(Yicai) April 29 -- Royal Caribbean International resumed its lucrative China cruises after four years since the Covid-19 pandemic, following a similar move by Swiss rival MSC Cruises.

Miami-based Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas arrived at its homeport of Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal on April 26, carrying nearly 4,000 passengers, a record high for a single ship at the Shanghai port, Yicai learned. The next day, the ship took over 3,700 guests to Fukuoka, Japan.

Before this, the quantum-ultra class ship was traveling for several years in Asia but not in China. Instead, it was MSC Cruises' MSC Bellissima, the largest cruise ship in Asia, that took the lead among foreign cruise lines in restarting mainland operations after the pandemic last month. One of the factors that support the rebound is that the nation introduced a 15-day visa-free policy for foreign tour groups entering the country from Shanghai’s cruise ports last October.

China is one of Royal Caribbean’s most important strategic markets, said Michael Bayley, president of Royal Caribbean. The Spectrum of the Seas was the only international cruise ship that did not leave Asian waters during the Covid-19 pandemic, waiting for the day to return to its homeport in Shanghai, he added.

The luxurious ship, custom-designed for the Chinese market, cost USD1.3 billion to build with its maiden voyage in 2019. It has a capacity of 168,000 deadweight tons and 5,200 passengers.

Royal Caribbean entered the Chinese mainland in 2009. The company had three mainland homeports of Shanghai, Tianjin, and Shenzhen as of Dec. 31, 2019, to operate four cruise ships.

This year, Chinese ports have welcomed 21 international cruise ships and in the first quarter, ports handled more than 190,000 cruise passengers, nearly double the total of last year, the transport ministry announced today.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Emmi Laine