Resorts World Cruises announced that it will be the first cruise line to add a Kuala Lumpur homeport (via Port Klang) for the Genting Dream starting July, in addition to the Singapore homeport, which the company started operations from in June.
With the dual homeport options, travellers can now choose to embark from Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. Two-night cruises from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore will depart on Thursdays and Saturdays and three-night cruises from Kuala Lumpur to Penang and Singapore will depart on Mondays.
Departure days from Singapore will remain the same on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays; and from July 22 onwards, Friday cruises will re-introduce the two-night High Seas Weekend Getaway cruises.
The dual homeport was designed to further cater for the demand of round-trip cruises, targeting the 10 million+ population residing in central Peninsular Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Malacca), who live within a short drive of Port Klang, the embarkation port.
Besides that, Resorts World Cruises will also offer one-way cruises that will become an alternative to air and land travel for the millions of travellers between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, including to Penang.
“Resorts World Cruises is excited to take the lead for the cruise sector to boost the in-and-outbound tourists for Singapore; and to bring cruising to the ‘doorsteps’ of Malaysians residing in central Peninsular Malaysia as they can depart from Kuala Lumpur, which is convenient and affordable,” said Michael Goh, President of Resorts World Cruises. “As Genting Dream is certified as the World’s
With 75 per cent of its construction finished, the 208,000-ton vessel remains at the building dock of the former MV Werften in Wismar, Germany. Previously owned by Genting, the shipyard has changed hands recently and is now controlled by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.
After six months in limbo, the Crystal Endeavor continues to wait for a decision regarding its future.
The 2021-built expedition vessel is currently anchored off Gibraltar and has been recently associated with Silversea Cruises. So far, however, no official announcement has been made by any of the involved parties.
World Dream Previous Brand: Dream Cruises Year Built: 2017 Capacity: 3,400 guests Location: Singapore Anchorage Status: Awaiting decision/buyer
Another ship waiting for a decision regarding its future, the World Dream remains anchored off Singapore.
Crystal Serenity Previous Brand: Crystal Cruises Year Built: 2003 Capacity: 980 guests Location: Enroute to Trieste, Italy Status: Sold to A&K Travel Group
After spending several months arrested in the Bahamas, the Crystal Serenity was auctioned in June and is now sailing to Italy.
Along with its sister ship Crystal Symphony, the 2003-built vessel was acquired by A&K Travel Group. The new owners, who also bought the Crystal Cruises brand and other assets, plan to relaunch the luxury company in 2023.
Crystal Symphony Previous Brand: Crystal Cruises Year Built: 1995 Capacity: 848 guests Location: Enroute to Trieste, Italy Status: Sold to A&K Travel Group
Previously arrested in the Bahamas, the Crystal Symphony is ailing in Italy following a judicial auction.
Explorer Dream Previous Brand: Dream Cruises Year Built: 1999 Capacity: 2,000 guests Location: Port Klang, Malaysia Status: Awaiting decision/buyer
The Explorer Dream is currently anchored off Port Klang, in Malaysia. Formerly operated by Dream Cruises, the 1999-built vessel continues to wait for a decision regarding its future.
After spending most of the pandemic offering domestic cruising in Taiwan, the former SuperStar Virgo arrived in Malaysia in March.
SuperStar Aquarius Previous Brand: Star Cruises Year Built: 1993 Capacity: 1,529 guests Location: Southeast Asia Status: Expected to be scrapped
After being re-flagged and renamed in May, the ex-SuperStar Aquarius is currently named Arius, under St. Kitts and Nevis flag.
Expected to be scrapped along with other former Star Cruises ships, the vessel left Southeast Asia in May for what was believed to be its final trip. Instead of sailing to a ship-breaking yard, however, the 1993-built vessel sailed to Sri Lanka, where, according to the local media, it will stay laid up for the next month.
SuperStar Gemini Previous Brand: Star Cruises Year Built: 1992 Capacity: 1,472 guests Location: Port Klang, Malaysia Status: Expected to be scrapped
Like its sister ship, the former SuperStar Gemini arrived in Sri Lanka recently for a month-long layup.
Also expected to be scrapped, the 30-year-old cruise ship saw a change of name and registry as well, now called Gem under the flag of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Star Pisces Previous Brand: Star Cruises Year Built: 1991 Capacity: 1,384 guests Location: Southeast Asia Status: To be scrapped
The Star Pisces is set to be dismantled in India. After leaving Southeast Asia in late May, the vessel arrived in Alang earlier this month and is expected to be beached soon.
Previously operated by the Star Cruises brand, the former cruise ferry used to offer one-night cruises departing from the port of Hong Kong.
The Taipan Previous Brand: Star Cruises Year Built: 1989 Capacity: 64 guests Location: Penang, Malaysia Status: Sold to OM Ships
Previously Genting’s smallest ship, The Taipan was sold to OM Ships in May. The German religious organization’s famous plans to transform the 1989-built vessel into a missionary ship and floating bookshop.
Before entering service for its new owners, the 32-cabin mega yacht is set to undergo a major transformation in a yet-to-be-named shipyard in Asia.
SuperStar Libra Previous Brand: Star Cruises/MV Werften Year Built: 1988 Capacity: 1,494 guests Location: Aliaga, Turkey Status: Beached for scrapping
The SuperStar Libra is now being dismantled in Turkey after being beached for scrapping at the Aliaga Ship Breaking Yard in May.
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.
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