13 domestic ports saw 969 cruises and 4.9 million visits, falling 17.95 percent and 0.98 percent respectively.
Royal Caribbean has spent more than a decade in China building a reputation and customer base. Now that work appears to be paying off in a global way.
The country plans to make China one of the world's most dynamic cruise markets by 2035, when it expects to be boasting 14 million cruise passengers a year and have built its own large cruise ship.
It will also encourage cruise companies to explore routes to regions like Southeast Asia, expanding cruise services departing from Hainan.
It is the first cruise line to offer both Alipay and WeChat Pay payment options onboard a passenger ship in North America.
China is likely to become the world's largest cruise market in the next 10 to 20 years while its travel industry and the public sector step up moves to boost marine-based tourism, China Daily reported.
Carnival rolled out plans for its China-based cruise joint venture with CSSC. The venture also signed a contract to order two new China-built ships with the option to order four more.
Some overseas cruise lines' decision to exit the Chinese market has more to do with their business errors than with Chinese customers or domestic market demand, tourism experts said on Thursday.