This issue: On-board Review of Maasdam. See the Ship Reviews section.
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Azamara Cruises is changing its name to Azamara Club Cruises. The two-ship off-shoot of Royal Caribbean/Celebrity Cruises will visit 140 ports in 50 countries this year.
The Caribbean's newest private island — together with a $62 million cruise ship terminal and retail center — has opened at Roatan. Carnival Cruises developed the complex to serve as a port of call for its Seabourn, Carnival, Princess, Holland America, Costa, and P&O ships, as well as non-Carnival liners. The two-berth, 20-acre Cruise Center and 10-acre private island are expected to host more than a half million passengers annually aboard more than 200 ship calls. One way to travel between the pier and the beach will be via a 1200-foot "Magical Flying Beach Chair," a cable-suspended lift. The beach will have an 825-foot long white sand beach, shops, restaurants, shore excursion facilities, cabanas, volleyball courts, watersports opportunities, and more... Carnival has ordered a new 130,00-ton, 3690-passenger ship for delivery in spring, 2012. Under construction in Italy, it will feature a 300-foot corkscrew water slide, an indoor/outdoor cafˇ, children's and teens centers, a 24,000 square foot spa, cantilevered whirlpools that extend over the ship's sides, and more highlights to be revealed as the construction progresses.
Celebrity and its two sister companies — Royal Caribbean and Azamara — are converting to an electronic system for handling cruise documents and luggage tags. Termed "eDocs," the system will allow passengers to get all the information that was previously mailed via the web sites of the respective companies. The system began on January 1. Traditional printed documents will still be available, but at a charge for Celebrity and Royal Caribbean passengers .
Soon to ripple off your tongue will be the Italian-flavored names of Costa's two newest ships, which will enter service in 2011 and 2012. They'll each hold 3000 passengers and are being constructed in Marghera, Italy. They represent Costa's 16th and 17th vessels. The ships will be known as the Costa Favolosa and the Costa Fascinosa. The names were selected from some 42,000 votes cast on Costa's web site by travel agents and cruise fans.
Cruise West will add three voyages — in the Baltic Sea, the Norwegian fjords, and the North Atlantic — to its itinerary this year. They'll leave from Honfleur, France; Oslo; and London, aboard the 120-passenger Spirit of Oceanus... This year's Alaska plans call for four ships and four different itineraries. There will be 25 seven-day departures that highlight wilderness cruising as well as 43 four-day and 10 10-day itineraries. Juneau, Anchorage, and Seattle will be the ports of embarkation... The newly-published complete list of 2010 destinations for Cruise West: Alaska, Antarctica, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, Galapagos, British Columbia, four European rivers, and the Columbia and Snake Rivers, plus a 335-day circumnavigation of the world.
Many of Crystal's itineraries this year will allow passengers to explore Jewish heritage, history, and culture. Excursions in Jerusalem, Berlin, Odessa, Rome, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Dublin, Mumbai, and Montevideo will take travelers to museums, historic synagogues, Holocaust memorials, cemeteries, urban Jewish quarters, and modern communities... On-board computer education is taking a leap. Crystal's Computer University@Sea will be teaching the new Windows 7 operating system as well as college-credit courses. Also offered: instruction in email, website design, digital video editing, digital camera orientation, web surfing, Excel, Access, Powerpoint, and more.
The only U. S. maiden call to be made by Cunard's 2014-passenger Queen Victoria this year will be to San Francisco. It's a port of call on the ship's 99-day world cruise, which visits 41 ports between now and April. After San Francisco, there will be 10 additional maiden visits... Itineraries have been announced for Cunard's two 2011 World Cruises. The 2092-passenger Queen Elizabeth will conduct its initial global circuit, leaving Southampton in January and proceeding westward to New York, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Dubai, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and elsewhere, returning home after 103 days. The Queen Mary 2 will begin its fourth world voyage in New York, stopping in Fort Lauderdale, the Caribbean, South America, South Africa, Sydney, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Dubai, Italy, Morocco, Spain, and the UK, returning to New York after 103 days. Together the two ships will visit 57 ports of call in 34 countries... The three Queens of Cunard's fleet — Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth, and the 2014-passenger Queen Victoria will rendezvous in New York harbor on January 13, 2011.
A full-scale musical production spectacular dedicated to Disney's lovable and loathsome villains will premiere this spring on the 1760-passenger Disney Magic. "Villains Tonight" will take a comical spin on the subject in a family-friendly extravaganza concept. The show will expand to the new 2500-passenger Disney Dream early next year, when the Dream debuts as Disney's first new ship in 12 years... Disney will sail in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe this summer and will place its 1760-passenger Disney Wonder in service from Los Angeles in 2011... Next year will see the Disney Magic in Russia, Northern Europe, and the Med. There will be a two-month mid-summer schedule of 12-day European Capital cruises stopping at Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Berlin's port, and St. Petersburg, round trip from London. Before and after those Northern Europe trips will be a series of 10- and 11-day cruises in the Med in April, May, August, and September round trip from Barcelona.
Three new 30-day South America trips will be undertaken by the 1316-passenger Rotterdam in 2010 and two more in 2011. The round trips will leave from Fort Lauderdale and San Diego. Up to 15 ports along the coasts of Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras, and Peru will be visited... The 1432-passenger Volendam will return to Asia in 2011 with a series of 14- and 18-day voyages. Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and Singapore will be among the principal countries to be visited. The ship will be there for the first half of the year... Holland America has set up a web site for fans to follow construction and features of its newest ship, the 2104-passenger Nieuw Amsterdam, which launches in July. It's at the Quick Links section of www.hollandamerica.com... HAL has scheduled four "Grand Voyages" for 2011. Its 1380-passenger Amsterdam and 793-passenger Prinsendam will visit some 121 ports of call in 65 countries. There will be a 110-day world cruise from Fort Lauderdale in January, a 70-day Asia and Australia voyage in the fall, a 66-day South America and Antarctica circuit in January, and a 62-day Africa and Mediterranean trip, departing Fort Lauderdale in March... It'll be a busy summer in Europe this year for Holland America. It is increasing sailings from its home ports in Dover and Rotterdam and will place seven ships on the continent, plying the Med, Baltic, and Northern Europe... Alaska this summer will see 50 round-trip cruises from Seattle and 38 round-trip departures from Vancouver, plus 18 one-way Gulf of Alaska trips.
This issue: On-board Review of Maasdam. See the Ship
Reviews
section.
Hurtigruten will partner with National Geographic's Center for Sustainable Destinations to safeguard and enhance Hurtigruten's destinations along the Norwegian Coast. Its Geotourism approach will attempt to sustain and nurture the environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and well-being of the 34 places its ships have been visiting since 1893... Six mid-winter cruises along Norway's 1250-mile west coast will feature various themes. (See Theme Cruises.) They'll be seven, eight, 10, and 12 days in length, departing from Bergen and Tromso... The company has unveiled a revamped web site. It features a fresh design and new navigation capabilities. It's at www.Hurtigruten.us.
Focusing on South America early this year, MSC has scheduled a record 140 cruises there between now and May, sailing from Santos, Rio, Salvador, and Buenos Aires. Six ships are involved. Cruise lengths vary from three to nine days.
14 restaurants. 18 bars. An aqua park with three waterslides. A 200-foot tube slide. A 33' x 64' rock climbing wall. Six bowling lanes. A repelling wall. Eight different outdoor sports activities — basketball, volleyball, soccer, dodgeball, batting cage, bungee trampoline, rope course, climbing cage — on the sports deck. A squash court. Three separate kids' and teens activity areas. Illuminated arching water sprays. 60 two-deck suites and villas with private pool, health club, and lounge. Cabin windows facing corridors. Curved staterooms. Color-spectrum hull art. That's part of what awaits 4200 passengers on each cruise of the soon-to-be-inaugurated Norwegian Epic, which sets sail in May. The ship will sail from Miami on seven-day cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean.
A preview of Deilmann's 2010 Europe river schedule shows 189 departures between March and November. Cruise lengths will vary between four and 11 days, with most scheduled for seven days. Among the rivers to be plied next year: Danube, Elbe, Havel, Moldau, Seine, Moselle, and Rhine.
Princess will convert to fully digital travel documents this year. Passengers who book cruises will receive a series of four emails that will include booking details, itineraries, and ship information. Interactive features will acquaint passengers with ship videos, virtual tours, bridge cams, dining options, entertainment choices, shipboard features, travel logistics, weather information, packing tips, frequently asked questions, important notices and reminders, and how to stay connected with family and friends... Princess' 680-passenger Tahitian Princess has a new name, the Ocean Princess, to better reflect its future worldwide itineraries... Princess will spread its sails in Europe this year, scheduling a record 96 departures on 39 itineraries to 130 ports on six ships. Major areas: The Med, Greek Isles, British Isles, Iceland, Scandinavia, Russia, Black Sea, Holy Land... The carrier's Alaska season this year will see 112 sailings aboard seven ships. Departures will be from San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and Whittier (Anchorage). Trips will range from seven to 14 days in length... There will be a doubling of Princess' capacity in the Caribbean this summer, as it places its 3110-passenger Caribbean Princess and 3100-passenger Emerald Princess into service there.
"Let's dispense with the formalities." That's the word from Regent this winter, as it adopts a new dress code. From now on, there will be two types of evening dress codes, Elegant Casual and Formal Optional. Ties and suits or sports coats will not be required on either night. On Formal Optional nights, traditional garb is expected to remain the norm but will not be mandatory.
Extensive new infrastructure improvements have been completed at Royal Caribbean's private beach of Labadee. In order to accommodate the line's new 5400-passenger Oasis of the Seas and other large ships, the island has been revamped from its landing pier on up. The new pier stretches 1300 feet. Dining venues have been expanded by 57 percent. A plaza and town square have been added. Artisan markets and musicians and dancers will be alongside. A 2232-foot high-speed coaster ride will visit the island's flora and rock formations. Private cabanas have been added at the beach club. The Spa has been expanded. Traditional water games and rides are still part of the Labadee Day experience.
With the inauguration of its first new ship in more than a decade — the 450-passenger Seabourn Odyssey — the company has started an extensive refurbishing program for its three original 208-passenger ships. The Seabourn Pride and Seabourn Legend makeovers will be completed this year, while the Seabourn Spirit has just re-entered service. Dining areas, public rooms, cabins, and furnishings will be worked on. The result is intended to create more lightness, airiness, and luxury-feel. Between now and late next year, Seabourn ships will visit 250 ports in 68 countries on 186 voyages.
Silversea is already looking ahead to 2011. It announced that its new 540-passenger Silver Spirit will conduct its first world cruise, a 119-day exploration that will feature a number of multi-day calls. The company's five-ship fleet next year will visit a total of 335 ports in more than 100 countries and islands. It will offer 170 different itineraries.
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| Updates when news occurs | January-February-March 2010 issue | Entire new issue will be posted April 1, 2010 |