Hong Kong officials are seeking a cruise ship to restart the program of short cruises as they work to restore more normalcy after extended COVID-19 restrictions.
Hong Kong is seeking to bring a former P&O cruise ship owned and operated by the Chinese since 2019 to Hong Kong as a replacement for the international ships that had been operating the cruises until they were ordered to suspend operations early in 2022.
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As reported by local media, Hong Kong tourism officials are in discussions with a brand known as Astro Ocean Cruise, set up by COSCO Shipping and China National Travel Service. The company acquired a single cruise ship, the P&O Oriana in 2019 and renamed it Piano Land for short cruises from China.
The plan calls for the Piano Land to begin offering short cruises to nowhere from Hong Kong possibly as early as July 1. It would be a similar pattern of short cruises to those operated in 2021 by both Royal Caribbean International and Dream Cruises from the city.
At the beginning of January 2022, Hong Kong officials ordered both cruise lines to suspend operations as the number of cases of COVID-19 began to increase. Dream Cruises suspended all of its operations shortly after.
In addition, Royal Caribbean in late January announced it was also repositioning its one cruise ship operating from Hong Kong, the Spectrum of the Seas, to Singapore six months earlier than planned and would keep the ship based from that port for the next year.
