All aboard: Some Singapore athletes housed on cruise ship during Asian Games

With no dedicated athletes' village, the Asian Games' organisers are relying on a cruise ship, temporary wooden containers and hotels to house participants.

The cruise ship Costa Serena, berthed at Nagoya Port, is being used to house athletes taking part in the Asian Games 2026, Sep 17, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Wallace Woon)

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NAGOYA: Over the years, Singapore women's water polo captain Abielle Yeo has stayed at hotels, a university dormitory and even a condominium-type complex during competitions, but never on a 290m-long cruise ship.

"It's quite a new experience for us. Especially because with previous major Games, we've never had a (Games) village on the boat," she told CNA on Friday (Sep 18).

With no dedicated athletes' village, the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games organisers are instead relying on the cruise ship, temporary wooden containers and hotels to house participants.

Along with Yeo and her teammates, Singapore athletes from other sports, including wushu and table tennis, have also checked into the ship Costa Serena, which is docked off the port of Nagoya.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less Table tennis player Chloe Lai said she was excited to get the chance to live on a cruise ship during the Games. "(The rooms are) not bad, there's quite a lot of space. We expected it to be way smaller," she said. "The beds were very comfortable. We heard that the beds were not comfortable or the pillows were not very good. So I brought a pillow from home (just) in case, but I didn't have to use it," added Abielle Yeo's teammate Kayla Yeo.

Table tennis player Chloe Lai said she was excited to get the chance to live on a cruise ship during the Games.

"(The rooms are) not bad, there's quite a lot of space. We expected it to be way smaller," she said.

"The beds were very comfortable. We heard that the beds were not comfortable or the pillows were not very good. So I brought a pillow from home (just) in case, but I didn't have to use it," added Abielle Yeo's teammate Kayla Yeo.

A screenshot of a video showing a room on the Costa Serena. (Image: Instagram/Jowen Lim)

Singapore's chef de mission Goh Kee Nguan told CNA that athletes on the cruise ship are in "good spirits and settling in well".

"They look forward to enjoying the facilities and the space on board. The food has also been well received, with buffet-style meals offering a good range of international options," he said.

As of Thursday, 102 Singapore athletes from 11 sports have arrived in Nagoya, while 29 swimmers are based in and competing in Tokyo, he added.

While there was "quite a bit of a wait" prior to boarding the ship and getting their rooms on Thursday, the experience overall has so far been positive, said Abielle Yeo.

"Accommodation will be the most important because after a tiring day of competition and training, you need somewhere ... you can come back to relax and de-stress from the day," said Lai.

Wooden containers used to house athletes competing in the Asian Games in Nagoya, Sep 18, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Wallace Woon)

"CERTAIN PLUS SIDES"

Accommodation at the Games has been in the spotlight over the past week.

Temporary wooden container huts have received some flak, with South Korean officials branding the container huts the "worst ever" and saying the beds are too short.

Hundreds of athletes were briefly evacuated from their accommodation last week as record rainfall lashed Nagoya.

Speaking ahead of the opening ceremony, organising committee president Hideaki Omura said plans for the containers, which were built this year, had been given a favourable assessment by a committee of former athletes, including Olympians.

For Mr Goh, who has been staying in one of the temporary container huts, the accommodation has been comfortable.

"I have found the accommodation to be comfortable and well equipped, with air conditioning, comfortable beds, washing machines and dryers, as well as showers and bidet toilets. The organisers have also provided laundry pods, hangers and welcome kits with toiletries for all residents," he said.

Back on the Costa Serena, Kayla Yeo's pillow is not the only thing she brought from home that hasn't been used.

She also packed motion sickness pills just in case, but with the ship docked at the port, there has been no need for them.

Women's captain Abielle Yeo said she had been hoping for more Japanese food instead of Western fare, adding that there are "certain plus sides" to staying on a cruise ship.

What has been particularly useful for the team is the constant availability of food at the ship's dining halls.

"With our previous experiences, sometimes because the game schedule is as is ... when we can only come back to our accommodation during off-meal times, it's a bit difficult because there's either no food left or they have to prepare takeaway boxes or stuff that is not very great," she added.

"The good part about this is that because there's always food available, it doesn't matter when our game is, and we can be flexible with our daily schedule, which I think is really good."

Mr Goh said that Singapore's secretariat will continue to stay close to athletes, team officials and organisers to ensure they are well supported throughout the Games.

"We are ready for the Games and look forward to welcoming the rest of Team Singapore and, most importantly, seeing our athletes compete and give their very best on the field of play."

Catch the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games live or on-demand on mewatch! Visit mewatch.sg/asiangames for details, and follow Mediacorp Sports on YouTube , TikTok , Instagram and Facebook for the latest updates and trending content!

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由于没有专门的运动员村，亚运会组织者只能依靠游轮、临时木制集装箱和酒店来安置参赛人员。

2026年9月17日，停泊在名古屋港的歌诗达塞雷纳号邮轮被用来安置参加2026年亚运会的运动员。（图片：中央社/Wallace Woon）

这段音频是由人工智能工具生成的。

名古屋：多年来，新加坡女子水球队队长杨爱玲在比赛期间住过酒店、大学宿舍，甚至公寓式住宅，但从未住过一艘 290 米长的游轮。

“这对我们来说是一次全新的体验。尤其是因为在之前的大型奥运会中，我们从来没有在船上搭建过（奥运）村，”她周五（9月18日）告诉亚洲新闻台。

由于没有专门的运动员村，爱知-名古屋亚运会组织者只能依靠游轮、临时木制集装箱和酒店来安置参赛人员。

与杨和她的队友们一起，来自其他体育项目的新加坡运动员，包括武术和乒乓球运动员，也登上了停靠在名古屋港外的歌诗达塞雷纳号邮轮。

CNA游戏 猜词游戏 逐行破解单词 流行词游戏 用给定的字母组成单词 迷你数独 小谜题，大挑战 迷你填字游戏 小方格，大挑战 单词搜索 尽可能多地找出单词 显示更多 显示更少 乒乓球运动员Chloe Lai表示，她很高兴有机会在奥运会期间住在游轮上。“（房间）还不错，空间很大。我们原本以为会小很多，”她说。“床很舒服。我们听说床不太舒服，枕头也不太好。所以我从家里带了一个枕头以防万一，但没用上，”Abielle Yeo的队友Kayla Yeo补充道。

乒乓球运动员赖克洛伊表示，她很兴奋有机会在奥运会期间住在游轮上。

“（房间）还不错，空间挺大的。我们原本以为会小很多，”她说。

“床很舒服。我们听说床不太舒服，枕头也不太好。所以我从家里带了一个枕头以防万一，但没用上，”阿比埃尔·叶的队友凯拉·叶补充道。

一张视频截图，展示了科斯塔塞雷纳酒店的一个房间。（图片来源：Instagram/Jowen Lim）

新加坡代表团团长吴启源告诉亚洲新闻台，游轮上的运动员“精神状态良好，适应情况也不错”。

“他们很期待享受船上的设施和空间。食物也广受好评，自助餐提供了丰富的国际美食选择，”他说。

他补充说，截至周四，已有来自11个体育项目的102名新加坡运动员抵达名古屋，另有29名游泳运动员在东京训练和比赛。

Abielle Yeo 表示，虽然周四登船和入住房间之前“等待的时间相当长”，但总体而言，到目前为止体验是积极的。

赖说：“住宿是最重要的，因为经过一天疲惫的比赛和训练后，你需要一个地方……可以回来放松身心，缓解一天的压力。”

2026年9月18日，名古屋亚运会期间，运动员们入住的木制集装箱。（图片：中央社/Wallace Woon）

“某些优点”

过去一周，奥运会的住宿问题一直是人们关注的焦点。

临时木制集装箱小屋受到了一些批评，韩国官员称这些集装箱小屋是“有史以来最糟糕的”，并表示床太短了。

上周，名古屋遭遇破纪录的暴雨袭击，数百名运动员被迫短暂撤离住所。

在开幕式前夕，组委会主席大村秀明表示，今年建造的集装箱的规划方案得到了包括奥运选手在内的前运动员委员会的积极评价。

对于一直住在临时集装箱小屋里的吴先生来说，住宿条件很舒适。

他说：“我发现住宿条件舒适，设施齐全，有空调、舒适的床、洗衣机和烘干机，还有淋浴和坐浴盆。组织者还为所有住户提供了洗衣凝珠、衣架和包含洗漱用品的迎宾礼包。”

回到科斯塔塞雷纳号上，凯拉·叶奥从家里带来的未使用物品可不止她的枕头一个。

她还带了晕船药以防万一，但由于船停靠在港口，所以没有用到。

女子队队长 Abielle Yeo 表示，她一直希望吃到更多日式料理而不是西餐，并补充说，住在游轮上也有“一些好处”。

对团队来说，船上餐厅持续供应食物这一点尤其有用。

她补充说：“根据我们之前的经验，有时因为比赛日程安排如此……我们只能在非用餐时间回到住处，这有点困难，因为要么没有食物了，要么他们只能准备外卖盒之类的东西，而这些食物都不太好。”

“这样做的好处是，因为食物供应充足，所以我们的比赛时间并不重要，我们可以灵活安排每日行程，我认为这真的很好。”

吴先生表示，新加坡秘书处将继续与运动员、代表团官员和组织者保持密切联系，以确保他们在整个运动会期间得到充分的支持。

“我们已经为奥运会做好了准备，期待着迎接新加坡队的其他成员，最重要的是，期待看到我们的运动员在赛场上全力以赴，发挥出最佳水平。”

想观看2026年爱知-名古屋亚运会的直播或点播吗？快来mewatch观看吧！访问mewatch.sg/asiangames了解详情，并关注Mediacorp Sports的YouTube、TikTok、Instagram和Facebook账号，获取最新资讯和热门内容！

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