Kent Zhu, president of Genting Cruise Lines, participated in a question and answer interview session with Cruise Industry News following the company’s roll out of new health protocols.
CIN: To start, this is a comprehensive medical and social distancing plan. When did you start working on this? Was there a starting point?
Zhu: The health and welfare of all our guests and crew have always been a priority at Genting Cruise Lines but we began planning for the enhancement and implementation of our standards and procedures in greater detail in February, after the suspension of our fleet in Asia.
CIN: You are involving seemingly every facet of ship operations, is there one person who led the charge here?
Zhu: As the president of Genting Cruise Lines, it is my responsibility to ensure that our brands are equipped to overcome all difficulties and be ready to handle challenging situations. However, this initiative was truly the collaboration of the many different departments involved in the operations of our brands including Marine & Safety, Hotel Operations, Port Operations, Communications, Human Resources and many others. I am grateful to everyone on my team for their hard work during these trying times.
CIN: Do you plan to add additional crew for this?
Zhu: Providing the highest level of our acclaimed Asian hospitality is our brand philosophy and we will continue to ensure our service standards will always be maintained, even as we roll out our new safety and hygiene measures. However, if required, we will look at supplementing the crew members on our ships.
CIN: Since you are operating some venues at half capacity, do you trim occupancy in any way; can you still operate full ships?
Zhu: At first, when our ships return to service after the COVID-19 crisis, we anticipate that there will be a gradual increase in guest numbers as we build consumer confidence in cruises. As occupancy increase, we will revisit our guidelines and adjust accordingly if required.
CIN: Will this going into effect on the day you return to operations?
Zhu: During our ships’ suspension period, we have conducted thorough deep cleaning and sanitization onboard as well as provided full training for all our crew members of our new health and hygiene policies, in preparation for our resumption of service. We will be ready to roll out this new norm of cruising when we welcome back our guests onboard our fleet.
