BY: Vincent Wee

SINGAPORE'S investment in a new cruise terminal sends a "positive signal" and is a major reason why Royal Caribbean Cruises is deploying a vessel year-round.

The 1,800 passenger, 70,000 ton Legend of the Seas will be based in the Asia-Pacific region all year from November 2009, Royal Caribbean International president and CEO Adam Goldstein said yesterday.

"The positive response to our first season with Rhapsody of the Seas has been very encouraging and we are delighted to offer year-round choices to holidaymakers in the region," he said at an event to mark the first anniversary of the company's regional headquarters here.

According to the company's Asia-Pacific managing director Rama Rebbapragada, last year's Asian cruise programme was fully booked, with more than 30,000 passengers.

That represented 111 per cent growth from the previous year and resulted in a 66 per cent increase in revenue.

Royal Caribbean is optimistic about the coming season. Mr Rebbapragada expected 66 per cent growth in passenger numbers and an 89 per cent rise in revenue, despite Legend of the Seas having a smaller capacity.

There will be more cruises during a longer season with 16 sailings, up from nine previously.

Although Legend of the Seas is smaller than its predecessor, the 2,000 passenger Rhapsody of the Seas, it is from the same Vision class of ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet and has similar facilities.

More importantly, its dimensions allow it to fit under the Sentosa cable car and berth at the Singapore Cruise Centre as well as at Shanghai's new cruise terminal on the north Bund.

Royal Caribbean's year-round programme will enable departures from a wider range of ports besides Singapore, such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, Yokohama and Busan.

Home-porting a ship in Singapore and beginning the introductory season from here helped the cruise line assess demand and open up some of these new ports, Mr Rebbapragada said.

For example, about 25 per cent of the space on the initial cruise to Busan last year was reserved for Koreans and was fully booked. This gave Royal Caribbean the confidence to initiate the new destination.

Another good sign is an increasing number of customers from Singapore and fly-cruise guests from China, India, Australia, Indonesia and even as far away as North America.

About 30 per cent of bookings last year were by Singaporeans and as many as 10 per cent came from North America, Mr Rebbapragada said.

Mr Goldstein said that it is encouraging that cities such as Singapore are investing in cruise infrastructure and building for the future to accommodate the new Genesis-class ships that Royal Caribbean is building.

"There is a momentum in favour of infrastructure development that had not been seen before," he said.

This article was first published in The Business Times on July 3, 2008.