Celebrity’s Galaxy to Move to TUI

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Celebrity Cruises’ Galaxy will become the first ship of TUI Cruises, a new cruise brand established through a joint venture between Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and TUI AG.

“Celebrity Galaxy has been a treasured member of our family of ships since her maiden voyage in December 1996, and the outstanding crew onboard will continue to offer the service with style Celebrity is known for right up until the shift to TUI Cruises,” said Celebrity President and CEO Dan Hanrahan. “We look forward to transitioning those fine shipboard colleagues to the balance of the Celebrity fleet as we grow the brand with our new Solstice class.” TUI Cruises is designed for German-speaking guests seeking a contemporary/premium cruise experience. The onboard product will be custom-tailored to German tastes in food, entertainment and amenities.

Celebrity Galaxy will complete its scheduled sailings through the March 2, 2009, itinerary. It will enter service for TUI Cruises in May 2009 under a new name, and will sail in the Baltic in the summer and in the Caribbean in the winter.

Source: Modern Agent

Apr 24, Finding Cruise Discounts

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A complete guide to obtaining the best cruise discounts.

Apr 24, Louis Cruise Confirms Purchase of Two NCL Ships

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Louis plc entered into an agreement with Star Cruises, the parent of NCL Corp., for the purchase of the Norwegian Dream and Norwegian Majesty for $380 million. The two ships will be chartered back to Star Cruises until November 2008 for the Norwegian Dream and December 2009 for the Norwegian Majesty. Louis reported the purchase of the two ships “constitutes the most important renewal and upgrading of the fleet in its 22-year-old history” while enhancing the company’s position in the Eastern Mediterranean cruise market. The 51,000-ton, 2,156-passenger Norwegian Dream was built in France in 1992 and underwent a lengthening operation in 1998. It has 875 cabins and suites, 695 of which are outside and 48 that have private balconies. The cruise ship features 10 decks, six restaurants, 11 elevators, two swimming pools, spa and fitness facilities, a two-tiered show lounge, casino, library as well as an array of bars and other public areas.



The 41,000-ton Norwegian Majesty was built in Finland in 1992 and underwent a $53.3 million rebuilding, lengthening and refurbishment in 1999. It can accommodate 1,790 passengers in 731 cabins and suites, 481 of which are outside. The cruise ship features nine decks, five restaurants, six lifts, three swimming pools, spa and fitness facilities, a show lounge, a casino and a library. “This very important expansion in the company’s cruising operations is expected to lead to substantially higher profitability for 2009 onwards and at the same time will create new prospects for Louis plc internationally,” the company said in a statement.


Source: Modern Agent

Apr 17, Royal Caribbean to Feature “Central Park” on Genesis Ship

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Royal Caribbean International said its 220,000-ton Project Genesis ship, set to debut as the largest cruise ship in the world in late 2009, will feature a “Central Park” in the center of the ship that spans the length of a football field.

The park will feature pathways, seasonal flower gardens and canopy trees and will be open to the sky five decks above. The vessel will have 16 decks, carry 5,400 guests, and feature 2,700 staterooms. It will be homeported in Fort Lauderdale and, in 2010, will be joined by a sister ship.


In addition to Central Park, there will be six other “neighborhoods” though Royal Caribbean executives declined to describe them. Central Park’s central piazza will be the ship’s “town square” which evolves from a tranquil atmosphere during the day to a gathering space for alfresco dining and concerts and street performances in the evenings. The neighborhood will be lined with balcony staterooms rising six decks high with views of the park below. Surrounding the park will be an array of restaurants.

Guests will have the option of an elegant dinner at 150 Central Park or a picnic lunch from the more casual Central Park Cafe. Other dining choices will include Giovanni’s Table, an Italian restaurant; Vintages wine bar; and Royal Caribbean’s signature Chops Grille steakhouse. Several bars will be scattered throughout the Park, including the Canopy Bar, located in a glass-domed canopies, and the Rising Tide, billed as the first moving bar at sea. Rising Tide will span three decks and allow cruisers to enjoy a cocktail as they slowly ascend into Central Park and then descend back into the public spaces below. Central Park also will have boutique shops.


Central Park, located on Deck 8 of the ship, will be 62 feet wide and 328 feet long. The neighborhood will include 334 staterooms overlooking the park, 254 of which will have balconies. Central Park will be landscaped with tropical foliage, including seasonal flowers, shrubs and trees, including calla lilies, giant elephant ears, red ginger, rabbit-foot ferns and zebra calathea. Trees, some eventually reaching more than two-and-a-half decks tall, will include black olive, Cuban laurel, cherry of the Rio Grande, and painted and golden bamboo.
Central Park also will include reading corners; a chess garden with large-scale pieces; the Pergola Garden, an interpretive garden featuring vegetation from a host of Caribbean locales; and a sculpture garden, highlighting work by international artists. Irrigation and drainage systems will be incorporated, along with micro-climate control techniques. An on-site horticulturist will provide educational classes. The Crystal Canopies, two arched-glass domes, one with a bar, will be a focal point of Central Park and provide sunlight into the ship’s inner public spaces.

Sourec: Modern
Agent

Apr 15, Celebrity Cruises To Ban Smoking

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CELEBRITY CRUISES this fall will ban smoking in cabins and on balconies and will offer fewer public smoking areas. Designated indoor smoking areas will include the port side of one lounge per ship and a designated slot machine area in each ship’s casino. Outdoor smoking areas will vary with each ship.

Celebrity Cruises President Dan Hanrahan said that approximately 90 of Celebrity guests do not smoke. Violations to Celebrity’s smoking policy could result in a $250 cleaning fee charged to the guest’s onboard account. The policy will go into effect on each Celebrity ship’s first sailing after October 1, 2008.


Source: Travel Weekly

Apr 14, Windjammer Barefoot Appears to Finally Ceases Operations

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Windjammer Barefoot Cruises, which hasn’t operated a ship since last August, has apparently closed its Miami offices. The troubled company, which let lapse its Florida license to sell travel in November, was unsuccessful in its attempts to renew that registration, said Terence McElroy, spokesman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “Because of their financial difficulties, we insisted they post a $50,000 bond, which they didn’t have to do before,” McElroy said. “They were unable or unwilling to post the bond, so we rejected their request to renew the license. At that point, they were no longer licensed to sell travel in Florida.”


The Florida Attorney General’s office said it has received 172 complaints from consumers about Windjammer. “We currently do not have an investigation on Windjammer Cruises, but we continue to review complaints to see if anything falls under our jurisdiction through the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act,” the attorney general’s office reported. Windjammer’s toll-free phone number is disconnected and the local lines also do not work. The company website — www.windjammer.com — is still operating, but the PayPal system has been removed along with itinerary listings. A call to Joey Burke, a grandson of founder Mike Burke who had tried to resurrect the company, was not returned by press time. “We can’t say for a fact that they’re out of business,” McElroy said. “We’ve gone on their website and tried to call, but there doesn’t seem to be anybody there. The office appears to be sort of an abandoned building.”



Source: Modern Agent

Apr 8, MSC Launches Newest Ship - Poesia

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MSC CRUISES launched its newest ship, the Poesia, this weekend in Dover, U.K., after Sophia Loren named the vessel, making her a five-time MSC ship godmother. Aker Yards in St. Nazaire, France, handed the vessel over to MSC last week, and the ship was then christened in Dover, MSC’s first ship naming outside of its Italian homeland. The third in the Musica class of ships, the 93,300-ton Poesia departed on its maiden 14-day cruise Sunday, calling in Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Croatia.

Apr 8, France Sends Troops to Rescue Cruise Ship Captured by Pirates

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France has sent a team of top commandos to East Africa to assist as needed with the rescue of Le Ponant, a luxury yacht seized by pirates near Somalia on Friday. The vessel, seized in the Gulf of Aden, was carrying about 30 crew members, but no passengers. According to media reports, French officials verified that the crew was safe and that the situation was calm on Monday. A French Navy vessel is also in the Gulf of Aden, tracking the yacht’s progress.

The pirates overtook the 64-passenger Le Ponant, operated by French cruise line Compagnie des Iles du Ponant, days after the vessel completed a seven-day cruise in the Seychelles on March 30.

Source: Modern Agent/Travel Weekly

Apr 3, Tahitian Princess to Be Renamed Ocean Princess

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Tahitian Princess, one of the small ships in the Princess fleet, will
be renamed in 2009, becoming Ocean Princess. The new name is intended to reflect the ship’s new deployment on worldwide itineraries. The renaming will take place while the ship is out of service during a routine maintenance period in Singapore in November 2009.


During next year’s fall season, Pacific Princess, another of the line’s small vessels, will provide cruises
from Papeete, Tahiti, where the Tahitian Princess has been based.


Tahitian Princess joined the Princess fleet in 2002, and has been primarily deployed on sailings in the
South Pacific, particularly French Polynesia and Hawaii. Beginning this summer, the ship sets off on new
worldwide deployments, featuring a Connoisseur’s cruise in Alaska, a world cruise in early 2009 and a
season of unique Northern Europe sailings next summer. Following the 2009 renaming, Ocean Princess
will sail on a series of Asia voyages to be announced separately.

Source: Princess Cruises