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Sapphire Princess back for regional cruises

US-based cruise line Princess Cruises has announced that its Sapphire Princess cruise line will return to Singapore in December to cater to growing demand for cruises around the region

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Thu, August 27, 2015

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Sapphire Princess back for regional cruises

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S-based cruise line Princess Cruises has announced that its Sapphire Princess cruise line will return to Singapore in December to cater to growing demand for cruises around the region.

The ship, which can accommodate up to 2,670 passengers and 1,000 crew members, will base in the city-state through November next year. The itineraries for the upcoming cruises in December include a six-night cruise from Singapore to Bali and Kuala Lumpur, and a four-night cruise from Kuala Lumpur to Malaysia'€™s Penang, Thailand'€™s Phuket and Singapore.

'€œThese cruises were created to cater to Indonesian families'€™ demand for short-haul trips during the December school holidays,'€ Princess Cruises said in a statement.

The cruise line also offers its popular 17-day Grand Asia trip that will start sailing in April next year and will call at major destinations in the region, namely Vietnam'€™s Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Japan'€™s Nagasaki, South Korea'€™s Busan and China'€™s Shanghai.

Fares vary depending on the length of the trip and the package a passenger chooses. For the shortest three-day trip around the Malacca Strait, fares start at S$498 (US$358) for basic accommodation and S$2,123 for suites. Meanwhile, Grand Asia trip fares range from S$2,729 for interior accommodation and S$8,189 for suites.

'€œWith that fare, you will get access to more facilities than a hotel can offer,'€ said the Princess Cruise'€™s director for Southeast Asia Farriek Tawfik, citing some of the facilities, including theaters, spas and a ballroom.

Farriek said that Asia had now become the world'€™s fastest-growing cruise market. One country in Asia that had seen growing demand for cruises was Indonesia, which had been growing 7.7 percent annually since 2012, he said.

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) recorded that there were 18,000 Indonesian passengers out of 1.81 million guests hosted by various cruise lines last year.

The number is expected to continue to grow at the same pace in the following years as the Indonesian middle class is also expected to continue growing, according to Farriek.

'€œIndonesia is a key market in Princess Cruises'€™ operations in the region,'€ he said.

He said that in addition to its growing middle class, Indonesia'€™s growing demand for cruises were also triggered by the change in the size of cruise ships, which made cruises more affordable.

According to him, seaport development is needed to support the cruise ship industry. (saf)

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