Cruise
NCL Rocks Miami During Encore Christening
In true Miami style, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) brought out the stars last night as it officially christened the new Norwegian Encore along with godmother, Grammy Award-winning artist and TV host, Kelly Clarkson. NCL welcomed over 3,500 guests consisting of travel partners, investors, government officials, media, and family and friends of Norwegian Cruise Line -- including Press Today’s Greg Coates -- for the christening event, which included performances from the cast of Kinky Boots -- Encore’s premiere theatre show -- and Clarkson. NCL president Andy Stuart, who is leaving...
Celebrity Bridging The Gap
While progress has been made, the reality is that only 2% of the world’s mariners are women. But not at Celebrity Cruises. The line is leading the industry into a more diverse future with its bold initiatives to #BRIDGEthegap. Now, Celebrity, the brand that made headlines by hiring the first American female cruise ship captain, Kate McCue, and again by announcing that 22% of its bridge teams are made up of women, is continuing with another historic milestone – the announcement of the first-ever sailing with an entirely female bridge and officer team. This historic sailing will...
Royal Caribbean Increases Bermuda, Canada Options
Royal Caribbean International is amping up its cruise options for sailings to Bermuda (pictured) and Canada for the 2021-2022 season. For the first time in summer 2021, Freedom of the Seas will homeport in Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey, touting new features and fan favourites following a major US$116 million amplification. And, for the second consecutive summer, Empress will offer seven-night itineraries from Bayonne to Bermuda and select sailings that feature New England and Quebec City. Just in time for leaf peeping season, the ship will sail to Montreal offering 10- and...
ACTA Tracks The Trends At Summit
ACTA welcomed about 100 of its members to Toronto's St. Regis Hotel for its day-long Travel Industry Leadership Summit. Along with updating those attending on ACTA's activities and priorities the event featured keynote addresses by association president, Wendy Paradis; disruption strategist, Shawn Kanungo; and Boeing's regional director of product marketing, Christine Walsh. As well, there were sessions on “NDC and One Order: Is Modernizing Distribution Evolution or Revolution?; and Navigating the Multi-Level Distribution Strategies of Air, Land And Sea and Everything in...
SeaDream Appointment
SeaDream Yacht Club has appointed seasoned executive Kris Endreson as vice-president of sales, Americas. Endreson brings more than 20 years of cruise industry experience to SeaDream, holding key sales and marketing positions at both luxury and contemporary cruise companies. In her new role, she will focus on sales growth for the company’s classic twin yachts as well as its new vessel, SeaDream Innovation. Endreson will report to Christopher Gamble, SeaDream’s senior vice-president of sales, Americas. Prior to joining SeaDream, Endreson served as the director of global sales...
NCL Unveils Silver Cove
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has unveiled Silver Cove, the new exclusive oceanfront resort-style destination on its private island in the Bahamas, Great Stirrup Cay. As part of The Norwegian Edge program, which reaffirms the brand’s commitment to elevating the standard of excellence across its fleet and destinations, Great Stirrup Cay is undergoing a number of enhancements, elevating the offerings available across the 270-acre tropical oasis. During Norwegian Encore’s inaugural call to Great Stirrup Cay, guests discovered the new oceanfront lagoon area including private beach...
Short and ‘Suite’
For travellers not sold on one of the hottest trends in travel, river cruising, Avalon Waterways may have just the ticket – four-day mini-cruises. Avalon offers four-day cruises between Vienna and Budapest from May to November. These “Taste of the Danube” cruises include as ports of call Bratislava (Slovakia) and Melk and Durnstein in Austria. Like all of Avalon’s European cruises, each includes all meals, with wine included at lunches and four-course dinners; light entertainment and port talks in the evening; and a choice of optional shore excursions at each stop, such as a...
Carnival High On Two-Deck ‘Ultimate Playground’
Carnival Cruise Line has revealed additional details on BOLT, its first roller coaster at sea and the centrepiece of the Ultimate Playground, an expansive open-air recreation area on Mardi Gras, set to debut in August 2020. Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy says that BOLT’s all-electric, motorcycle-inspired vehicles will be adorned with metallic red and blue stripes and an eye-catching yellow lightning bolt. The vehicle will also feature a digital speedometre display and speakers with new sound effects that will activate to enhance the exhilarating, one-of-a-kind...