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Cunard
to Welcome Filmmakers Griffin Dunne and Gary Winick on November 11th
Queen Mary 2 Crossing
As part of
Cunard's partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival, the iconic ocean
liner company will be pleased to welcome acclaimed filmmakers Griffin
Dunne and Gary Winick on the 11 November Transatlantic Crossing from
Southampton to New York aboard Queen Mary 2. This year, Cunard was
recognized as the Official Cruise Line of the Tribeca Film Festival,
of which both film industry insiders have been active participants
for a number of years. With this upcoming sailing, they join a
distinguished list of luminaries and tastemakers that have sailed a
legendary voyage with Cunard, operator of The Most Famous Ocean
Liners in the World.
During the
Crossing, Dunne and Winick will participate in Cunard Insights, the
line's award-wining onboard enrichment programme, and will screen one
of each of their films: Dunne will discuss “Practical
Magic,” starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock; Winick will
screen his feature film, “13 Going on 30,” starring
Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo. In addition, they will
engage in a panel conversation with the ship’s entertainment
director where they will share stories about their multi-faceted
careers and the many roles they play in the entertainment industry
– from director and producer to writer and actor. All
programmes will be held in Queen Mary 2’s spectacular 450-seat,
stadium-style theatre, Illuminations, which is also the only
planetarium at sea.
New
adventure cruise line to debut in Alaska
Looking for
adventure in Alaska? A new small ship cruise line is coming in 2011
that promises plenty of it.
The owner of
luxury line America Safari Cruises will announce plans this week for
a new brand, InnerSea Discoveries, that will focus on getting
adventure-minded vacationers into the most beautiful and
wildlife-filled corners of Southeast Alaska's Inside Passage.
InnerSea
Discoveries is designed as a less expensive alternative to
12-year-old American Safari Cruises -- an Alaska-focused line that
caters to the rich and famous with three small ships that cost $850
to $1,500 per person, per day. InnerSea voyages will start at around
$300 per person, per day, with the typical cabin costing less than
half as much as on an American Safari ship.
The new line will
operate two ships that have been out of commission for several years,
the 80-passenger Wilderness Discoverer and the 66-passenger
Wilderness Adventurer. The company finalized the purchase of the
vessels in August from a bank that has held them since the bankruptcy
of Glacier Bay Cruise Lines in 2006.
American Safari
executive vice president Tim Jacox says the vessels will undergo a top-to-bottom
renovation before setting sail for the new line.
Italy meets
Mexico in cruise numbers
For years Mexico
was the most visited cruise destination thanks to its many ports,
year-round business and proximity to the world’s leading cruise
source market, the United States.
But Italy caught
up in 2009, according to John Tercek, vp commercial development for
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Italy has a large
and growing number of ports, and ships are staying longer in the
Mediterranean, Tercek told delegates at the Florida-Caribbean Cruise
Association conference in St. Lucia. In recent years, lines have
extended their European deployment into November and are returning as
early as April. Ships are operating year-round in the Med, too.
The key reason
Italy has zoomed forward is the fact that it offers five homeports,
an advantage it holds over Mexico, Tercek said. (Though, far and
away, the world’ s leading homeport country remains the US.)
‘The balance
of the cruise industry is gradually shifting to the Med,’ the
Royal Caribbean executive told FCCA delegates.
Seven
godmothers for Oasis of the Seas
Oasis of the Seas
will have seven godmothers, one for each of the ship’s neighborhoods.
Each will start in
her own neighborhood, then all will convene at the AquaTheater for
the formal naming, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.’s Richard Fain
discloses in his latest Chairman’s Blog.
The godmothers
will cut a ribbon that needs seven snips to release the bottle. Seven
scissors are already prepared in a special carrying case for the Nov.
30 event, to take place at Port Everglades.
‘An
extraordinary and innovative ship deserves an extraordinary and
innovative naming,’ Fain writes.
The identities of
the godmothers have not been revealed.
Disney Dream unfolds
A transparent-tube
water coaster that propels riders high above the top deck of the ship
and out over its sides before ‘dropping’ them down four
decks is one of the standout features of Disney Dream, debuting in
early 2011.
Also new are
nearly an entire deck of youth spaces with features that allow
children to interact with animated characters, a sophisticated
cocktail lounge with tall ‘windows’ that depict a different
city skyline each day and, when it comes to accommodations, a
‘virtual porthole’ for inside staterooms.
The first details
of the 128,000gt Disney Dream, under construction at Meyer Werft,
unfolded today at a media event in New York.
The 14-deck ship,
40% larger than Disney Magic and Disney Wonder, has 1,250 staterooms
capable of accommodating 4,000 passengers, with 1,458 crew. Like the
original Disney ships, the newbuild sports an Art Deco style with
touches of Disney whimsy. Technology and animation are used
throughout to enhance services and entertainment.
The AquaDuck Water
Coaster will sweep riders along a high-speed flume ride with twists,
turns, drops, uphill acceleration and river rapids. The ride
stretches 765ft and spans four decks. Riders slide 13ft over the side
of the ship in a translucent ‘swing out’ loop and are
pushed upward and forward by high-powered water jets. After a stretch
of rapids, AquaDuck splashes down to an end on Deck 12.
The ‘virtual
portholes’ give passengers in inside staterooms a real-time view
by using live video feed from high-definition cameras placed on the
outside of the ship -- with occasional animated surprises such as
Peach the starfish from ‘Finding Nemo.’
Caribbean
to get double-digit capacity spike
The Caribbean will
get a hefty double-digit capacity increase in 2010 following several
years of losing market share to other regions, Micky Arison told the
Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association’s conference opening
ceremony in St. Lucia last night.
Capacity will be
‘up significantly and up in the summer season, which is critical
to everyone in the Caribbean,’ said Arison, who chairs FCCA as
well as Carnival Corp. & plc.
Noting that it has
been a difficult year, Arison said there are winners and losers in
cruising. The Caribbean will get more berths in 2010 while Alaska
will see a 17% drop in capacity. Major cruise lines have filed suit
against Alaska, charging that its head tax is unconstitutional.
The Caribbean will
host the industry’s newest and largest ships, including Carnival
Dream, the largest vessel ever built for Carnival Cruise Lines; world
size record-holder Oasis of the Seas, and Norwegian Epic, the largest
ship ever fielded by Norwegian Cruise Line.
Oasis
crossing to be documented, space available on inaugural
Following Oasis of
the Seas’ delivery today, the ship is scheduled to sail from
Turku on Friday with Capt. Bill Wright at the helm.
The Atlantic
crossing will be chronicled on OasisoftheSeas.com
as new webisodes are posted daily and via Twitter by following @OasisandAllure.
A new feature at
OasisoftheSeas.com will allow visitors to view a Google Maps
application and follow the Oasis voyage.
The ship is
scheduled to arrive at Port Everglades early the morning of Nov. 11.
Numerous introductory events follow, with the naming ceremony set for
Nov. 30 as part of a one-night fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Royal Caribbean
International said tickets are still available for the naming event
and for the specially priced four-night cruise that follows on Dec.
1. Space is also available on the ship’s inaugural Dec. 5 voyage.
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