Singaporeans will soon be able to sail on cruises to a foreign destination after nearly two years of cruises to nowhere.
Royal Caribbean International said its 169,000-gt Spectrum of the Seas (built 2019) will begin sailing to Penang and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia from 30 June 2022.
All guests require six months validity on their passport, must have updated the MySejahtera app in advance of the sailing as well as adhere to local vaccination requirements, the cruise line said.
MySejahtera is a mobile application developed by the Malaysian government to facilitate contact tracking in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia.
“We have been working closely with various governments in South East Asia to align on cruise protocols and policies and are excited to bring back port calls in Malaysia for sailings as a start,” said Annie Chang, director of cruise at Singapore Tourism Board.
“We are thrilled to be the first cruise line in Singapore to reconnect holidaymakers with Asia’s beautiful destinations once again,” said Angie Stephen, vice president and managing director, Asia-Pacific, Royal Caribbean International.
“The vibrant and culture-rich cities of Penang and Kuala Lumpur have so much to offer, and that is only the beginning.”
Singapore’s “cruises to nowhere” have proved a popular option for the local population which until recently had faced severe travel restrictions.
The cruises were launched in November 2020 by two cruise lines — Genting Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean.
However, it has not all been plain sailing, with the first cruise on the 169,000-gt Quantum of the Seas (built 2014) cut short over a suspected Covid-19 infection that later proved to be a false alarm.
In early February, this year Royal Caribbean was forced to cancel two cruises out of Singapore after Covid-19 cases were found among its crew.
The cruise line told local media that a “small number of the crew had tested positive for Covid-19”, but it gave no exact numbers.
Asia’s newest cruise company Resorts World Cruises, which launched in mid-May, has said that it will begin cruising to nearby destinations in the “not-too-distant future”.
Its first ship, the 150,700-gt Genting Dream (built 2017) is scheduled to depart from Singapore on its first voyage for the new company on 15 June, initially on short cruises.
