Indonesian ports expect to see 211 cruise ship calls and nearly 116,000 passengers this year, ranging from the 34-passenger True North to the 2,850-passenger Celebrity Solstice. Next year’s forecast is for 228 calls and nearly 129,000 passengers, according to Noviendi Makalam, director of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy. He said that itineraries between Singapore and Bali were ideal, using both destinations for embarkation.

In addition, and calling it a new trend, a spokesperson said there are more cruises within the Indonesian islands, including sailings offered by Seabourn and Silversea. Also, in 2014, he said, Holland America Line’s Rotterdam will sail roundtrip from Indonesia. The Rotterdam is slated to call at 10 Indonesian ports – seven where she can come alongside and three with tendering.

A three-year development program calls for preparing 11 Indonesian ports to be able to handle 3,000-passenger ships, and for a total of 25 ports to be able to handle ships in the 500 to 700 passenger range.

Efforts are also underway to “open cabotage” regulations, thus enabling ships to sail Eastern Indonesian itineraries from Bali, the spokesperson explained.

This year, there are 16 turnarounds in Bali, including Crystal, Orion, Seabourn and Silversea.

Currently, the traffic is distributed among some 70 different ports and destinations in Indonesia, with the majority of the calls in Bali, Nusa, Tenggara and Java, according to Makalam.

Princess Cruises is the single largest with 17 percent of the passenger volume, followed by Holland America Line, with 18 percent, and Royal Caribbean International and Seabourn Cruise Line with 10 percent each.

The most frequent callers this year are the 100-passenger Orion with 54 calls and the Seabourn Legend with 28 calls.

Thirty-nine percent of the passengers are from North America, 32 percent from Australia, 26 percent from Europe, and 3 percent from Asia.