|
Royal Caribbean debuts new ad campaign
MIAMI -- Royal Caribbean International kicks off a new advertising
campaign this week in the style of home movies, designed to tell the
vacation story from a customer’s first-person point of
view. The four-spot “Create Your Own Adventure,” ads
will run on primetime TV, during early and late-night network time
slots, as well as on cable. The first ad features four girlfriends
having the time of their lives on a European cruise vacation, both on
the ship and in the destinations. The second ad revolves around a
family's Caribbean vacation and showcases active shore excursions and on-board
amenities. Two additional spots are in production and will air
later this year.
Carnival to return chartered vessels to passenger service
MIAMI -- Carnival Cruise Lines will be returning its Sensation,
Holiday and Ecstasy vessels to full service this spring following
their charter to the U.S. government after Hurricane Katrina last
summer. Carnival said the vessels will be renovated and then
resume four- and five-day cruises in March and April. The Sensation
launches a Caribbean schedule from Port Canaveral, Fla., on March 23;
the Holiday returns to Mobile, Ala., for year-round Mexico sailings
on March 27; and the Ecstasy heads back to Galveston, Texas, for
year-round Mexico sailings on April 8.
MSC promotes Musica’s Caribbean sailings
MSC Cruises USA launched promotions to North American retailers for
MSC Musica’s inaugural Caribbean season next winter. Promotions
to consumers will follow. MSC Musica will enter service in the
Mediterranean on July 1. The line’s biggest ship – nearly
90,000gt with 2,550 lower berths -- will begin its Caribbean program
from Fort Lauderdale in November. A high percentage of balcony
cabins, a sushi bar and a poolside LED screen are among MSC
Musica’s features. The seven-night roundtrip Caribbean
itinerary will visit San Juan, St. Maarten, La Romana and the out
island of Cayo Levantado. Departures are on Saturdays.
Silversea charity charter raises A$483,000
The first Australian charter of a Silversea ship -- a three-night
voyage by the 382-passenger Silver Shadow which returned to Sydney
yesterday -- raised A$483,000 (US$362,000) for four children’s
charities. Beneficiaries of the charter, organized by Alexander
(Sandy) Grant of Cruise Brokers for Gold Coast wholesaler Cruise
Traveller, are Save the Children, Humpty Dumpty Foundation, Ronald
McDonald House and Day of Difference. Guests, who paid around
A$3,000 (US$2,250) for the voyage, took part in a number of live and
silent auctions for lots that included British Airways business-class
tickets to London with accommodation at the Langham Hotel, a
Silversea Mediterranean cruise for two, an Audi TT Roadster and a
cricket bat signed by Sir Donald Bradman.
Catch the Wave
That used to be the slogan for New Coke, but NCL may want to consider
adopting it because their ships seem to have become like magnets for
large window-breaking waves. A 40-foot wave hit the port side of
Norwegian Spirit last week breaking windows and depositing a good
deal of water in some of the cabins and the Garden Restaurant.
The ship left Tortola on Monday afternoon. The incident occurred
Wednesday afternoon about 4:45pm in the Atlantic as Norwegian Spirit
was returning to New York at the end of a 10-day cruise to the
Caribbean. At the time, Norwegian Spirit was passing through a
weather front and had been experiencing rough weather with swells of
18 to 20 feet.
Award-Winning Embarkation
When you fill out your comment card at the end of your cruise, you
probably don't realize how closely every one of those little check
marks is scrutinized. You might not even give too much thought to the
ones relating to your embarkation, since by the end of your cruise,
it seems like a lifetime ago, but Carnival Cruise Lines watches what
you mark there very carefully, and the people in the port hold their
collective breath.
Those markings over the last year have added up to give the
embarkation staff at Jacksonville the title of best in the Carnival
fleet for the second year in a row. They received the highest scores
from the comment cards compared to the line's other eight year-round homeports.
Grand Turk--What To Expect From Cruising's
Newest Destination
Carnival Corp. just about has the new cruise center at Grand Turk Island
in the Turks & Caicos ready for its debut at the end of next
month as the newest big cruise destination in the Caribbean. Some
370,000 cruise passengers are expected to visit GT annually by the
end of 2007, though Carnival is trying to start light, with HAL's new
1,848 pax Noordam at the end of February followed by the 2,052 pax
Carnival Sensation at the end of March. By June, Grand Turk will be
getting two to three ship visits a week, including Princess' latest,
the 3,080 pax Crown Princess, set to debut in May.
For the rest of this article>> CLICK
HERE
All systems go for Liverpool's cruise facility
Construction of Liverpool's long-waited cruise liner berth will begin
within weeks, partners behind the £19m project pledged today,
with completion due by spring 2007.
The scheme to build the 350mtr facility alongside the city's famous
Pier Head waterfront will allow cruise liner guests to disembark
directly on to Liverpool's UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site waterfront.
Lengthy legal wrangles have delayed the plan by more than two years,
and costs have risen by more than £7m.
RCI plans Freedom commemorative book
Royal Caribbean International announced plans to issue an inaugural
commemorative book on Freedom of the Seas. The world’s largest
cruise ship is under construction at Aker Yards in Turku for delivery
in May.
Two other 158,000grt Freedom-class vessels are contracted for 2007
and 2008 delivery.
The arrival of the Freedom-class ships will be ‘an historic
event for us and our shipbuilding partners &ldots; and I cannot think
of a better way to welcome the Freedom class than with a
commemorative publication of historic significance,’ said RCI
president Adam Goldstein.
Royal Caribbean will distribute the inaugural book as a corporate
gift to industry VIPs, cruise shipping executives, shipyard
management and maritime engineers, international travel and cruise
trade media, industry representatives and cruise guests.
Soda Cards
We've had several inquiries about "Soda Cards"
lately, so here it is:
Carnival offers a "Soda Card" (unlimited soft drinks
during the cruise) to cruisers 17 and younger. Costs: 3
or 4 night cruises, $20pp, 5 night cruises, $23pp, 7
night cruises $25pp
Royal Caribbean offers a "Soda Card" for $4 per day
for those 17 and younger, and $6 per day for those 18 and older.
Both lines will add a 15% "grautity" each time the
"Soda Card" is used. Neither line offers an unlimited
alcohol card. |
