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A cruise venture between a big Chinese travel vendor and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is folding.
Shanghai-based SkySea Cruise Line will make its last cruise this fall. The end of the venture may be another sign that the bloom is off the rose in the largest potential cruise market in the world.
RCCL’s partner, Ctrip.com International, said TUI’s Marella Cruises has agreed to purchase its only ship, the Golden Era, with delivery expected in December 2018. Ctrip and RCCL currently each own a minority of SkySea, with the balance owned by SkySea management and a private equity fund.
Among RCCL’s contributions to the venture was the former Celebrity Century, which began sailing as the SkySea Golden Era in May 2015.
Marella Cruises, formerly Thomson Cruises, will acquire the 1,814-passenger ship and put it in service as an adults-only vessel called Marella Explorer 2 in the summer of 2019.
Ctrip, the largest OTA in China, said the cruise business would continue to be an essential part of its platform, and that the company would continue to work closely with all cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean.
The cruise business in China had a reset last year following a political dispute that put Korea off limits, causing many charter contracts to be renegotiated. In 2018, capacity in the Chinese market will not expand for the first time in at least five years.
Ctrip said by the time of its final voyage, SkySea Cruise Line will have operated close to 300 cruises and carried nearly 500,000 guests in just over three years.
Source: travelweekly.com