Briefly sailing onboard Norwegian Cruise Line's new Norwegian Joy, I had the chance to speak with David Herrera, president of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings China, about what went into making the ship such a uniquely Chinese product and one that is of such exceptional quality overall.
As it turns out, the main thing that Chinese travelers love about cruising is what most others primarily do:
"Yes, we compete with the other cruise brands, but our real competition is the land vacation. Explaining to someone that you can get on a cruise ship and go to three or four different ports, three or four different countries-man, that's a great value proposition! And especially for the Chinese because you have that comfort that you can come back and not have to worry about checking out and checking in."
The key thing for Herrera and the Norwegian team was to enter the China market properly. They actually considered converting an existing ship by changing out its signage, restaurant themes and decor. Had they gone that route, Herrera admitted the company could've had a presence by 2015.
Instead, though, they waited it out and custom built a ship to show a commitment to the market.
"We wanted to be a little more thoughtful in what we did and how we did it," he explained.
Part of that process even involved Herrera moving to China with his wife and three children a year ago. He's been with Norwegian for two years but previously served as a senior consultant to Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. at Oceania Cruises back in the Prestige Cruise Holdings days.
With the Norwegian Joy raising the bar so high, I asked if it is intended to carry the upscale Oceania and even luxury Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands into China.
"It's a good question," he said. "It's not, but I will tell you it's a multilayered question, so I think this ship demonstrates the positive influence that [the] Oceania and Regent teams have had on the NCL product in general. Every ship you build you want to make it better than the last ship, take the best learnings from the last ship and add them here."
"This is a representation of the other brands, but in China, I'm not going out of my way in all my marketing materials to spend too much bandwidth on Oceania and Regent right now. We need to establish Norwegian first. We're not going to have an Oceania or Regent ship home-ported in China in the near future. So, that's going to rely on fly-cruise. So, while there's a lot of overlap for the travel agents in China, you do see travel agents who are more focused on homeport and others who are more focused on fly-cruise. It's more of a niche."
[READMORE]READ MORE: See the Beautiful New Norwegian Joy[/READMORE]
Thanks to The Haven ship-within-a-ship luxury accommodations, Herrera thinks Norwegian Joy hits a sweet spot for his own family.
"So, my wife and I would love to cruise on Regent. My kids would not because it's not created for a kid product."
However, on the Norwegian Joy, he and his wife can be perfectly content with the plush amenities of The Haven while his children enjoy the waterslides and games. It also just so happens that the Chinese culture is very family-driven, so the ship is tailored specifically to that in both dining and accommodations.
Rather than Norwegian's signature Studio cabins for solo travelers, this ship features family staterooms for larger groups. Plus, there are more cabins that sleep thirds and fourths than previously.
Regarding the ship's high quality, Herrera clarified, "Even if we had nothing to do with Oceania or Regent, the goal of this ship is to provide first class at sea, raising the bar. But our tagline 'Feel Free' didn't sound good, didn't resonate, in Chinese. We needed something that did. 'First Class at Sea': not only does it resonate and deliver on our value proposition, but it also sounds fluent in Mandarin. It's one of those nuances that we spent a lot of time studying this market before we went in."
Once completed, Norwegian will host a series of day events in the ship's regional ports to highlight it among agents and authorities beginning on June 3, 2017. These will include first-call ceremonies, tours and meals ahead of the ship's first revenue sailing on June 28, 2017.
[READMORE]READ MORE: New Norwegian Joy Makes Grand First Impression[/READMORE]
"We got it right, man," Herrera exclaimed. "We did the East and the West, the balance of East and West."
And he's right, the Joy has a perfect international vibe, with elements familiar to anyone who has already sailed aboard the Norwegian Escape along with other new features we look forward to also seeing one day on the Norwegian Bliss.
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