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SeaDream
on the newbuild trail
SeaDream
may soon be joining the list of luxury players who are investing in
newbuilds. ‘We are working on several newbuild plans which
include a few items that offer a different approach and style to
currently what’s in the market,’ Larry Pimentel, the
company’s president and ceo, told Seatrade Insider in an
exclusive interview in London yesterday.
Any deal would
likely be stuck towards the latter part of next year for a 2010, or
most likely 2011 delivery, he remarked. Capacity-wise the number of
seaview bedrooms may rise from the 55 offered on SeaDream I and II
but would not go beyond 100. ‘We may even go for the same size
ship and have larger staterooms,’ he added.
Carnival
expands Concierge Club program
Carnival
Cruise Lines expanded its Concierge Club recognition program to
provide members with shipboard credits when they achieve a
‘milestone’ cruise with the line.
With the new
shipboard credit benefit, Concierge Club members who sail on their
25th, 50th and 75th Fun Ship cruise will receive a shipboard credit
representing 25%, 50% or 75% of their cruise fare, respectively, for
that particular voyage. Those sailing on their 100th cruise earn a
free voyage of up to eight days to the Caribbean, Mexican Riviera or Alaska.
This new
milestone cruise benefit is in addition to the other perks that
Platinum cardholders already receive. Platinum members are those who
have sailed with the line at least 10 times.
Windjammer
suitor takes legal action
The messy
collapse of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises – which has canceled
future sailings aboard Yankee Clipper, Polynesia, Mandalay and Legacy
– has sparked another lawsuit.
This one, The
Miami Herald reports, has been filed by Miami investor Jerry Ceder,
who alleges Windjammer violated an agreement with a group he
represented that was seeking a controlling interest in the tall-ship
line by negotiating with other parties.
Ceder earlier
told the Herald he had advanced money to Windjammer and said he was
acting on behalf of TAG Virgin Islands, a private equity group. But
today the newspaper said TAG’s president denied involvement in a deal.
NCL shows
off its Gem to the European trade
Norwegian
Cruise Line is hosting 2,000 Continental European travel retailers
and media on an overnight sailing from Rotterdam aboard the new
Norwegian Gem.
Michael
Zengerle, gm Continental Europe for NCL, said more media than ever
before are seeing the ship, ‘which shows we have increased the
level of interest in Freestyle Cruising in Europe.’
Crystal
teams with Luggage Concierge
Crystal
Cruises said it entered into an exclusive alliance with Luggage
Concierge to provide door-to-door baggage service. The company
established a dedicated phone line for Crystal customers, who also
may register at www.luggageconcierge.com/crystal.
Later this
month, Crystal will provide a link at crystalcruises.com to the
Luggage Concierge online booking engine.
In addition,
Crystal Society members will receive a 20% discount on luggage
shipments to and from their voyage, as well as a 10% discount on
luggage shipments for other non-cruise related leisure travel if they
book directly through Luggage Concierge.
Included in
the door-to-door roundtrip service is an automatic insurance coverage
of $1,500 for all luggage shipments within the U.S., and $2,000
coverage for international luggage shipments.
US
announces TWIC enrollment schedule
During the
American Association of Port Authorities’ annual convention in
Norfolk today, U.S. port authority executives learned that the
Department of Homeland Security will begin enrolling port workers in
its Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program
Oct. 16 at the Port of Wilmington, Del..
Enrollments
will continue at 11 more ports in November with the goal of enrolling
all U.S. port workers by Sept. 25, 2008.
B+V nears
completion of Azamara Quest
Azamara
Cruises’ second ship is nearing the completion of its drydock
work at Blohm+Voss. The Pullmantur vessel Blue Moon entered the
German yard on Sept. 25.
Renamed
Azamara Quest, the ship is scheduled to enter service later this
month with Caribbean sailings from Miami.
Azamara Quest
follows the early May introduction of Azamara Journey. That launch
followed a four-week, $19m make-over of Pullmantur’s Blue Dream
at Grand Bahama Shipyard.
Part of
Liverpool's new facility to undergo drydocking
Two of the
pontoons forming Liverpool's new cruise liner terminal - officially
opened by Cunard Line's QE2 just two weeks ago - are to be drydocked
for survey work.
Sources stress
that this is not because any problems have been discovered with the pontoons.
Under the
Conditions of Contract between Liverpool City Council and the civil
engineers who built the facility, the contractor has to obtain
independent verification of the construction of the new pontoons.
This is being done by obtaining the approval of Lloyds Register.
Fincantieri
lays the keel for Costa Luminosa
Fincantieri’s
Marghera shipyard laid the keel for Costa Luminosa, which will
become the 13th ship in Costa Crociere’s fleet when delivered in
Spring 2009.
The 92,700gt
vessel is a new design for Costa. At 292 meters in length, it has
2,260 lower berths and the highest percentage (68) of balcony cabins
in the fleet, with 772 balcony rooms of 1,130 accommodations in total.
New features
include an 18-hole golf simulator. Other facilities are hallmarks of
the latest Costa ships: a large Samsara Spa (6,000 square meters),
adjacent spa cabins and a dedicated restaurant for spa cabin
passengers, a two-deck Lido area covered with a sliding glass roof, a
poolside movie screen and a Grand Prix simulator.
Denmark's
Funen seeks cruise ships
The island of
Funen (Fyn), one of Denmark’s newest cruise destinations,
reports a successful showing at Seatrade Europe in Hamburg and is now
planning its next marketing moves.
‘We were
very satisfied with Seatrade Europe 2007 and very pleased with the
many visitors at our stand,’ said Karen Edle Vestergaard,
development coordinator of the local Fonden Fyntour tourism
organization. Looking to the further marketing of Funen as a cruise
destination and the Seatrade Cruise Convention in March, she added,
‘We are seriously considering participation in Miami and are now
planning the next moves.’
The island,
located on the main shipping route from the southern Baltic to
Norway, hopes to benefit from the boom in cruise traffic to Scandinavia.
Known as the
birthplace of fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen, whose
childhood homes are in Odense, Funen offers numerous shore
excursions, including active tours such as cycling, golf, diving,
surfing and sailing, plus opportunities for pre- and post-cruise land
programs. The island has 123 castles and manor houses, including
Egeskov Castle, which hosted some 218,000 visitors this year and
offers museums devoted to cars, motorcycles, agriculture and even the
history of Falck, the Danish fire brigade.
Cunard to
Build "Queen Elizabeth"
Cunard Line
announces that it has ordered a new 92,000-ton liner, to be named "Queen
Elizabeth," scheduled to enter service in the autumn of
2010. Cunard signed an agreement with Italian shipbuilder
Fincantieri for the construction of the new 2092-passenger ocean
liner, which will be built at Fincantieri's Monfalcone yard at an
all-in cost of approximately $700 million. The vessel will be
the second largest Cunarder the company has ever built.
"Cunard
already owns and operates the two most famous ocean liners in the
world, Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Mary 2, and a third - Queen
Victoria - is due to be named by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, in the
presence of HRH The Prince of Wales, in December of this year,"
said Carol Marlow, president of Cunard Line. "The decision
to order another ship for Cunard Line has been taken as a result of
the strong booking response to the new Queen Victoria, and we are
extremely pleased that Cunard will once again become a three-ship
fleet so soon after the departure of the much-celebrated Queen
Elizabeth 2 in November next year. Furthermore, we are
delighted that Her Majesty The Queen has given her blessing to our
calling this new Cunarder 'Queen Elizabeth', after our first vessel
of that name."
HAL
continues focus on longer Caribbean routes
With sailings
up to 20 days, Holland America Line’s 2008 Caribbean itineraries
consist of 121 varied departures that focus on longer, port-intensive
choices. Ten HAL ships will operate in the region, including the new
Eurodam, with departures from Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and New York.
Sailing from
Fort Lauderdale in October next year, the Maasdam takes over the
14-day Southern Caribbean route previously offered on the Veendam,
which will focus on seven-day Western Caribbean itineraries. The
Noordam will pick up the Maasdam’s former 10-day
‘Wayfarer’ and ‘Seafarer’ cruises using Fort
Lauderdale as a gateway.
The
‘Wayfarer’ and ‘Seafarer’ routes can be combined
for 20-day itineraries that repeat only two ports: Half Moon Cay and
Grand Turk.
Port of
Miami opens two new terminals
The Port of
Miami’s new terminals for Carnival Cruise Lines, an investment
of approximately $80m, are operational. All Carnival ships are now
turning around at Terminals D and E.
Renovations
have begun on Terminals B and C, which were vacated by Carnival, and
Norwegian Cruise Line will become the primary tenant of those facilities.
Carnival
Splendor adds special eight-day cruise
The new
113,000gt Ca |