Dream Cruises has suspended bookings for an additional two weeks for all its vessels. Despite assurances that the cruise line would continue operations in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan, the company filed for winding up the business last week.
The company has court-appointed joint provisional liquidators that are looking at the state of the company and its assets and how it could possibly continue to operate despite the bankruptcy of parent company Genting Hong Kong.
Dream Cruises Works Towards Restructuring
What will happen with Dream Cruises and its three cruise ships is anyone’s guess right now. The company is currently working towards restructuring to avoid company assets being sold off and business suspended. To do that, Dream Cruises has further suspended all bookings for an additional two weeks.
A spokesperson for Genting Hong Kong said, “Genting Hong Kong would like to reiterate that the appointments of joint provisional liquidators over the company and Dream Cruises are not to liquidate the companies but to identify potential remediation plans and to facilitate the restructuring of the group including Dream Cruises.”
Bookings for Dream Cruises and sister line Star Cruises have been suspended since January 22. This was due to expire today, February 4, but the company will not be taking any bookings until February 18 or near that date with the new extension.
Which Ships are Affected?
The further suspension of bookings will affect the three ships from Dream cruises differently. Currently, the company’s newest ship, World Dream, is operational in Singapore. The ship has continued to offer seacation cruises from the city, but the current situation is proving to be unsettling for guests booked for a cruise.
One passenger told the Singapore newspaper The Straits Times: “They’ve said that cruises will continue, but this is still quite unsettling. I don’t know what to do now because I’m not sure if I can get back my money if I cancel the trip.”
In Hong Kong, the cruise ship Genting Dream has been sitting idle since mid-January. However, this pause in operations had little to do with the company’s financial situation but more with COVID-19 regulations that banned all cruises in the city. Cruises are scheduled to resume later this month, but this depends more on the Hong Kong government.
The third ship in the Dream Cruises fleet set sail over the New Year on a 2-night cruise from Keelung in Taiwan. These cruises have been operating as scheduled. With bookings suspended, it remains to be seen that these cruises will be able to continue to operate.
One thing is sure, with Dream Cruises on the verge of liquidation, many companies will be looking closely at how the situation progresses. There is no denying that the assets from dream Cruises are worth consideration.
The company is deeply embedded in one of the biggest growth markets in Asia, and construction for its newest ship, the 208.000 gross tonnes Global Dream, had been nearly completed before Genting filed for winding up with plans for a second Global-class ship.
