Dream Cruises has celebrated the keel-laying of the second 208,000 gross ton Global Class ship at MV WERFTEN in Rostock, Germany. The transfer of the first 160,000 gross ton midship section for the first Global Class vessel – Global Dream – from Rostock to the covered dock of Wismar was completed two weeks ago. At 235m long and 20 decks high it was the largest man-made ship structure to be towed from one location to another.
Dream Cruises was created 3 years ago for Asian sourced markets, drawing on Genting’s 26 years of global experience in the cruise industry, offering its customers inspiring cruises that are at heart Asian and yet international in flair. Genting Dream, the first ship, started her maiden voyage in November 2016 and her sister ship World Dream joined the fleet a year later.
Building on the successful debuts of Genting Dream, World Dream and Explorer Dream, Dream Cruises’ new 208,000 gross tonne ship, Global Dream, is currently under construction at Genting Hong Kong’s very own MV WERFTEN shipyard in Germany.
With a length of 342m and width of over 46m, the ships of the Global Class are designed for the fast-growing Asian market. They feature a theme park – including a roller coaster with virtual reality, a multiplex cinema, a separate Asian spa in addition to a European spa, many shopping facilities, restaurants as well as fast food outlets. The ships’ 2,500 cabins offer accommodation for 5,000 passengers on a twin share basis and as many as up to 9,500 passengers during the holiday periods in Asia. Global Dream will also feature Dream Cruises’ signature 151-suite luxury “ship-within-a-ship’ concept, “Dream Palace”.
Global Dream is set to enter into service in early 2021 and will be the largest cruise ship to homeport in the Asia Pacific region. For more details on Global Dream visit “A Global Dream Through Time and Space“.
Work on the two new ships of the Global Class is well underway and the keel-laying of the second vessel marks an important milestone in the construction process. During the ceremony participants placed the traditional lucky coins on the keel block before the 95m high gantry crane lowered the 470ton section into position.
“We are here for the keel laying of the second Global Class ship,” said Tan Sri KT Lim, Genting Hong Kong’s Chairman and CEO, “But more importantly, we are starting the design and building of the next series of ships, the Universal Class ships, the first to be delivered by the end of 2022.”
The Universal Class
Cruising is a niche 2.5% market share of the travel industry and marketed often as an alternative to land vacation. The Universal Class ships, on the other hand, are designed, built and operated with “Complete Freedom” – making cruising more like a land vacation.
At 88,000 gross tons in size and 2,000 guests, the ships are large enough to have all the main amenities of larger cruise ships but without the crowded public space and lines of 5,000+ passenger cruise ships.
Genting will operate the Universal Class ships for global hotel brands, who want to enter the cruise industry, but are unable to do so as almost all building slots are occupied till the end of the decade.