals from other people. No one comes to the cruise industry [saying] I don’t know anyone that’s ever cruised. I have no idea what a cruise is, but I’m going to cruise. No, they have a friend, family, a neighbor, a relative that’s cruised and that positive word of mouth is really huge to our industry.”

Both Liberty and Sommer said as more new-to-cruise guests come home and start talking about their experience, the more the new-to-cruise segment will grow – what Sommer referred to as a “flywheel of people cruising” and Liberty called a “self-fulfilling prophecy.”

New innovations in shipboard fun and culinary experiences, and even in itineraries – including shorter sailings that give on-the-fence prospects the chance to dip their toes into cruising – don’t hurt either, the executives said.

Pent-up demand over, new travel philosophies
The executives also agreed that the unprecedented demand they’re all seeing is no longer something that can be explained away as simply pent-up.

“It’s not something we view as in the moment, passing, or pent up demand,” said Weinstein. “The concept of pent up demand for cruising is gone. We have been cruising for three years. This is natural demand because we all provide amazing experiences. We deliver happiness to literally 31 million guests last year.”

Liberty added that rather than pent-up demand, people came out of COVID seeing travel in a new light.

“There are so many secular and demographic trends that are favoring cruise,” he said. “The appreciation of building memories with families and friends coming out of COVID is at extraordinarily high levels… Also wealth transfer, grandparents wanting to see that wealth transfer live, watching their kids and their grandkids experience that is also at an all-time high. We have a secular trend of people buying less stuff, they want experiences. We’re in the experience business.”

Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman, cruise division of MSC Group, added that it’s a global trend, not one that’s only being experienced in North America.

“We see it coming back in different parts of the world exactly the same…,” Vago said. “This is promising because it looks like the numbers will be on the rise.”

Sommer summed up the panel’s overall sentiment the best: “This is industry is just on the cusp of greatness and the future is incredibly bright.”