Resorts World Cruises will call at Bintan and Batam as well as Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Penang, the company said. - The Straits Times/ANN
SINGAPORE, June 7 (The Straits Times/ANN): Cruise-goers are set to get another option to sail internationally as Resorts World Cruises looks to start trips to Malaysia and Indonesia on July 1.
Its cruises will call at Bintan and Batam as well as Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Penang, the company said in a statement on Tuesday (June 7).
It also plans to include more popular destinations such as Phuket, Krabi and Balias early as October this year, said the company's president Michael Goh.
This comes as Royal Caribbean - one of Resorts World Cruises' major competitors here - announced that its ships would begin calling at Malaysian ports including Penang and Port Klang from the end of this month.
In April, The Straits Times reported that the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) was hoping to bring in at least one or two more cruise lines here in the next few months.
The trips will be made on Resorts World Cruises' flagship the Genting Dream, which was previously owned by the now defunct Dream Cruises.
Dream Cruises went down with its parent company Genting Hong Kong in February this year, leaving customers in the lurch.
The new Resorts World Cruises - owned by Malaysian tycoon Lim Kok Thay - later stepped in to offer credits to affected customers.
Genting Dream is currently preparing for its maiden voyage under the new ownership - a cruise to nowhere scheduled for June 15.
The July 1 date for international destinations is several months sooner than the earlier announced plan for trips to Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia to begin at the end of September.
Cruises to Indonesia will begin with the two-night Bintan and Batam Weekend Getaway Cruise on July 1, said Mr Goh.
On July 3, the ship will sail for Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Penang, he added.
Ms Annie Chang, director for cruises at STB, said the expansion of Resorts World Cruises' destination list strengthens Singapore's cruise offerings and gives more options for domestic and international cruise-goers.
She said: "We are delighted that Resorts World Cruises has added destinations to their cruises as more ports in the region reopen.
"STB will continue to work closely with our regional counterparts to re-open more ports and re-invigorate the cruise industry in South-East Asia."
The international cruise industry in Singapore has been largely dormant for over two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, apart from cruises-to-nowhere which have been operating since November 2020. - The Straits Times/ANN
