Singapore, Taiwan good models for restarting as safe cruise bubbles
THE forced adoption of technology along the cruise customer journey – from pre-boarding to onboard – and the massive shift of consumers to digital booking channels during Covid will be trends that will underpin cruising long after Covid is over.
It is after all thanks to testing, tracking and tracing technology that cruises in Singapore have been able to restart and when onboard, apps, contactless solutions and QR codes enable a safe experience, and cruise companies such as Dream Cruises and Royal Caribbean, operating in Singapore, believe a digital future is inevitable, including in distribution.
Said Angie Stephen, managing director, Asia Pacific for Royal Caribbean, “Covid forced us to escalate that adoption, we have no choice. And that is the future – digital, technology, apps. And that’s an important message for our travel partners, you got to get in the game of digital. That’s a key learning from all of this.”
Stephen was speaking at Cruise World Asia, organised by Travel Weekly Asia, in which she also shared her company’s experience in dealing with the recent incident in which a passenger on one of its cruises out of Singapore tested positive, prompting a flurry of procedures to kick in including isolating passengers and getting them to disembark on the day itself. The passenger later tested negative after the fourth test.
Stephen said it was a good test, which proved “the plan worked”, and if anything, has proven that the industry is well-prepared to respond. “In order for us to restart, we have to get comfortable with living with Covid, with the priority on safety.”
Lionel Wong, CEO of SATS-Creuers Cruise Services, operator of Marina Bay Cruise Centre, said that while the incident might have appeared to be a drama to outsiders it was not to the parties involved “because we have rehearsed this to death”.
“In the last month or so working closely with both cruise lines, working closely with Singapore Tourism Board, we’ve run through all these scenarios. And it’s not really drama because we knew exactly what to do. We knew how to do it, we knew when we needed to be done.”
For him, the biggest lesson learnt was how critical timely and effective communication to passengers is. With people still spooked from the Diamond Princess incident where passengers were stuck on board for days on end, Wong said Royal Caribbean passengers were told when they would disembark, their expectations were managed and they knew exactly what was going on.
And as Singapore gets ready to enter Phase 3 with more restrictions lifted from December 28, consumers are getting on with living and travelling (albeit to nowhere) with Covid.
Stephen said Royal Caribbean’s next sailing saw 1,800 guests hop on board, following negative PCR tests. The measures that RCCL is taking to ensure safety and hygiene onboard are nothing short of staggering, and I asked Stephen if operating with increased costs at a time when its ships cannot run fully capacity was challenging.
Said Stephen, “There’s definitely an increased cost of safety, but you can’t put a price on safety. So we’re not even looking at it in that context. It’s just what do we need to do to prove health and safety and that cruises can be a safe travel bubble, and then we talk about the profitability.
“Right now, it is about proving to the world that we can do this successfully. A lot of planning has gone into this by a lot of different organisations to make this a success.”
Taiwan another role model in safe restarting of cruises
For Dream Cruises it’s been a year of firsts – the first cruise line to resume operations in the world, the first to restart in Taiwan with 55 sailings since June, and 60,000 pax to date, and the first to operate a halal-friendly ship in Asia Pacific with World Dream.
“What happened in Taiwan and Singapore are very good testimonials for the cruise lines actually. You can definitely see that cruising is one of the safest travel modes at this time with all the safety and digital applications so I think it’s a good example for other countries to restart cruising,” said Michael Goh, president of Dream Cruises.
Wong said lessons could be taken from the Mediterranean where there could be bubbles operating between Singapore and Penang, for example, where everything becomes more structured. “All your shore excursions need to be chaperoned, you can no longer have an FIT who can just get off and roam. This is the way it is being done in the Mediterranean.
“You can have a cruise that connects Naples, Palermo to Malta and then ending in Rome – every single stop, the tour guides at the destinations are all tested every single day. They’re all kept isolated so that they can continue to function. And all the tour groups that come off the ship are specifically assigned to any one of these tested and verified tour guides so that they’re all kept clean all the way and they are chaperoned the entire process.
“I think if we’re going to look at potential cruise bubbles coming up in the future … we can expect to see this happening.”
Information, flexibility and insurance coverage key to building consumer confidence
Stephen said another key to rebuilding consumer confidence in cruising is information and knowledge. “What we launch today will look very different from perhaps when we restart in other markets, because we’ll know more. Science is evolving, and everything that we’re doing in the Royal Caribbean health and safety programme is backed by science and medical expertise. And this landscape is moving very quickly. The importance is communicating all of that to the consumer.”
Another key is flexibility of conditions – covering cancellations and refunds – and Covid insurance coverage.
Royal Caribbean is certainly making sure it’s covering all bases with insurance. Stephen said every cruise comes with Covid protection insurance. “It’s not an extra fee to the cruise price. It’s included as part of the cruise package. No matter where you sail, no matter what market you’re from, every guest that sails onboard Royal Caribbean can do so with peace of mind knowing that if they get COVID, three weeks before the cruise, and aren’t able to cruise per our policy, they’ll get a full refund.
“If they have to be turned away at the terminal because they don’t pass our health screening, they’ll get a full refund. If they get sick on board the ship with a Covid-related incident the patient along with their traveling party will have full medical coverage of all Covid-related expenses, quarantine, and also transportation home.
“Now in Singapore, because we’re only sailing with Singapore residents, maybe that isn’t as big of a deal because getting home is not difficult. But once we start opening borders and guests may need to fly back to wherever they’re from, whether it be Indonesia, Malaysia, India or Thailand, we will cover the cost of that – because there could be a situation where they’re not allowed to fly commercial air, we would help charter a flight.”
Changing customer – younger, digital, direct
Beyond insurance and bubbles other new trends have emerged. Goh for example said that up to 70% of the sales for its cruises ex-Singapore came direct, a far higher percentage than before.
“We actually see a big transformation in terms of booking channels and consumer behaviour. In the Singapore case, the 70% could also be explained by the fact that many agents are not in full operation so there are opportunities being missed and therefore you see the shift of the booking channel.”
He urged travel agents to start thinking of investing in the future so that when recovery comes, they can be part of the wave.
Stephen said, “Consumers are choosing to book via digital, it’s less about booking direct, it’s about wanting to book digitally. I want to see travel partners get more into the digital and social space, because that is just where people are shopping.
“There are a few travel partners who are getting a disproportionate share of the travel agent bookings, because they are where the consumers are. I think that’s an important trend to focus on for the future.”
Interestingly too, with cruising the only option available for a travel-hungry population, cruise companies see this as an opportunity to win new cruisers. Goh said the bulk of customers on its cruises now were aged 20-50 with the 50+ avoiding travelling at this time.
“With the change in the age group, when it comes to onboard activities, we’re going to make adjustments. But I’m also quite confident that in the very near future, the 50s and above will increase in number. And that’s the reason why we got into a halal-friendly ship – the Muslim community is one important segment that can expand the market for us.”
Stephen said cruisers in Asia have tended to fall into the younger family-type demographic “but I’m starting to see more upper affluent customers come on board because typically they would do a longer trip and maybe not stay so close to home. This is opening them up to cruise so there’s an opportunity to into an audience that you wouldn’t normally have done.”
So don’t be too quick to say the sun has set on cruising because massive amounts of resources are being invested to ensure they restart safely in Asia. Indeed, flights still not taking off between borders in Asia for the masses, cruises may well be the only option available for consumers in this so-called Caribbean of the East.
• Featured image credit: welcomia/Getty Images