Genting Hong Kong’s Dream Cruises not accepting new bookings until further notice

SINGAPORE — Cruise operator Dream Cruises will not accept new bookings for its World Dream cruise operating in Singapore until further notice, the company said late on Friday (Feb 4).

In a statement to TODAY, Dream Cruises said that its parent company Genting Hong Kong will continue to operate the Dream Cruises fleet in the region.

“However, new bookings for World Dream will remain suspended from Feb 4 until further notice as the joint provisional liquidators continue to explore the state of business and to identify, examine and explore the options available to them in respect of the company’s future business,” it added.

Dream Cruises also said that the “primary purpose” for appointing the joint provisional liquidators with the Bermuda Court on Jan 27 was to, among others, continue the scheduled itineraries of the cruise line.

The company said earlier on Jan 23 that it has suspended bookings for an initial period of two weeks after its beleaguered parent company, Genting Hong Kong, applied on Jan 18 to be wound up.

It did not specify on Friday how long the latest suspension would last.

Genting Hong Kong is unable to cover mounting debts and is now facing insolvency.

On Friday, it said that the appointment of the joint provisional liquidators over itself and Dream Cruises was not to “liquidate the companies but to identify potential remediation plans and to facilitate the restructuring of the group including Dream Cruises”.

“(Genting Hong Kong) will also continue to monitor the domestic situations and operational opportunities for Genting Dream and Explorer Dream in their respective markets.”

It added that it will make more announcements "regarding any updates on the development of any restructuring proposal in accordance with the listing rules”.

Genting Hong Kong, which is part of Malaysia's Genting Group, reported last May a net loss of US$1.7 billion (S$2.3 billion) in 2020 due to travel restrictions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.