With the resumption of economic activities in Singapore, safe cruises will be piloted from November, with enhanced safety protocols for two cruise lines that are homeported here.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is developing a mandatory CruiseSafe certification programme to assure safe cruising, which sets out stringent hygiene and safety measures throughout the passenger journey.
In light of safety of local community as well as passengers and crew, the pilot cruises will be doing round-trips with no ports of call, sailing at a reduced capacity of up to 50% and be only open to Singapore residents.
To allow time to review the operationalisation of enhanced safety protocols, the pilot cruises will start from November 6 with Genting Cruise Lines? World Dream. Royal Caribbean International?s Quantum of the Seas will begin sailing in December.
The government will monitor the outcomes of the pilot sailings carefully in the coming months before deciding on the next steps for cruises.
STB?s CruiseSafe was created in consultation with the industry and is benchmarked against global health and safety standards. Prior to sailing, all cruise lines sailing out of Singapore must obtain the CruiseSafe certification, which requires independent assessment by a third-party certification firm. Genting Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International are in the process of attaining the certification.
As part of CruiseSafe, the pilot cruises will have to comply with prevailing safe management measures, such as mask-wearing and 1m-safe distancing. To ensure compliance, regular inspections will be conducted on board during the pilots. Cruise lines that are found to be non-compliant will be subjected to penalties including fines, suspension of sailings and revocation of CruiseSafe certification.
?This cruise pilot is a valuable opportunity for cruise operators to reinvent the entire cruise experience in order to regain the confidence of passengers. As ASEAN?s lead coordinator for cruise development, Singapore remains committed to supporting and growing cruise tourism in the region. We will continue to work with cruise lines and our industry stakeholders to chart a new course for safe cruising,? said Mr Keith Tan, chief executive, Singapore Tourism Board.
To prepare for the eventual recovery of the cruise industry, STB has also partnered Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and Travel Weekly Asia to hold a series of training webinars for regional travel agents under the ambit of CruiseWorld Asia 2020. Travel agents are key to the industry, accounting for about 80% of cruise packages sold in the region. The training will focus on strengthening consumers? confidence to cruise again.
