Cruise News - Maritime News

The first luxury cruise ship named "Gulangyu" A 70,000-ton luxury cruise ship (ex P&0 Oriana) will be named "Gulangyu" and will debut at the Xiamen International Cruise Port on the eve of National Day this year. 

The “Star Travel Ocean Cruise” brand jointly established by the central enterprises was officially released in Xiamen, and the operation headquarters was set up in Xiamen. This has become an important event for the city to attract investment and develop the local cruise industry.

It is reported that the "Star Travel Ocean Cruise" brand was jointly funded by China Tourism Group and China Ocean Shipping Group, and signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with the city last year. The brand's first cruise ship, Gulangyu, is a 70,000-ton luxury cruise ship with 1,880 passengers.

It will use Xiamen as its home port and officially debut on September 30 this year. 

Including the experience voyage, in 2019, the "Gulangyu" will operate 8 voyages in Xiamen, including several popular "Hai Si" routes.

The relevant person in charge of the brand said in Xiamen yesterday that whether it is to name the brand's first cruise ship as “Gulangyu” or to set up an operation headquarters in Xiamen, one is optimistic about the business environment in Xiamen, and the other is optimistic about the development prospects of Xiamen cultural tourism. 

"Star Travel Ocean Cruises will combine Chinese characteristics, based in Xiamen, radiate across the country, actively deploy Haisi and cross-strait routes to create distinctive and differentiated cruise products," the official said.

In recent years, the Xiamen cruise industry has experienced an explosive growth. Since the beginning of this year, it has received 50 cruise ships and more than 158,500 passengers, an increase of 66.6% and 57.3% year-on-year. The growth rate is among the top in the country's major cruise ports.

The maiden voyage of the "Gulangyu" home port will be an important milestone for Xiamen International Cruises' mother port to strengthen the province's industry "leading" role, cultivate the main body of the cruise market and promote the localization of cruise ships. 

The head of Xiamen International Cruises Home Port Group said that it will cooperate with China National Tourism Group, the largest tourism central enterprise in China, and China Ocean Shipping Group, the world's largest integrated shipping company, to strengthen exchanges in shipping, logistics, finance, equipment manufacturing and port services. Extend and improve the cruise industry chain, promote the cruise industry to attract large and strong, and become a high-quality increase in urban economic development.