Norweigian Cruise Line partners with Alibaba

Thursday 4th of May 2017

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. today announced the launch of a new partnership with online and mobile commerce company Alibaba Group.

The two companies will leverage Norwegian’s expertise in providing vacation experiences and its cruise offerings along with Alibaba’s unparalleled insights into the wants and needs of the Chinese consumer to deliver the cruise industry’s most-customized product for the local China market.

Utilizing Alibaba’s expansive ecosystem for engaging consumers, the two companies will look to further increase the awareness in China of the unique offerings of a cruise vacation. The companies will also collaborate to provide Alibaba customers with new and unique online-to-offline (O2O) experiences at sea across Norwegian’s China-based and global fleet.

The announcement comes as Norwegian prepares to enter the Chinese cruise market in June 2017 with the introduction of the 3,850 passenger Norwegian Joy.

"We are pleased to partner with Norwegian Cruise Line on this tremendous initiative,” said Michael Evans, president of Alibaba Group. “Our expanded relationship is another example of how Alibaba is helping international brands to reach Chinese consumers through our robust data, marketing and technology. We look forward to further strengthening our collaboration with Norwegian in the future.”

"Since launching our first cruise over 50 years ago, Norwegian has grown to become one of the most storied names in leisure travel with groundbreaking innovations that have shaped the modern cruise industry," said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. "Our partnership with Alibaba will combine Norwegian's history of innovation in the cruise industry and our entry into the Chinese cruise market with Norwegian Joy with Alibaba's extensive knowledge of China's consumer base and its unique ecosystem which continually reaches consumers in new and ever-expanding ways."

“The partnership with Alibaba complements our strong, existing relationships with our loyal travel agents to provide unmatched insight into what Chinese travelers look for in a vacation experience,” said David Herrera, President, NCLH China. “The combination of Norwegian’s expertise in delivering memorable vacation experiences, Alibaba’s insights into Chinese consumer behavior and our travel agents’ knowledge of the preferences of Chinese travelers will create a cruise product unequaled in China.”

Norwegian Joy’s inaugural and christening gala ceremony will take place on June 27 in Shanghai, featuring the ship’s Godfather, ‘King of Chinese Pop’, Wang Leehom.

Partnership Cruise Agreement