ROYAL Caribbean International’s newest ship, the Ovation of the Seas, will be homeporting in Singapore for a season next year, with sales channels officially opened today.
Over ten itineraries will take place from March to April 2017 that includes three- to five-night sailings to Penang, Phuket, and Bangkok (Laem Chabang), as well as a one-way cruise to Tianjin with calls at Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My), Hue/Danang (Chan May), Hong Kong and Seoul (Incheon).
Some 42,000 guests are expected to set sail through Singapore during this period.
The announcement was made during the Quantum Class smartship’s maiden call in Singapore yesterday at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre, bringing more than 4000 passengers with it to the city-state.
The ship is bound for a sold-out three-night sailing from Singapore to Phuket today, before going on a 12-night one-way trip to Tianjin on Sunday.
During the inaugural event, Sean Treacy, managing director Southeast Asia, Royal Caribbean Cruises, expressed his excitement for the warm reception and gratitude to travel agents here for making this a success.
He added: “With Ovation returning next year, Mariner coming for a full winter season, and also the return of Voyager, we’re looking at about 30 per cent capacity growth next year in Singapore.”
Treacy further revealed that at current, roughly 60 per cent of passenger load from Singapore are fly-cruise guests and the rest local, with weekend sailings tending to have more domestic holidaymakers compared to longer four-night or more itineraries.
“In the long-term, fly-cruise is extremely important for us here. Singapore is a great market and our travel agencies really support us, but at the end of the day, the opportunity lies outside. What’s great about Singapore is its position. It is a short flight for people from India, China, Indonesia and Malaysia, but fly-cruise is the future,” he said.
While the leisure segment remains Royal Caribbean’s core customer base, opportunities are also opening up in the MICE segment as in accordance with the broader cruising industry.
For them, at least 90 per cent or more guests are still leisure customers, said Treacy, but MICE sales are showing increasing traction.
“We’ve seen some good groups. We just had a charter from Nu Skin for the whole ship out of Southampton earlier this year, so there’s definitely growth in that area,” he said.
