Dream Cruises celebrates one-year milestone in Singapore with World Dream!
THE VOICE OF CHANDIGARH | TRAVEL TRADE REPORTER
Dream Cruises celebrates a new milestone this November with World Dream as the ship approaches its special first anniversary of cruise resumption in Singapore. Dream Cruises pioneered safe cruising in Singapore and since its inception on 6 November 2020, World Dream has welcomed close to 200,000 Singapore residents aboard with over 150 ‘Super Seacation’ voyages to date. Bookings for World Dream continue to show a positive trend, as most sailings for the remaining months of 2021 are almost sold out, complemented by strong momentum in the early months of 2022.
“It’s been a remarkable journey and memorable experience so far for many of us here at Dream Cruises and on World Dream. This month is truly special as we celebrate Dream Cruises’ 5th anniversary as a brand and also our one-year milestone of cruise resumption in Singapore. We are deeply appreciative of the continuous support from the Singapore Tourism Board, the local authorities, and the general public, which enabled us to provide Singapore residents with an alternative and safe vacation experience over the past year in these unique circumstances,” said Mr. Michael Goh, President of Dream Cruises.
Within this milestone period, Dream Cruises continue to support and re-activate the local tourism sector in Singapore across the various tourism networks, including vendors for provisioning to bunkering, engaging cruise terminals, medical sectors, travel partners with promotional expenditures, staffing and creating new job opportunities, including for Singaporeans. Second Officer Zachary Loh, 31, was one of the first few Singaporeans to join World Dream at the start of the resumption last year said “It’s been truly a valuable experience over this past year for me, both on a personal and career level, to be able to be part of the crew and to contribute towards achieving these milestones together in Singapore.”
Dream Cruises also broke new ground by launching and supporting a series of first-of-a-kind initiatives to revitalise the tourism sector. World Dream in Singapore became the first Halal-friendly cruise ship in the Asia Pacific to receive certifications from both the United World Halal Development (UNWHD) and the Global Vegetarian Certification Services (GVCS) in December 2020. Dream Cruises was also the first cruise line to support and provide a new platform on World Dream for selected ‘Made with Passion[1]’ local lifestyle brands to showcase their merchandise and experiences. In its efforts to further boost local tourism, Dream Cruises also partnered with KrisFlyer for a special World Dream chartered cruise exclusively for KrisFlyer members, as well as the option to earn KrisFlyer miles on Dream Cruises packages.
“We would like to congratulate Dream Cruises on reaching this momentous milestone. They have been our trusted partners, especially over the past year as we navigated the evolving challenges of the pandemic together. As we journey towards being a COVID-resilient nation, we look forward to continuing this partnership to offer more safe voyages and introduce more people to the wonders of cruising,” said Ms Annie Chang, Director, Cruise, Singapore Tourism Board.
The current situation, coupled with travel restrictions, has created unique challenges but also incredible new opportunities for Dream Cruises. World Dream had successfully introduced and launched a series of global thematic cruises such as ‘Rhythm of Korea’, ‘Amazing Thailand’, ‘Wonders of Japan’ and most recently, ‘Markets of the World’ in its attempt to bring the various cultures and cuisines of the world onto the ship for guests to enjoy and experience at sea. As such, World Dream itself is increasingly becoming a popular destination for many Singapore residents as one of the ship’s ongoing and growing appeals is its exciting and unique thematic cruises and offerings.
In conjunction with the upcoming year-end school holidays and the festive season, Dream Cruises is bringing an abundance of holiday cheer and spirit on World Dream with ‘A Nordic Christmas Adventure’ special from 17 November 2021 – 1 January 2022. Set sail with World Dream and enjoy the festive traditions of Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland with your loved ones this holiday season. Explore the Christmas magic at sea on World Dream, including the specially created Nordic Village with a chance to meet Santa and other popular X’ Mas characters, discover the famous Nordic baking and a variety of festive attractions at the Nordic Market, indulge in sumptuous roast turkey, lobsters, salmon and many more Scandinavian gourmets, as well as a wide array of Christmas arts and craft workshops and so much more.
These various initiatives have led to a rise and expansion of markets, as more Singapore residents become receptive, well-informed and open to the idea and value of cruising. Cruise demand for World Dream in Singapore has been on the rise from younger travellers, including Millennials and Gen X-ers, as well as couples with no children or families with non-school-going young children. With a wider market demographic, guest onboard spending on World Dream in Singapore has also increased by 37.5% in 2021 as compared to pre-pandemic in 2019.
Mr Nicholas Lim, 29 years of age and a regular guest on World Dream said “Like many Singapore residents, there were limited and real travel options in the past year and I was not much of a cruise person before that. However, I was aching to travel and explore options. When Dream Cruises first resumed in Singapore, there was a lot of buzz and safety information that made me decide to take my first cruise vacation in January 2021 and since then, I have been on World Dream 8 times.”
With a steady growth of travellers, the MICE at sea bookings are also gradually opening up as Dream Cruises continues to pave new milestones after successfully hosting the first-ever MICE at-sea event for over 250 guests from 1 – 3 October 2021 under prevailing national guidelines since the restart of safe cruises in Singapore.
“Having achieved this one-year milestone in Singapore with World Dream, we are looking forward to continuing to provide our guests with safe cruises, as well as exciting and unique offerings as we approach the year-end and usher in the New Year to welcome more guests in 2022,” said Mr Michael Goh.
