Oceania Cruises to send ships to Alaska in 2011
Anchorage Daily News
That's one-third to one-quarter the capacity of most of the large cruise ships that sail Alaska waters. This week the Legislature approved Parnell's …
It's a first: cruise ship to call in Anchorage this summerAlaskajournal.com
Legislators cut cruise ship passenger head taxKTNA
Travel Trends: Cruising in Alaska is up, so why are people angry?Gadling (blog)
Alaskajournal.com -Anchorage Daily News
all 18 news articles »

]]> http://www.cruisefan.net/2010/04/24/oceania-cruises-to-send-ships-to-alaska-in-2011-anchorage-daily-news/feed/ 0 http://www.cruisefan.net/2010/04/16/flight-chaos-for-cruise-passengers/ http://www.cruisefan.net/2010/04/16/flight-chaos-for-cruise-passengers/#comments Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:55:19 +0000 John Honeywell Iceland’s volcanic eruption might be a potential attraction for visitors to the island, as I reported yesterday, but right now it’s still causing chaos for cruise passengers hoping to fly to their ships.

Flight restrictions on Scottish airports are expected to be lifted this evening and passengers who were scheduled to fly from Manchester to join Fred Olsen’s Braemar in Barbados are travelling by bus to Glasgow.

A Fred Olsen spokesperson said: “Braemar has stayed in Barbados to wait for them, with the result that the first scheduled port – Castries – has been cancelled and instead the first port now will be Roseau in Dominica.”.

Less fortunate are passengers who should have been flying to Heraklion in Crete yesterday to board Ocean Village. Its seven-night Groves and Gondolas cruise to Dubrovnik, Venice and Corfu has been cancelled. Those who had booked a 14-night cruise onward to Cairo, Cyprus, Rhodes and Athens are being offered the second leg departing next Thursday, or a full refund. Passengers who had already arrived in Crete before the flight shutdown will be taken to hotels until they can be flown home.

Thomson Celebration remained in port at Sharm el Sheik for an extra day, hoping that flights could take off, but the ship has now sailed for Sokhna. Some disembarking passengers have remained on the ship; others are staying in hotels in Sharm.

P&O’s Artemis and Oceana are sailing from Southampton tomorrow, and Oriana departs on Sunday. The only passengers affected will be those who had planned to fly to Southampton. Both of Cunard’s ships are in mid-cruise.

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises will are attempting to fly their passengers to intermediate ports on their cruises. They will also re-book – without charge – onto other cruises. Passengers will be offered refunds if the new voyage is cheaper, but will be required to pay the difference if the alternative is more expensive.

NCL’s website merely advises passengers to check with their airline.

But it comes as a surprise to find them both using an almost identical sales spiel to attract passengers. The important phrase, apparently, is “key pillars” – whatever they are.

Listening to the latest gimmick announced by Oceania, you could be forgiven for thinking that the word should be “pillows.”

Oceania are introducing herb-infused bedding in their cabins, promising chamomile-induced sleep thanks to pillow-top cushions filled with gel and wrapped in scented fibre.

The beds will be introduced on the company’s Nautica this autumn 2010, followed by sister ships Regatta and Insignia, and finally the new 1,252-passenger Marina, when she debuts in early 2011.

“Cuisine, service and comfort are the three pillars of the Oceania Cruises brand,” says Bob Binder, the line’s president. “The new Prestige Tranquillity Beds will offer the most comfortable, luxurious sleep experience at sea.”

But are three pillars enough?

Introducing new 2011-12 itineraries for Azamara’s Quest and Journey this week, president and CEO Larry Pimentel explained: “Azamara Club Cruises is built around four key pillars: extraordinary service, cuisine and wines of the world, wellness and vitality, and destination immersion. But what distinguishes our brand most is our ability to deliver the destination, and our new itineraries were precisely built around that commitment.”

So destination seems to be the key difference – important, I would have thought, for holidaymakers choosing to cruise on ships like this rather than giants such as Oasis of the Seas and Norwegian Epic.

Perhaps Oceania have missed a trick with only three pillars – or maybe they take it as read that their passengers choose a cruise by destination anyway.

The five ships operated by Azamara and Oceania were originally built for the now-defunct Renaissance Cruises and carry about 670 passengers each. They have several restaurant options and luxurious public rooms; standard cabins, however, are not the roomiest at sea. Royal Princess, soon to join the P&O fleet as Adonia, is another identical sister ship. Marina is Oceania’s first new build, to a completely different design.

Mirror.co.uk

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A cruise ship at the centre of a suspected outbreak of norovirus has returned to the UK. P&O said 120 people fell ill on the Oceana liner during the course …
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Boost for port as cruise firm chooses PortsmouthPortsmouth News
Caribbean cruise returns to UK with sick passengersEat, Drink and Be (blog)
This Is Hampshire.net -Daily Echo
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]]> http://www.cruisefan.net/2010/04/02/norovirus-outbreak-ship-arrives-back-in-southampton-bbc-news/feed/ 0 http://www.cruisefan.net/2010/04/01/name-change-for-po-cruises-2/ http://www.cruisefan.net/2010/04/01/name-change-for-po-cruises-2/#comments Wed, 31 Mar 2010 23:16:14 +0000 John Honeywell They call themselves Britain’s favourite cruise line, and from today P&O Cruises has a new name, to avoid confusion with Britain’s most popular ferry company, P&O Ferries.

Welcome to Panda Cruises – involving the change of just one vowel in the name, but necessitating a multi-million pound makeover for the seven-ship fleet.

The all-white vessels are to be repainted black and white, like their cuddly namesakes. The 116,000-ton Azura, which has just been delivered by the shipyard in Italy, will be the first to display the new livery when she arrives in Southampton next week.

The handover of the vessel from builders Fincantieri was carried out in conditions of great secrecy last week in order to keep the new colours under wraps. Carnival UK boss David Dingle and Panda managing director Carol Marlow were the only British representatives at the ceremony, and media invitations were withdrawn, under cover of uncertainty over availability of flights because of the British Airways cabin crew strike.

Fincantieri spokeswoman Lola Porfi told me that workers at the yard had been busy for the past two weeks on last-minute modifications to the ship.

“As well as the new colour scheme for the hull, the sports court on the top deck has been converted into a cage to accommodate a pair of pandas, and of course there is hope that they can be persuaded to mate and produce the first pandas to be born at sea.

“The animals will be fed on fresh bamboo shoots grown on board. The company’s environmentalists have been carrying out secret tests and believe that if Celebrity can have real lawns on their ships, there should be no problem growing bamboo – it’s only a type of grass, after all.”

I understand the name change will be supported by a sponsorship agreement with the World Wildlife Fund, and that 2011 itineraries for next year’s world cruises are being altered to include extended visits to the Chinese ports of Shanghai, Dalian, Xiamen, and Sanya on the tropical resort island of Hainan.

Also new on the ships’ itineraries will be visits to the remote island of San Serriffe, and excursions to the spaghetti tree plantations in Italy.

The history of P&O can be traced back to 1837, when the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company was awarded the contract to carry Royal Mail to the Iberian peninsula and beyond. The company grew into a major commercial shipping line and passenger liner operator and in 1918 took over the Orient Line, its partner in the UK to Australia mail route, thus becoming Peninsular and Orient.

In the 1950s and 60s, the company’s fleet carried thousands of “£10 Poms” to Australia, and when that program ended ships such as SS Canberra were converted to cruise liners. The cargo and ferry side of the business also grew, with the takeover of companies such as British-India Steam Navigation and Townsend Thoreson.

In 2000, P&O demerged its cruise business as P&O Princess Cruises, and this company was taken over in 2003 by the giant Carnival Corporation.

But confusion among consumers unable to differentiate between the cruise line and the remaining shipping and logistics company – which since 2005 has been owned by Dubai World – have led to the decision to adopt a new name.

Welcome to Panda Cruises – involving the change of just one vowel in the name, but necessitating a multi-million pound makeover for the seven-ship fleet.

The all-white vessels are to be repainted black and white, like their cuddly namesakes. The 116,000-ton Azura, which has just been delivered by the shipyard in Italy, will be the first to display the new livery when she arrives in Southampton next week.

The handover of the vessel from builders Fincantieri was carried out in conditions of great secrecy last week in order to keep the new colours under wraps. Carnival UK boss David Dingle and Panda managing director Carol Marlow were the only British representatives at the ceremony, and media invitations were withdrawn, under cover of uncertainty over availability of flights because of the British Airways cabin crew strike.

Fincantieri spokeswoman Lola Porfi told me that workers at the yard had been busy for the past two weeks on last-minute modifications to the ship.

“As well as the new colour scheme for the hull, the sports court on the top deck has been converted into a cage to accommodate a pair of pandas, and of course there is hope that they can be persuaded to mate and produce the first pandas to be born at sea.

“The animals will be fed on fresh bamboo shoots grown on board. The company’s environmentalists have been carrying out secret tests and believe that if Celebrity can have real lawns on their ships, there should be no problem growing bamboo – it’s only a type of grass, after all.”

I understand the name change will be supported by a sponsorship agreement with the World Wildlife Fund, and that 2011 itineraries for next year’s world cruises are being altered to include extended visits to the Chinese ports of Shanghai, Dalian, Xiamen, and Sanya on the tropical resort island of Hainan.

Also new on the ships’ itineraries will be visits to the remote island of San Serriffe, and excursions to the spaghetti tree plantations in Italy.

The history of P&O can be traced back to 1837, when the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company was awarded the contract to carry Royal Mail to the Iberian peninsula and beyond. The company grew into a major commercial shipping line and passenger liner operator and in 1918 took over the Orient Line, its partner in the UK to Australia mail route, thus becoming Peninsular and Orient.

In the 1950s and 60s, the company’s fleet carried thousands of “£10 Poms” to Australia, and when that program ended ships such as SS Canberra were converted to cruise liners. The cargo and ferry side of the business also grew, with the takeover of companies such as British-India Steam Navigation and Townsend Thoreson.

In 2000, P&O demerged its cruise business as P&O Princess Cruises, and this company was taken over in 2003 by the giant Carnival Corporation.

But confusion among consumers unable to differentiate between the cruise line and the remaining shipping and logistics company – which since 2005 has been owned by Dubai World – have led to the decision to adopt a new name.

And this week, P&O announced details of the cruises planned for the first season of Adonia, the next ship to join their fleet, from May next year.

The two ships are at opposite ends of the market.

Azura will carry more than 3,000 passengers and the ship will feature a restaurant masterminded by Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar, and a wine bar with a list selected by TV’s Olly Smith.

Adonia, currently sailing as Royal Princess – and which was for a short time Minerva II – will be re-branded as P&O’s “pathfinder” ship. Carrying just 700 passengers, its small size will allow it to visit smaller ports of call off the beaten track, such as Flekkefjord in Norway, Foynes in Ireland, and Zadar in Croatia.

There are some great deals on P&O cruises during the next few weeks in today’s offers. All of them start and finish in Southampton, so there is no flying involved.

Two agencies are offering a 14-night voyage to the Mediterranean on board Azura’s sister ship, Ventura, for the remarkable price of £699. That’s less than £50 a day, and all meals are included. The ship departs on April 10 and visits Lisbon, Palma, Barcelona, Cannes, Livorno, Civitavecchia and Gibraltar before returning to the UK. Go to www.gillscruise.com or call 08456 58 23; or book through Virgin Cruises and their free luggage chauffeur service will collect your luggage (one case per passenger) and deliver it direct to your cabin. Go to www.virginholidayscruises.co.uk or call 0871 781 9893. Both deals are based on two adults sharing an inside cabin.

A seven-night Northern Europe cruise on board P&O’s Oriana leaves on April 11 and visits Dublin, Cobh – the port in southern Ireland where Titanic called before setting out across the Atlantic – Bilbao in Spain, and Brest in northern France. Fares from £549. Go to www.cruise118.com or call 0800 280 2614.

On April 15 Arcadia embarks on a 24-night voyage to the Caribbean, visiting Madeira en route, and then Antigua, Tortola, St Maarten, St Kitts, St Lucia, and Barbados before returning across the Atlantic via the Azores. Fares for two sharing an inside cabin from £1,399. Go to www.gillscruise.com or call 08456 58 23 23.

Oceana sails on April 17 for a 14-night cruise to Gibraltar, Cartagena, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Cadiz. Fares from £699 for two sharing an inside cabin. Go to www.gillscruise.com or call 08456 58 23 23.

Artemis, the ship which will be replaced by Adonia, sets out on a seven-night cruise to Vigo, Lisbon, Bilbao and Brest on April 19. Fares for two sharing a balcony cabin (the ship has no inside cabins) start at £599, and include the luggage chauffeur service. Go to www.virginholidayscruises.co.uk or call 0871 781 9893.

First to get in touch was a spokesperson for cruise.co.uk reminding me that the more ships there are sailing in Europe, the more chances there are for British passengers to grab a bargain. Which is true – provided the experience is not diminished by having to fight your way through the crowds to get to the sights or the shops.

Another contact alerted me to the fact that there were five ships visiting Roseau, capital of the charming Caribbean island of Dominica the other day. Between them, Ocean Village, Carnival Victory, Caribbean Princess, Oceania’s Regatta, and Wind Surf delivered more than 7,500 passengers to the unspoilt island – and they won’t all have been able to take a ride on the Rain Forest Tram (left), as I did in 2008.

Surprisingly, the major concern voiced by locals writing to Dominica News Online was disappointment that the visitors were being careful with their money rather than splashing out on souvenirs and trinkets from the traders who set up stalls near the pier. Although one contributor sensibly asked “How many cheap Chinese-made trinkets can one buy up and down the islands?”

The island of St Kitts has had a busy week as well, with a total of 12 ships delivering more than 23,000 passengers. On Wednesday alone there were four ships in port at Basseterre.

The visitors have included Ocean Village and Thomson Destiny from the UK.

But back to the Med. David Selby, managing director of Thomson Cruises, had some good points to make, while adding some justifiable plugs for his own ships and adding a well-aimed dig at his competitors. This is what he had to say:

“When Carnival made the decision to disband Ocean Village, it was only a matter of time before another line came in to fill the spaces left in the Med. The announcement that Royal Caribbean is to deploy 11 ships into European waters in 2011 therefore comes as no surprise; the Med is the fly-cruising summer hotspot, especially for the British market, and I’m sure the countries due to benefit from the additional ships will welcome this new wave of visitors with open arms!

“Thomson Cruises has spent almost 15 years sailing fly-cruise itineraries around Europe, in particular the Western Mediterranean. We know how well it works for our own customers – for example, this summer we have three ships sailing itineraries out of Palma, served by regional flights on our in-house airline, Thomson Airways, from 20 UK airports.

“However, the fact that not just one but seven cruise lines are coming into the waters could be cause for concern with regards to how the ports themselves are going to cope with the volume of people descending on them. There is also the question of how the ships themselves can cope.

“While Thomson Cruises’ mid-sized ships mean that, although we can’t eliminate queues completely, we are able to limit them as much as possible, the bigger cruise liners carrying over 3,000 passengers could experience large queues of passengers waiting to disembark. While I’m sure our colleagues in the industry will be looking at ways around this, it could nevertheless be a cause of concern for future passengers.

“As a footnote, Thomson Cruises have anticipated the increase in traffic in the Med this summer. That’s why we’ve introduced new itineraries in areas of Europe where queues are likely to be minimal, and will be basing Thomson Celebration in Marmaris in Turkey and visiting smaller ports such as Kotor in Montenegro and Koper in Slovenia.”

Thanks David, I look forward to discussing the subject further in Barcelona next month, when the line’s latest ship, Thomson Dream, enters service.

• Have you cruised in the Mediterranean, or are you planning to in the near future? Have you had to battle through crowds when cruising in the Caribbean or elsewhere? I’d love to hear from you. Send me your views by clicking on the “comments” link below.

For the first time, family friendly ship Oceana will offer cruises from Southampton throughout the winter (October to April),

Azura
• Cruising to the Central and Western Mediterranean, Baltic, Norwegian Fjords, Iceland, Western Europe and Caribbean
• Sailing 17 ex-UK cruises from April 2011 to October 2011 and 11 Caribbean fly cruises from October 2011 to March 2012
• Cruises range from a four night cruise break to Azura’s inaugural 15 night Icelandic cruise
• Overnight calls in Venice and St. Petersburg
• Prices starting from £599 for a seven night cruise break in April 2011

Oceana
• Cruising to the Eastern and Western Mediterranean, Norwegian Fjords, Atlantic Islands, Western Europe, Caribbean and USA
• Sailing 31 ex-UK cruises from March 2011 to March 2012
• Cruises range from a two night party cruise to a 24 night Eastern Mediterranean cruise
• New ports of call – Ashdod and Haifa, Israel, and Oporto, Portugal
• First time offering year-round cruises from the UK
• Prices starting from £199 for a two night party cruise in May, September or October 2011 and £1,099 for a 14 night Mediterranean cruise in April or November 2011

Arcadia
• Cruising to the Eastern, Western and Central Mediterranean, round Britain, Baltic, Canada and USA, Alaska, Caribbean and Atlantic Islands
• Sailing 13 ex-UK cruises from March 2011 to January 2012
• Cruises range from a 13 night round Britain cruise to a 72 night Grand Alaska Adventure
• Eight new sectors available on the Grand Alaska Adventure, ranging from 10 to 28 nights
• New Ports of call – Liverpool and Oporto, Portugal
• Overnight calls in San Francisco, New York, Quebec and St. Petersburg
• Prices starting from £1,049 for a 12 night Atlantic Islands cruise in November 2011 and £1,149 for a 14 night Western Mediterranean cruise in April 2011.

Oriana
• Cruising to the Western and Central Mediterranean, Baltic, Caribbean, Western Europe and Atlantic Islands
• Sailing 20 ex-UK cruises from March 2011 to January 2012
• Cruises range from a two night party cruise to 34 night Caribbean cruise, roundtrip from Southampton
• New ports of call – Koper, Slovenia, Oporto, Portugal, Ravenna and Salerno, Italy
• Overnight calls in New Orleans, Venice and St. Petersburg
• Prices starting from £199 for a two night party cruise in June or December 2011, and £3,049 for a 34 night ex-Southampton no-fly Caribbean cruise in September 2011

Aurora
• Cruising to the Western and Central Mediterranean, Atlantic Islands, Black Sea, Baltic, Norwegian Fjords, Greenland, Caribbean, Canada and USA
• Sailing 16 ex-UK cruises from April 2011 to January 2012
• Cruises range from a two night party cruise to a 24-night Canada & New England cruise, roundtrip from Southampton
• New Ports of call – Catania, Italy, and Oporto, Portugal
• Overnight calls in New York, Quebec and St. Petersburg
• Prices starting from £199 for a two night party cruise in November 2011 and £2,299 for a 21 night Black Sea cruise in August 2011

Ventura
• Cruising to the Western and Central Mediterranean, Norwegian Fjords, Atlantic Islands, Caribbean and Western Europe
• Sailing 21 ex-UK cruises from March 2011 to October 2011 and 11 Caribbean fly cruises from October 2011 to March 2012
• Cruises range from a two night party cruise to a 17 night Central Mediterranean cruise
• Overnight call in Venice
• Prices starting from £599 for a seven night cruise break in April 2011 and £1,199 for a 14 night Caribbean fly-cruise in December 2011

More details at the P & O website.

Queen Elizabeth
• Based in her home port of Southampton, a Maiden Season of 22 voyages from five- to 24-nights from £499 per person.
• Five short five-night voyages to give access to aspiring Cunard guests and a taste of the most notable ship to come into service in 2010.
• Voyages from Southampton feature the Fjords, the Baltic, the British Isles, the Mediterranean, USA / Canada and the Caribbean.
• Four ‘Maiden Voyages’ to the Baltic, Around the British Isles, the Fjords and USA / Canada with a total of 52 maiden calls in her first season.

Queen Victoria
• 23 voyages from seven- to 22-nights from just £799 per person.
• Strong Southampton programme from April to August with the best of the Canaries, the Mediterranean, the Baltic and the Fjords.
• Fly-voyages to the Mediterranean with eight voyages for 12-nights sailing out of Venice, Rome and Athens from £1,349 per person.
• A 15-night Caribbean voyage from Venice to Fort Lauderdale from £1,999 per person.
• A 14 night Christmas voyage from Los Angeles taking in the best of Hawaii from £2,699 per person

Queen Mary 2
• 21 Transatlantic voyages between Southampton and New York; most crossings are now seven nights in duration – from £899 per person.
• The only way to visit famous cities in the USA and Canada from the UK with no flying and as much luggage as you like
• 11 roundtrip Southampton departures to Europe and the Caribbean from two- to 29- nights from £399 per person.
• A repeat of the popular ‘Around the British Isles’ voyage, eight-nights from £999 per person.

More details at Cunard’s website.