Cruise to Nowhere Selling Like Hotcakes With 6,000 Bookings in 5 Days

By
Shawn Ambrose
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Travel is like a long-lost lover at the moment.

Since we can’t have travel, we spend most of our days reminiscing about our travel adventures in the past.

We also fantasise about travelling in the future, though it still seems like a distant dream.

Image: Tenor

Singaporeans are so starved of travel now that we’re willing to do anything to have a sliver of the travel experience.

Whether this means eating meals on a stationary plane or taking cruises to nowhere, Singaporeans will certainly do it.

Cruise to Nowhere Selling Like Hotcakes With 6,000 Bookings in 5 Days

We all knew that residents wanted to travel, but we didn’t know just how desperate they were.

On 8 Oct, the Singapore Tourism Board announced it would permit round-trip cruises without ports of call.

According to The Straits Times, one of the approved cruises – Genting Cruise Lines – has received more than 6,000 bookings for its “cruises to nowhere” in just five days.

23 Genting Cruise Lines sailings have been scheduled for November and December, with a maximum capacity of 1,700 passengers for each cruise.

The other approved cruise – Royal Caribbean International (RCI) – said that demand for their cruises has also  “exceeded expectations”.

An RCI spokseman said bookings have increased by 500% compared to the past two weeks.

All 1,000 seats on their first cruise, on 1 Dec, are almost sold out.

“Complete Holiday Experience”

You’re probably wondering, what’s so great about these cruises? Why is everyone itching to get on one?

Well, according to Michael Goh, head of international sales at Genting Cruise Lines, it’s the “complete holiday experience”, where the “ship itself is the destination.”

Speaking to ST, he said: “The response has been overwhelming. We call it a ‘superstaycation’, because we offer all three meals, outdoor activities like waterslides and rock climbing, and even a Christmas musical.”

Image: Genting Cruise Lines

Tickets are, however, not cheap. 

According to ST, cruise prices for both companies range between $359 and $599 per person, depending on the duration of the cruise.

Stringent Safety Measures

Thinking about going on one of these cruises but wary of the possibility of Covid-19 coming along?

Well, you have good reason to be.

Over 700 passengers on the now-infamous Diamond Princess, a ship that set sail from Yokohama (near Tokyo) in February, ended up getting infected, leading to 6 deaths.

Clusters can form easily on cruises, but that’s why STB has taken extra safety precautions.

The board reportedly hired DNV GL Singapore – a risk management company – to create a safety framework for these cruises.

Once this framework has been established, cruises can only set sail if they have been certified for compliance with it.

These safety measures include:

  • strict and frequent cleaning and sanitisation of ships
  • mandatory Covid-19 tests prior to boarding
  • implementation of safe management measures – mask-wearing and safe distancing of 1m between groups of passengers
  • ensuring 100% fresh air throughout the ship and that there’s no recirculation of air
  • operating at 50% capacity to allow for safe distancing
  • introducing onboard measures to discourage close contact and intermingling between groups of passengers
  • emergency response plans for incidents relating to Covid-19

These cruises will also be subject to regular inspections.

And chances are, the famous buffets in the cruises won’t be available.

Non-compliant cruises will face penalties including fines, suspension of sailings, and could even have their CruiseSafe certifications revoked.

Travel certainly looks very different in 2020. Hopefully, we’ll be reunited with our long-lost lover in 2021.

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]