The premium European cruise brands are bullish on the future of their businesses, as the market segment is expected to expand by 60 percent in passenger capacity between 2019 and 2027, according to the 2019 Cruise Industry News Annual Report.
New and bigger ships are driving that expansion, underlined by aggressive growth plans at TUI Cruises, which has seven ships sailing this year, and has plans for another three newbuilds.
Another Meyer Turku-built Mein Schiff will join the German fleet in 2023, matching the Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2, which were delivered by the Finnish yard in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
In 2024 and 2026, TUI will welcome in a new class of ships built by Fincantieri. The new prototypes will also be the largest in the TUI fleet at 4,000 guests, compared to the latest class of Mein Schiff ships at 2,900 passengers.
More growth plans come at Carnival Corporation-owned brands.
Cunard will get its fourth Queen, a 3,000-berth vessel, in 2022, which is expected to growth the British brand’s guest capacity by some 40 percent.
At P&O Cruises UK, two new next-general XL-class vessels will join the fleet and sail on LNG. The 5,200-berth Iona is due to launch in 2020, followed by a sister ship in 2022.
The addition of more than 10,000 berths to the P&O fleet will drive annual passenger capacity up by some 68 percent by 2023, when the second of the two newbuilds is in service for the full year.
The premium market occupies a key section of the cruise product period, often seeing passengers graduate from contemporary brands. Average cruise lengths are between seven and 14 days and per diem rates are typically above the contemporary segment while the brands attract older and more affluent guests.
About the Annual Report:
The Cruise Industry News Annual Report is the only book of its kind, presenting the worldwide cruise industry through 2027 in 400 pages.
Statistics are independently researched.
See a preview by clicking here.
The report covers everything from new ships on order to supply-and-demand scenarios from 1987 through 2027+. Plus there is a future outlook, complete growth projections for each cruise line, regional market reports, and detailed ship deployment by region and market, covering all the cruise lines.
