Resorts World Cruises is a new but well-established Asian luxury and lifestyle cruise brand that is rich in Asian heritage, offering a personalized cruising experience to its guests. ‘Resorts Cruising At Sea’ aims to redefine the cruising experience, by providing an array of exciting and unique offerings. Resorts World Cruises is a brand extension of “Resorts World”, a global brand with over 46 properties in 8 countries and 4 continents. RWC debuted on 15th June 2022 in Singapore by commencing the operations of ‘Genting Dream’, the fabulous 3600 passengers and 150,695 gross ton ship. They aim to position itself as the leading cruise line in Asia.
Genting Dream set its first sail on 15th June connecting Singapore to Malaysia and back. What has been the overall response?
Since the time that we launched, we have received a very strong response from the Indian market. Considering that we only operate on a travel agent platform, the number of cabins that have already been booked is close to 20,000 from June 2022 until April 2023, which is brilliant!
The MICE segment is the largest contributor because they have been deprived of incentive travel for a few years now. FIT is also doing well; we see great success in Groups Travelers mainly for the purpose of celebrations, birthdays, anniversaries, and friend reunions.
What is the demographic of cruisers on your ship?
We are an Asian home-grown brand; headquartered and we operate Genting Dream out of Singapore. Our key contributing geographies are Singapore, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines.
Can you elaborate on the capacity, F&B, and entertainment on board?
Genting Dream is one of the largest cruising ships around Asia. It is 19 decks high, 150,695 tons, and can host close to 3600 guests on twin occupancy and up to 4200 guests on a full load which includes triple and quad occupancy. The ship houses 142 suites known as “The Palace” – which is a luxury ship-within-a-ship concept and offers its guests a priority check-in and out, a private pool, exclusive restaurant and spa, private sundeck, and their own private butler and concierge service. The luxury accommodation ranges from a regular suite up to Villas.
We house close to 35 F&B concepts on board and this is the only HALAL and vegetarian-certified ship. This certification requires a lot of commitment from the ship and the management but it certainly builds trust with our guests, especially the Muslim community.
In terms of entertainment, we have our own production shows as well as international performances which we showcase at our in-house Zodiac theatre. We have activities in which the crew gets involved along with the guests; it is quite an interactive experience. For the adventure-loving guests, we have our very own theme park, with 6 water slides, rock climbing, and a Zip-line which is 19 decks high!
What are your predictions for the future of cruising?
The cruise industry is the fastest growing segment, and that’s clear by the number of ships that have been ordered and are in the making as we speak. I think there is a huge market available for every possible brand. It directly relates to the fact that the guests today recognize the beauty of being on the ship as an all-inclusive holiday; where you don’t need to worry about your next meal or entertainment and you get to experience seeing the world from the comfort of your bed. The future of cruising looks extremely bright and strong!
You recently arranged back-to-back FAM trips from India. What was your vision behind this?
A great chunk of our business comes from our travel partners and they are one of the key drivers of our business. Since it has been over 2 years that they have not been on the cruise ship, we arranged a refresher for them to come back, understand and experience cruising all over again.
Mr. Naresh Rawal, Vice President – Sales & Marketing, Royal World Cruises said “This is an exclusive message to all our travel partners, ‘You are the most important customer to us and all we can ask of you is that you continue to support us and we make it a win-win for all!’”
