Royal Caribbean International’s Spectrum of the Seas will sail a program out of Singapore starting from April 2022, which is six months ahead of the previous schedule. This was reported by the Singapore Cruise Society.
The 4,200-passenger Quantum Ultra-class ship was originally poised to begin the Singapore-based season in October 2022. It was last engaged in a season of short domestic sailings to nowhere, exclusive for Hong Kong residents. But, after a mid-January update to local COVID-19 prevention policies by local authorities, the cruise line started cancelling Hong Kong voyages onboard the Spectrum.
According to Singapore Cruise Society, Spectrum’s older fleet mate, the Quantum of the Seas, which was most recently operating sailings out of Singapore, will be redeployed for a season of voyages in Alaska, starting in May.
Royal Caribbean International has announced that it’s extending the Singapore season for the Quantum of the Seas through February 2022.
This marks the third season extension for the Quantum in Singapore, which first returned to cruising in December 2020. To date, on 60-plus ocean getaways, more than 82,000 guests have safely sailed with zero occurrences of COVID-19 onboard, the cruise line wrote in a press release.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to extend the Quantum’s ultimate ocean getaway through early next year, providing Singapore residents with more time to relax and unwind. Despite the constantly evolving circumstances, Royal Caribbean remains consistent in delivering a wonderful holiday experience. We know that with her remarkable breadth of activities, delicious meals and unparalleled views, Quantum has many fans in Singapore, and there continues to be an overwhelming demand for sailings,” said Angie Stephen, managing director, Asia-Pacific, Royal Caribbean International.
The cruise line said that it has made every effort to keep guests and crew aboard the Quantum safe through a multilayered set of health and safety measures, which include pre-departure wellness screenings using gold-standard PCR tests, contactless embarkation and debarkation, and enhanced HVAC filtration systems and sanitization.
“The health and safety of our guests remain our utmost priority, and we are continuing to be nimble as we follow the science and work closely with the Singapore government and health authorities to evaluate, update and adhere to prevailing measures. In the next few months, as more Singapore residents become fully vaccinated, we anticipate that we’ll begin sailing with the fully vaccinated crew and vaccinated guests age 12 and older alongside children who are not yet eligible for vaccines,” added Stephen.
Singapore residents can choose between Quantum’s three- and four-night ocean getaways. The ship features activities, such as the RipCord by iFly sky diving adventure and the FlowRider surf simulator, entertainment that blends art, music and technology, and dining flavours from across the world at 18 restaurants onboard.
In line with the recent government regulations, the Quantum currently sails at 50-per cent guest capacity, and holidaymakers from different households have the option of travelling in groups of five.
Palfinger Marine has completed its first major refurbishment jobs since the start of the pandemic, according to a press release.
The job involved servicing 18 lifeboats and 20 winches for the Allure of the Seas from Royal Caribbean International.
To complete the job, 11 technicians from Palfenger’s U.S. service office travelled to Naventia’s shipyard in Cádiz, Spain, where they joined five LSA- and seven refinishing technicians from Palfinger Spain.
Palfinger’s Florida-based Operations Manager Josh Lozano has celebrated the resumption of major cruise operations at Palfinger.
“Slowly but surely, we were able to resume our work after the lockdown, starting with the first successful service job for the Allure of the Seas,” he said.
Together, the technicians working on the Allure refinished the canopies on 18 lifeboats – which can carry up to 370 people each – and inspected the boats and release gear.
This work included “cleaning and maintaining the release hooks as well as inspecting the boats according to MSC.402 and other regulations required by class and flag,” the company stated. The jobs took 30 days to complete.
Lozano said that they have also been performing two cruise drydocking in Italy and Singapore, utilizing the company’s corresponding local offices. Additional planned inspections were performed by the company’s UK office.
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