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Cunard Takes Delivery of Queen Victoria
Senior Italian and British politicians attend handover ceremony
in Venice
The Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, and the Under Secretary of
State, Department for Transport, Jim Fitzpatrick MP, were present at
a high profile Handover Ceremony in Venice on Saturday, November 24
when Cunard took delivery of the new ocean liner, Queen Victoria.
The ceremony, on board the new 90,000-ton vessel at the
Fincantieri Marghera shipyard, marks the completion of a ship noted
for striking interiors on a par with the "floating palaces"
of the twenties and thirties.
Just after 11:00 am, following speeches by Romano Prodi, the Prime
Minister of Italy, and Jim Fitzpatrick, MP, Under Secretary of State,
Department for Transport, the Italian flag was ceremonially lowered
and the Red Ensign raised. And so another magnificent Cunard liner
enters the Register of British Shipping.
RCI's Legend Inaugurates Dominican Port
Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas will inaugurate the
renovated Sans Souci Port, in Santo Domingo, on Dec. 16, according to
a spokesperson for the Dominican Republic's Port of Santo Domingo.
The Sans Souci Port enhancements are part of a $700-million
investment, which will eventually involve a yacht club and sports
marina with capacity for 500 yachts up to 140 feet; four separate
ship terminals with docking areas; a shopping mall and duty-free
shopping area; a beach club; two 900-room hotels and convention
center; and a luxury condominium development. The project is
scheduled to be completed by 2010.
MSC Sets Fuel Charge
MSC Cruises is the latest line to implement a fuel surcharge
on its cruise fares.
Rick Sasso, president and CEO of MSC Cruises (USA), said that the
line will protect existing bookings on all voyages that have guest
names and are under deposit by Nov. 30.
The fuel surcharge of $6 per guest per day will apply to new bookings
made Dec. 1 and onward, and will be applicable on departures after
Feb. 1, 2008. No surcharge will be levied on third and fourth
passengers in the same stateroom.
Editors Note: With MSC and Windstar adding
fuel surcharges, Disney Cruise Lines becomes the last major
holdout.
New Cruise Port for Roatán
Last March we told you about a new port Carnival Corp was
planning called Mahogany Bay in Roatán. Carnival Corp.
and a local developer on the Honduran island of Roatán broke
ground on a joint venture cruise port on Roatán. The facility
will be the Central American country's largest cruise port when it
opens in summer 2009. The port will be able to accommodate two post-Panamax
ships at a two-berth terminal and handle 7,000 passengers and 2,000
crew members daily. Located in Dixon Cove on the southwest coast of
the island, the 20-acre site will also have a welcome center for
tourists and a shopping area.
Consider South America
Looking for somewhere new to cruise to? Holland America Line
will deploy three ships in South America in 2009, the line's largest
deployment to date in the region. HAL will offer 18 cruises ranging
from 13 to 68 days on the Statendam, the Prinsendam and
the Amsterdam, with overnight stays in several ports. Richard
Meadows, HAL's executive vice president of marketing, sales and guest
programs, said that the cruise line would "offer the most
extensive program in the region of any major cruise line."
Princess Doubles Up Down Under
Last May, Princess announced they would establish a year round
presence in Australia with Sun Princess remaining there at the
end of its 2007-2008 seasonal program. Over the Thanksgiving holiday,
the line announced it would expand its presence even further with Dawn
Princess also being assigned there permanently at the end of
what was to be its scheduled 2008-2009 seasonal program.
The itineraries are designed for the Australian-sourced market, but
because it is a Princess-branded program, it is readily available to
book in North America and Europe. It will feature some itineraries
that are quite unusual and, in some cases, will be what the rest of
the world would term exotic. With the second ship being assigned
there year round by US-based Princess, they are calling it "the
biggest ever Australian investment by an international cruise line."
Seabourn: 'Pirates' Were Curiosity Seekers
A Seabourn spokesperson, responding to several media reports about a
potential “pirate attack” off the coast of Oman said
that they were exaggerated. The alleged “pirates” were
actually somewhat aggressive curiosity-seekers who were closely
following the Seabourn Spirit in three motorboats, said
Seabourn’s Bruce Good.
He stressed that the ship’s captain never requested help, but
did notify the authorities of the boats’ presence. The Royal
Navy helicopter was deployed, as a result, although by the time it
arrived, the motorboats were gone. Good said that ports such as Oman
“deserve a break” – and are “a long way from
Somalia,” where the Spirit was attacked by pirates two years ago.
Editors Note: At the time of the "attack" two
years ago the crew of the Seabourn Spirit handled the
"pirates" quite easily using a water canon, and a high
volume sound blaster. While the "pirates" were
bailing water out of their boats, the Seabourn Spirit turned and
sailed into the sunset.
Glass Blowing at Sea
Celebrity Cruises is collaborating with the Corning Glass
Museum, to bring the Museum’s Hot Glass Show to the new Celebrity
Solstice in December 2008, Celebrity President Dan Hanrahan
announced at Travel Trade’s Leisure Travel Conference in Ft. Lauderdale.
The Hot Glass Show will provide live demonstrations and a narrated
performance of glassblowing, designed to engage, educate and inspire
cruisers about the art, history science of glass. Hanrahan said that
the glass-blowing furnaces will be electrical.
Located on the ship’s upper deck within a custom-designed,
outdoor glassmaking studio, the Hot Glass Show will present the
history and craft of glassblowing, from its ancient origins to its
current countless uses.
Three resident glassblowing artists - called gaphers — will
educate and entertain cruisers with live glassmaking shows, lectures
and workshops.
Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain demonstrated how guests
will be able to create their own glass works on the Solstice at the
LTC. Fain created a glass work at the Museum’s traveling Hot
Glass Roadshow, which visited the LTC for the Celebrity announcement.
Hanrahan said the Hot Glass Show will be a feature on all four
Solstice-lass ships.
Victoria's Not-So-Secret Spa
When Queen Victoria debuts this month, it will be without
something most other ships of major cruise lines have: a Steiner-operated
spa. Yes, it will have a luxurious facility, but Cunard chose
UK-based Harding Brothers Spa and Multitrax Maritime to operate the
Cunard Royal Spa & Fitness Centre. They have combined to form The
Onboard Spa Company. This is the second time Cunard has bypassed
industry giant Steiner. Queen Mary 2's spa is operated by Canyon Ranch.
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