My Cruise Journey

I had never thought I would be involved in the cruise industry. After spending a short spell in the airline industry in the 80s, I then ventured into the travel industry. Cruising in the early days was meant for the discerning travellers and mostly, the westerners when their international cruise vessels made a stopover in Singapore. Cruise vessels were usually docked at Keppel Container Terminal as the cruise centre was not ready yet. The birth of cruising in Singapore and the region started in the late 80s and very quickly, cruise vessels, the likes of Andaman Princess and Coral Princess soon made Singapore its home port. It is undeniable that high sea gaming was the key reason why cruise vessels making its presence here. Cruise-to-nowhere or high seas cruise soon became the mainstay in the itinerary until the governing body had to step in to ‘pressure’ local cruise operators to do more destination calls. That year was 1991 when I received a call from a friend who was the executive director of the cruise company asking if I was interested to join them. They were looking for someone to help set up a travel outfit and without a second thought, I jumped on the first opportunity. The company had chartered two cruise vessels, Orient Sun and Royal Pacific (the latter sank in August 1992 from a collision). I have had no idea what was I supposed to do when my friend asked me to pack my belonging to cruise onboard their newly chartered vessel, Royal Pacific. He only said urgent help needed onboard. But I was supposed to set up the travel outfit and I had wondered how kind of help or expertise I could offer. I had never been with a cruise liner before. However, like an obedient soldier taking order from his commander, I did not question further. On my first day of work, I was sent to Keppel Container Terminal to board the vessel. While waiting for Royal Pacific to arrive, I can’t believe my own eyes when I saw rows of white Mercedes lining up at the wharf side. The PR personnel from the company had also gathered too. Handphone then was the bulky Motorola type for the privileged ones only. They were practically talking on the mobiles oblivious to my presence. Finally, the vessel slowly making its way to the wharf side. I must admit my heart was thumping with excitement as it was my first time coming that close to a luxurious cruise vessel. When the gangway was ready, the VVIP passengers were first to disembark. They were quickly ushered to the waiting Mercedes. Their dress code reminded me of a typical HK ‘big brother’ movie scene – it was so surreal. Apparently, they were high stake VVIPs where winnings or losses can go into millions. I was introduced to the chief purser whom I was supposed to help. After a brief conversation with him, I was soon left on my own and I still did not have a single clue of my assignment. It was a newly chartered vessel and every department was still trying to get things organised. My friend probably thought with my airline experience, I could help in the purser/front office. Alas, cruise and airline are completely different entities altogether. Guess, I had to figure out what to do during the long voyage. It was a 5-day turnaround voyage to Tanjong Priok (Jakarta) and back. I decided to park at the front office to understand the ship operation. As I hardly knew anyone onboard save for the chief purser who was introduced to me, I thought I should move around to see who I can make friends with. Fortunately, there was a small of Singaporeans onboard. The late hotel manager was a Singaporean and he brought his Singaporean core team to head the various departments. Very quickly, they became my close buddies onboard. M/V Royal Pacific was built in 1965 as a car ferry. Her original name was M/V Empress which was then plying domestically in Australia. The 13,176 gross tonnage car ferry was reconfigured into a passenger cruise vessel sometime in the late 80s by its new owner. The newly furbished cabins and amenities onboard were luxurious. Compared to older vessels like Coral Princess, Andaman Princess and Orient Sun which were already trading in this water, Royal Pacific was a class of its own.

The vessel when it was still named as ‘Empress’ undergoing re-configuration from ferry to passenger vessel in 1989/91. This is how I got into cruise industry when I was supposed to set up a travel outfit. There was no guidebook to follow and everything was a new learning curve for me. M/V Royal Pacific was the first vessel I got involved in. Unfortunately, the vessel sank in August 1992 when we set off for a 2-day high seas voyage. With the sinking, it did cast a brief dark cloud on the cruising industry. My cruise journey continues…