According to a report from asia.nikkei.com Royal Caribbean will introduce one of the world’s biggest passenger ships on a route to and from Japan.
Currently owning two Oasis-class cruise ships and the scheduled delivery of two more – Harmony of the Seas in April this year and a fourth ship in 2018, the cruise line plans to deploy one to a hub in Asia – Singapore, Hong Kong or Shanghai – and use it on a route serving Japan.
As no port in Japan is currently capable of receiving a ship the size of an Oasis class ship, Royal Caribbean has yet to decide where the mega vessel will call in Japan.
In June 2015 Royal Caribbean deployed Quantum of the Seas to Shanghai. Weighing approximately 160,000-tons, and carrying some 4,200 passenger, Quantum is one of the biggest cruise ships in Asia. You can see more pictures from the Quantum of the Seas arrival in Hong Kong in our previous post Quantum of the Seas arrives in Hong Kong. Later this year Royal Caribbean plans to deploy Ovation of the Seas to China’s Tianjin.
Royal Caribbean expects the number of tourists arriving in Japan, on one of their cruise ships, to surge 160% to 800,000 in 2017 from 2015.