China is new home for royal caribbean international's quantum of the seas

[A&L_Ont]

LOL.... At times I gave to pause and back up before I hit the "submit" button.:)

 

I do the same thing, on all posts more than a few words in length. It is bad enough that the mind reads words that aren't really there, then throw in autocorrect. If this is 42, then what will I be like at 70:eek:

[lud016]

First World Problems or what. Some people need to realise that Florida is not the centre of the universe and still has plenty choice. Other areas of the world have had little choice for years and it's great to see this being addressed by cruise lines such as Royal.

 

 

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Well said :) I totally agree there it has been unfair in the past that we have never seen a "new" ship anywhere apart from the US and as far as promoting Quantum so much in the US you have to realise that all the advertising and hype has been World Wide through the press, emails and magazines..........US citizens are not the only people supporting the cruise industry, however currently they are the only ones that are able to do so without incurring HUGE costs in airfares to get to a newer ship!.

 

Good On You RCCL!

Edited April 18, 2014 by lud016

[Cruzin-K]

Well said :) I totally agree there it has been unfair in the past that we have never seen a "new" ship anywhere apart from the US and as far as promoting Quantum so much in the US you have to realise that all the advertising and hype has been World Wide through the press, emails and magazines..........US citizens are not the only people supporting the cruise industry, however currently they are the only ones that are able to do so without incurring HUGE costs in airfares to get to a newer ship!.

 

Good On You RCCL!

 

Europe has had brand new ships... Royal Princess, Carnival Magic, and they'll have the Anthem of the Seas. :)

[Pushka]

There aren't that many Australian ports that can handle a ship the size of Quantum.

Edited April 18, 2014 by Pushka

[lud016]

There aren't that many Australian ports that can handle a ship the size of Quantum.

 

Agreed! We are not big enough in Australia but it is nice to have the option to sail on one without having to go as far as the US.

[eroller]

There aren't that many Australian ports that can handle a ship the size of Quantum.

 

 

Thats too bad. I guess an Oasis Class is out of the question then.

[pescatch]

Yes, sometimes even a little more when pricing out for July...which is pricey but that is the tag most people will pay for sailing out of their area. However, I priced the Liberty today - 9 night on 08/13/15....3 pax (E1) is a total of $7,336.00. That, IMO, is way over the top. I expected Quantum Summer prices to be well over $6,000.00 for 3 people but Liberty....an 8 year old ship (in 2015) with minor differences from Explorer....kind of got me shaking my head.

 

 

I agree. I think RC overplayed there hand here. Their line of thinking in regards to pricing seems to be that they are still giving the NY area a "new" ship since it's been the voyager class based here for some time. I can't see this selling too well at that current price. People were willing to pay high prices for the Quantum because it was something new. This is just a bigger Explorer. I know I was looking to book it in May 2015 but at over $2000 PER PERSON for a balcony, I'll be going on the NCL getaway for $2000 TOTAL instead.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[smoosh21]

Its not that hard to figure out, nor is it a big surprise that RCCL made this decision so shortly after Star Cruises inked their 2nd contract for a brand new mega-ship for the Asian market.

 

RCCL made a strategic decision to move Quantum so that they could bring te first mega-ship to this market.

 

I just went out to see what Star Cruises is about, and I think it is going to be very interesting to see how Royal is going to compete. Go and look at their Entertainment. It is interesting to see the Adult only entertainment that they offer

[smoosh21]

Nope not confused at all and did not miss your point. I know what RCI had announced to the public and trade. RCI spent millions of dollars promoting this ship in the U.S. They have now backtracked due to plans not working out which is understandable. RCI is a business and they have to do what is right for their business but they handled it wrong. What's funny is how Adam Goldstein is trying to spin this in the media stating that the consumers in China have grown to expect the best. That may be true but what he should have said is Bermuda was not ready and the terminal was not ready so we decided to use a back up plan. ;)

 

 

So Basically, you think that Royal Caribbean should announce to the Asia-Pacific customers that they are just a back up plan. That Royal is Only serving them with this ship because Bermuda wouldn't play ball. They really didn't want to send this ship to Asia. That they should be grateful for any old ship they get??

 

Do you really think that would be a winning sale?

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

I think the yields in Australia are very high and that market is doing extremely well. Frankly I would have been far less surprised if RCI had announced QUANTUM was heading to Australia. The market in Australia has had decades to mature using second hand tonnage, and frankly it deserves a state of the art new build. The cruise market in China is far less developed than Australia and I don't think RCI will be doing too much marketing in Australia to promote the ship. QUANTUM will be marketed pretty much to the Chinese and that is who the product will be geared towards.

 

I think the yields in China will be nothing like what RCI could get in Australia, but RCI really wants to get its foot in the door in a big way in China, and sending QUANTUM will certainly do that. I anticipate a lot of teething pains in the beginning and yields not being that great until the ship and marketing really get a foothold.

 

I am sorry but I have to disagree with you here. China is evolving very rapidly. The generation that turns 50 and above are now retiring on full pay and they hand over the mortgage payments to the children and live with them. They have all this money rolling in and want to spend it. Over the last 2 years especially, the ratio of chinese passengers is rising. They love it and they book in huge groups and have guides and interpreters with them. Generally they mingle with each other and gradually they are learning etiquette and love learning western ways. They will take to this ship like ducks to water..... Princess has sent the Sun to be based out of Japan and they are sending the Diamond (which has been asianised) too. There is a HUGE market there with lots of money.

 

China is not the country it was during the strict Communist regime..... and the people are loving their freedom and making the most of it. So they should! :D

[DEIx15x8]

I just went out to see what Star Cruises is about, and I think it is going to be very interesting to see how Royal is going to compete. Go and look at their Entertainment. It is interesting to see the Adult only entertainment that they offer

 

And they charge $20 online or $25 on the ship to see the show. I was reading some reviews and it sounds like they have a credit system to manage what people do and eat. The reviewer mentioned lines to get to the buffet for breakfast because they had to scan everyones card as they entered. Seems a bit odd. Could mean that Dynamic Dining and forced specialty restaurants will seem normal to them though. Their ships looked surprisingly impressive though so I can understand why Royal Caribbean might be scared of them getting new large ships.

[avalon007]

Then if you're ranting about how they handled the situation, don't go all ape wall on us Asians. Many of us do not just cruise for the sake of gambling nowadays. It may have been like that a while back but not anymore. We are probably as "civilized" as ya'll Americans if you can't see that. I can't judge about mainland Chinese people but here in Singapore, many of us have adapted to cruising as a leisure vacation and not a gambling den. I would assume though, that they aren't very far behind in catching up with the logic behind the cruising and how it has transformed.

 

 

Love Singapore! It's a such a clean modern place & the Singaporeans are also very modern in their approach having made both English & Chinese required languages making them versatile in all markets.

 

Yes, many westerners who are not as close geographically to Asia as us Australians, do have a bit of a dated opinion about Asia. America is failing fast as the most important economy & Asia (specifically China) is where it's all happening. Asia is a great destination & I think more US cruisers should try it. A good chance to try Quantum out as well as see another country rather than the same old Caribbean islands?

 

 

We would love more large ships here in Australia, but we need some larger terminals first. The Australian market was growing at about 30% compared to the US at about 4% last I heard, hence the influx of cruise ships in recent years, but Voyager class is the largest we can fit as none of Royal's ships can fit under the Sydney Harbour Bridge so are limited to smaller docks.

 

But the number of ships coming here has nothing to do with us 'maturing' into a cruise market as one poster put it, we have had cruise ships here for decades, I cruised twice as a child back in the 1970's.

 

What ships we get will always be limited because with our population of about 25 million, we can't compete with China for potential customers with it's 1.3+ billion people. It's just economic sense for Royal to enter into Asia/Pacific.

 

I have heard that Singaporeans do find some cruises out of China 'too Chinese' for their tastes, have you had any experience in that or have heard this is the case?

[Ethanol95]

Love Singapore! It's a such a clean modern place & the Singaporeans are also very modern in their approach having made both English & Chinese required languages making them versatile in all markets.

 

Yes, many westerners who are not as close geographically to Asia as us Australians, do have a bit of a dated opinion about Asia. America is failing fast as the most important economy & Asia (specifically China) is where it's all happening. Asia is a great destination & I think more US cruisers should try it. A good chance to try Quantum out as well as see another country rather than the same old Caribbean islands?

 

 

We would love more large ships here in Australia, but we need some larger terminals first. The Australian market was growing at about 30% compared to the US at about 4% last I heard, hence the influx of cruise ships in recent years, but Voyager class is the largest we can fit as none of Royal's ships can fit under the Sydney Harbour Bridge so are limited to smaller docks.

 

But the number of ships coming here has nothing to do with us 'maturing' into a cruise market as one poster put it, we have had cruise ships here for decades, I cruised twice as a child back in the 1970's.

 

What ships we get will always be limited because with our population of about 25 million, we can't compete with China for potential customers with it's 1.3+ billion people. It's just economic sense for Royal to enter into Asia/Pacific.

 

I have heard that Singaporeans do find some cruises out of China 'too Chinese' for their tastes, have you had any experience in that or have heard this is the case?

 

I agree, i really urge US cruisers to step out and see the world whether it be Asia, Australia or wherever because you can never get enough of exploring different cultures. As for cruises that are 'too Chinese' i think Star cruises seem to have a lot more of those experiences as they are specifically aimed at the Chinese. A lot of furnishings and entertainment are oriental, also having probably little or no Western entertainment and food catered to the passengers. This is why i prefer RCI as they aim at the general market where even in places like Asia, western food still can be found.

 

I am still hoping that Quantum would come to Singapore :( maybe during winter?

[timtam2]

I'm another Australian doing the happy dance over this news - I have done 3 Mariner Asian cruises, the last one ending in Shanghai. And I'll be going on Quantam now for sure!

 

I love the multi cultural aspect of Asia based cruises - it's not just the Chinese who will cruise on Quantam - people will travel from all over Asia (and further afield) - South Korea is another big expanding market for cruise group travel - On these cruises, it is not unusual to have over 50 nationalities represented amongst the passengers - I applaud this move by RCI :)

[Miamia65]

We will also be cruising on Quantum out of China, great news for the Asian region of the world.

 

In December we cruised on Oasis, there was a very large group of chinese on board, we had a D1 cabin on deck 8, most of the cabins around us were occupied by chinese passengers - they already love cruising so this may very well be a good decision for RCI.

 

Sorry to read that americans are upset about this, but as I have said on other threads on this forum, you are very very lucky to have the number of ships operating out of various ports in the USA.

 

The Sydney Overseas Passenger Terminal is getting an upgrade, we here in Australia are hoping that bigger ships than voyager class will be able to come to Australia, homeported here would be even better.

[Ethanol95]

Now i'm eager to see what new itineraries Quantum has in store for us! Can't wait. :D It feels good to have such a groundbreaking and innovative ship so near to me now. :)

[timtam2]

I don't think the decision to homeport Quantum in Shanghai has anything to do with Bermuda - I'd say it's always been planned that way.

 

This report from last year shows that the Chinese have long held plans for the development of Baoshan and big $$$ are being invested and spent there. I don't think they would be doing that on the off chance a cruise company or 2 might schedule a ship there....

 

http://maritimeintel.com/baoshan-aims-to-be-the-long-beach-of-shanghai-as-it-establishes-cruise-industry-development-zones/

[orgutierrez]

Now i'm eager to see what new itineraries Quantum has in store for us! Can't wait. :D It feels good to have such a groundbreaking and innovative ship so near to me now. :)

Totally agree! In fact, I am so eager now that I have already started looking for which ports might be the ones on the Quantum itineraries! The article said that the cruises will only be from three nights to eight nights, that is quite short, so perhaps we'll have to combine some B2B, as coming from Spain, we would like to stay longer there.

Some ports might be Tianjin (for the Great Wall), China, even though I don't see that one too suitable as it is two sea days away from Shanghai and considering that cruises will be only from 3 to 8 nights it wouldn't make any sense. It is possible that these cruises call at the following three ports in South Korea: Jeju Island, Incheon (for Seoul) and Busan, I am sure that some of these three will be on the Quantum itineraries. Then, it could be possible that the Quantum gets to some Japanese ports such as Kobe, Osaka, Nagasaki or Fukoka.

 

Looking forward to sail on the Quantum of the Seas from Shanghai!

I love this move by RCL!

[avalon007]

Having been to China I would highly recommend combining a land tour with any cruise so you get to see the best of the country.

 

You can spend a whole day in the Forbidden City in Beijing alone, another at the Great Wall & Ming Tombs etc.

 

One of the highlights for me was Xian which is where they discovered all those terracotta warriors - amazing place!

 

Guilin is beautiful & doing a river cruise there is also well worth your time.

 

A lot to see in China.

[Cutesy Pie Lover]

Having been to China I would highly recommend combining a land tour with any cruise so you get to see the best of the country.

 

You can spend a whole day in the Forbidden City in Beijing alone, another at the Great Wall & Ming Tombs etc.

 

One of the highlights for me was Xian which is where they discovered all those terracotta warriors - amazing place!

 

Guilin is beautiful & doing a river cruise there is also well worth your time.

 

A lot to see in China.

 

I am getting excited about possibly booking the Quantum to cruise in the area. I have seen a lot of the Caribbean - could you a big change in scenery!! :D

[Cruising89143]

So Basically, you think that Royal Caribbean should announce to the Asia-Pacific customers that they are just a back up plan. That Royal is Only serving them with this ship because Bermuda wouldn't play ball. They really didn't want to send this ship to Asia. That they should be grateful for any old ship they get??

 

Do you really think that would be a winning sale?

 

Another one that totally missed the point!!!!!!:rolleyes:

[marci22]

Exactly. This is great news especially for NCL, as BREAKAWAY will continue to be the newest and most amenity filled ship in the NY market. I'm sure they are overjoyed with the decision.

 

I just went to look at the NCL page for Breakaway. I think these Bayonne prices are going to push people to look at other options.

[little britain]

Now i'm eager to see what new itineraries Quantum has in store for us! Can't wait. :D It feels good to have such a groundbreaking and innovative ship so near to me now. :)

 

I wonder how she will be getting from NYC to Shanghai.....now that would be a cruise:D

[Cruising89143]

I just went to look at the NCL page for Breakaway. I think these Bayonne prices are going to push people to look at other options.

 

I am betting that prices come down. The prices for the Liberty are insane. That's a nice ship but it's not worth those prices that RCI is asking.

[smoosh21]

1. 
   

Another one that totally missed the point!!!!!!:rolleyes:

 

 

Actually, I'm not missing the point at all. There seems to be some sort of call that Royal should come out and tell everyone that they really didnt want to send the ship to Asia and that they are sorry that they had to do it. What I am stating is that that would be foolish when Royal has been trying very hard to become dominant in Asia. If they weren't, they wouldnt have completely retrofitted the Mariner last year for the Asian market.

 

Yes, I do realize that this wasn't Royal's first choice, but you know, lemons-Lemonade.