Hwajing Travel and Tours has chartered Adora Cruises’ Adora Mediterranea for eight Port Klang sailings from late November through mid-December 2026, marking the first confirmed Chinese cruise homeporting operation in Malaysia this year under the Visit Malaysia 2026 programme.
Key Facts At A Glance
- MOU signed May 26, 2026, at ITB China 2026 in Shanghai, witnessed by Malaysia’s Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Dato Sri Tiong King Sing
- Vessel: Adora Mediterranea, a 292-metre, 12-deck ship accommodating up to 2,680 guests across 1,057 staterooms, formerly operated as Costa Mediterranea under Costa Cruises until rebranding as Adora Mediterranea in July 2024
- Eight sailings confirmed from Port Klang, November 24 to December 19, 2026
- Itineraries range from two to five nights, calling at Penang, Langkawi, Phuket (Thailand), and Nha Trang (Vietnam), with a final one-way voyage to Guangzhou, China
- Onboard offering includes Muslim-friendly meals and a multilingual service team in Mandarin, English, and Malay
- Hwajing Travel holds the Malaysia Book of Records recognition for the “First International Chartered Cruise Homeporting in Malaysia,” following prior charter programmes with Costa Serena in 2024 and Piano Land in 2025
- Malaysia is hosting Seatrade Cruise Asia 2026 in Kuala Lumpur and Penang from November 16-20, immediately preceding the Adora Mediterranea deployment
A Deal Sealed In Shanghai
The memorandum of understanding between Hwajing Travel and Tours Sdn Bhd and Adora Cruises was formally exchanged at ITB China 2026 in Shanghai on May 26, 2026, during the official opening of the Malaysia Pavilion. Malaysia’s Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Dato Sri Tiong King Sing personally officiated the ceremony, describing the agreement as an important milestone for the development of Malaysia’s cruise tourism sector.
The signing was conducted by Kenny Cheong, managing director of Hwajing Travel and Tours, and Jenny Ye, vice president of sales and commercial operations at Adora Cruises. The minister’s presence elevated the agreement beyond a standard commercial charter, framing it within Malaysia’s broader Visit Malaysia 2026 strategy, which carries a national target of 43 million international visitor arrivals for the year.
The Vessel And Its History
The Adora Mediterranea was originally built for and operated as Costa Mediterranea by Costa Cruises before being acquired and rebranded in July 2024. The 2003-built vessel draws design inspiration from 15th- to 17th-century Italian palace architecture and was described by Adora Cruises as an “Art Ship” following its integration into the Chinese domestic cruise market. The ship is currently homeported in Guangzhou and Tianjin and operates routes within Northeast and Southeast Asia.
The vessel carries up to 2,680 passengers across 1,057 staterooms and suites, and its 292-metre length places it in the mid-to-large cruise ship category. Adora Cruises currently operates two vessels, the Adora Mediterranea and the newbuild Adora Magic City, which entered service in early 2024 as China’s first domestically built large cruise ship. A third vessel, the Adora Flora City, is under construction and scheduled for delivery in late 2026, with international itinerary operations planned from Nansha, Guangzhou from early 2027.
Eight Sailings, Four Itinerary Types
The Port Klang programme runs from November 24 to December 19, 2026, structured around four distinct round-trip itinerary formats before the season closes with a one-way repositioning voyage to Guangzhou.
Round-trip sailings from Port Klang include a three-day, two-night cruise to Penang; a four-day, three-night sailing calling at both Penang and Langkawi; a four-day, three-night cruise to Phuket, Thailand; and a longer six-day, five-night itinerary visiting Nha Trang, Vietnam, before concluding in Guangzhou, China. The programme is designed to serve families, multi-generational travellers, first-time cruisers, and experienced passengers, with the Muslim-friendly dining offering and Malay-speaking crew specifically tailored to the Malaysian domestic and regional market.
Separately, Adora Cruises announced that both the Adora Magic City and the upcoming Adora Flora City will make additional port calls at Malaysian destinations including Kota Kinabalu and Port Klang in the second half of 2026, indicating a broader strategic commitment to Malaysia as a hub market rather than a single-charter placement.
Malaysia’s Cruise Sector Ambitions
The Hwajing-Adora agreement arrives at a moment of deliberate national positioning for Malaysia’s cruise sector. The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture has designated 2026 as Visit Malaysia Year with the 43 million arrival target, and cruise tourism is identified as one of the mechanisms for diversifying the country’s inbound tourism base, particularly from mainland China, which ranks among Malaysia’s top three visitor source markets.
Hwajing Travel and Tours brings established operational experience to the charter. The agency’s prior programmes, Costa Serena in 2024 and Astro Ocean’s Piano Land in 2025, both earned Malaysia Book of Records recognition, establishing a track record of market development in a segment where first-mover credibility carries commercial value. The company has also previously chartered the SuperStar Gemini and SuperStar Libra.
Port Klang’s selection as homeport is strategically deliberate. The port serves as the primary gateway for Kuala Lumpur, provides access to Peninsular Malaysia’s key commercial and cultural centres, and is equipped with the cruise terminal infrastructure needed to handle large-vessel embarkation and disembarkation at scale. Its use as the homeport, rather than as a port of call, positions Port Klang alongside Singapore’s Marina Bay Cruise Centre as a regional embarkation point competing for the Chinese outbound cruise market.
The timing of the Seatrade Cruise Asia 2026 conference in Kuala Lumpur and Penang from November 16-20 immediately before the first Adora Mediterranea sailing on November 24 is unlikely to be coincidental. The back-to-back positioning of Asia’s most significant cruise industry trade event and a high-profile Chinese cruise deployment in the same market within the same week signals a co-ordinated effort by Malaysian tourism authorities to maximise cruise sector visibility at a globally attended platform.