Norwegian cruiser ‘eaten up’ by Chinese consumers
17 October, 2018
Spare a thought for Norwegian Joy, which has yet to live up to its cheerful name. In fact, the luxury vessel from Norwegian Cruise Line will make a humble retreat next April after debuting in Shanghai in June 2017.
“China is a good market. But it’s not as good as Alaska,” Andy Stuart, the president and CEO of the company, explained. He said Norwegian Joy will join its sister ship Norwegian Bliss, which does the “highly profitable” cruise circuit out of Alaska.
Operating cruise vessels is a tough market with thin margins but one must wonder why operating a liner out of the most sparsely populated part of the United States is more profitable than in the world’s largest country.
Was it the greedy damas (Chinese women who do eye-popping behavior as they get close to retirement)?
Local writers have suggested that Norwegian cruise liner was probably eaten out of house and home by gluttonous middle-aged Chinese women.
Apparently, Chinese passengers broke the kitchen storage on the vessel and ate almost all free food on a recent cruise.
A lot of leftovers – chicken drums, shrimp and different kind of meat – were reportedly seen on tables after every meal despite signs asking customers to take smaller portions and be civilized and courteous to others.
A video showing a group of Chinese tourists scrambling with their plates for as much shrimp as possible at a buffet in Thailand went viral in 2016.
In a Norwegian promotional leaflet it was stated that staff on the cruiser boat prepared 60 tons of poultry and meat, 20.5 tons of fish, 11 tons of potatoes, seven tons of watermelon, one ton of banana, 750 gallons of milk and 52,000 eggs.
In this light, they could easily get their money’s worth because some of them were paying as low as 1,949 (US$281) for a five-day-four-night tour.