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Everything.. Norwegian JOY! Delivery spring 2017

FreestyleNovice

By FreestyleNovice,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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barnacle_boy

barnacle_boy

Posted
Posted

Furthermore, China's one-child policy is extremely complex. There are many, many exemptions and enforcement varies greatly from province to province.

 

I don't want to make this into a political debate. I might not agree with most of the practices of the Chinese government, but I think we're better than denigrating an entire group of people based on a poor understanding of their domestic policies :)

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hondorner

hondorner

Posted
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Gotta wonder what is going on in the port at Hong Kong. Royal Caribbean only has one cruise leaving out of Hong Kong in 2016, a repo cruise to Australia in October, and I have read some terrible reviews of passengers waiting 3 hours to board ships smaller than the Breakaway Plus class this year. Will be interested to read how it goes for the Star. One would expect some problems using a port for the first time, but RCCL has been using Hong Kong for some years. Perhaps the new Breakaway Plus ship will be based out of a mainland China port.

Regent and Oceania, now sister Cruise lines, stop in Hong Kong frequently. I don't anticipate any problems for Star.

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mugtech

mugtech

Posted
Posted
Regent and Oceania, now sister Cruise lines, stop in Hong Kong frequently. I don't anticipate any problems for Star.

 

I was speaking about cruises originating in Hong Kong, a place I would rather fly into a few days before the cruise rather than any other China port. Also RCCL sailed two cruises with 3 stops in the Philippines between Hong Kong and Singapore this year, none scheduled in 2016.

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FreestyleNovice

FreestyleNovice

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Posted (edited)

Nevermind, wrong thread (again!)...

 

Everytime I think of Genting World I post it to the Bliss thread.. grmbl.. Meyer Werft is currently building a Breakaway class ship for Star Cruises (Asia). Having less pax, being more luxurious but also being ultra tailored to her market and a few months ahead of Bliss it might be an interesting build to follow!

 

Everything.. Genting World ;)

Edited by FreestyleNovice
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hondorner

hondorner

Posted
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Is the ship's name not going to be Bliss? Forgive me if I missed a post.

 

You're forgiven, but you missed more than one post. The ship construction is being modified to fit the Chinese and will be home ported in China for the Chinese market. The name is the least of the changes.

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Mandy412

Mandy412

Posted
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You're forgiven, but you missed more than one post. The ship construction is being modified to fit the Chinese and will be home ported in China for the Chinese market. The name is the least of the changes.

 

I knew it was going to China (and am bummed) but I definitely missed the name thing.

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eroller Great Review Rare

eroller

Posted
Posted (edited)

The ship is expected to be a more upscale and luxurious version of the Breakaway Plus Class with lower density. It's also being designed to be 100% for the Chinese market and "authentic" to Chinese tastes. See this report from Frank Del Rio:

 

http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/13163-del-rio-norwegian-china-build-going-upscale.html

 

 

What is interesting is that Genting, part owner of NCL is also building a new-build at Meyer-Werft dedicated to the Chinese market, and it's essentially a modified Breakaway platform. It will be named GENTING WORLD. It is also touted as being lower density and a much more luxurious product. Which will be the superior ship remains to be seen. It almost seems like a conflict of interest with Genting being part owner of NCL and building a ship from the same platform as NCL to compete head to head with the NCL ship.

 

Attached is a rendering of GENTING WORLD and you can certainly see the similarities to NORWEGIAN ESCAPE and the Breakaway Class.

 

22181933760_e5030f0a1a_b.jpg

Edited by eroller
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motleyfan

motleyfan

Posted
Posted
Ignorance is (truly) bliss.

 

The next leading space power, world's second largest economic power, the largest army in the world, more millionaires than the US, cruise market shows some 15% growth every year.. etc etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Furthermore, China's one-child policy is extremely complex. There are many, many exemptions and enforcement varies greatly from province to province.

 

I don't want to make this into a political debate. I might not agree with most of the practices of the Chinese government, but I think we're better than denigrating an entire group of people based on a poor understanding of their domestic policies :)

The cruise critic threads where communism is defended lol.

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FreestyleNovice

FreestyleNovice

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Interesting read, thanks. Del Rio confirms our well educated guesses about how Chinese she will be.

 

Star will be the premium line over NCL is I think although Del Rio is aiming high. Curious if and how many destinations and itineraries will be similar between the two lines.

 

Genting World isn't a Plus version btw, "just" regular Breakaway class as base. Although her GT difference is some>5000 GT over BA and GA's some 145/146.000 GT. ES is some 164.000 GT. All numbers very roughly! :)

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eroller Great Review Rare

eroller

Posted
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Genting World isn't a Plus version btw, "just" regular Breakaway class as base. Although her GT difference is some>5000 GT over BA and GA's some 145/146.000 GT. ES is some 164.000 GT. All numbers very roughly! :)

 

 

Yup I know this. I have "Plus" on the brain since I'm leaving on ESCAPE in a week.

 

I do notice the rendering of GENTING WORLD that I posted (which is very recent) still shows lifeboats hanging over the exterior while the ship formally known as NORWEGIAN BLISS appears to have modified the design to bring them inboard.

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eroller Great Review Rare

eroller

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Star will be the premium line over NCL is I think although Del Rio is aiming high. Curious if and how many destinations and itineraries will be similar between the two lines.

 

 

 

I think you're right about that based on the space ratios. GENTING WORLD will also have some interesting toys onboard like two mini-submarines. Considering they only hold five-persons each I don't think most passengers will experience them. Seems far better suited for the mega-yacht CRYSTAL ESPRIT which will also carry one.

 

GENTING WORLD will also have another unique feature. Dual crew/passenger cabins. Certain passenger cabins will be MLC compliant (Marine Labour) and can be converted to crew cabins if required. This will provide Genting the option to increase crew quarters up to 2309 if a more premium crew to passenger ratio is needed. Surely they must have something in mind if they have incorporated this into the design. Perhaps charters or something along those lines?

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FreestyleNovice

FreestyleNovice

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Yup I know this. I have "Plus" on the brain since I'm leaving on ESCAPE in a week.

 

I do notice the rendering of GENTING WORLD that I posted (which is very recent) still shows lifeboats hanging over the exterior while the ship formally known as NORWEGIAN BLISS appears to have modified the design to bring them inboard.

 

I feel you, I mixed them up twice in a row while posting in the wrong thread heh... :o

 

Sharp observation, Barnacle will chime in I hope. The decision on deployment came later than the finished blueprint is my guess, there are just a few necessary reasons to have that design on a megaship. Doing transatlantic runs and therefore the need of high or sheltered life boats (was it Oasis who got damage to her life boats on the very first crossing?). QM2 is a good example of a high freeboard regarding her lifeboats.

The other is the Panama canal as Barnacle explained earlier.

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barnacle_boy

barnacle_boy

Posted
Posted (edited)

Most of this has already been discussed in the Everything Genting World thread.

 

The inboard lifeboats were also an aspect of future Breakaway Plus ships that were already in development. Make no mistake though, NCL had been planning on putting Bliss (or Breakaway Plus 3) in China for quite some time and had been marshaling their remaining Star Cruises resources into action for a while.

Edited by barnacle_boy
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barnacle_boy

barnacle_boy

Posted
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Perhaps but I'm guessing most on here will not search out that thread. Also there is some new information I posted.

 

Well, you're right about that. It's more or less a chat between myself and Freestyle over there :p

 

It'll be interesting to see how Genting plays this out. So far, they're playing close to the chest, and they really aren't making an effort to reach out to Western markets. For example, that "very recent" rendering has been around in ads for the Asia/Pacific market for almost a year now.

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eroller Great Review Rare

eroller

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eroller, please do cross post it on the Genting thread, three is a crowd! :)

 

 

 

Talking marketing, is it show or a dare that NCL really relies on travel agents for attracting customers and people's contributions on getting the Chinese ship thing absolutely perfect?

 

 

I would be happy to. Where is it exactly??

 

I'm sure NCL has done a lot of market research on the Chinese market and probably sent some spies to check out the competition already sailing there. They also still have that connection with Genting and no doubt that comes in handy.

 

One thing I recently learned is that cruise lines can't sell directly to consumers in China. Large agencies have to charter the entire ship or large blocks then they do all the selling. There are already reports of price wars in China with these agencies slashing prices 50% or more to fill their berths. It doesn't directly impact the cruise lines as they have their charter money up front. Eventually it will trickle down to them when it comes time to negotiate new charter agreements. Also they have brand integrity to protect. An interesting way to do business!

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