Former Genting Hong Kong ship World Dream reported sold to Cruise Saudi

Neither Cruise Saudi nor KfW IPEX-Bank responded to requests for information on Monday. 

The 2017-built World Dream measures 150,695gt with capacity for 5,000 passengers.

The Singapore Sheriff's Office listed the ship as sold on Friday. The buyer and price were not disclosed. 

Arrested in March

The sheriff had put World Dream up for auction following its March 2022 arrest by KfW IPEX-Bank in Singapore. Bids were due Dec. 21. World Dream reportedly drew little interest and sources said KfW had submitted a protective bid.

A sale to Cruise Saudi has been rumored for many weeks.

With this, all the former Genting HK vessels — those that sailed for Dream Cruises, Star Cruises and Crystal Cruises — have found new owners or been demolished. (Look for a recap of where they all went in the March issue of Seatrade Cruise Review, the official publication of Seatrade Cruise Global.)

Sister Genting Dream sails for Resorts World Cruises

World Dream is the sister of 2016's Genting Dream, currently sailing for Resorts World Cruises on charter from a consortium of Chinese banks that acquired the ship for $900m in 2020, before Genting HK's collapse.

The former Dream Cruises ship Explorer Dream is also being chartered to Resorts World Cruises and is due to start service from Hong Kong as Resorts World One in March with Kaohsiung, Taiwan to be added as a transit port and homeport in early April. 

Global Dream to Disney

The giant, unfinished newbuild Global Dream went to Disney Cruise Line, which plans to complete it at MV Werften, with the help of Meyer Werft. Part of the work will reduce capacity from the 9,000 passenger count to approximately 6,000. The ship will be renamed and is expected to begin sailing in 2025 for new markets outside the US.