Destination News - Cruise.

Apr 7, 2008

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, fresh from a river cruise on England's River Thames with wife, Carla Bruni, on the 220-passenger Aurora Clipper, will propose a measure April 5 in Dover to align all the European shipyards, headed by Fincantieri SpA in Italy, a report from Milan says. The anticipated plan has finance companies of the governments of France, Norway and Finland entering the share capital of Fincantieri. Mar 31, 2008

Carnival Cruises

Carnival Corp. will reimburse a total of $40 million to customers who were charged a fuel surcharge after they had already booked a cruise prior to November 7, 2007. The agreement was reached with the Florida's Attorney General Office, which negotiated a similar deal in March with Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises.The settlement included six Carnival Corp. brands, Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America, Princess Cruises and Seabourn.Refunds for affected guests will be as such: for cruises departing on or prior to April 4, 2008, guests will receive a refund in the same form they used to purchase their cruises; for cruises departing April 5 through June 23, customers will receive their refund in the form of an onboard credit; and for cruises departing on or after June 24, guests' bookings will be altered to remove the supplement. Apr 2, 2008

Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity Cruises has opened bookings for its three 2009 Canada/New England sailings, all roundtrip from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, NJ, on Celebrity Constellation. The first sailing is a 14-night cruise departing September 19, followed by a 13-night voyage October 3 and another 14-night sailing on October 16. All three itineraries feature an overnight stay in Quebec City, as well as calls that include Sydney and Halifax, Nova Scotia; Saint John, New Brunswick; and U.S. ports, Newport, RI, Portland, ME and Boston Mar 31, 2008

Costa Cruise Lines

Costa Cruises will debut two new ships in 2009 and the line is giving travel agents a chance to be part of the celebrations. Agents who reserve and deposit a Europe group or combination of Europe groups totaling at least 60 passengers will be entered for the chance win a stateroom on either the Costa Luminosa or Costa Pacifica inaugural. In addition to the promotion, travel agents will have rates discounted off Early Booking Fares, Amore Points and new amenities such as the ability to command 17 percent commissions. Group fares for Costa's 2009 Europe itineraries begin at $499 per person. Visit www.costalovesgroups.com. (DE) Mar 31, 2008

Crystal Cruises

Calls to Israel, Egypt and a return to the Amazon highlight Crystal Cruises' 2009 itineraries, a schedule of which having just been released by the luxury cruise operator in the form of a 21-page color brochure. Crystal says that most cruises on Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity will feature overnight stays, including two sailings with overnight stops in Dubai. Crystal's maiden calls for 2009 include Kotor, Montenegro; Lipari, Italy; Patmos, Greece; Sinop, Turkey; Alesund, Norway; and Kiel, Germany Apr 2, 2008

Holland America

Holland America Line will offer 105 Spring Seminars for travel sellers this year, four more than last year. The 90-minute tutorials will be held beginning April 3 through June 6 and are designed to help agents generate more Holland America bookings though updates of Holland America's Signature of Excellence programs, group booking strategies and other sales tools, including Travel Agent Headquarters and POLAR Online."These seminars are designed to provide travel professionals with highly practical knowledge on how to grow their cruise business," said Richard Meadows, CTC, executive vice president, marketing, sales and guest programs. "In particular, the seminars show travel agents how to increase lucrative group sales and how to target groups that produce the most profit, both for them and their agencies." Agents also receive credit toward the Holland America Line Academy agent training program by attending the seminars. Apr 2, 2008

Holland America

Holland America Line's most popular historic posters are now available for purchase via the line's website. Six different designs can be ordered and made on demand into high-quality art reproductions for $175 each. The designs range from a circa 1895 design promoting a crossing between Paris and New York to a circa 1955 design with the Statue of Liberty in the foreground promoting a crossing to New York. The 1898 Brighton Joy print with a woman holding a ship aloft is also available. Reproductions of the original posters are done on Somerset Velvet museum quality paper. Posters are 24 inches by 36 inches and printed using Giclee ink-jet technology for high-quality art reproductions. Visit www.hollandamerica.com Mar 31, 2008

MSC Cruises

In anticipation of two MSC Cruises' ships-MSC Orchestra and MSC Lirica-sailing in the Caribbean in the coming year, MSC has unveiled a new website (www.theorchestraiscomingtotown.com) with a dedicated travel agent section that will include a multitude of marketing tools to help agents sell the cruises.As Travel Agent reported earlier this year, MSC is making a major push in North America with two ships and is incentivizing agents with special offers and prizes. MSC Orchestra joins MSC Lirica for the 2008-2009 Caribbean season, which will feature seven itineraries, 16 ports of call and the line's first-ever Bermuda call. Pricing begins at $449 per person for the seven-night itineraries and $699 for 10-day voyages. MSC Orchestra, which debuted in 2007, will become the largest MSC ship to ply the Caribbean, carrying 2,550 passengers. The ship will begin its Caribbean season on January 2, 2009, and sail seven-night itineraries from Fort Lauderdale through April. Lirica will operate seven- and 10-night itineraries from Fort Lauderdale beginning December 3, 2008. Visit www.msccruisesusa.com. Mar 31, 2008

Princess Cruises

Ocean Princess will sail on a variety of new sailings in Asia, India and Africa. Pacific Princess will take over the line's Tahiti and Polynesia sailings before setting out on a new World Cruise itinerary. Golden Princess will return to the Hawaiian Islands, now with Sunday departures from Los Angeles. Royal Princess will once again venture up the Amazon, while Star Princess returns to cruising around South America's Cape Horn and Antarctica, plus offering two South Pacific crossings between the West Coast and Sydney. Diamond Princess will again cruise through Asia and to Australia and New Zealand. The line will also continue to offer year-round cruising from Australia aboard Sun Princess, which is joined by Dawn Princess for voyages to New Zealand, Asia and the South Pacific, departing from Sydney or Melbourne. For more information, call 800-PRINCESS or visit www.princess.com. Apr 4, 2008

Princess Cruises

Princess Cruises has released its 2009-10 schedule of exotic itineraries which include passenger favorites along with some new, emerging destinations. The new lineup includes more than 110 sailings on 10 ships to all seven continents with six new itineraries and calls at more than 180 destinations including 11 new ports. Destinations include Africa, Asia, Australia & New Zealand, Hawaii, Tahiti, India, South America, Canada & New England, and a World Cruise. New for this season, the line has increased capacity in Asia with two ships and three new 14- to 16-day itineraries offered on the Ocean Princess (formerly Tahitian Princess), which will also venture into India and Africa. Other new itineraries include a 31-day "West Africa Adventure" and a 13-day holiday sailing in Australia/New Zealand on Diamond Princess. In addition, Pacific Princess will set off on an extensive 107-day World Cruise visiting 40 destinations. The 2010 worldwide sailing will feature maiden calls to Topolobampo for Mexico's Copper Canyon, Vietnam's "City of Peace" Halong Bay, and Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. The program's 10 ships range in size from 680 to 3,100 passengers. For more information, call 800-PRINCESS or visit www.princess.com. Apr 4, 2008

Princess Cruises

It's only a week but means Princess Cruises will be able to carry that many more passengers now that its newest ship, Ruby Princess, will be delivered seven days earlier than expected by Italian shipyard Fincantieri. The ship's original inaugural voyage was slated for November 15, but will now depart November 8 from Fort Lauderdale on a seven-day Western Caribbean itinerary calling at Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Princess Cays.An earlier delivery also means a week's more worth of revenue. "The early delivery provides a wonderful opportunity to offer even more passengers the chance to experience our new ship," said Jan Swartz, Princess' senior vice president of customer service and sales.Those passengers booked on the original inaugural cruise will have the chance to shift their booking to the new sailing. Duplicate bookings have been made for all passengers booked on the original cruise, which guarantees them the same cabin on the new voyage. Passengers should notify their travel agent or Princess by March 31 if they wish to change. Alternatively, passengers booked on the November 15 sailing and wishing to remain on the cruise need to take no action. Mar 31, 2008

Quark Expeditions

Polar adventure line, Quark Expeditions, has added a nuclear-powered icebreaker to its fleet, which it says is the largest and most sophisticated in the industry. The 128-passenger ship, 50 Years of Victory, will make its 16-day maiden voyage June 23 to the North Pole with rates starting at $22,900 per person. But with two nuclear reactors producing 75,000 horsepower for a maximum speed of 21.4 knots, isn't the price worth it?Among other amenities, the ship is also equipped with a helicopter used for sightseeing and shore transfers. Inside, Victory has 64 cabins, a saloon, lounge, bar, indoor pool, two saunas and massage services. It's an expedition-purposed ship but with loads of luxury features.The maiden voyage will be followed by sailings on July 6 and July 19 to the North Pole, the latter a 17-day voyage to accommodate for a total solar eclipse viewing. Visit www.quarkexpeditions.com. (DE) Mar 31, 2008

Victoria Cruises

Victoria Cruises, whose expertise lies in operating sailings on China's Yangtze River, is in the process of a multi-million-dollar refurbishment of six ships in its fleet, which includes new carpeting in all cabins and public areas, new curtains ship wide, new paneled ceilings, redesigned lobbies, restyled deluxe and Shangri-La suites and the addition of a la carte dining services in separate private rooms on the upper decks of each ship, save for Victoria Prince and Victoria Rose. The renovation program encompasses six of Victoria's seven ships. The one exception is Victoria Prince, whose most recent refurbishment was in 2004. "Continually upgrading our vessels is essential to maintaining our strong position in the marketplace, and since we own our ships, we have more flexibility in what we need to do and when," said Larry Greenman, manager of public relations and customer service for Victoria Cruises. All cabins will also now have such amenities as HBO and CNN programming, marble bathrooms and private balconies. In April 2009, Victoria Cruises will expand by one with the addition of Victoria Jenna. Visit www.victoriacruises.com Mar 31, 2008

ZZ

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