Page 5 - 2026 China Market Report

CHINA

and will see a big full-year capacity
jump from approximately 4,300 more
berths in 2027.
It’s a slow growth, and a far cry
from the ships, existing brands and
new brands that were introduced to the
market in 2015.
Royal Caribbean and MSC, the only
western brands with a significant foot-
print in the market, continue to each
have one ship in China. Previously an-
nounced plans for second vessels have
been abandoned for now.
Unique Business
China’s cruise market operates much
differently than the mature cruise mar-
kets and emerging markets elsewhere.
The vast majority of cruises are short,
three to five nights, and the booking win-
dow is measured in weeks or a couple of
months, as opposed to the eight months
or longer booking window the cruise
lines have grown accustomed to else-
where. A booking window that short
means there is inherent risk.
Meanwhile, travel agents and distrib-
utors still control the majority of cruise
inventory. The cruise lines have adjusted
this model slowly over the years and
gotten away from full-ship charters and
huge block bookings from a handful of
agents, which led to problems in the
past. Nevertheless, the short booking
window combined with a large reliance
on travel agents can lead to pricing chal-
lenges.
These tour operators often bundle
transportation to and from the ship and
manage shore excursions. The latter can
vary wildly in quality and can have an
impact on the guest experience.
Onboard revenue is also said to be
limited with less reliance on beverages
eading into 2026, capacity and onboard gaming.
Hgrowth in China is limited with
a handful of more sailings from MSC. Pandemic and Restart
Other operators are limited in their own A wild 2014 to 2020 in China saw
growth. the market starting to stabilize supply
Potential market entrants include the and demand in 2019. Ships left, and the
Star and Dream brands which homeport situation was said to be getting better.
elsewhere in Asia, but no deployment Up next was January 2020, as the
decisions had been made as of press time market was the first to shut down for
for this report in early October 2025. the cruise industry, and ended up being
Adora, the country’s leading cruise the last to restart in late 2023.
brand by capacity, gets its second new- 2024 saw the market come back to
build and third ship to close out 2026, some form of normalcy, as most 

Cruise Industry News: 2026 China Market Report 7