Cruise guests swimming on the top deck of the ship.
BRUNEI: Cruising is becoming a popular travel option for tourists from Malaysia and Brunei due to the increasing desire to explore the region in a unique way, said Farriek Tawfik, Director of Southeast Asia, Princess Cruises.
“Southeast Asia home porting seasons and world-class cruise trips will provide guests with unforgettable travel experience,” Farriek said during a briefing to a group of media and travel agents from Malaysia and Brunei
Buoyed by the high customer satisfaction from the previous season, Farriek announced that Diamond Princess will begin her first season in the region in 2016, featuring a similar extensive array of itineraries with 16 cruise trips ranging from three to ten days and 14 long voyages of nine to 21 days, which is a combination of short sailings.
“This is in line with the Malaysia and Brunei governments’ goals to leverage cruise tourism to increase visitor traffic and spending. Malaysia’s vision of a Straits Riveria Cruise Playground targets to bring in RM1.75 billion in gross national income and create 10,000 jobs by 2020 from cruise tourism,” he said.
Princess Cruises is also witnessing emerging cruise traveller profiles in Southeast Asia such as first-timers, young adults and families, as more Asians look to explore their own region by cruise ship. This is in stark contrast to other markets in Europe and North America, where cruise travel is dominated by the elderly and the retired, he added.
“The surge in interest for cruise vacations from different consumer groups – first-timers, honeymooners and families, is overwhelming and we expect a double-digit growth in Malaysian and Brunei travellers opting for cruise vacations in the years ahead,” said Farriek.
Princess Cruises has a full-fledged on-going travel agent outreach programme in the region of which the highlight is an online training programme called Princess Academy that enables travel agents to become experts on the Princess fleet, destinations and programmes. Princess Academy has just been launched in Brunei and East Malaysia and the response has been encouraging, with many travel agents signing up to start the online courses.
To tap further into the potential of Malaysia and Brunei’s cruise markets, Farriek said Princess Cruises will continue its marketing programmes and initiatives in Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei, working closely with travel agents to promote cruising as a vacation of choice.
To better serve Singapore and Southeast Asian guests, both Sapphire Princess and Diamond Princess will have multi-lingual crew members in key guest-facing positions during her homeport season from Singapore.
Dining room menus include local dishes, such as Nasi Goreng, Laksa and Chicken Rice, along with the line’s international offerings. Specially designed enrichment programmes and other amenities such as the shopping selection and spa treatments have also been tailored to local preferences.
Princess Cruises offers travellers meaningful vacation experiences by connecting them with each other, nature, different cultures and new foods. Guests can look forward to Discovery at Sea, a special on board programme created in partnership with Discovery Communications. The programme and activities are inspired by top-rated Discovery network properties from Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet and Science Channel.
The 116,000-ton Sapphire Princess carries 2,678 passengers and features a high number of staterooms with private balconies, the award-winning Lotus Spa, steakhouse, wine bar, patisserie, pizzeria, boutiques and Internet café among other amenities.
For 2016, the experience on board Diamond Princess in Singapore will substantially be the same as that offered by Princess Cruises around the world, providing an impressive array of dining and entertainment options. However, some changes and enhancements have been made to appeal to the Asian market, such as the Izumi Japanese bath – the largest of its kind at sea – as well as Kai Sushi restaurant.