Carnival Corporation Plans Multi-Ship Chinese Cruise Venture

As all the major cruise lines start to send ships to homeport in Chinese ports, Carnival Corporation look to steal a march on their rivals by announcing a multi-ship joint venture in the region with the China State Shipbuilding Corporation and China Investment Corporation.

Cruise giants, Carnival Corporation, plan to use these new partnerships to purchase and operate ships as part of the world’s first, multi-ship fleet dedicated entirely to the Chinese cruise market. The two partnerships will gift the Carnival Corporation significant financial investment as well as local knowledge of the Chinese tourist market.

Carnival Corporation’s global COO, Alan Buckelew, enthused: “This cruising joint venture is a significant step forward for the cruise industry in China and a tremendous opportunity for us to work together with CSSC and CIC to grow awareness, interest and demand for cruise vacations amongst domestic Chinese travellers.

“Cruising is a relatively new vacation experience in China, and we believe this collaborative approach with our partners is critical to not only developing the country’s domestic cruise business, but also supporting China’s goal to become one of the world’s leading cruise markets in coming years. We are excited about using our scale and decades of experience as the world’s largest cruise company to help launch a multi-ship domestic cruise brand that will help spread the enjoyment of cruising to millions more Chinese vacationers.”

This announcement is not Carnival’s first step into the Chinese cruise market; the corporation announced that a number of its lines including Costa Cruises and Princess Cruises will expand their presence in the region. In 2016, the Carnival Corporation’s dedicated Chinese fleet will expand to six ships, representing a 58% capacity increase.

Specific plans and details for the venture will be announced over the next year, including potential plans to build new ships for the region.

Images sourced via Flickr Creative Commons. Credit: Roger W, Andrew Smith