NCL announced today that the Norwegian Joy will be deployed to the US West Coast in 2019. Now normally this may seem like an ordinary deployment, but remember the Norwegian Joy was NCL’s purpose build ship for the Chinese market. The intention was that she wouldn’t leave that market. But as a benefit of this industry, you can reposition you assets to the most profitable markets around the globe whenever you need to.
NCL stated that starting next summer, the Norwegian Joy will be joining her sister, Norwegian Bliss, in Alaska for the entire season. After that, they will send her to California where she will sail Mexican Riviera cruises.
Prior to the summer season, the Norwegian Joy will have to undergo refits to better suit the North American market. The costs are expected to be around $50 million.
The Norwegian Pearl will also relocate to Europe next summer.
China has always been a difficult market to crack into despite what everyone’s saying. There is a huge potential there given the population, but the yields are quite low compared to what other markets get.