On July 1, the second half of 2024 officially opened, and the tourism market officially entered the summer peak season.
On the morning of the same day, more than 300 tourists set off from the tourist distribution center of Guangzhou Dongfang Hotel, and they took a bus to the home port of Shenzhen Merchants Shekou Cruise to wait for boarding, which will start a luxury international cruise journey of 6 days and 5 nights.
The reporter learned from the tour of the group that the group took the "Asian flagship" MSC MSC Mediterranean Cruise Glory that just set sail in Shenzhen on June 29, and the cruise ship will officially open the international voyage to Japan tonight after completing the 3-day and 2-night Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Shenzhen voyage. Based on the intensive cruise schedule and the huge number of family trips in the summer, the cruise market in South China has been ignited again.
Passengers departing today were awarded the inaugural group certificate
At the departure site, Ms. Wang, a tourist, showed the Yangcheng Evening News reporter the certificate of the first voyage jointly issued by the cruise company and the travel agency. She said that she had long heard of the unimaginable luxury experience of the "Big Mac" at sea, and that she could go to Okinawa, Japan for shore excursion without a visa in the form of a cruise, and she had long been "impatient" for this cruise trip.
The reporter learned from MSC Cruises that the 172,000-ton "Asian flagship" MSC Glory has 2,217 rooms and 32 global food experience restaurants, and is equipped with an 8,000-square-meter parent-child water park on board, and the upgraded Legoland Sea Park has 7 children's activity rooms for different ages, which can provide visitors with a one-stop high-quality travel experience including transportation, accommodation, catering and entertainment.
As a "legendary" class cruise ship built by MSC Cruises with huge investment, the ship not only represents the highest quality and standard of the whole fleet, but also the largest tonnage and the most advanced large luxury cruise ship in Asia in 2024.
In addition to the luxurious hardware, the high-quality food and onboard service are also the highlights of this cruise ship. In addition to providing more than 500 kinds of exquisite dishes, MSC Glory has invited senior executive chef Li Qi, who has won the gold medal in the "China Olympic Culinary Elite Competition", and his team to customize private dishes that meet the "Chinese stomach" for Chinese tourists, including Mediterranean lobster Yifu noodles exclusive to the main restaurant, hanging roasted crispy pigeon, roast suckling pig and roasted whole sheep in the cafeteria, etc., all of which are free and all-you-can-eat.
"We know that Guangdong tourists are very particular about food, and I believe that after boarding the MSC Glory, Guangdong tourists will be satisfied with the experience of food." Huang Ruiling, President of MSC Cruises China, said.
Shore excursions and round-trip transfers are included when you book the relevant sailing
According to the travel agency, the MSC Glory cruise 2024 summer season will depart from Shenzhen and Shanghai, of which the 5 voyages in July will all depart from Shenzhen Shekou, and the voyage on July 1/12/22 will be Shenzhen-Okinawa (overnight)-Shenzhen 5 nights and 6 days itinerary, the July 8 voyage will be Shenzhen-Yaeyama Islands-Shenzhen 4 nights and 5 days itinerary, and the July 17 voyage will be Shenzhen-Okinawa Naha-Miyako Island-Shenzhen 5 nights and 6 days itinerary.
It is worth mentioning that if you book the cruise products of the relevant voyage now, you can enjoy free Japanese shore excursion services and round-trip transportation to Shenzhen.
The relevant staff reminds tourists: international cruise tours belong to the scope of international tourism business, and according to relevant regulations, participants do not need to apply for visas, but tourists need to hold a valid passport to join the group. At the same time, the visa-free cruise tour does not mean that the registration can be delayed until the last minute - because the travel agency needs to hand over the boarding list to the cruise company in advance, it will generally stop accepting passengers about 4 days before the sailing, "citizens and tourists who plan to sign up for cruise tours in the summer should pay special attention to this." ”
According to Zhao Wenzhi, chairman and president of Guangzhou Tour, the current response of MSC Glory cruise products in the Guangdong market is quite good, and at present, only one travel agency has sold more than 1,000 people, and the sales data is still rising day by day.
"The market demand for high-end cruise travel has always existed, and MSC Glory Cruises' strong performance in the summer is a testament to this." Zhao Wenzhi said that he expects more international cruise brands to choose to depart from their home ports in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in the future to meet the diverse travel needs of tourists.
Reporter Liu Xingtong Correspondent Official Key Map|Reporter Liu Chang (Some pictures provided by MSC Cruises)