Overview
Aroya is a cruise ship operated by Aroya Cruises (Saudi Arabia). She was originally built for Star Cruises, but in the construction process she was transferred to Dream Cruises, in 2022 the ship was put up for sale and in 2023 she was bought by Cruises Saudi. Since 2024 she operates under the Aroya Cruises brand. She was initially ordered under the name World Dream for Star Cruises and transferred to Dream Cruises during construction. The ship was designed for the Asian cruise market and has a large number of restaurants together with a casino and specially designed cabins. She was formally named on 17 November 2017 by Cecilia Lim, wife of Genting CEO Lim Kok Thay, who became godmother of the ship. World Dream was sold to Cruise Saudi in 2023, and immediately renamed Manara. In July 2024, Aroya Cruises renamed her Aroya.
Construction and service
The ship was ordered in February 2014 for Star Cruises and was laid down on 29 July 2015. Construction started in February 2016. In November 2015, she was transferred to sister brand Dream Cruises before completion as World Dream She was launched on 26 August 2017 and completed on 26 October 2017. World Dream measures at 150,695 gross tons and is long with a beam of . World Dream entered service for Dream Cruises in November 2017.
Coronavirus quarantine
Three passengers aboard World Dream during 19–24 January 2020 were confirmed to have been infected by COVID-19. On 5 February 2020, all 3,800 World Dream passengers and crew were put under quarantine on board the ship at Hong Kong's Kai Tak Cruise Terminal after Taiwan blocked its port of call in Kaohsiung. , checks of those on board were ongoing. On 26 February the Indonesian government evacuated their 188 citizens from World Dream using the hospital ship KRI dr. Soeharso. All Indonesians that were aboard the cruise ship were taken to Sebaru Kecil Island which is part of the Thousand Islands Regency in Jakarta. After that, they underwent 14 days of quarantine and observation.
Auction and refit
Following the insolvency of parent company Genting Hong Kong, Dream Cruises collapsed. On 1 March 2022, it was announced that World Dream would cease operations the next day after its last sailing return to shores. World Dream was then laid up in Singapore and sold at auction with sealed bids due by 21 December 2022. In March 2023, the ship was finally sold to Cruise Saudi and renamed Manara. In June of that year, Manara arrived in Bremerhaven for an extensive refit at the shipyard Bredo. The ship was sold at an auction for about US$355 million with Meyer Werft being involved in the modification. The ship was renamed Aroya, which is a combination of the words Arabian and roya, translating to vision or dream. She started operations in December 2024.
Lego model
On 16 November 2017, Dream Cruises created an Lego model of the ship, the largest such model of a cruise ship, which was put on display at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong.
External links
* World Dream cruise ship's page at Dream Cruises * Aroya website