Dream Cruises ship resurrected for new cruise brand

A new cruise line owned by Malaysian tycoon Lim Kok Thay, Resorts World Cruises, will revive Genting Dream, a ship once operated by the Genting Hong Kong-owned Dream Cruises.

Lim’s new cruise line will set sail from its homeport in Singapore on 15 June.

The Straits Times reported that Resorts World Cruises registered on 9 March and is owned by Two Trees Family Holdings.

Many in the industry have been speculating whether this could be a new cruise line, as it came after the collapse of Genting Hong Kong.

Resorts World Cruises now has bookings open with Genting Dream setting sail mid next month. The cruise line also has plans to launch destination trips to Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia from 30 September.

For the launch, Resorts World Cruises is offering complimentary cruise credits of the same value paid for by passengers impacted by World Dream’s cancellations in Singapore between 2 March and 31 August this year.

“For example, if they paid $1,000, we will give them $1,000 of cruise credit, and they can come on board and cruise between June 15 and March 2023. We are giving them a long period of time to decide when they want to come back,” Michael Goh, president and head of international sales of Resorts World Cruises, said.

The Strait Times reported that about 13,000 customers were affected by the cancellations, but many got their refund through their credit card companies.

Mr Colin Au, chief executive of Resorts World Cruises, told a briefing on Wednesday: “The company will aspire to have many more ships in other parts of Asia.

“It is a reaffirmation that cruising is good for the region and will be a growth industry.”

The chief executive also said that cruise payments are going to be kept in a separate account that will be drawn down only prior to the cruise commencing.

“The practice of all cruise companies is to use the cash for working capital purposes,” he said in response to queries from The Strait Times.

“But we have changed the practice to make sure whatever funds are paid will be kept in cash, and if the cruise itinerary is not performed, then the money will be refunded to customers.”

Resorts World Cruises has rehired 70 of the approximately 100 former staff from the sales and marketting and retail operations of Genting Hong Kong, according to Mr Goh, the former president of Dream Cruises and head of international sales for Genting Cruise Lines.

The new firm is also recruiting about 1600 employees for its new line.

Earlier this year, Genting Hong Kong filed to wind up its business after running out of cash as its subsidiary, Crystal Cruises, temporarily suspended operations.

Crystal Cruises later collapsed; turning a company worth an estimated USD$1 billion (AUD$1,389,275,000) to having a bank account of zero in a matter of weeks.

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crystal cruises Dream Cruises Genting Dream Genting Hong Kong Lim Kok Thay Michael Goh Mr Colin Au Resorts World Cruises singapore Two Trees Family Holdings