Resorts World Cruises has announced it is expanding its fleet with the 1,800 guest Star Scorpio, which will join the company this March. The ship is currently operating as the Pacific Explorer for P&O Australia and will leave the Carnival Corporation brand early in 2025.
Resorts World said that prior to starting operations, the 1997-built vessel will see a $50 million refurbishment. She will become the third ship for Resorts World sailing alongside the Genting Dream and Resorts World One. The ship has operated as the Pacific Explorer since 2017 and originally launched service as the Dawn Princess in 1997.
The ship will homeport in Singapore starting on March 25 from the Singapore Cruise Centre, sailing from there through mid July. Ports of call will include Jakarta and Medan in Indonesia, Melaka and Pulau Redang in Malaysia, Bangkok and Ko Samui in Thailand and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
“We are pleased to introduce Star Scorpio as the third cruise ship for our fleet and to kick start her maiden deployment in Singapore. Star Scorpio’s dual homeport in Singapore with different countries in Asia will offer Indonesians, Thais, Malaysians and Vietnamese round-trip cruises from their ports during their peak holiday periods without the need to fly to another country”, said Michael Goh, president of Resorts World Cruises. “For Vietnam, Star Scorpio will be the first cruise ship to homeport in Ho Chi Minh City, allowing Vietnamese to enjoy affordable cruises to Singapore and Melaka. For Singapore passengers, the 14-hour Jakarta port time will allow passengers to go to the historic city of Bandung using the new high-speed rail, which travels at a speed of up to 250 km per hour with the rare chance to also visit a live volcano.”
Passengers embarking the Star Scorpio from Singapore will have a variety of itineraries to choose from in 2025.
The 6 Day / 5 Night Melaka-Jakarta Cruises will have ten sailings (March 26 – April 15 and June 11 – July 1), and the 6 Day / 5 Night Bangkok-Ko Samui Cruises (April 20 – May 10) will offer five sailings. Besides that, passengers can also enjoy the 5 Day / 4 Night Ko Samui-Pulau Redang Cruises (May 15–23) with three sailings, the 4 Day / 3 Night Melaka-Medan Cruises (May 27 – June 8) with five sailings, or the 6 Day / 5 Night Melaka-Ho Chi Minh Cruises (July 6–21) with four departures from Singapore.
In addition to the Singapore homeport deployment, the itineraries are designed so that passengers can also embark for round-trip cruises at the dual homeports in Jakarta, Bangkok (via Laem Chabang), Melaka and Ho Chi Minh City (via Phu My Port).
Passengers can embark the Star Scorpio from Jakarta (via Tanjong Priok Port) from March 29 until April 13, as well as from June 14 until June 29, 2025. During these two timeframes, the Star Scorpio will offer a total of eight sailings from Jakarta with the 6 Day / 5 Night Singapore-Melaka Cruises coinciding with the Indonesian school holidays and the Hari Raya celebrations at the end of March.
From April 22 until May 12, 2025, and in time for Thailand’s school holidays, passengers can embark Star Scorpio from Bangkok (via Laem Chabang Port) to experience the 6 Day / 5 Night Ko Samui-Singapore Cruise with five departures.
Subsequently, between May 28 and June 9, 2025, passengers have the option to embark and depart from Melaka (via the ICQS cruise terminal) to enjoy the 4 Day / 3 Night Medan (via Kuala Tanjung)-Singapore Cruise with five sailings during the Malaysian school holidays.
Following that, the ship will homeport in Vietnam and sail from Ho Chi Minh City with 6 Day / 5 Night Singapore-Melaka Cruises in July.
