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World Dream makes inaugural cruise from Pearl River Delta's Shenzhen

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Shekou Cruise Homeport - close to 490,000 outbound travelers to date
Dream Cruises' World Dream embarked on its first voyage from new China homeport, Shenzhen. The ship sailed from Shekou Cruise Homeport Tuesday, giving residents of the Pearl River Delta region a convenient and hassle-free travel option right at their doorstep.

Over the next two months, World Dream will sail multiple cruises from Shenzhen, including two-night weekend escapes with departures on Sept. 21 and Nov. 23, as well as a five-night cruise on Nov. 18 to Danang and Halong Bay in Vietnam.

Taking South China's cruise market to the next level

'With the introduction of Shenzhen as a homeport, Dream Cruises has strategically extended its deployment to three major cities within the Greater Pearl River Delta Bay area,' Dream Cruises president Thatcher Brown said. 'Going forward, we will continue to explore more opportunities for inter-city collaborations involving drive, rail and fly-cruise to propel the development of the South China cruise market to the next level.'

Dream Cruises' sister brand, Star Cruises, became the first international cruise line to homeport in Shenzhen upon the opening of the Shekou Cruise Homeport with SuperStar Virgo’s deployment from November 2016 to March 2017. Twenty-seven voyages were operated.

Nearly 490,000 passengers to date

'Over the past two years, we have witnessed tremendous growth of cruise tourism in Shenzhen, which has become one of the leading port cities in the country with close to 490,000 outbound travelers to date,' said Wu Wei, Shekou Cruise Home Port general manager. 'Starting with Shekou Cruise Homeport, we will create an innovative business model with all-in-one “ship, port, city, tourism, shopping, leisure” including shipping, port, commercial property, supporting infrastructure, international logistics transhipment, maritime works repairs, tourism, specialty duty-free and financial services, in one ecosystem.'

He said this will be a 'replicable 4.0 cruise homeport template.'