China is extending its new “special port fees” to visiting cruise ships, raising questions about whether the cruise industry will retreat from its planned port calls due to the costs. The new fees started on October 14 as a reciprocal to the U.S. port fees introduced under the program established by the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office in response to China’s dominance of the shipbuilding industry.
The U.S. program is targeting China-owned and operated ships as well as those built in China, but mostly applies to the commercial shipping industry. None of China’s cruise ships has scheduled port calls in the United States. China, in its reciprocal program, is targeting U.S.-owned or operated ships as well as U.S.-flagged and built ships.
The test of China’s approach to the cruise industry came on Thursday, October 16, with the Marshall Islands-flagged cruise ship Riviera (66,172 gross tons / 1,250 passengers), operated by Miami, Florida-based Oceania Cruises, part of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which was scheduled for a one-day port call. The ship, which is marketed in the United States and carries American passengers, is on a 14-night cruise that began in Japan.
Caixin, a privately-owned Chinese news outlet, reports the Riviera was going to have to pay approximately $1.6 million in additional port fees. It was due to make a port call in Shanghai but diverted to Busan, South Korea.
However, Royal Caribbean International’s cruise ship Spectrum of the Seas (169,379 gross tons) returned to Shanghai on Friday, October 17, after a short cruise. The cruise ship is homeported in Shanghai, offering short cruises mostly marketed to Chinese citizens.
Caixin is reported that the government granted the ship a waiver for the additional port fees, which would have been substantial based on its size. According to the newspaper article, the Chinese are warning that it is not a blanket waiver for cruise ships. Caixin believes ships homeported in China will continue to receive the exemption, but that port calls on cruises aboard ships associated with the U.S. during Asian cruises will not be exempted.
Built in 2019, Spectrum of the Seas was one of the first international cruise ships to return to China after the extended pause due to the pandemic, currently sailing year-round from Shanghai. Since 2023, she has been registered in Cyprus while operating for the Miami, Florida-based cruise line. She carries 5,600 passengers and 1,550 crew.
Royal Caribbean has highlighted that the Spectrum of the Seas, which was built in Germany, was tailored to the Chinese market. For example, passengers can find aboard regionally inspired restaurants including Hot Pot, Teppanyaki, and Sichuan Red, as well as entertainment like a show called Silk Road.
The Spectrum of the Seas is scheduled to continue to be homeported in Shanghai till November 2026 and then move to Hong Kong. Caixin believes that because it is operating from China that it will continue to have the exemption.
The fees would be significant for the cruise ships, which are larger than many commercial ships. Currently, China is charging $56 per net ton, with the fees increasing by 2028 to approximately $157 per net ton. For a ship the size of the Spectrum of the Seas, Caixin reports the current fee would be more than $9 million per trip and rise to more than $26.5 million for each cruise.
With China targeting the in-transit port calls of cruise ships for the fees, Caixin reports that cruise lines are likely to reconsider the port calls. It says Disney Cruise Line had been planning calls in Shanghai, which it reports are unlikely to proceed. With most cruise ships owned by the U.S.-based Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Group, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, other port calls are likely to be canceled.
Currently, the only other international cruise ship homeported in Shanghai is MSC Cruises’ Bellissima. Owned by a Swiss company and flagged in Malta, it is not subject to the special port fees. The other cruises in the market are Chinese companies, including Adora, the China Merchants joint venture with Viking, and domestic companies, including Blue Dream Cruises and Cosco’s Astro Ocean International Cruise, which currently has its sole ship based in Malaysia.
