Cruise ship Spectrum of the Seas returned to Hong Kong on Friday after more than a year away, with operator Royal Caribbean International confirming the vessel would use the city as its home port from December 2024.
The announcement came 18 months after authorities scrapped all cruise journeys, including services “to nowhere”, as the city entered its fifth wave of Covid-19 infections in January last year.
The 16-deck ship, which can house up to 5,622 guests, was moved to Singapore in February of the same year amid the stringent pandemic restrictions.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board said it welcomed the return of the vessel, adding 166 cruise ship dockings had been secured this year.
“[The vessel’s return] reflects Hong Kong’s readiness to welcome more international cruise ships to the city, thus further consolidating Hong Kong’s position as a cruise hub in Asia,” the board said.
The arrival of Spectrum of the Seas marks the first of its six international sailings from this month until October featuring Hong Kong as a stopover. Royal Caribbean said the trips would bring about 20,000 visitors to the city.
The vessel will make seven voyages from Hong Kong to Japan and Vietnam between December 6 next year and January 7, 2025, with destinations including Okinawa, Ishigaki, Chan May and Nha Trang.
“This is testimony to Hong Kong’s position as a cruise hub in Asia, with our strategic location between Northeast and Southeast Asia, our extensive cruise [guests] comprising local, mainland guests and the rest of the world, and a diversity of cruise products,” said Vivian Sum Fong-kwang, commissioner for tourism, at a ceremony onboard the vessel on Friday.
“We are committed to driving the development of Asia’s cruise industry in the post-pandemic era,” she added, saying the city would host the Seatrade Cruise Asia Pacific Conference in October.
Kevin Fung, managing director of Royal Caribbean Hong Kong, said trip planning in the industry was done years in advance when asked why the vessel would take until 2024 to make the city its home port.
“It takes a considerable amount of time to plan journeys for international cruise ships,” said Fung, explaining the operator was already looking at sailings for 2025 and beyond.
Hong Kong remained an important port because of its international hub status and its accessibility for many people around the world, he said.
Zinan Liu, the company’s senior vice-president and chairman for Asia, said: “I see the demand is stronger [now], because the pandemic made people realise that gathering is so important.”
Royal Caribbean was one of two operators in the city offering cruises to nowhere during the coronavirus pandemic. The other was Genting Hong Kong, Asia’s largest operator of sea cruises, which eventually folded after the bankruptcy of its shipyard in Germany forced its liquidation.
In January, the city welcomed back its first international cruise ship since the beginning of the pandemic.
A total of 2.74 million visitors arrived in Hong Kong in June, most of them coming from mainland China, as tourists return after stringent Covid-19 curbs were fully lifted earlier this year. The city welcomed about 13 million visitors, 37 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, in the first half of the year.