Dream plots Oz move

DREAM Cruises president Thatcher Brown has outlined plans for the line to become “an attractive cruise alternative to a land vacation” to the eight million Asian tourists predicted to visit Australia and New Zealand each year by 2021.

“Our plans are to have Shanghai and Tianjin as homeports in summer and then, to offer itineraries in Australia, New Zealand, the ASEAN region, and the west coast of the United States in winter,” he said.

Brown made the comments as the cruise line celebrated a steel cutting ceremony for the first of two global class vessels.

Dream Cruises’ global class ships will be designed specifically for the Asian cruise market and bring the Dream fleet to four.

“Expanding the Dream Cruises brand ‘globally’ goes hand-inhand with an aggressive newbuild program that will more than double our capacity by 2021,” Brown said.

The two dream class vessels were originally set to join the line’s sister brand Star Cruises, but were instead shifted to “bolster the Dream Cruises’ expansion plans and global aspirations,” Genting Cruise Lines president Kent Zhu said.

“However, we are commencing our design for a new class of ship for Star Cruises which will rejuvenate the Star Cruises brand in the coming years,” he added.