Resorts World Cruises buys Pacific Explorer, to sail as Star ScorpioResorts World Cruises buys Pacific Explorer, to sail as Star Scorpio

It's official: P&O Cruises Australia's Pacific Explorer is going to Resorts World Cruises and scheduled to begin operating as Star Scorpio from Singapore in late March.

The sale had been rumored for some time. Last June, when Carnival Corp. & plc announced it would sunset the P&O Cruises Australia brand in early 2025, it said Pacific Explorer would be leaving the fleet in February.

The 78,000gt ship was built in 1997 as Dawn Princess and transferred to P&O Australia in 2017.

$50m renovation

Resorts World Cruises announced a $50m renovation and upgrade of Star Scorpio in Singapore before it begins service March 26 from Singapore Cruise Centre.

A series of voyages are scheduled until July 21, with destinations including to Jakarta and Medan in Indonesia, Melaka and Pulau Redang in Malaysia, Bangkok and Ko Samui in Thailand and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

They include five-night Melaka-Jakarta cruises (10 departures), five-night Bangkok-Kho Samui cruises (five departures), four-night Ko Samui-Pulau Redang cruises (three sailings), three-night Melaka-Medan cruises (five) and five-night Melaka-Ho Chi Minh Cruises (four).

Roundtrips available from four other ports

The itineraries are designed so that passengers can instead embark for roundtrips from Jakarta (Tanjong Priok Port), Bangkok (Laem Chabang), Melaka (the ICQS cruise terminal) and Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My Port).

'We are pleased to introduce Star Scorpio as the third cruise ship for our fleet and to kick start

her maiden deployment in Singapore. Star Scorpio’s dual homeport in Singapore with different

countries in Asia will offer Indonesians, Thais, Malaysians and Vietnamese round-trip cruises from their ports during their peak holiday periods without the need to fly to another country,' Resorts World Cruises President Michael Goh said.

Vietnam first

He added that Star Scorpio's Ho Chi Minh City embarkations will be a first, enabling Vietnamese to access 'affordable cruises' to Singapore and Melaka. While for Singaporeans, the 14-hour Jakarta port time will allow passengers to go to the historic city of Bandung using the new high-speed rail, which travels at a speed of up to 250 km per hour 'with the rare chance to also visit a live volcano.'

Star Scorpio bookings open Jan. 10.