Strap yourselves in, because the cruise industry is ready for a new truly exciting phase of growth once more. And this means a huge amount of potential for those looking to enter the cruise retail sector.
After the pandemic, the cruise industry went through a rebuilding phase. There was obviously a focus on getting back to normality again, paying off the large amount of debt accumulated in the shutdown, scrapping older inefficient ships, and starting to get the demand built back into the industry once more.
With the very strong results coming from the industry in the past quarters alongside a high forward booking forecast, tt is safe to say, that this phase has come to an end, and the confidence and bullishness of the cruise sector is roaring back. In the past weeks we have started to see cruise lines once again announcing new ship orders, something that we hadn't seen for many years. This is the signal that you needed to understand how the next phase of growth will emerge.
For cruise retail, this means 2 things. First, that existing ships will present increasingly strong growth prospects for brands and onboard teams from higher demand, higher bookings and potentially higher yielding guests. Secondly, new building will accelerate the top line growth for the industry as the capacity increase will match the demand increase for the sector and this means globally that the CAGR will be a very strong one.
So, what new ships will see ahead then?
Let's start looking at the next few years. We still have a fair number of pre-pandemic orders which will be delivered over the next 2-3 years, with a mixture of innovative mega-ships and some intriguing new luxury ships entering service also.
2025....
First up, we have NCL's latest prima-class ship NORWEGIAN AQUA, which will debut in April. 3571 guest capacity and launching in Miami. Slightly larger than her sisters Prima and Viva, AQUA will have some really innovative new features debuting onboard.
(Image: NCL)
Next up, we have another world-class cruise ship from MSC Cruises. MSC WORLD AMERICA with capacity for 6774 passengers, will also debut in April 2025 and will debut in Miami at the brand new MSC terminal. She will be one of the 10 largest cruise ships in the world and will offer many of the same features as her sister ship MSC World Europa, which launched in 2022. But AMERICA, is being specifically designed for the US-cruise market so will have many brand new features onboard.
(Image: MSC Cruises)
Then, In August 2025 will be the debut of the next in largest cruise ship in the world class, STAR OF THE SEAS for Royal Caribbean Cruises based out of Port Canaveral. Sister ship to the truly ground breaking Icon of the Seas which launched earlier this year. STAR will no doubt be a huge success like her sister.
(Image: RCCL)
But there is much more! Also coming in 2025, will be DISNEY DESTINY for Disney Cruise Line, STAR PRINCESS for PRINCESS CRUISE LINE, VIKING VESTA for Viking Ocean Cruises, CELEBRITY XCEL for Celebrity Cruises, LUMINARA from Ritz-Carlton and ALLURA for Oceania Cruises.
2026....
Then in 2026, we will have further sister ships in the sames classes for Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruises. But more interestingly will be 2 really intriguing launches in the luxury sector for 2 brand new names entering the cruise sector.
In January 2026, will be the debut launch of Four Seasons Luxury Yachts with the FOUR SEASONS I. A truly luxurious new megayacht with capacity for just 190 guests. This yacht has been conceived to be invitation only, and will be bringing super luxury guests onboard in a truly unique way in the market.
(Image: Four Seasons Yachts)
Then later in the year. The premiere launch of Orient Express cruises with the still-to-be-named ORIENT EXPRESS SILENSEAS concept which will have capacity for just 106 guests. This incredibly unique hybrid concept is showcasing a truly differing design for the industry.
(Image: Orient Express)
Both these luxury yachts show the sheer diversity of the innovation coming in new ship building and really show us a whole spectrum of new ships.
LOOKING FURTHER AHEAD....
Now, the excitement for new ship launches has been ramped up in the past weeks. Cruise lines are back at the drawing board again designing the next generation of technologically innovative cruise ships to launch in the next decade. New classes which will be designed to run on next-gen fuel, showcasing new guest experiences and differing design philosophies to inspire their guests. First, with the announcement from Carnival Cruise Line of 3 new ships from Fincantieri with capacity for nearly 8000 passengers, on top of 2 new ships ordered from Meyer Werft. This will cement Carnival's position as market leader in their sector and shows high growth expectation. Norwegian Cruise Line have ordered 8 new ships for their 3 brands from Fincantieri, And then, just this weekend, Disney Cruise Line ordered 4 new ships on top of the 4 new builds they have coming into service, which will triple the size of their cruise fleet. Really ambitious!
(Image: Disney Cruise Line)
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR CRUISE RETAIL?
All of these new ships mean a truly exciting next phase of growth for the cruise retail industry. Cutting edge innovation has always been a hallmark of the cruise industry and the expectation will be that retail must follow. All of these new ships will offer dynamic retail offerings onboard with increasing space, innovation and evolved offerings. It remains to be seen who will offer the most change and forward thinking, but for sure there is a vast array of opportunity out there to be seized. All of this growth will mean a large amount of opportunity for people to build their careers with a huge expansion in the number of jobs, leadership positions with over 1000 new positions to be added between now and 2027 alone. The prospect of amazing new brands, ideas and concepts at the heart of these new ships will mean that the industry has never had so much positive prospect and great opportunities for retailers to grow at sea.
And we are here to support this next exciting part of the industry growth in a unique and partnership way. But, why wait? If you want to know about some of the job opportunities that we have today, then visit our jobs page
Let's sail together.
Thanks!
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