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It's Official: Apollo Purchases Regent
Regent Seven Seas Cruises is being purchased from Carlson
by Apollo Management, the New York-based investment group. Regent
and Oceania will be placed under the ownership of Prestige
Cruise Holdings, a corporation controlled by Apollo which will
"manage certain cruise portfolio assets." NCL
Corporation will remain a separate holding outside of Prestige.
No dollar figure was released in the statement to travel agents, but
it was revealed that both Regent Seven Seas President Mark Conroy and
Oceania President Bob Binder will report directly to Frank
Del Rio, Chairman and CEO of Prestige Cruise Holdings.
One of the sticking points has been the issue of possibly separating
Regent cruises from the hotel side of the company. In his
letter Conroy explains, "We will partner with Carlson
to continue to grow the Regent brand at sea and on land. In addition
to our plans to grow Regent at sea, Regent Hotels & Resorts
will continue to operate and grow as part of Carlson Hotels Worldwide."
How Do You Start A New Cruise Line?
Royal Caribbean and European tour operator TUI plan to jointly launch
a cruise line serving the German-speaking market in early 2009. TUI
Cruises will be based in Hamburg, Germany, and will enter service
with one ship. Two new-builds are planned for 2011 and 2012. RCCL and
TUI each will have a 50% interest in the joint venture. RCCL CEO
Richard Fain said the deal "greatly advances our global
strategy." TUI said the onboard product would be tailored to
German tastes in terms of food, entertainment and amenities. In
September, Carnival Corp. scrapped a proposed joint venture with TUI
to launch a cruise line for the German market, citing what Carnival
called "a difficult regulatory environment in Germany."
Chef Nobu expands Crystal partnership
Master chef Nobuyuki ‘Nobu’ Matsuhisa is partnering with
Crystal Cruises for two new restaurants aboard Crystal Symphony that
will occupy the former Jade Garden space, which featured selections
from Wolfgang Puck’s Chinois restaurant.
Silk Road and The Sushi Bar will debut during Crystal Symphony’s
March 3 trans-Pacific cruise from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. Nobu will
join the ship in March to oversee the launch.
SeaMobile offers live Bowl games package
Ships installed with SeaMobile’s Wave Entertainment Network
service or MTN Satellite Services’ VSAT (C-band) will be able to
receive four BCS Bowl Games plus the Cotton Bowl in early January.
MTN will supply a decoder and deliver the games through its
communications satellite network. Passengers will be able to watch
the games live from any ship location worldwide, according to
SeaMobile spokeswoman Nancy Brumfield.
The Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and the Cotton Bowl in Dallas are set
for Jan. 1, with the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix on Jan. 2, the Orange
Bowl in Miami on Jan. 3 and the BCS Championship in New Orleans on
Jan. 7.
Genesis keel laid in Finland
The keel for Royal Caribbean International’s first Genesis
newbuild was laid on Dec. 11th, at Aker Yards in Turku. At the keel-laying
ceremony, the first blocks constructing the 220,000gt ship were laid
into the bottom of the dry dock.
Scheduled to enter service in autumn 2009, the ship will take 5,800
man-years to complete and, at a cost of $1.24 billion or $230,000 per
berth, is the most expensive cruise ship ever ordered.
ROYAL CARIBBEAN will homeport its two Genesis-class
ships in Port Everglades when the 5,400-passenger vessels enter
service in 2009 and 2010, making the Fort Lauderdale port home to the
two largest cruise ships built to date. The two ships are expected to
add approximately 584,000 passengers per year to Port Everglades; the
vessels will sail Caribbean itineraries year-round. Port Everglades
said that the agreement would allow it to surpass Miami and Port
Canaveral as the world's largest cruise port within the next five years.
The bookings haven't even started yet on Genesis-class ships,
but it's already sounding like there will be special fees due to the
unprecedented size of the vessel (220,000 tons).
The first indication came from a South Florida Sun-Sentinel report
this weekend that the mammoth ship will homeport in Ft. Lauderdale,
as will the second Genesis-class. No surprise there, but what's
unexpected is the following line buried deep in the article: "One
of the terminals at Port Everglades will be renovated at a cost of
$37.4 million to handle the new business. Neither local
taxpayers nor the port will foot the bill. Royal Caribbean will pay
for the work through a $5.70 surcharge on passengers when they
leave and arrive. That's in addition to a $9.95 port-user
charge each passenger will pay."
ABP and Carnival seal 20-year deal at Southampton
A fourth cruise terminal is to be constructed at Associated British
Ports’ (ABP) Port of Southampton after ABP and Carnival UK today
signed a 20-year contract.
As part of the agreement, ABP will invest £19m in the new
terminal, which will be built at Ocean Dock opposite the site of the
old Ocean Terminal. The agreement will also give Carnival brands
Cunard, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises priority
use of the port’s Queen Elizabeth II and Mayflower Terminals,
further strengthening the group’s relationship with the port.
Copenhagen full of Christmas cheer
Copenhagen is expecting three cruise ship visits this month as
interest in winter cruising in North Europe increases. The first
vessel scheduled to arrive at Langelinie is P&O Cruises’
Artemis on Monday followed by Fred. Olsen’s Black Watch next
Wednesday and Queen Victoria on December 14, as part of her inaugural
cruise. Actor Sir Roger Moore will attend the Cunard liner’s
Keys & Plaque ceremony.
Copenhagen had its first Christmas cruise call in 2005 and since the
beginning of this year has received a number of enquiries about
winter cruise calls, says Anette Jensen, cruise marketing director,
Cruise Copenhagen Network.
Norwegian Gem Takes Over NY Post's Web Site
Friday NCL's new "It" Girl Norwegian Gem got maximum
exposure with a first-ever, full-site takeover of the New York Post's
Web site: www.nypost.com.
The line said that the site will take on "a lava lamp-like glow
as every section features Norwegian Gem's black, gold and hot pink branding."
The splashy marketing move heralds Norwegian Gem's arrival in New
York on Tuesday, Dec. 18 at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. Termed by
NCL as "the hippest ship to hit the high seas," Norwegian
Gem will be homeported in New York for the winter, sailing to the
Bahamas, Florida and the Caribbean.
NCL said that on an average Friday, nypost.com receives seven million
hits .
GSD&M's Idea City, the Austin, TX-based advertising agency of
record for NCL, arranged this first-ever site takeover because Post
readers are among NCL's target audience and the majority reside in
the New York area where the "It" Girl will homeport.
Carnival Orders Two Newbuilds for AIDA brand
The race to zero-in on the German-speaking cruise market is
accelerating. Earlier this week Royal Caribbean Cruise Line
and German tour operator TUI AG announced a joint venture that will
start serving the German market in 2009, beginning with one ship,
with two more built for 2011 and 2012.
Last Thursday Carnival Corp. announced it has
ordered two 71,000-ton cruise ships for its AIDA Cruises brand, which
caters exclusively to the German-speaking market. These two newbuilds
mark six new ships that the German cruise operator has ordered in
just the past three years.
The 2,174-passenger vessels, which will be built at Germany's Meyer
Werft shipyard are scheduled to enter service in April 2011 and May
2012, respectively. Additionally, the company has contracted with
Meyer Werft to increase the size of the fourth vessel in the series,
set to debut in April 2010, to 71,000 tons with a passenger capacity
of 2,174, making it a sister to the two ships ordered today.
All of these vessels will operate under AIDA Cruises' informal
"club resort" cruise concept which is marketed exclusively
to German-speaking clientele and offers a product aimed at younger,
more active guests.
Princess to Offer More Sailings From "The City by the Bay"
Nearly 40 years after Princess Italia set off from San
Francisco on its first Alaska cruise, Princess is marking its long
history of sailing from the city with more than 20 departures in 2008.
In addition to yearly favorites such as the breathtaking beauty of
Alaska and the fun and sun of the Mexican Riviera, Princess has a
number of "exotic" sailings on tap from San Francisco,
including several luxurious month-long Pacific crossings to (or from)
Sydney, a special voyage to Central and South America, and the
opportunity to travel "Aussie style" to Asia. The latter
option is part of Princess' new Australia-based cruise program on Sun
Princess, which will bring that ship to town as part of a Pacific
Circle voyage, with segments ending and beginning in San Francisco.
"San Francisco has long been an important port for us, and we're
continuing to offer more departures from 'The City by the Bay' than
any other cruise line next year," said Jan Swartz, Princess'
senior vice president of customer service and sales. "I think
many travelers might be surprised by the variety available, with
these unique sailings to South America, across the Pacific and even
to Asia."
Cruises departing from or arriving in San Francisco include:
Alaska - Dawn Princess will return for a series of popular
Inside Passage cruises. The 10-day roundtrip | 
