Tag Archives: Genting Cruise

Where Are the Cruise Ships Originally Built for the Chinese Market?

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Several cruise ships were specifically built to serve the booming Chinese market in the last decade.

Too much capacity followed by COVID-19, in addition to other factors, changing the course of the local business, all of the vessels are now sailing elsewhere.

Here’s what happened to all of the former China-bound newbuilds:

Ovation of the Seas
Company: Royal Caribbean International
Built: 2016
Capacity: 4,100 guests
Tonnage: 158,000
Current Sailing Region: North America

The Ovation of the Seas became the first Royal Caribbean International new build to debut in China when it arrived in Tianjin in 2016.

With several custom-designed features, the Quantum-class ship continued to serve the local market until 2018.

Beginning in 2019, the ship started to alternate summer seasons in North America – where it is currently sailing – and winter seasons in Australia.

Genting Dream
Company: Dream Cruises (Genting Cruise Lines)
Built: 2016
Capacity: 3,400 guests
Tonnage: 150,000
Current Sailing Region: Southeast Asia

As the first cruise ship to enter service for Dream Cruises, the Genting Dream originally served the Chinese market.

With several features to cater to Chinese guests, the Genting-owned cruise ship had already been repositioned out of China when the pandemic broke in 2020.

The health crisis, however, led to the collapse of Genting Cruise Lines and Dream Cruises. After a few months laid up waiting for a new operator, the 2016-built vessel was chartered by Resorts World Cruises in mid-2022.

Norwegian Joy
Company: Norwegian Cruise Line
Built: 2017
Capacity: 4,200 guests
Tonnage: 163,000
Current Sailing Region: North America

Norwegian Cruise Line made a grand entrance into the Chinese market in 2017 with the Norwegian Joy.

Built at the Meyer Werft shipyard, the vessel was custom designed to serve the local market with exclusive features that include a virtual reality gaming centre, a tearoom and more.

The vessel was pulled out of China in early 2019. Following a refit – that removed all of the ship’s original purposely-designed features – the vessel repositioned to the North American market in time for a summer program in Alaska.

Majestic Princess
Company: Princess Cruises
Built: 2017
Capacity: 3,600 guests
Tonnage: 141,000
Current Sailing Region: North America

Following years of investment into the local market, Princess Cruises decided to send a custom-design new build to China with the Majestic Princess.

The 2017-built vessel was considered the first built specifically for Chinese guests, offering unique features such as a Cantonese restaurant, a VIP casino, a tea bar and karaoke rooms. 

The Chinese venture, however, proved to be short with the brand dropping plans for a year-round deployment in the country just months after the debut of the 3,600-guest ship. Initially redeployed to Taiwan and Australia for most of the year, the Majestic Princess arrived in the North American market – where it’s currently sailing – in 2021.

World Dream
Company: Dream Cruises (Genting Cruise Lines)
Built: 2017
Capacity: 3,400 guests
Tonnage: 150,000
Current Sailing Region: Laid-up

The World Dream entered service for Dream Cruises in 2017. Sporting several features for the local market, the vessel originally offered an upscale product in China.

With Genting Cruise Lines collapsing earlier this year, the ship continues to wait for a decision regarding its future while laid up in Southeast Asia.

 Norwegian Encore
Company: Norwegian Cruise Line
Built: 2019
Capacity: 4,200 guests
Tonnage: 163,000
Current Sailing Region: North America

Norwegian Cruise Line originally planned to send the fourth Breakaway Plus-Class cruise ship to China.

The vessel, which later became the Norwegian Encore, would add capacity to the local market, which was already being serviced by the 2017-built Norwegian Joy.

The plans, however, were scrapped while the ship was still being built at the Meyer Werft shipyard. Instead of China, the Norwegian Encore debuted in the North American market, where it’s still sailing to this day.

The spectrum of the Seas
Company: Royal Caribbean International
Built: 2019
Capacity: 4,200 guests
Tonnage: 168,666
Current Sailing Region: Southeast Asia

Royal Caribbean International sent a second new build to China in 2019 with the Spectrum of the Seas.

As the first Quantum Ultra-Class vessel, the 4,200-guest ship was designed with new features to cater to the local market, including an expanded VIP suite enclave and a set of new Asian speciality restaurants.

With the COVID-19 hitting Asia first, the Spectrum was briefly redeployed to Australia in early 2020 before entering a long lay-up status. Currently, the ship is offering short cruises departing from Singapore’s Marina Bay Cruise Terminal.

Costa Venezia
Company: Costa Cruises
Built: 2019
Capacity: 4,232 guests
Tonnage: 135,500
Current Sailing Region: Mediterranean

The Costa Venezia entered service in 2019 as Costa Cruises’ first designed-for-China new build.

Built-in Italy, the 135,500-ton vessel offers custom-designed features, including a karaoke entertainment complex and larger casino and shopping areas.

With the pandemic, the ship spent most of the last three years laid up in Asia. Currently, in service for Costa Cruises in the Eastern Mediterranean, the ship will be positioned in North America starting in 2023, kicking off a series of cruises from New York City for the new Costa by Carnival concept.

Costa Firenze
Company: Costa Cruises
Built: 2020
Capacity: 4,232 guests
Tonnage: 135,500
Current Sailing Region: Mediterranean

A sister to the Costa Venezia, the Costa Firenze was set to debut in China in late 2020. Also, custom-designed to serve the local market, the 4,232-guest cruise ship was equipped with several unique features.

The pandemic, however, forced Costa Cruises to change plans for the vessel. Unable to sail to Asia, the Firenze debuted in Europe in 2021 and has been serving Western markets ever since.

After a winter season in Brazil, the vessel is now set to debut in the United States in 2024, offering West Coast cruises under the Costa by Carnival concept.

The wonder of the Seas
Company: Royal Caribbean International
Built: 2022
Capacity: 5,448 guests
Tonnage: 227,625
Current Sailing Region: Mediterranean

Currently, the world’s biggest cruise ship, the Wonder of the Seas was originally bound for year-round service in China.

Featuring interior designs and concepts to appeal to the local public, the Royal Caribbean International ship was set to debut in the Chinese market in mid-2021, offering a series of cruises departing from Shanghai.

The pandemic, however, led the company to deploy the Oasis-class vessel in the Western Hemisphere, with a series of Mediterranean and Caribbean itineraries.

Global Dream
Company: Dream Cruises (Genting Cruise Lines)
Built: 2022
Capacity: 5,000 guests
Tonnage: 208,000
Current Sailing Region: Unfinished

Previously set for a 2022 debut, the Global Dream was poised to become one of the biggest ships in the Chinese market.

With custom-designed features and attractions, the 5,000-guest ship was under construction in Germany when Dream Cruises collapsed earlier this year.

Now sitting unfinished at its building dock at the MV Werften, the vessel is looking for a new operator.  

Star Pisces Beached for Scrapping in India

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The Star Pisces was beached for scrapping in Alang, India, on July 12.

Formerly operated by Star Cruises, the 1991-built vessel will now be dismantled by one of the many local ship-breaking yards.  

During the process, its building materials, fixtures, engines and systems, are set to be sold off for repurposing or recycling.

Ending a 31-year sailing career, the Pisces was originally built for Viking Line as the cruise ferry Kalypso.

After being acquired by Star Cruises in 1993, the 40,000-ton ship spent the last three decades offering cruises catering to the Asian market.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the vessel used to offer one-night cruises to nowhere departing from Hong Kong.

More recently, in December, the 1,090-guest ship started what turned out to be its last operation, kicking off a series of short cruises in Malaysia.

Sailing from Penang, the program marked its return to service after a two-year operational pause.

With Genting filing for liquidation shortly after, however, the ship found itself out of service again in late January.

After spending four months laid-up in Southeast Asia along with other former Star Cruises vessels, the Pisces began its last voyage in early June.

With the Star Pisces now beached, a total of ten cruise ships have been sold to ship-breaking yards in 2022.

The list includes the SuperStar Libra, another cruise ship formerly operated by Star Cruises.

The 1988-built vessel arrived at Aliaga in May, following a four-year stint serving as a floating hotel at a Genting-owned shipyard.

After leaving Southeast Asia along with the Star Pisces, two additional ex-Star Cruises, the SuperStar Gemini and the SuperStar Aquarius were also expected to arrive at scrapyards soon.

The vessels, however, sailed to Sri Lanka, where, according to local news reports, they are set to spend a month in lay-up.

Bankrupt Cruise Line’s Unfinished Ship Attracts Investor Interest

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A general view of the cruise liner Global Dream, which is still under construction at the shipbuilding hall of the MV Werften shipyards which are insolvent, in Wismar, Germany January 13, 2022. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

Billionaire Lim Kok Thay is among several investors interested in purchasing the Global Dream mega luxury liner that was under construction at Genting Hong Kong Ltd.’s now-insolvent shipbuilder, MV Werften in Germany.

Several serious interested parties are in talks to buy the unfinished ship, said Christoph Morgen, the German court-appointed provisional insolvency administrator for the shipbuilder. Morgen is optimistic a deal could come together, but thinks it won’t likely happen before next month because the case is complex, he said at a briefing at the shuttered shipyard in Wismar on Monday.

MV Werften’s provisional insolvency in early January proved to be a turning point for Genting Hong Kong, which became the world’s biggest cruise operator to seek court assistance to safeguard its assets during the pandemic when it filed a windup petition days later. Genting reported a record loss of $1.7 billion in May as the pandemic ravaged the cruising industry.

Lim, who has resigned as Genting Hong Kong’s chairman and chief executive officer, contacted Morgen to express interest in purchasing the ship at the beginning of the provisional insolvency process, Morgen said. The insolvency administrator said he hopes to find “a better solution for the ship” than Lim. 

“My impression is that he would only like to buy it if nobody else would be interested in order to get it cheap and possible to finish the ship somewhere else,” said Morgen, who added he hasn’t heard from Lim since. “I hope that we won’t depend on this, because we now have strong interest from many other possible investors.”

The 342-meter liner, which Genting dubbed the Global Dream and which is set to be the world’s biggest vessel by passenger capacity, was heralded as ushering in a new era of mega-ships tapping into Asia’s growing cruising market. The ship was about 72% complete when the German government and Genting couldn’t agree in December on plans to finance $620 million to help finish it and keep the shipyard in business, according to a letter Lim wrote to creditors.

A spokeswoman for Genting, which Lim heads as CEO, declined to comment. Representatives for Genting Hong Kong didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Lim still holds about 75% of shares in Genting Hong Kong and heads other Genting businesses, although there are no cross-shareholdings.

Both Lim and German government officials blamed the other for MV Werften’s bankruptcy. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said his government did everything in its power to save MV Werften, saying the state had offered a loan of 600 million euros ($670 million) on the condition that Genting provides an additional 60 million euros plus guarantees for the federal funds. Genting turned that down, Habeck said.

In his letter to creditors explaining Genting’s slide into provisional insolvency, Lim accused the current German government of not honouring the previous government’s agreement to provide the capital that didn’t require a personal guarantee.

Henning Groskreutz, a union leader from the local IG Metall chapter, said that the shipyard will still need between 500 million euros and 600 million euros to finish the ship. “We will need this money in order to be able to convince the workers to stay here,” Groskreutz said. Many workers have already left and have started at other employers because there’s high demand for such skills.

Habeck said the government would be willing to subsidize the final construction of the Global Dream with a “new reliable investor.”

“If there’s a reliable finance plan, we could make the same offer like over Christmas,” Habeck said, adding that Genting didn’t want to contribute financially to complete the ship. “We don’t want to throw money out of the window.”

Genting’s Crystal Cruises brand shut its U.S. office and terminated employees last week. The closing of Crystal Cruises’ operation in Miami came after two of its ships were seized in the Bahamas after a fuel supplier sought the action for $4.6 million in unpaid fuel bills.

Dream Cruises Holding Ltd., an indirect non-wholly owned unit of Genting Hong Kong that has also filed a winding-up petition, will continue to operate its fleet in the region, the company said.