Costa Serena to Sail from Taiwan to Japan this Fall

Costa Serena to Sail from Taiwan to Japan this Fall

Taiwan International Ports (TIPC) announced that the Costa Serena, which returned to sailing in Asia this year, will offer cruises to Japan in the fall of 2023.

The Costa Serena will sail three cruises to Okinawa, Japan from the Port of Kaohsiung in time for the mid-Autumn and National Day holidays in September and October.

In addition to sailing to Japan, the ship will return to Taiwan for regular homeport cruises first based out of Keelung and then Kaohsiung from July through October.

The Port of Kaohsiung has already set an all-time record this year with 157 cruise ship calls as of May 28, including 27 port-of-call visits.

The TIPC has recently opened a new Kaohsiung Port Cruise Terminal Building where automated smart passenger handling systems are being tested at the moment.

Upon completion, TIPC also plans to expand and upgrade the Penglai Cruise Terminal.

Royal Caribbean Back to China in April 2024

Royal Caribbean International will sail from Shanghai with the 2019-built Spectrum of the Seas in April 2024, marking the brand’s return to China.

The Anthem of the Seas will reposition to Singapore for the 2024-25 cruise season, starting homeporting operations in October 2024.

Singapore was the first homeport in Asia to allow ships to restart cruises in late 2020.

Since then, the Spectrum of the Seas has been sailing cruises primarily from Singapore ranging from three to four nights.

The Spectrum of the Seas will reposition to China and will start offering sailings from Shanghai in April 2024. The ship will visit ports in Japan including Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Fukuoka and Nagasaki.

From Hong Kong, the Spectrum of the Seas will offer eight sailings with visits to Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Westerdam arrives in Cambodia

Holland America Line's Westerdam has arrived in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, after being rejected by five other Asian countries.

The ship, with 1,455 passengers and 802 crew onboard, had been turned away the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Guam and most recently Thailand, over coronavirus concerns. There are no confirmed cases onboard.

"The Westerdam has arrived and local officials are aboard," Holland America said in a statement. The line expressed gratitude yesterday to the Cambodian authorities "for their support" and reiterated that "all guests onboard are healthy, and despite erroneous reports, there are no known or suspected cases of coronavirus on board, nor have there ever been."

The ship will remain in port for several days for disembarkation, Holland America said, and guests will transfer via charter flights to Phnom Penh for forwarding travel home. The cruise line said it will arrange and pay for all flights home, in addition to the full refund and a 100% future cruise credit.

The Westerdam is on a 14-day cruise that departed Hong Kong Feb. 1 and was previously scheduled to disembark Feb. 15 in Yokohama, Japan.

Holland American cancelled the Feb. 15 cruise scheduled to embark in Yokohama. The line said no further cancellations have been finalized and it is assessing the impact of current port restrictions in Asia on cruises departing Feb. 29 or later.

Thailand turns Westerdam Away

Thailand turns Westerdam Away

Thailand becomes the latest country to turn away Westerdam cruise ship as it bars passengers from disembarking despite no cases of coronavirus on board

The Westerdam, pictured above, has also been turned away by the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan. Its owner Holland America Line says there are no coronavirus cases on-board.

There are more than 43,000 coronavirus cases declared in the world so far and 1,018 deaths

The chief of the Department of Disease Control Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoenchai said Tuesday that the Public Health Ministry had rejected a request from the crew of the MS Westerdam to dock at Laem Chabang in eastern Thailand.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chano-cha confirmed the ban but said Thailand was looking a way to give humanitarian assistance and will be able to provide the ship with necessities such as fuel and food.

The Westerdam began its cruise on January 16 in Singapore. Shipowner Holland America Line says there are no known cases of the virus on board.

Thai Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakulhad indicated on his Facebook page several hours before the official announcement that the ship would be denied entry.

The Westerdam, shown by the yellow ship, is currently rounding the bottom of Vietnam and heading towards Thailand

He posted his declaration after Holland America announced it was sailing to Laem Chabang, where passengers would disembark on February 13 to take flights home from Bangkok. The announcement by the shipowner attracted much attention among Thai social media users.

Holland America had already announced that passengers would receive a complete refund. It said a scheduled departure of the Westerdam on Feb. 15 from Yokohama had been cancelled and planned departures after Feb. 28 were being assessed.

Costa Venezia Poised for Taiwan Stint

Costa Venezia Poised for Taiwan Stint

The new Costa Venezia is heading for China in 2019 after her delivery from Fincantieri, and will also spend a month sailing from Taiwan next May, according to local media reports.

The 4,232-guest ship is a sister to the Carnival Vista and will spend next May on charter to a local tour operator in Taiwan, offering cherry blossom-themed sailings to Japan, according to Taiwan media.

The report said the ship would carry around 12,000 guests from Keelung, noting at least one cruise will be an eight-day sailing will include port calls in Kagoshima, Miyazaki and Osaka.

Pictured above: the Costa Serena in Keelung, Taiwan, earlier this month.

Majestic Princess Set to Sail from Taiwan in 2018 Deployment Change

Majestic Princess

The new Majestic Princess is poised to move into the Taiwanese market from April to July 2018, after which the 2017-built ship will head to Australia for winter 2018-2019.

According to sources with knowledge of the ship’s deployment, the Majestic will sail three- and four-night voyages from Keelung in all of April and May. A spokesperson for Princess Cruises told Cruise Industry News in a written statement that 2018 itineraries have yet to be confirmed.

Following her Taiwan-based short cruise program, the ship will offer longer cruises to Japan in May, June and July from Keelung. It is not known, however, if they will be mixed in with China-based sailings, or if Princess is continuing to cut capacity in China.

Announced in 2015, the Majestic Princess was built and developed for year-round China operations.

Earlier this year, Princess announced she would re-position seasonally to Australia for 2018-2019.

In addition, the Sapphire Princess, which has been dedicated to the Asia and China markets, will be re-deployed to Europe in 2018.

Royal Caribbean finalizes Taiwan port deal

By Tom Stieghorst

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) has agreed to co-develop a cruise port in Taiwan with the Taiwan International Ports Co.

The port would be the first to be developed in Asia by RCCL, although it also has a stake in the company that operates the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong.

In a statement, Royal Caribbean said its nonbinding memorandum of understanding is for a site that currently serves as a Taiwanese Navy and Coast Guard facility.

"The island, which has good infrastructure but is relatively underdeveloped for tourism, offers beautiful beaches, ancient culture, natural beauty and great local seafood cuisine,” the statement said.

In an article in the Taipei Times, RCCL's vice president of commercial development, John Tercek, said that one of the main reasons Penghu was chosen is that it is convenient to Hong Kong and Xiamen, two base ports.

Earlier this year, Hong Kong and Taiwan founded a regional cruise development fund that will pay cruise lines that visit two or more participating ports in a single itinerary.

RCCL and Taiwan International Ports Co. plan to spend $33 million to develop a pier for the first phase of the project, scheduled to open in 2016, the Taipei Times said. 

Voyager of the Seas to spend next summer in Hong Kong

By Tom Stieghorst

Royal Caribbean International will homeport Voyager of the Seas in Hong Kong for the summer of 2015.

The 3,138-passenger ship will sail 22 cruises of three to 10 days between the end of June and October.

Destinations include Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and ports in China.

“Hong Kong has immense potential as a homeport for Chinese vacationers to board a Royal Caribbean cruise,” said Zinan Liu, RCCL's regional vice president of Asia and managing director of China.

He added that Voyager will get an extensive revitalization before it arrives in Hong Kong next summer.

To support the ship’s operations, RCCL has opened a fully staffed Hong Kong office, augmenting the Asia offices it now maintains in Beijing and Shanghai.

Voyager’s move to Hong Kong will coincide with the arrival of Quantum of the Seas to do year-round cruises from Shanghai.

Royal Caribbean is a partner in the company that operates the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong, which opened last year.