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RCCL to expand Celebrity's Expeditions brand with ship swap
Celebrity Cruises and Pullmantur will engage in a ship swap that will
expand Celebrity's Expeditions brand, Royal Caribbean Cruises said.
RCCL said that it received antitrust approval from Spain and Portugal
for its purchase of Madrid-based cruise and tour operator Pullmantur.
It will now move Pullmantur's ship the Blue Dream to the Expeditions
fleet, renaming it the Celebrity Journey, and send Celebrity's Zenith
to Pullmantur
The 718-guest Blue Dream (formerly known as the R6) will join
Celebrity's fleet in April 2007, sailing Bermuda itineraries from
Bayonne, NJ, beginning May 5.
Before the switch, the ship will undergo a one-month revitalization
and drydock to incorporate Celebrity's signature elements such as two
specialty restaurants; expanded spa services, including in-room
offerings; expanded concierge service, including butlers; and
additional guest suites.
The ship will sail the same Bermuda itineraries originally scheduled
for Zenith, RCCL said.
The Zenith will redeploy to Pullmantur in June, 2007.
The Zenith will sail seven-night Mediterranean cruises between Athens
and Venice. It will operate Caribbean itineraries until mid-April
from Tampa, Fla., at which time it will operate a final Caribbean and
Bermuda itinerary from Tampa to Cape Liberty in Bayonne.
All guests currently holding bookings on the Zenith to Bermuda will
be contacted by Celebrity representatives to transfer existing
reservations to similar accommodations on the Celebrity Journey, RCCL said.
Windstar to install cell phone capabilities across fleet
Windstar Cruises contracted with Wireless Maritime Services to offer
cell phone service at sea on its three vessels, starting with the
308-guest Wind Surf in December.
In addition to being one of the latest cruise lines to offer the
service, according to Windstar, it also will have the smallest wired
ships on the seas with the 148-guest Wind Spirit and Wind Star.
There Are Limits
As two men learned in Bermuda earlier this month, just because you
paid for your cruise, it doesn't mean you can do whatever you want.
You have to behave yourself. The two men in Bermuda were jailed after
a street fight. Now comes a report of a cruise ship passenger on
Grand Cayman being detained and fined as another result of bad
behavior ashore.
In this case, the police were called because a 43- year-old man was
becoming disorderly in a jewelry store. He had been asked to leave
and wouldn't. The police came and were escorting him to the cruise
terminal. If he had kept quiet, that would have been the end of it,
but noooo, he told the police officer if he ever saw him again, he
would punch him in the face. (The man didn't put it quite so
politely.) That was too much and the man was handcuffed and taken to jail.
NCL confirms Aker France orders
NCL Corp. confirmed the contracts with Aker Yards S.A. of France to
build two new third-generation Freestyle Cruising ships, with an
option for a third.
The vessels will be delivered in 2009 and 2010 from Aker’s
facilities in St. Nazaire, with the option scheduled for delivery in
the first quarter of 2011. Each of the 150,000gt ships will
offer 4,200 passenger berths.
Colombia’s Cartagena back on the map
Cartagena is looking forward to a bumper year in 2007/08 with ships
from Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Princess amongst others set to
return to the Colombian port after a few years’ absence.
ALMACO to renovate Majesty of the Seas
Royal Caribbean International has contracted ALMACO Group to
revitalize all the cabins and provide new food handling areas on
board Majesty of the Seas which will undergo an extensive
refurbishment in Freeport Bahamas starting on Jan. 12.
The 2,356-passenger ship will gain expanded spa and fitness
facilities, additional dining options, refurbished staterooms and
refreshed public areas. ALMACO will install equipment for the new
Windjammer Café, Johnny Rockets and Sorrento’s Italian
pizzeria as well as provide a fresh new look for the cabins,
including the bathrooms.
Renovations will be completed in time for Majesty of the Seas to
resume sailing from Miami to CocoCay and Nassau on Feb. 9. Over the
past three years ALMACO has worked on refurbishing two other
Sovereign-class ships, Monarch of the Seas and Sovereign of the Seas.
MSC Opera books former NHL coach
Former National Hockey League coach Scotty Bowman will sail on MSC
Opera’s Jan. 25 cruise from Fort Lauderdale.
A Hall of Fame member, he is considered among the greatest coaches in
NHL history and is the only coach in the major North American
professional sports leagues to win championships with three teams.
Bowman won a record nine Stanley Cups, with the Montreal Canadiens,
the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings.
On the 11-night cruise, he will host a question and answer session,
talk about his career and participate in an autograph signing.
TV crew put ashore by P&O Australia
P&O Cruises Australia put four passengers ashore in Vila
yesterday for ‘filming on board for commercial purposes without
permission’ during Pacific Star’s 10-night ‘Peach
Sunsets’ cruise which departed Brisbane on Wednesday.
The company issued a statement that said: ‘They have been
filming without the knowledge and consent of passengers in what we
consider to be an invasion of privacy. This practice is against our
company policy and continued despite the Captain’s personal
requests for them to stop.’
New Orleans gains cruise terminal capacity
Port of New Orleans officials inked an agreement with the U.S.
Maritime Administration to transfer all federal interests in two
berths at the Poland Avenue Wharf for the conversion of the cargo
terminal to a cruise terminal.
The signing took place aboard Carnival Cruise Lines’ Fantasy on
its resumption of year-round cruising from New Orleans.
The new Poland Avenue terminal, which is in the engineering and
design phase, would allow the port to expand cruise capacity to
handle three of the industry’s largest vessels simultaneously.
Fantasy returns full-year cruising to New Orleans
Carnival Cruise Lines’ 2,056-passenger Fantasy docked at the
Port of New Orleans Oct. 26th, marking the return of year-round
cruising from the Crescent City. The ship will sail four- and
five-day Western Caribbean voyages.
Carnival is the second of three homeported cruise lines to resume
service from the port this fall, following Norwegian Cruise
Line’s return with Norwegian Sun on Oct. 15. Royal Caribbean
International’s Grandeur of the Seas will be back on Dec. 2.
Costa Named "One of the Top Ten Cruise Lines"
The readers of Condé Nast Traveler have named Costa Cruise
Lines “one of the top ten cruise lines” in their 2006
Readers’ Choice Awards, which appear in the November issue
of the magazine. Costa, Europe’s Number One Cruise Line, is
included in the “large cruise ship” category of the awards
and is the only European cruise line to earn the accolade.
“We’re thrilled that the readers of Condé Nast
Traveler named Costa one of the top ten cruise lines in their annual
Readers’ Choice Awards,” said Lynn Torrent, President and
CEO of Costa Cruise Lines—North America. “Many of our
guests continually return to Costa for our signature style of Italian
warmth and hospitality—this prestigious award is another
confirmation that travelers truly appreciate the unique experience we provide.”
Costa offers an experience that is delightfully different in service
and cuisine, in an atmosphere filled with love, laughter and la dolce
vita. It’s called “Cruising Italian Style” and true to
its heritage, no detail has been overlooked in bringing the beauty
and hospitality of Italy to the sea. Cruising Italian
Style&ldots;that’s Amore!
The ships of Costa range in size from 30,000-tons to 112,000-tons,
and provide an ambience that is distinctly Italian – from the
progressive architecture and stylish design to the unforgettable
cuisine and gracious hospitality. Costa offers cruises that span the
globe on itineraries of three nights and longer throughout the
Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, South America,
Transatlantic, Dubai, China and the Far East.
Carnival to make San Diego a year-round cruise port
Carnival Cruise Lines said it will launch the first year-round
service out of San Diego in June when it sends the 2,052-passenger
Elation there to operate four- and five-day Baja Mexico voyages.
The Elation previously sailed year-round form Port Canaveral, Fla.,
to the Bahamas. According to Carnival, the line currently has no
plans to replace the Elation in Port Canaveral.
The ship will depart Thursdays on four-day cruises to Cabo San Lucas
and on Mondays and Saturdays on five-day cruises to Cabo San Lucas
and Ensenada, on a rotating schedule, Carnival said, adding that
short cruises are the fastest growing segment of the cruise industry.
NCL Corp., Aker Yards firm up ship order
NCL Corp. confirmed its contracts with Aker Yards SA to build two
4,200-passenger ships, with an option for a third, by lifting all
subjects in the contracts, including financing, completion of the
design specification and gaining parent company Star Cruises'
shareholder approval, NCL said.
The 150,000-ton vessels will be branded as NCL ships, which NCL Corp.
calls the third generation of "Freestyle Cruising" ships.
They will be delivered from Aker Yards in Saint Nazaire, France, in
2009 and 2010, with the optional third ship set for delivery in the
first quarter of 2011, as announced on Sept. 7.
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