IF NCL goes to Asia, would you go?

[OCruisers]

For only 7 days -- No Way!

LuLu

[Barb Nahoumi]

No, I am not interested in Asian cruises.

[debnjoe1438]

If I could afford it. :)

[karoo]

Definitely! I've been looking at using alternate cruise lines. I've been to Asia twice and ended up sick even though I only used bottled water. so I've sworn the only way I'll go back to Asia is on a cruise ship so I can return to the hygiene of the ship each night.

[Carnac767]

Um, hells yes. Singapore, Hong Kong, Manila, Pattaya, Danang, yeah, throw me in that briar patch. Love Westpac.

[monkeybone]

Nope

[Scotchick]

I've been, with Princess via Singapore. Fabulous long cruise and really interesting, but I've seen it and probably wouldn't go again. Long flight from Canada. Not many actual Asians on the cruise. Mainly North Americans passengers.

[buckirj1]

Probably not, for a number of reasons. To start, it'd probably be too hot. A debarkation at Ft. Lauderdale and a cruise to Bermuda is as hot as I've ever cruised, and I couldn't imagine people living like that on a regular basis.

 

Secondly, there are places in the world where I wouldn't be comfortable sailing alone, most of Asia falls in that category. Finally, it's a killer flight for not much payoff for me and the way I like to cruise.

 

But I'm all for it if it offers more choice.

[sjbdtz]

NCL is partly (28%) owned by the Genting Hong Kong.

 

Genting HK owns Star Cruises which after RCCL and Carnival is the third largest cruise company. Star is the predominate cruise line in Asia.

 

Back in the early 2000's when Genting was majority owner many of the their newer ships was transferred to NCL. And a few of NCL's older ships was transferred to Star.

 

RCCL is sending its newest ship Quantum to Asia later this year. During the TransPac the ship will be changed to suit the Asian market. RCCL is a major partner in operating the new Hong Kong Kai Tak Cruise Terminal.

 

 

 

If Genting sells NCL position, NCL would be free to compete... I'd be there in a heartbeat. Loved our visits to Korea, Japan & China....would like to see Malaysia, Singapore, Phillippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc.

 

 

.

[4774Papa]

we still cruise NCL, but have done more on Celebrity because they cruise a lot more places. We have done Australia, South America (before NCL went back there), British Isles (before NCL went back there) and the Black Sea.

 

We have two cruises on Celebrity this year in Asia.

First, Singapore to Dubai with stops in India and Oman

Second, Several ports in Japan, Taiwan, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

 

We do have a cruise on the Sun booked for Alaska in September 2016, since we got a better deal on NCL for that cruise.

[Candy mum]

I am from Australia and would love :D ncl to sail asia or even australia it costs a fortune to go to Europe or america even Hawaii also we have to add lots of travel time either end of our holidays :(.Jet lag is yucky)

[cwistyred]

Not interested in Asia at all, but like others have said Australia is somewhere we would want to go. Maybe sailing to Polynesia and Hawaii from an Australian port.

[CanadaTraveller]

Did 21 days in Asia on Oceania, and what they did in several of the ports was 2 days, rather than one. That way, you get to spend more time and see the lights of Shanghai, Hong Kong and Saigon. Having done it, I would say it was the perfect way to see Asia, because you could pull yourself out of the frenetic city to the tranquility of the ship each night. But the flight to Asia. Never again. Halfway there, I decided that I would just spend the rest of my life there rather than endure the flight back.

[jaydeemdm2015]

I was in the Navy for 21 years so I've already been to Asia and seen everything I wanted to. Truth be told, I'm probably still banned from several countries and would be wary about going to the ones I'm not banned in.

 

(Just kidding...sort of) :D

 

Australia would be intriguing but that's a very expensive and super long flight from here in the heartland country.

 

Heartland country is the UK yeah..... Still a fair flight to parts of Asia

[sfaaa]

There goes the No Smoking policy on board.

[sfaaa]

Correct me if I am wrong. But I don't think Australia and NZ are considered part of Asia.

[lgdesign]

Asia - possible, Australia DEFINITELY!

 

Totally agree... would like to see NCL action around New Zealand and Australia. China is better seen on a land tour/river cruise combo and seven days won't really hack it.

[Love2Cruz2015]

Yes, absolutely. I've always been intrigued with the Far East, especially it's architecture. Food I'd be a bit wary about so I don't think I'd be too adventurous unless it seemed safe and catered a bit more to an American palate.

 

My choice would be Hong Kong, Shanghai, whichever port would allow me to see part of the Great Wall...Japan, especially historical places like Nagasaki and even to see Tokyo. I think I'd enjoy the Phillippines with Manila to get a sense of the tropics.

 

I don't have a desire for Vietnam or Thailand or most of the SE Asia as I just think of hot humid uncomfortable weather, mosquitoes and unappetizing food.

 

I'd also like to add since it's an emerging market, I think prices will be low...it's the airfare and the length that concerns me.

Edited March 8, 2015 by Love2Cruz2015

[CruisinMaterial]

The Norwegian Spirit belongs there as she was designed to operate there to begin with! I've been saying this for years and Genting Hong Kong which owns Star Cruises has plenty of presence in the area and as a result would lower the costs of NCL doing business in the region. Genting Hong Kong is a major shareholder in NCL Holdings, the parent company of NCL. It makes perfect sense for them to go but I can understand they wanted to increase their ship portfolio first before doing further out deployments. I would've preferred they headed to Asia first as opposed to returning to South America which is far more expensive for them to operate in. :cool:

 

Now that Andy is in the lead... I'm sure we'll see some awesome deployments! :)

[sfaaa]

 

I don't have a desire for Vietnam or Thailand or most of the SE Asia as I just think of hot humid uncomfortable weather, mosquitoes and unappetizing food.

 

.

 

There are also pirates in that part of the world. You don't hear about it because everyone is so focusing on Somalia.

[Donna_In_India]

But the flight to Asia. Never again. Halfway there, I decided that I would just spend the rest of my life there rather than endure the flight back.

 

This cracked me up! I feel the same way during our 15-16 hour flights to/from India each year.

 

I'd definitely do it. Princess has some interesting itineraries and I would love to sail the Quantum. I could live with a "taste" of South Korea and Taiwan and wouldn't mind starting/ending somewhere in China where I'd spend a few more days. Could do Japan but my husband is intent on doing the bullet so probably makes no sense to cruise. Would love to go to Vietnam and Cambodia but not by cruise.

Edited March 8, 2015 by Donna_In_India

[Carnac767]

Let me get this straight. Some are worried about heat, humidity, and bugs in parts of Asia, yet you'll cruise from south Florida to Central America. Now that is funny. And for the record, the food in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, et al, is some of the best you'll find anywhere. Hey, whatever floats your boat, er cruise ship. Not a flame, just an observation.

[annefield]

I rarely post as most times others have covered my views, but would love to cruise more of Asia.We did 2 B2B Australia circumnavigation last year which included Bali, and years ago a cruise included stunning Langkawi Malaysia. So much more to see in that area: Thailand, Vietnam Cambodia etc. We cruise for itinerary and have just booked our first NCL, would like one day to go on a cruise where we could use some of our very varied loyalty points. If they could do 2 different 7 day itineraries that could be combined B2B I would definitely have a look.

[hondorner]

I think most of this discussion is based on apples and oranges. There is a huge difference between ships that travel to Asia from other parts of the world, and ships that are based in Asia in order to serve the Asian market.

 

Many cruise lines already cruise to Asia. Oceania and Regent do it regularly. Someone mentioned RCCL and Celebrity, and there are others. None of those cruises are 7 days, as it takes longer to get there, spend some time and get to the next area. Cruise lines like Oceania will, for example, start in Athens and cruise 35 days to Singapore, then cruise around Asia, then cruise on to Cape Town. I'm booked on the ultimate Asian cruise next January, 180 days on Oceania Insignia from Miami to Miami, around the world, with stops in Singapore, China, Korea, Japan and the Philippines on the way to Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti.

 

Placing a ship in China to serve the Chinese market, however, is a vastly different thing. The food will be adjusted to Chinese tastes. The language on board will be Chinese. The decor will be unfamiliar to Western tastes. Unless one is of Chinese descent and already speaks Chinese, I seriously doubt any Westerners will be comfortable aboard such a ship.

 

It's for the Chinese market that cruises may be 7 days. When NCL talks about "sending a ship to Asia", they're talking about breaking into the Asian market.

 

There would be very little concern about competition from Star or any other cruise line, owned by the same company or not, if NCL decided to place a ship in China for the Chinese market. Each cruise line serves it's own niche. Saying that NCL would not go where Star already operates is like saying that Carnival, Princess and Holland America can't locate in the same country.

Edited March 8, 2015 by hondorner

[Carnac767]

Correct me if I am wrong. But I don't think Australia and NZ are considered part of Asia.

 

Hey, we're Americans. We can barely find Canada, eh?