Resorts World Cruises started operations in June with the Genting Dream on a charter agreement, essentially picking up where the defunct Dream Cruises and Genting Cruise Lines left off, with the same ship (one of three), some of the same executives, and similar deployment.

“As a group, we have a combination of over 50 years of affiliated experience in both the hospitality and cruise industry worldwide, especially in Asia,” said Michael Goh, president, who got the brand off the ground in less than three months. “With these valuable experiences and expertise at hand, we were driven to launch Resorts World Cruises to focus, tap and further grow the cruise sector potential in Asia.”

The brand is new to cruise but not to hospitality with casino and resort properties in its portfolio, and is owned by the Lim family, which oversaw the Genting Cruise Lines operation.

True Asian Brand

“We felt it was also important to continue to have Asian representation in the international arena for the cruise industry. As such, the launch of Resorts World Cruises, a new home-grown Asian brand that is headquartered in Singapore was timely,” Goh told Cruise Industry News.

To start, the Genting Dream offered short getaways with no ports from Marina Bay in Singapore. Marine operations are being managed by V.Ships Leisure and hotel and food and beverage is being run in-house.

Deployment has recently been expanded to Malaysia with both Port Klang and Penang, where homeporting operations started over the summer. Guests can choose from Singapore or Malaysia departures of two- and three-nights roundtrip, and open-jaw sailings are also available.

Premium

Dream Cruises was introduced in 2016 as Asia’s main premium brand, and Resorts World has picked up where that left off and embraced the idea of “Resorts Cruising at Sea,” said Goh.

What does that mean? “A personalized cruise lifestyle experience with diverse international offerings on ship and shore,” Goh said.

Some of the key highlights include “High Energy Zones” on the ship, which offer fun activities for guests of all ages with popular upbeat music to keep the energy going.

“We had also introduced a new concept of combining entertainment and dining experiences that is truly unique to the senses, complemented by fusion cuisine at different venues, which include Omasake, Korean-Japanese cuisine, Asian popular dishes and more,” Goh said, also noting the Genting Dream is the world’s first OIC/SMIIC standard Halal-friendly cruise ship, which offers Halal and authentic Jain Vegetarian certified cuisines in dedicated venues.

Excerpt from Cruise Industry News Quarterly Magazine: Fall 2022