A Chinese travel agency plans to send 1,300 tourists from Sichuan province to Taiwan between late April and October on cruises departing Shanghai, featuring gambling, luxury retail and live entertainment on board.
The first group of 100-200 tourists will fly to Shanghai from Chengdu on April 25 and board the Star Cruises’ ship to depart for Taiwan that evening.
The cruise is being organized by the Sichuan branch of China Comfort Travel (formerly China Travel Services) with Hong Kong-based Star Cruises, a company wholly owned by Genting Hong Kong.
A spokesperson for Star Cruises told the Times that the ship Superstar Gemini, with passenger capacity of over 1,500, will make this maiden voyage which operates out of “the new homeport of Shanghai.” The company confirmed that passengers will have access to all facilities that the ship offers, and that includes casinos (deck 10) and shopping areas (deck 9).
"Superstar Gemini started a series of inaugural sailings in January this year. Starting from April 6, Superstar Gemini will be homeported in Shanghai, calling at top destinations in Korea (Jeju and Busan) and Taiwan (Keelung, Taichung and Kaohsiung). Gearing towards the keen interest that Chinese passengers’ have in shopping, Superstar Gemini’s refurbishment includes a 450-square-feet swanky shopping boulevard featuring designer branded merchandise ranging from luxury handbags, wristwatches and sunglasses to perfumes and cosmetics. Star Cruises has also formalized our relationship with China Duty Free to jointly develop duty-free retail business,” said the company official.
According to the Central News Agency (CNA), the ship is expected to arrive at Keelung Harbor at 7am on April 27. On day one, the passengers will visit the National Palace Museum, the Shilin Presidential Residence, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, the Taipei 101 skyscraper and Keelung Night Market. They will board the ship at 11pm that night and arrive in Taichung the next morning to tour Chung Tai Chan Monastery and Sun Moon Lake before returning to the ship in the evening to leave Taiwan.
Currently, Star Cruises’ homeports are Hong Kong, Singapore, Krabi, Penang, Port Klang (Malaysia), Keelung, Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Sanya and now Shanghai (Mainland China).
The cruise operator has a fleet of five ships all named after zodiac signs.
Refurbishment was done last year on the Superstar Libra and Superstar Gemini (which will serve the China routes).
MDT watched an 11min. youtube video showing, in detail, Superstar Libra’s recent renovation undertaken in Singapore’s dockyards. One of the major changes was to deck 5 which is now almost totally dedicated to gambling, including VIP restricted areas. A Taiwan travel agent, quoted by CNA said that although a novel idea for Chinese tourists, “the market potential is good.”
And for most of those Sichuan travelers it will be – on more than one level – their maiden voyage.
