Luxury cruise ships offer unique travel experience
Luxury cruise ships offer unique travel experience
By T. Sima Gunawan
JAKARTA (JP): If you are bored with "conventional" holiday, you might want to try something different: Cruising.
Indonesia's first luxury cruise ship, the Awani Dream, anchored at the Tanjung Priok sea port of Jakarta on Nov. 15. It took its' maiden voyage last week and will be officially launched next month.
Like other cruisers, the 12,000-ton Awani is no ordinary ship. It is a 270-room floating hotel with various facilities, including a bar, a theater, game rooms, two swimming pools, a sauna, a fitness center, a health clinic and even a beauty parlor.
The seven-floor Awani used to have a casino. But the Modern Group, which bought the ship from a Greek firm for Rp 80 billion (US$35 million), changed the casino into a game room because gambling is illegal under Indonesian law.
Hadi Rusli, a big cruise fan, warmly welcomed the operation of Awani.
"That's good. Cruising is fun," he told The Jakarta Post.
Earlier this year he took a London-based Cunard cruise ship. Along with 25 other Indonesians, Hadi flew to Venice, Italy, and started a cruise to Greece and Egypt. More than 600 passengers were on board.
"Enak sekali (very nice)," he said.
The journey lasted 10 days, but Hadi did not feel bored at all. The cruiser anchored at certain places to allow the passengers to make a land excursion. There were also many activities on board to keep them busy.
"I danced, took some exercise and relaxed. The food was good, you could eat as much as you wanted. But the thing I liked best was the service," he said.
Hadi also cruised in Indonesian waters.
He had earlier been on board the Bali Sea Dancer of the P&O Spice Island Cruise from Bali to Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.
"We cruised from one East Nusa Tenggara island to another, we traveled to seven islands, including Roti, Sawu, Sumba and Sumbawa. That was beautiful. You don't have to go abroad to go cruising," he said.
He spent Rp 4 million ($1,750) on the seven-day trip, including the air fare from Jakarta to Bali.
Clearly, he spent much more for the cruises abroad, but he did not mind.
"Some people like to spend their money on cars or houses. I spend mine on cruising, traveling," he said.
Indonesia, an archipelago with more than 13,000 islands, is apparently a perfect place for cruising.
The Awani Dream offers a round-trip one-night cruise from Jakarta to the Thousand Islands for $80. A two-night cruise to Cirebon, West Java, or the Krakatau, also in West Java, is $140. A three-night cruise to Singapore or Bali is $190.
The four-star cruise ship is headed by Captain Pantelis D. Papageorgieu from Greece, who has been in charge of the liner for 15 years.
One of the world's most distinguished cruise lines is the London-based Cunard, which has eight "five-star-plus" ships and two river boats. Cunard has been in the business for over 150 years. Two years ago it appointed PT Kandida Perkasa as the general agent for Indonesia. Four of the ships travel all around the world, including Indonesia.
A three-night round-trip cruise from Bali to Bangkok on board Cunard's world-famous Queen Elizabeth 2 costs $975, while the six-night cruise from Bali to Singapore is US$1,800. The price of a four-night cruise on board the Sagafjord from Jakarta to Bangkok starts from $1,585, and a nine-night cruise from Jakarta to Hong Kong is $3,570. Cunard's Sea Goddess II goes from Bali to the East Nusa Tenggara islands of Komodo, Bau-bau, Palopo and Kangean. The price can reach more than $10,000, depending on the type of room and facilities.
Queen Elizabeth 2 has a capacity for 1,800 passengers and 900 crew, while the Sea Goddess II has 96 crew and can accommodate 106 passengers.
"You will be treated like a king or a queen aboard our deluxe cruise ships," Milda Emza, account executive of PT Kandida Persada, promised.
Cunard offers land excursion every time the ship anchors and arranges beach parties with caviar, champagne and plenty of food for the passengers.
Milda sees good prospect for the cruising business in Indonesia.
She says, however, that Indonesians still need to learn about the cruising experience. Many of them do not have the right idea about cruising. They seem to think that cruising is both boring and expensive.
Amrano from Vaya Tour travel agent also believes that cruising is facing growing demand.
"Cruising started becoming popular two years ago," he told the Post.
Last year, the travel agent arranged a round-trip seven-day cruise from Vancouver to Alaska with Cunard for $3,200, including the round-trip air fare from Jakarta to Vancouver. Thirty-six people joined the trip.
"Now, we also have a package of 10-day cruise holiday in Alaska and Vancouver on board the Crystal, an American ship," he said.
The price ranges from $4,000 to $13,000.
He said that 36 people had expressed their interest to join the trip.