Sanya receives 1st int’l cruise liner of 2025

The Port of Sanya in south China’s Hainan Province received China’s first international cruise ship of 2025 on Friday morning.

MV Piano Land, China’s first independently operated state-owned cruise vessel carrying 456 passengers on this trip, docked at the Sanya Phoenix Island International Cruise Port Friday morning.

The cruise ship, which departed from China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, will continue its voyage to Vietnam after the Sanya stop.

This route has adopted an innovative “dual homeport” model, in which passengers could choose to board either in Hong Kong or in Sanya as their home port, with a variety of itinerary options available.

“This route is very good and very fresh. The opening of this route has added a lot of new options for tourism in Hainan,” said Zhao, a passenger.

To ensure the smooth customs clearance of the cruise ship and its passengers, the Sanya Border Inspection Station has developed a special duty plan.

The station has also strengthened port control during the ship’s stay using gangway monitoring, fixed-point patrols, and video surveillance to manage the port’s restricted area and ensure the safe and orderly boarding of passengers and crew.

“We have effectively streamlined the entry and exit procedures of cruise ships and their carriers, shortened the customs clearance time at ports, to provide an efficient, convenient and pleasant customs clearance environment for the vast number of inbound and outbound passengers,” said Cheng Hao, captain of Sanya Border Inspection Station first patrol squad.

Piano Land, a 70,000-ton luxury ship, can accommodate more than 2,000 passengers. It’s also the first international cruise ship to arrive in Sanya since the implementation of visa-free policy for foreign tourist groups entering China via cruise ships.