Travel companies to launch round-Taiwan cruises

After jointly conducting cruise ship tours to Taiwan’s outlying islands since late July, Dream Cruises and Lion Travel are cooperating to launch a round-Taiwan cruise next month, the companies said yesterday.

The tours — covering four to six days — are to depart from Keelung and feature stops in Tainan, Penghu County, Kaohsiung and Hualien, with the first trip embarking on Oct. 22.

At a news conference to announce the tours, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said that the cruises would allow travelers to visit some of the nation’s most spectacular sights without the trouble of arranging transportation and accommodation.

Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times

People could also enjoy views of the nation’s coast from a rare perspective, Lin said.

In July, Taiwan became the first country in the world to restart cruises since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the companies’ first island-hopping tour embarked on July 26.

So far, 12 tours have been completed, taking 18,000 passengers to the nation’s outlying islands of Penghu, Matsu and Kinmen, Lin said.

COVID-19 prevention measures, including regular disinfection of all the ships’ facilities and social distancing, would also be implemented on the cruises, said Liu Hsiao-ning (劉曉寧), vice president of Genting Cruise Lines, Dream Cruises’ holding company.

In related news, budget airline Scoot yesterday announced that it would resume services between Kaohsiung and Singapore, as well as Kaohsiung and Osaka, Japan, with one weekly flight on each route starting on Sept. 19.

The announcement came as the Singaporean carrier gradually resumes its scheduled services after disruption caused by the pandemic, including flights between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Singapore in July, and flights between Taoyuan and Seoul last month.

Scoot said that the flights from the two Taiwanese cities would also connect passengers to flights to further destinations via Singapore.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the company would measure the temperature of all passengers before boarding and require them to wear masks throughout the flights, the company said.

Members of the flight crew would every 20 minutes disinfect onboard lavatories, Scoot said, adding that it would perform extra hygiene measures after each flight.

To comply with international aviation health safety protocols, passengers must submit health reports to the airline prior to boarding, the carrier said.