Royal Caribbean to bring giant cruise ship to China

Cruise ship operator Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL.NYSE) will bring one of the world’s largest cruise ships to China for the summer of 2012 in search of Chinese passengers, MarketWatch reported. The company plans to move the US$740 million Voyager of the Seas ship, which weighs 138,000 tons and carries 3,114 passengers, to Shanghai for a series of four- to ten-night sailings next summer. The ship features a shopping mall, an ice-skating rink and a rock-climbing wall. “With China becoming the world’s second-largest economy, nobody doubts the great potential of the Chinese cruising market,” said Zinan Liu, Royal Caribbean’s managing director of China and Asia. “We weren’t the earliest to enter the Chinese market, but we believe we are entering the market at the best time.” Royal Caribbean already has a smaller vessel, the Legend of the Seas, operating out of Shanghai, where it has docked for four seasons. China business generates only 3-4% of Royal Caribbean’s revenues at present, but overall market growth has been rapid. Zheng Weihang of the China Cruise & Yacht Industry Association said that 790,000 Chinese passengers traveled on cruise ships in 2010, up from 50,000 in 2005. He added that China now has 16 ports capable of handling cruise ships.