The new 5,448-guest Wonder of the Seas from Royal Caribbean International will help push China’s cruise industry to record capacity levels in 2021, and if annualized service is realized, help China reach nearly 4 million cruise passengers in 2022, according to data in the 2020 China Market Report by Cruise Industry News.
The news of the Wonder of the Seas heading to Asia year-round could result in a 18.1 percent capacity increase in China in 2022 when compared with 2021, if the ship stays based there sailing regular itineraries for the year.
With Royal Caribbean putting its best and latest hardware into China, it also underscores that the Chinese cruise market has returned to growth after a number of years of capacity decline.
2022 was already set to be a key inflection point for the Chinese market, with an estimated 11.8 percent growth in capacity before Royal Caribbean’s announcement.
Key drivers in 2022 include an additional Global-class ship from Dream Cruises, three year-round Costa ships and two year-round ex-Costa ships in the CSSC/Carnival China operation.
2022 Expected China-Based Ship Lineup:
| Cruise Line | Ship | Berths | Built | Sailing | |
| Astro Ocean | Piano Land | 1,806 | 1995 | Year-Round | |
| Bohai | Chinese Taishan | 832 | 2000 | Year-Round | |
| Costa | Firenze | 4,232 | 2020 | Year-Round | |
| Costa | Venezia | 4,232 | 2019 | Year-Round | |
| CSSC/Carnival | Atlantica | 2,100 | 2000 | Year-Round | |
| CSSC/Carnival | Mediterranea | 2,100 | 2003 | Year-Round | |
| Diamond | Glory Sea | 838 | 2001 | Year-Round | |
| Dream Cruises | Explorer Dream | 2,000 | 2000 | Seasonal | |
| Dream Cruises | Global Class 2 | 5,000 | 2022 | Year-Round | |
| Dream Cruises | Global Dream | 5,000 | 2021 | Year-Round | |
| Dream Cruises | World Dream | 3,400 | 2017 | Year-Round | |
| MSC | Bellissima | 4,888 | 2019 | Year-Round | |
| Princess | Sapphire Princess | 2,600 | 2004 | Seasonal | |
| Royal Caribbean | Quantum/Seas | 4,100 | 2014 | Seasonal | |
| Royal Caribbean | Spectrum/Seas | 4,200 | 2019 | Year-Round | |
| Royal Caribbean | Voyager/Seas | 3,100 | 1999 | Seasonal | |
| Royal Caribbean | Wonder/Seas | 5,448 | 2021 | Year-Round | |
| Star Cruises | SuperStar Gemini | 1,472 | 1992 | Seasonal | |
