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Princess Cruises
Showcases Panama Canal with Variety of Itineraries in 2008-09
The awe-inspiring Panama Canal
never fails to be a "must see" wonder for cruisers, and
Princess continues to lead the way with three ships transiting this
engineering marvel for the 2008-09 season. With more departures
and the most modern fleet in the region, the line offers passengers a
full range of itineraries to one of the greatest achievements of the
20th Century.
Sister ships Coral Princess
and Island Princess, both purpose-built for Canal cruising,
will offer full Canal transit voyages as well as convenient roundtrip
partial transits. In addition, the intimate 670-passenger Pacific
Princess will sail on one 20-day Grand Canal adventure.
Together, these ships will offer a choice of 40 departures, on six
Panama Canal itineraries. Princess ships offer the highest
percentage of balcony staterooms of all vessels in this destination,
so passengers have the perfect vantage point for watching the Canal's
locks as they lift and lower the ship a dramatic 170 feet.
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Princess Details Diverse
Array of Itineraries to Hawaii and Tahiti in 2008-09
Princess Cruises has announced
its 2008-09 itineraries to the island paradises of Hawaii and Tahiti,
featuring a variety of itineraries aboard the intimate Tahitian Princess
and the amenity-filled Golden Princess.
The new schedule includes Golden
Princess' debut in Hawaii featuring roundtrip sailings from Los
Angeles to Hawaii, with more west coast departures to Hawaii than any
other line. In Tahiti, the intimate Tahitian Princess
sails French Polynesia with an enhanced 10-day itinerary as well as
two Hawaii/Tahiti sailings, two one-way cruises between Hawaii and
Vancouver, and even an extended voyage from the South Pacific to
Easter Island, South America and through the Panama Canal.
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Cunard 2009 World Cruises
on The Most Famous Ocean Liners in the World
Valencia, CA - Cunard
announces the 2009 World Cruise itineraries for flagship Queen
Mary 2 and the new Queen
Victoria, where combining the
legendary Cunard liner experience of tradition, elegance and grandeur
with the adventure of circumnavigating the globe remains a
time-honored tradition. When Cunard set out to chart its world
cruise destinations, it drew upon an 85-year tradition dating back to
1922, when it first pioneered the concept of world cruising.
In 2009 both liners will
undertake their second world cruise and offer a multitude of voyage
options packaged with a variety of early booking incentives,
additional savings bonuses and amenities for independent and group
guests. Queen Mary 2
and Queen Victoria
will explore the globe during voyages of 90 and 99 days, meeting in
Ft. Lauderdale for a Cunard Royal RendezvousTM
on January 13, 2009.
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Eurodam to sail Canada/New
England itinerary
Following its Europe launch in
June, the 2,104-passenger Eurodam will offer three 10-day cruises
between New York and Quebec City, departing Sept. 1, 11 and 21. The
Eurodam will call at Newport, R. I.; Boston; Bar Harbor, Maine;
Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island;
and Quebec City. Cruise prices start at $1,799 per person.
CLIA appoints environmental expert
The Cruise Lines International
Association named Steve Collins, a marine environmental expert and
former U.S. Coast Guard officer, as the association's director of
environmental and health programs.
Collins is responsible for all
aspects of the cruise industry's environmental and health matters,
including wastewater and shoreside waste disposal issues. He is also
responsible for developing and coordinating industry positions with
regard to vessel sanitation and medical practices. He will convey
those positions to international, federal and state regulatory agencies.
Always a Queen: The QE2s loyal subjects wax nostalgic
The final voyage of the Queen
Elizabeth 2, a 16-day trip from Southampton, England, to Dubai,
United Arab Emirates, leaving Nov. 11, 2008, sold out in about 35
minutes. The news had broken earlier that Carnival Corp., Cunard's
parent company, had sold the vessel to Dubai World for $100 million,
and that it would retire as a floating hotel and museum in Dubai.
The announcement was met with
everything from tears to anger to relief, but above all, with a flood
of memories of the longest-serving ship in Cunard's 167-year history.
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Considering Membership
Royal Caribbean is the latest
line to be considering membership in a growing club - the flexible
dining club. As with other lines who are already members, if
implemented, passengers would be provided some form of more flexible
dining in the ship's main restaurant.
Royal Caribbean will test
their initial concept on Freedom of the Seas beginning October 7. It
will run through December 16, excluding the October 28 and November
18 (Thanksgiving) sailings.
A European First
The champagne corks are popping
at Costa offices around the world. Carnival's Italian brand has
achieved a first in Europe.
The line has become the first
cruise line on the continent to book a million passengers in a year.
Adding icing to the cake (or bubbles to the champagne), is that Costa
achieved the record-setting number in just eight months.
Princess Introduces New
Itineraries for Caribbean Escapes in 2008-09
The colorful ports of the
Caribbean highlight Princess' 2008-09 cruise season as the
line's amenity-filled ships offer up fresh itineraries for escapes to
these tropical waters, and a new vessel, Ruby Princess,
makes her debut.
In total, seven Princess ships
will sail on 11 itineraries to all corners of the Caribbean,
featuring the youngest fleet of any major cruise line in the
region. This array of modern vessels, ranging from 710 to 3,100
passengers, offers the highest percentage of balcony staterooms in
the Caribbean - perfect for enjoying the idyllic island scenery and
crystal blue waters. The line's wide array of itinerary options
includes the opportunity to explore some of the lesser-visited ports
in the Caribbean with more 10- and 14-day cruises in the Caribbean
than any other line.
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The March into South America
The Royal Caribbean brand is
continuing its push into the Latin American-sourced market. The line
announced today that during the 2008/2009 winter season, Enchantment
of the Seas will be based in Colon (Panama) for a 4-month series of
7-night cruises in the far southern Caribbean.
While the Royal Caribbean product
remains basically the same no matter where their ships are sailing,
and each offers another option to customers worldwide, with this
series of cruises, is designed to appeal to three specific Latin American-sourced
market segments.
Royal introduces Colón
as a homeport
Royal Caribbean International
announced 17 sailings from Colón near the Atlantic entrance to
the Panama Canal. The seven-night cruises will operate from December
2008 through April 2009 aboard Enchantment of the Seas.
Unveiling the program at a news
conference yesterday in Panama, RCI president Adam Goldstein said the
departures offer convenience for non-U.S. travelers. He also thanked
the Panamanian government for their ‘enthusiastic support.’
Ports on Enchantment’s
Southern Caribbean cruises from Colón include Cartagena and
Santa Marta, Colombia; Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.
Two eight-night repositioning
voyages will sail on Nov. 29, 2008, and April 5, 2009. In addition to
visiting Santa Marta and Cartagena, the sailings include two sea days
and a call at Puerto Limón, Costa Rica, as the ship transits
between Colón and Fort Lauderdale.
The Thought Was Nice, Anyway
July 30 - Remember the
ever-popular $50 head taxes and fees Alaska is imposing on cruise
passengers this year? For most, it works out to more than $50. A
state legislator introduced a bill in the Alaska legislature that, if
enacted, would in effect cap the fees the visitor pays at $50. But
he's withdrawing it, because it's seen as a conflict of interest for
him to sponsor the bill. We'll update you on this when more
becomes available.
Carnival's in to Stay - at
Least for a While
Carnival Cruise Lines signed a
new two-year deal with the Port of New Orleans to keep a
Fantasy-class ship in the Crescent City, but not necessarily for two
more years.
Will He Be the Next Jennifer Hudson?
Jennifer Hudson is proud of the
fact that her professional background included a stint as an
entertainer in the production shows aboard Disney Cruise Line. She
left from there to go to her audition for American Idol. Even though
she didn't win (or even come in second), after her appearance in the
competition, her career exploded, and she ended up with one of the
lead roles in Dream Girls.
Another cruise ship entertainer
may be following that same route. Jason Pritchett is currently the
lead male production show singer aboard Carnival Spirit, and he was
also a finalist on this year's edition of NBC's surprise hit show,
America's Got Talent.
More Passengers on Crystal to
Experience Multiple Berths
The news media usually goes crazy
for multiple berths, and those are usually limited to five or six.
They'll go out of their minds for Crystal's announcement about 20.
The line has added a third berth
to 20 staterooms aboard Crystal Serenity, which brings to a total of
157 staterooms and suites aboard the ship which can accommodate a
third person.
Less Smoke and Lots of Mirrors
Royal Caribbean International
said today that, based on their new Vitality wellness program, they
are going to expand their nonsmoking policy to include more of the
ship, most notably passenger staterooms and suites.
While this might be a step in the
right direction, unfortunately, the policy doesn't go as far as it
sounds. It seems to be designed to excite the nonsmokers while being
afraid of offending smokers, and therefore has the potential to upset
both smokers and nonsmokers.
The New Smoking Policy
In January 2008, Royal Caribbean
will implement a new smoking policy that will include the following
key changes:
• No smoking within the
staterooms, not including the balconies.
• No smoking in any dining
area of any ship, both indoors and outdoors.
• Champagne Bar will be a
non-smoking bar on every Freedom, Voyager and Vision-class ship.
• Viking Crown will be a
non-smoking bar on every Sovereign-class ship.
This policy will go into effect
for the entire fleet, with the exception of Legend, Rhapsody and
Splendour, on the first full sailing of January 2008. The policy will
go into effect for the remaining ships on the transition sailing to
the Summer 2008 itinerary.
Something for Everyone (on the
West Coast)
Princess released the details of
their 2008-2009 Mexican Riviera program, and there seems to be things
to make lots of people happy in the western part of the country,
including a return to the 10-day market from San Francisco.
Used cooking oil on NCL ships
helps farmer in Florida
NCL Corp. is moving forward with
its environmental program by donating used cooking oil from two of
its ships, the Norwegian Jewel and the Norwegian Pearl, to be
converted into bio-diesel fuel for farming equipment.
The cruise line said that
approximately 1,300 gallons of used cooking oil were offloaded at the
Port of Miami and donated to an organic farmer in Vero Beach, Fla.,
who converted the oil to 870 gallons of usable bio-diesel fuel for
his farming equipment.
The program is already in effect
in Hawaii, where all NCL and NCL America ships that sail in Hawaii
have recycled approximately 40,000 gallons of used cooking oil and
turned the oil into bio-diesel fuel last year in Hawaii, NCL said.
Cooking oil is one of the waste
oils generated on cruise ships, the cruise company said. In addition
to cooking oil, there is also oil from the engines, which the line
has also recycled to be converted into a marketable product at waste
oil treatment facilities on land, NCL said.
Carnival Victory hits pier in
New York City
A Carnival Cruise Lines ship
struck a pier overhang in New York City's West Side cruise terminal
last Thursday, causing minor damage to the ship and to the pier.
Carnival said that no guest or
crew injuries were reported after the Carnival Victory, while in the
process of docking, made contact with the pier around 7 a.m. on Aug. 2.
The ship, which had just returned
from a roundtrip cruise to St. John, Canada, sailed as planned
yesterday afternoon on its next scheduled cruise, Carnival said, and
a comprehensive investigation is underway as to the exact cause of
the incident.
Oceania adds overnights,
longer trips for '08-'09 winter season
Oceania Cruises has opened
bookings on several longer itineraries for its winter 2008-2009
sailings. In addition, Oceania said it has included more overnight
stays for the winter '08-'09 season.
New itineraries featured are
sailings to Asia, Australia, the Caribbean and South America,
including three 19-day cruises between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and
Valparaiso, Chile, and a 32-day sailing between Rome and Singapore.
Oceania said that its guests are
increasingly enthusiastic about overnight stops, and that Rio de
Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong and Sydney are among the most
popular places to spend the night.
Carnival projects 2.9 million
cruisers in the Caribbean in 2007
Caribbean demand over the past
year has been impacted by unfavorable economic factors, but is not a
reflection of the region's popularity or desirability, according to
Vicki Freed, Carnival Cruise Lines senior vice president of sales and marketing.
In a statement, Freed said that
economic factors affected consumers' discretionary purchasing, which
was part of a cyclical trend that the industry has seen many times in
the past.
"Bookings for the second
half of 2007 and early 2008 have shown much stronger fundamental
demand," Freed said. "Consumers are unquestionably
responding well to the strong value appeal inherent in a cruise
vacation versus other vacation options."
Carnival said the Carnival
Freedom will begin sailing seven-day Caribbean cruises from Miami in
November, bolstering the line's record-breaking number of Caribbean
cruises this year. During 2007, Carnival will carry 2.9 million
passengers in the Caribbean, the most in the line's 35-year history.
This year, 18 Carnival ships, 14
offering year-round service, will sail in the Caribbean region, or a
total of 1,150 three- to eight-day cruises, the company said.
MAJESTIC AMERICA LINE
ANNOUNCES FAREWELL CELEBRATION THROUGHOUT 2008 FOR THE LEGENDARY
DELTA QUEEN
Congress has decided not to enact
legislation to grant the historic ship a statutory exemption; Ship
will continue sailings through November 2008
Seattle, August 1, 2007 –
Majestic America Line, one of the world’s premier river cruise
lines and the largest river and coastal cruising company in America,
announced today that despite tremendous efforts by the company, many
esteemed partners and thousands of previous guests, the U.S. Congress
has decided that the Delta Queen should not continue operating on
America’s rivers beyond 2008. Majestic America Line is committed
to providing this American treasure with a proper and well-deserved
send off, and will spend the Delta Queen’s 2008 farewell season
celebrating this historic landmark with the communities and people
who hold her storied tradition of sailing the waterways of the United
States so dear.
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about the Delta Queen CLICK
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Santorini officials clear Sea
Diamond clean-up
Santorini officials have signed a
protocol stating that the oil clean-up work in response to Sea
Diamond’s sinking was ‘fully satisfactory,’ according
to a statement by Louis Hellenic Cruises.
Louis Hellenic said the protocol
was signed following an inspection by a committee consisting of the
mayor of Santorini, the head of the island’s Coast Guard and a
representative of the local company, Environmental Protection
Engineering. The group examined thousands of meters of shoreline.
Louis Hellenic said the
inspection’s results confirm that the company and its insurers
took appropriate and effective measures to combat pollution following
Sea Diamond’s sinking on April 6.
Fincantieri floats out
Carnival Splendor
A ceremony Aug. 3rd at
Fincantieri’s Sestri Ponente shipyard marked the technical
launch o |