Casino cruise ship operator Genting Hong Kong Group announced plans for its cruises to go beyond Asian waters starting 2019, as part of its move to become “Asia’s Global Cruise Line.”

In a press release, the company said it was scheduling its ‘Queensland and the Barrier Reef Cruises’ beginning October 27, 2019, after a $30-million rehabilitation of one of its ships into the ‘Explorer Dream,’ weighing 75,000 gross tons and with a 1,870-passenger capacity.

Genting HK Executive Chairman Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay said, “Dream Cruises will be extending its brand recognition to 300 million Chinese in Shanghai and Tianjin/Beijing next summer as well as offering cruises in Australia and New Zealand to its Asian-sourced passengers during winter 2019 – the first time Dream Cruises will be sailing outside Asia.”

Other cruises offered are ‘North and South New Zealand Cruises,’ starting December 15, 2019, and ‘Tasmania Island and Melbourne Cruises’ starting February 9, 2020.