StarCruises will reposition the Star Navigator ship from its summer homeport of Keelung to Kaohsiung/Taipei for winter 2025–2026 season, spanning from November 16, 2025, through January 30, 2026.
The repositioning will commence with a 2‑night one-way voyage departing Keelung on November 14th, carrying the vessel to its new base port.
Over the 11‑week homeporting in Kaohsiung, the ship will embark on 22 voyages—comprising 2‑ and 5‑night “Warm Winter Cruises” to Okinawa, Japan, as well as to the Philippines and Vietnam, destinations where temperatures run up to 10 °C higher than in Taipei. Kaohsiung becomes the first port on the island to offer direct sailings to Philippine destinations such as Laoag, Coron, Boracay, and Puerto Princesa, in addition to Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay and Da Nang.
The winter schedule will include 9 short “Weekend Sea‑cations (2‑night roundtrips to Laoag departing Fridays through Sundays) and 2 “Cruises to Nowhere” (portless itineraries). A further eleven 5‑night itineraries will sail Sundays to Fridays, divided into 5 themed routes: two voyages to Okinawa (stopping at Naha, Miyakojima, and Ishigaki), two to Vietnam (visiting Da Nang and Ha Long Bay), three covering Puerto Princesa, and three to Boracay. An additional Palawan voyage calls at Coron and Puerto Princesa.
Having established Kaohsiung as its winter homeport for the third consecutive year, Star Dream Cruises’ president Michael Goh credited the continued support of local authorities and returning passengers for extending the deployment through January 2026. He emphasized that the repositioning to Kaohsiung will enable travellers to access newly available destinations across the Philippines and Vietnam.
Simultaneously, a second vessel, Star Voyager, will assume its Hong Kong homeport beginning in late June, featuring eleven calls across Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Keelung, and Penghu. City officials expect combined visits by both ships—totaling 28 calls—to attract over 100,000 passengers and generate upwards of NT$650 million (US$22 million) in tourism revenue, an indicator of Kaohsiung’s growing alignment with international cruise standards.
The Star Navigator’s winter deployment marks a strategic repositioning aimed at tapping warmer waters and expanding the reach of local cruise offerings from southern Taiwan.