Cruises from Singapore to restart in November with pilot for residents

STARTING November this year, cruises with enhanced safety protocols will be piloted for two cruise lines that are homeported in Singapore.

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is also developing a mandatory certification programme - CruiseSafe - that sets out stringent hygiene and safety measures throughout the passenger journey, from before boarding to after disembarkation.

The pilot cruises will be round trips with no ports of call, and are only open to Singapore residents.

They will also sail at a reduced capacity of up to 50 per cent, STB said in a statement on Thursday.

Kicking off the pilots is Genting Cruise Lines' World Dream, from Nov 6. This will be followed by Royal Caribbean International's Quantum of the Seas, which will begin sailing on Dec 1.

Genting, which already resumed operations in Taiwan in July, on Thursday announced two and three-night experiences for Singapore residents during the year-end holidays.

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All guests aged 13 and above must take a Covid-19 test before boarding the ship, Genting said. Guests aged seven and up are also required to present their TraceTogether token or app at the time of check-in.

Royal Caribbean, meanwhile, is offering three and four-night cruises. Guests who book before Nov 30 can change or cancel up to 48 hours before the cruise begins, the company said in a statement.

Also included are a 100 per cent credit towards a future cruise should a guest or any member of their travel party test positive for Covid-19 in the three weeks prior to their booked cruise, or a full refund if a guest tests positive during their voyage, Royal Caribbean added.

STB said the Singapore government will monitor the outcomes of these pilot sailings in the coming months before deciding on the next step for cruises.

Singapore had ceased port calls for all cruise ships since March 13.

Once the CruiseSafe certification is available, all cruise lines sailing out of Singapore must obtain it prior to sailing. An independent assessment by a third-party certification firm will be required.

Among the CruiseSafe standards are infection-control measures at every stage of a passenger's journey, including a mandatory Covid-19 test before boarding, strict and frequent cleaning protocols onboard, and 100 per cent fresh air throughout the ship.

The ship capacity should also be reduced to enable sufficient safe-distancing, and the cruise lines must have emergency response plans for incidents relating to Covid-19.

Genting and Royal Caribbean are in the process of getting certified.

STB said both operators were approved for the pilot as they "demonstrated the ability to put in place stringent protocols and precautionary measures as part of their CruiseSafe certification".

The pilot cruises will have to comply with prevailing safe-management measures, such as mask-wearing and one-metre safe-distancing. Regular inspections will be conducted onboard.

The tourism board added that the crew on pilot cruises will be subject to stringent measures beyond Singapore's prevailing requirements for cross-border travel.

Singapore is one of the first countries to develop and implement a mandatory audit and certification programme for cruise lines before they can commence sailings.

The CruiseSafe certification is benchmarked against global health and safety standards and jointly created by STB and classification body DNV GL. Non-compliant cruise lines will be penalised, such as through fines, suspension of sailings, and revocation of the certification.

The Business Times (BT) reported last week that STB had awarded a tender, valued at S$145,000, to DNV GL Singapore to create the programme. The tender documents also stated that STB was looking to resume "cruise to nowhere" sailings out of Singapore, with each sailing ranging from two to four nights.

Keith Tan, STB chief executive officer, said on Thursday: "As Asean's lead coordinator for cruise development, Singapore remains committed to supporting and growing cruise tourism in the region."

Given the strong fundamentals in the city-state's cruise industry, Singapore expects cruise performance to rebound when international travel recovers, STB noted.

To prepare for the industry's recovery, STB has partnered Cruise Lines International Association and Travel Weekly Asia to conduct a series of training webinars for regional travel agents under the ambit of the CruiseWorld Asia 2020 event.

These training sessions will take place in October and focus on strengthening consumers' confidence to cruise again, by raising awareness of the enhanced sanitisation measures onboard and rebuilding demand.

Meanwhile, Genting said in its statement that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore's five polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education to provide joint activities, learning projects and internships to students and graduates keen to explore a career in the cruise and tourism-related sector.

The pandemic has dealt a body blow to the world's cruise industry, with ports closed to cruise vessels earlier this year after coronavirus cases rapidly multiplied aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which was quarantined at the port of Yokohama.