There are a number of dozen main new cruise ships scheduled to debut over the following few years, with some already obtainable to e book.
However be warned in the event you’re beginning to plan your future holidays round them: They won’t all arrive on time.
Within the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the development of a rising variety of cruise vessels scheduled to be accomplished over the following few years is falling behind, typically by many months.
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Simply final week, two main cruise strains introduced important delays within the arrival of latest vessels:
- Cunard pushed again the debut of its first new ship in 14 years, the two,794-passenger Queen Anne, by 4 months to Might 3, 2024. It was initially as a consequence of begin service in January 2024.
- Norwegian Cruise Line mentioned the arrival of the third and fourth vessels in its new Prima-class collection can be pushed again from 2024 and 2025, respectively, to 2025 and 2026.
The debut of the second ship within the Prima-class collection, Norwegian Viva, was delayed twice, from June 2023 to July 2023 to August 2023.
The delays come simply months after Virgin Voyages delayed the arrival of its third ship by practically a 12 months and startup luxurious line Explora Journeys pushed again the debut of its first ship by two months.
Different latest ship unveilings which have been delayed, in some instances considerably, embody the arrival of The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s first vessel, luxurious line Seabourn’s first expedition-style cruise ship and Disney Want, the primary new Disney cruise ship in a decade.
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Like a lot of the strains earlier than them, each Cunard and Norwegian final week blamed shipyard building delays brought about partially by pandemic-era provide chain points for the delayed ship unveilings.
“Due partially to unexpected occasions which have occurred in recent times, the shipbuilding trade, like different industries, has confronted quite a few challenges together with power shortages and world provide chain constraints,” Cunard mentioned in a press release despatched to TPG.
The road mentioned passengers already booked or waitlisted on Queen Anne’s previously announced maiden voyage, which had been scheduled for Jan. 4, 2024, would have the reserving or waitlist place transferred to the vessel’s new maiden voyage.
The Norwegian ships have been delayed “100% on account of shipyard delays from provide chain constraints,” Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Chief Monetary Officer Mark Kempa mentioned final week throughout a convention name with Wall Avenue analysts.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is the mum or dad firm of Norwegian Cruise Line, in addition to Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. The corporate introduced the Norwegian ship delays Nov. 8 as a part of its quarterly earnings launch.
Whereas the arrival dates of the 2 Norwegian ships have been pushed again into later calendar years, Kempa mentioned the precise time delay for the development of every of the 2 vessels was within the “4 to 5 months” vary.
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Neither Norwegian ship had opened for bookings earlier than the delays have been introduced.
Not all the ship delays of late have been totally as a consequence of fallout from the results of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The delay of the debut of The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Assortment’s first vessel, Evrima, was partly brought on by shipyard troubles that predated the pandemic. The road initially used a shipyard with little expertise in constructing luxurious cruise vessels, and building of the ship rapidly bumped into issues.
Provide chain points within the wake of the pandemic simply made the scenario for Evrima worse.
Evrima finally debuted in October after eight delays that pushed back the ship’s arrival by three years.
Different strains which have introduced delays for brand new ships previously 12 months embody Atlas Ocean Voyages, P&O Cruises, Oceanwide Expeditions, Swan Hellenic, Viking and Ambassador Cruise Line.
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