This issue: On-board Review of Oosterdam. See the Ship Reviews section.
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April-May-June,
2008
LATE BREAKING
CRUISE NEWS
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A new web site, www.azamaracruises.com, now shows the line's full range of cruise and cruisetour itineraries and shore excursions, dining arrangements, virtual ship tours, 360-degree views of all stateroom categories, deck detail, port information, and more... The company announced its 2009 Europe schedule, which includes 20 new ports and additional overnight stays. A series of seven- to 15-day trips will visit 91 ports in 36 countries. Home ports will include Athens, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Rome, and Venice. Overnights will be in Barcelona, Edinburgh, Florence, Ravenna, Istanbul, St. Petersburg, and Stockholm. The company has two 694-passenger ships, the Azamara Journey and the Azamara Quest
A new multi-media advertising campaign being launched this season will inject a new look and feel into Carnival's marketing. A series of 30-second television spots will feature cruise and vacation images linked with computerized animation and editing techniques that blend one scene into another. Each commercial is pegged to an "Oooh, you make me live" lyrical phrase... A major upgrade will be completed during a 35-day drydock visit of the 2052-passenger Carnival Fantasy this fall. Highlights include a new aqua park with a four-deck high, 300-foot-long corkscrew water slide, an adults-only area, a redesigned "resort-style" main pool, an 82-foot-long racing slide, flat-screen TVs in staterooms, a nine-hole miniature golf course, a renovated 12,000 square foot spa, a New York-style deli, a patisserie, new facilities for children and teens, and contemporary sound and lighting systems for music and entertainment venues... 12- to 14-year-olds will find more to their liking on Carnival ships. The company is inaugurating dedicated facilities and activities catering to early teens under the "Circle C" banner, which currently has "Camp Carnival" for youngsters and "Club O2" for 15- to 17-year-olds. The new clubs will feature a dance floor with high-tech sound and lighting, 42-inch TV screens displaying movies and videos, a jukebox stocked with current hits, video gaming, plush seating, and staff supervision. Activities will include basketball, volleyball, ping pong, water games, late-night movies, evening pool parties, and more.
This grass is greener. The first ship afloat with a half acre of real, freshly-manicured, growing grass takes to the seas in December as part of Celebrity's new 2850-passenger Solstice. Set atop the uppermost deck, it will be part of an environment known as "The Lawn Club." It will hold picnics, putting practice, bocce ball, croquet, bare feet, and other diversions... The ship will have 10 restaurants. They'll include The Grand Eperna, a contemporary two-level main dining room with a two-story wine tower; an Italian themed Tuscan Grille; an Asian specialty restaurant, Silk Harvest; Blu, reserved for passengers booked in the AquaClass category of accommodations; Murano, featuring Continental food behind floor-to-ceiling windows; and Bistro on Five, specializing in crepes and open nearly around the clock... Wedding bells will chime on seven Celebrity ships that have recently been re-registered in Malta, where regulations allow for captains to perform legal marriages while the ships sail the seas of the world. Packages will take care of all the details, from receptions to cake, champagne, photos, and more... The first year's schedule for Celebrity's 2850-passenger Equinox, has been released. It will make its maiden voyage next year in August from London to Rome, calling on ports in France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Then it will sail a Med series with stops in Israel and Egypt. In November, it will move to Fort Lauderdale for a winter series of alternating 10- and 11-day Caribbean trips... Three original shows will be among the entertainment aboard the Solstice. They'll be presented in an 1115-seat theater that's almost a theater-in-the-round... Celebrity's biggest Europe season ever will happen in 2009, as it sends five ships there. They'll visit 76 ports in 29 countries. There will be six home ports: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Harwich, Southampton, Rome, and Venice. Itineraries include Scandinavia and Russia, the Arctic Circle and North Cape, the Med, Israel and Egypt, and transatlantic repositioning sailings.
Diamond necklace giveaways on each Caribbean sailing this year. That's one of the ways Costa will be observing its 60th Diamond Anniversary during 2008. Costa's 12 ships will visit 141 ports in 68 countries on 423 sailings of 109 itineraries this year... New Indian Ocean routes from Mauritius will begin... Palacruceros, Costa's new Barcelona cruise terminal, will open for its first full-year... Costa says it has more new ships on order than any other carrier, five ... Europe, here we come. That's Costa's mantra for this summer, as each of its ships is deployed there. They'll depart from Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Kiel, Hamburg, Venice, Rome, Genoa, and Trieste. Areas of concentration will be the Eastern Med, the Western Med, Northern Europe, and transatlantic and repositioning cruises.
An inaugural "Taste of the Pacific Northwest" series will highlight culinary traditions and wines of Oregon and Washington. There will be four autumn departures on the 84-passenger Spirit of Discovery, round trip from Portland... San Francisco Bay wine tours will return for another season. They depart from San Francisco on the 138-passenger Spirit of Yorktown in September and October. There will be both five-day and four-day itineraries. In each case, visits to wineries, tastings, estate-tours, and special meals will be part of the package
Snuffing out some remaining smoking opportunities aboard its two ships, Crystal will end the practice on all stateroom verandas starting this season. The verandas join most bars, restaurants, and entertainment lounges. Smoking continues to be allowed in private accommodations and some areas of bars... Read all about it! Crystal passengers will soon be able to "subscribe" to home-delivered (cabin-delivered) newspapers while at sea. Some 370 newspapers from all around the world will be available in full-format, same-day editions.
"Liner Notes," a new Public Radio series sponsored by Cunard, makes its debut this season. It will "explore travel through literature, painting, film, music, and myth," according to Cunard. It will feature unusual destinations and thought provoking ways that travel can be experienced and enjoyed. For example, the Irish-themed show features Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Frank McCourt and authors Colum McCann, Jimmy Breslin, Pete Hamill, NPR film critic Bob Mondello, and others. The format will be in the tradition of the venerable Algonquin Roundtable gatherings, with conversations related to travel. Information about individual shows is available at www.cunard.com/linernotes.
Wireless Internet is coming. Both the 1760-passenger Disney Magic and 1750-passenger Disney Wonder will have new wireless high-speed services this season. Hot spots in many public areas will accommodate laptops brought by passengers, while those without their own computers will be able to use internet cafes... Home Sweet Home will continue to be Port Canaveral. Disney has extended its home-port contract with the port for 15 years, until 2022. As part of the agreement, the port will expand and modify Disney's terminal space and will build a new parking facility. The result will be improved passenger flow amid still-secret Disney touches that the company says will "delight guests."... Disney has begun a new program of onboard airline check-ins. Most passengers will be able to leave the ship at the end of their cruises without having to collect their luggage on the pier. They'll go straight to Customs and then on to the airport, where they will not have to wait in check-in lines. Their luggage should be routed to their flights, ready for pickup at their destination.
Changes to menus this summer will find more regional dishes in Holland America's dining rooms. Starting with Mexico and Caribbean cruises, passengers will find new menus reflecting their ship's itinerary. There will be coconut scallops in the Caribbean, chicken mole in Mexico, tapas in Spain, prosciutto and coppa in Italy, salmon in Norway, and more... A $20 million enhancement has been completed aboard the 793-passenger Prinsendam. It resulted in new bathrooms in each cabin, redesigned closet space, and new carpeting, desks, and chairs. In public areas, walls were resurfaced, serving counters were upgraded, carpeting was replaced, sports decks were refreshed, and the library was expanded. Technologically, improvements were made to radar, lifeboats, and nautical equipment... Australasia is being added to Holland America's itineraries in 2009. The 1432-passenger Volendam will conduct nine cruises from Auckland, Sydney, or Singapore. They'll range from 14 to 19 days in length. In addition, for the first time the Volendam will sail a round-trip Hong Kong schedule. The series, which will run from this fall through next spring, will call at cities in China, Southeast Asia, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Russia... Holland America has re-cast its web site. The new design offers a detailed virtual sample of its cruise vacations, including stateroom interiors, activities, zoom-ins to chosen destinations, views of tour sites, photo/video galleries, podcasts about collections of art and artifacts aboard each ship, video clips of ship staff discussing dining options and shipboard activities, and more... For the first time, Holland America will sail an extensive series of Asia-Pacific voyages. During 2009, its 1432-passenger Volendam will make four maiden calls at ports in the Philippines, Japan, China, and Taiwan as part of nine new cruises. Included among them will be a first round-trip Hong Kong itinerary and calls in Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Russia. There will be two Vancouver-Asia circuits, between which the Volendam will spend the summer in Alaska service... The 2104-passenger Eurodam, which debuts this summer, will have an abundance of themed restaurants. In addition to the Rembrandt main dining room and a Lido, there will be a Pacific Northwest-themed Pinnacle Grill, a 144-seat Asian-themed Tamarind, a 72-seat Italian-themed Canaletto, plus Slice, an all-day pizza outlet. Both traditional and flexible seating times will be offered.
This issue: On-board Review of Oosterdam. See the Ship
Reviews
section.
The most diverse itinerary in Hurtigruten's history features new "Longitudinal World Cruises" sailing between the Arctic and Antarctic. They'll be conducted by the 318-passenger Fram during the spring and fall seasons. In the winter, a new selection of Northern Lights voyages will sail the Bergen-Tromso-Lofoten Islands region... The company's 52-week schedule of Norwegian Coastal cruises between Bergen and Kirkenes continues via a fleet of 12 ships, with stops at more than 30 ports on the five- and six-day trips... A first: Port Canaveral will be the embarkation point for a 41-day portion of Fram's longitudinal world cruise. It'll happen in October.
New to Majestic America's schedule this year is nine months of double-ship service on the Columbia and Snake rivers from Portland on seven-day trips. The 142-passenger Queen of the West will sail weekly from March through November. It will be joined from May through October by the 150-passenger Columbia Queen and in the spring and fall by the 223-passenger Empress of the North.
For On-board Review of Queen of the West, see the Ship
Reviews section.
Double service to the Caribbean, a private island, and first-time calls at Bermuda mark MSC's 2008 - 2009 season. The 2550-passenger Orchestra, launched in 2007, will join the 1590-passenger Lirica to conduct seven- and 10-day trips to 16 ports during the Caribbean winter. Eastern and Western destinations will be visited, as well as Bermuda in a special April round trip from Fort Lauderdale... MSC's 3959-passenger Fantasia is on schedule for a December christening in Naples. 80 percent of the cabins will be oceanview, ranging up to 700 square feet. There will be six acres of public space, a 1700-seat theater, a 16,000 square foot spa with a thermal cave, five restaurants totaling one and a half acres, four pools, 12 hydro-massage tubs, 20 bars, a children's area of 4300 square feet, an aquapark with 150 fountains that will light up at night to the rhythm of music, a teenage club, Swarovski glass floors, and more. It will be as long as three and two-thirds football fields... In the meantime, its brand new 2550-passenger Poesia enters service this season as the carrier's ninth ship. It will sail from Venice to the Med during the summer... MSC has opened a web site entirely devoted to its newest ship, the Orchestra. Orchestra begins its U. S. service in January from Fort Lauderdale
3 - 2 - 1: Having withdrawn two of its three ships from Hawaii service, NCL announced that its 2146-passenger Pride of America, introduced in 2005, will be its sole entry in the Hawaii market through 2010. The Pride of Aloha will be transferred to Star Cruises and will be deployed in Asia beginning this summer. Previously, the Pride of Hawai'i was renamed the Norwegian Jade and transferred to European waters. The company cited "extraordinarily difficult" sales conditions, with prices driven down by increased competition from West Coast - Hawaii offerings. The NCL ship will leave from Honolulu each Saturday and stop at four islands... NCL has a new 50 percent owner. For a billion dollar cash equity investment, Apollo Management LP of New York, Los Angeles, and London will join Star Cruises in ownership of the line. Apollo is not new to the cruise industry: it recently purchased Regent Seven Seas Cruises and has invested in Oceania Cruises. It also has investments in such hospitality companies as Harrahs, Sirius Satellite Radio, and AMC Entertainment. According to NCL, the cash infusion should help the company continue its expansion and service-enhancement programs. The company currently has two 4200-passenger ships under construction in France, each valued at $1.1 billion... For the first time in its 41 years, NCL will deploy a ship year-'round in Europe. The 2400-passenger Norwegian Jade will sail a variety of itineraries there, extending its inaugural Europe season that begins this spring. It will conduct a series of 12-day Eastern Med sailings, nine-day Canary Islands and Morocco trips, and a 14-day Eastern Med holiday cruise. Barcelona will be the home port for each cruise... Charleston is being added to NCL's collection of key ports. Starting this fall, the 1462-passenger Norwegian Majesty will leave there each Saturday on seven-day Caribbean cruises... A new package of experiences known as "Freestyle 2.0" will be in place on all NCL ships this summer. Among the highlights: champagne upon boarding, expanded menu selections, lobster in specialty restaurants nightly and in the main restaurant twice per cruise, unlimited bloody marys and mimosas at some breakfasts, signature specialty dishes in each restaurant, upgraded linens and pillows, more minibar options, bathrobes in premium cabins, and more.
Smoking has been banned — except for outside decks — aboard the 513-passenger flagship Deutschland. The new policy follows introduction of a similar restriction that applies to Deilmann's nine European river ships.
A new kinder, gentler approach to disembarkation will make its way through the Princess fleet in coming months. Gone will be hurry-up-and-wait crowding, congested lobbies, hurried breakfasts, loudspeaker announcements calling color-coded departure groups, and general mayhem. In their place will be a letter delivered to each stateroom the day before, outlining a designated time to be in a designated public room. From there, staff members will personally escort passengers to the gangway according to a pre-established schedule... Set to debut on Princess' fleet by this summer is "Chef's Table." It will offer up to 10 gourmands a personally-escorted Maitre d'-led tour of the ship's galley during the height of dinner preparations, followed by a multi-course tasting dinner and wines at a special table. The chef will preview details of the menu, which will not be offered elsewhere. Each course will be accompanied by a detailed explanation of features, preparation methods, and tasting suggestions. During dessert, the chef will rejoin the group to lead a discussion about the evening's meal, answer questions, and share culinary secrets... For this summer's Alaska schedule, Princess has added 37 new tour options, bringing the total of landside offerings there to 234. Among them: a whale watch, a seafood Alaskan Chef's Table, ziplining, crab fishing tour, and glassblowing... In 2009, Princess will offer its most extensive European season. It will have six ships there, sailing 90 voyages on 36 itineraries to 132 ports. Trips will range from seven to 31 days during a seven-month April-to-November season. Cruises will be concentrated in six categories: Mediterranean and Greek Isles, Israel-Turkey-Greece-Egypt-Italy-Black Sea, Scandinavia and Russia, Northern Europe and British Isles, Northern Europe via Tahitian Princess, and transatlantic repositionings... Also in 2009, Princess will return to New York for summer cruising. It will offer 10 Caribbean/Bermuda sailings early in the season and nine trips to Canada/New England as summer turns into fall. The 3110-passenger Caribbean Princess will conduct the voyages... Alaska in 2009 will find seven Princess ships. They'll conduct 130 sailings, of which 81 will visit Glacier Bay. Three ships will depart from Seattle, on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Two will leave from Vancouver, on Saturdays and Mondays. And one will leave from San Francisco, every ten days for four summer months.
Regent has extended its partnership with naturalist Jean-Michel Cousteau for another three years. Under the contract, Cousteau will continue to appear on several cruises each year, lecturing and instructing on sustainability, conservation, and the marine environment... Regent will operate two world cruises in 2009, both leaving in January. A 116-day journey will leave from Los Angeles on the 700-passenger Seven Seas Voyager, while a 121-day trip will depart Fort Lauderdale aboard the 700-passenger Seven Seas Mariner.
This issue: On-board Review of Navigator. See the Ship
Reviews section.
Taking a cue from the popularity of TV's competitive dance shows, Royal Caribbean is making its passengers the stars of a new production show. Winning couples chosen early in a cruise will practice with the professional cast and will be featured in "Invitation to Dance." The feature is being introduced on the 3114-passenger Explorer of the Seas... Next summer will be a big one in Europe for Royal Caribbean. It will position eight ships there for the warm months of 2009. There will be 70 itineraries ranging from four to 14 days in length. 87 ports in 32 countries will be visited. Main destinations will be the Med, Northern Europe, Western Europe, and transatlantic repositioning trips. Home ports will include London Southampton, Malaga, Rome, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Athens, and Istanbul. New ports include Haifa and Ashdod in Israel.
Seabourn is replacing more than 50 percent of its menu items with more than 150 additions. Its executive chef Charlie Palmer says that the move ties in with a trend of adventurous diners seeking exotic twists on familiar, comforting ingredients. There will be Malossol caviar, smoked trout with potato parfait, seared beef carpaccio with sesame vinaigrette and shiitake mushrooms, butter poached jumbo prawns with red beet and goat cheese ravioli, and more. As before, venues will offer black-tie dinners, cafˇ seating, al fresco dining, and in-suite service.
Silversea has rolled out its 2009 schedule. It includes 10 new destinations among 320 ports in 108 countries on 140 itineraries ranging from seven to 92 days. The longest trip will be a first-time Grand Pacific Voyage on the 382-passenger Silver Shadow, traveling from Los Angeles to Vancouver via Papeete, Sydney, the Far East, and Alaska. The 296-passenger Silver Cloud will explore South America, the Caribbean, Northern Europe, and the Baltic. The 296-passenger Silver Wind starts the year in Africa, the Seychelles, and the Arabian Peninsula, and continues to the Mediterranean. The Silver Shadow handles the Caribbean during the winter, a Panama Canal trip, then the 92-day Grand Pacific Voyage. During the summer it will cover Alaska from San Francisco and Vancouver. The 382-passenger Silver Whisper will be in the South Pacific and Far East, India, and the Med most of the year... HSH Prince Albert II will be the new name of Silversea's most recent acquisition, the 140-passenger exploration ship World Discoverer. It will be so named because the prince is a practitioner of oceanographic science and exploration, Silversea's headquarters is in the Principality of Monaco, and the ship will be dedicated to exploration cruising. It will be placed into service this summer, following a multi-million dollar refurbishment. It brings Silversea's fleet to five ships... Silver Cloud and Silver Wind will undergo a major refurbishments. They'll get new bathrooms, carpets, flat screen television, and other appointments. Most public spaces will be similarly enhanced. A whole new spa and fitness center will be added and an additional elevator will be installed. The work will be completed next May... "Silver Spirit" has been chosen as the name of Silversea's next 540-passenger ship. It's currently under construction in Italy and will be launched late next year. It will be an all-suite ship with all suites having an ocean view.
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| Updates when news occurs | April-May-June 2008 issue | Entire new issue will be posted July 1, 2008 |