As a countermeasure against the relevant provisions of the U.S. Section 301 investigation, China has implemented a special port fee for U.S. vessels for two days, and the cruise industry is also affected.
Recently, the U.S. luxury cruise ship “RIVIERA” canceled its trip to Shanghai after refusing to pay the special port fee, causing dissatisfaction among passengers. The “RIVIERA” has a passenger capacity of 1,250 and belongs to the brand Oceania Cruises under the U.S.-headquartered Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. It is one of the vessels subject to China’s special port fee levy.
According to the “Implementation Measures for Collecting Special Port Fees on U.S. Vessels” issued by China’s Ministry of Transport on October 14, the special port fee required for this vessel is approximately 11.67 million yuan.
Informed sources stated that the “RIVIERA” is a transit call cruise. It departed from Seattle, USA, on September 18, passed through Canada and Alaska, USA, and arrived in Japan on October 4. After completing a 9-day journey in Japan, it was originally scheduled to arrive in Shanghai, China, on the morning of October 15. However, to avoid the special port fee, it altered its route to Busan Port, South Korea.
Transit call cruises generally operate on long-distance transoceanic routes or global itineraries. They only make brief stops at cruise ports and typically bring high-end international tourists. Currently, such cruises are primarily controlled by U.S. cruise companies. Another type is the homeport cruise, which usually operates regional short-distance routes, has fixed homeports and short-cycle schedules, and mainly serves local tourists from the homeport, with more affordable prices.
In 2025, China’s cruise market overall shows a continued recovery trend. In the first half of the year, the total number of homeport passenger visits at various cruise ports was 1.277 million, a year-on-year increase of 50%; the total number of transit call passenger (international tourist) visits was 57,000, a year-on-year decrease of 43%.
