Cruise ships still making way to Singapore, despite tough economic times

Cheryl Frois, Channel NewsAsia 9 Dec 08;

SINGAPORE: Despite gloomy economic times, one of the world's largest cruise companies, Royal Caribbean Cruises, is setting its sights on Asia.

The last time a ship from Royal Caribbean docked in Singapore was almost eight years ago. Come next year, its Legend of the Seas – with over 2,000 passenger capacity – will be permanently deployed in Asia.

Rama Rebbapragada, regional vice president, Royal Caribbean Cruises, said: "The ship will be pretty much an Asian ship so she'll spend time between Singapore, Shanghai, Tianjin and Hong Kong.

"The ship will move around depending on seasonality, offering cruises around several home ports in the Asia Pacific region. Asia grew by 100 per cent from 2006 to 2007 and we expect at least a 20 per cent to 25 per cent growth from Asia in 2009."

Royal Caribbean does not think the cruise market will suffer much from the economic downturn. But it said it is not ruling out cutting prices and offering deals, such as an expanded itinerary, to draw visitors.

From Singapore, the ship will embark on 18 cruise tours and for the first time, this includes cruise tours between Singapore and Shanghai. Prices start from S$430 for a three-night sail to Malaysia and up to S$5,500 for a 14-night sail to Shanghai.

Passengers onboard the ship can enjoy resort facilities like Asia's first and only miniature golf course, multiple swimming pools complete with whirlpools, and fully-equipped gyms.

As security is something cruise liners are always mindful of, Royal Caribbean cancelled Legend of the Seas' planned call in Mumbai recently, following the terror attacks in the city.

"But the ship did call in Goa and the ship did call in Cochin and those calls went without any incident. We are watching the situation in India very closely because the ship will go back to Europe through India again on its return in May," said Rebbapragada.

Royal Caribbean said it plans to introduce six more ships around the world by the end of 2012.

Over 800 cruise ships have called on Singapore this year, compared to 719 in 2007. Total in- and outbound passenger numbers have almost hit 95,000 so far, similar to last year's figure.

- CNA/so

A Legend returns to S'pore after 7 years
Straits Times 10 Dec 08;

CRUISE operator Royal Caribbean International's Legend Of The Seas, which can take up to 1,800 passengers, returned to Singapore yesterday for the first time in seven years.

Travellers can choose from 14 short cruises lasting between three and five nights from Singapore to popular tourist destinations such as Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi and Phuket.

Royal Caribbean, the world's second-largest cruise operator, will also offer, for the first time, a 14-night cruise between Singapore and Shanghai with stops at Bangkok and Hong Kong.

Royal Caribbean returns for second season
But global cruise brand has trouble filling smaller ship
Vincent Wee, Business Times 10 Dec 08;

(SINGAPORE) Royal Caribbean International (RCI) has returned for a second season with a smaller ship, but even this is having trouble being filled.

The global cruise brand began its Asian season yesterday with the 1,800-passenger Legend of the Seas, slightly smaller than the 2,000-passenger Rhapsody of the Seas, which was based here for the last season.

The season comprises 15 shorter cruises and four longer 14-night cruises. But regional vice-president, international, Rama Rebbapragada, said that the cruises were booked out at an earlier stage last year. 'We're almost booked out till Chinese New Year but there are some soft spots in January,' he said. The 14-day cruise programmes begin from the end of January.

Mr Rebbapragada had said earlier this year in announcing the ship's deployment that last year's Asian cruise programme had been fully booked, with more than 30,000 passengers, representing growth of more than double the previous year.

He had said that he expected to see that number growing by two-thirds this year with revenue nearly doubling. It seems unlikely these targets will be met now. Absolute passenger numbers are not only smaller but Mr Rebbapragada also conceded that some discounting had to be done to fill spots.

He, however, remained optimistic that the economic downturn would not have too adverse an impact on the season. Mr Rebbapragada said that Asians tend to book their holidays at the very last minute and he was now used to this after having spent a season in this market.

He said that RCI was getting demand for the fly-cruise market from India, Japan and Korea. However, lack of air capacity during critical peak periods is putting some constraint on this. Seeing how the proportion of Singaporeans on this year's cruises has barely inched up from the 30 per cent seen last year, this will likely have to be a market it will have to tap further if it wants to grow.

Mr Rebbapragada also said that Shanghai, Tianjin, Busan and Hong Kong will definitely be considered as homeports for the ship when it is based here for a year-long deployment from next November.