Cruise
Spice Girl Test Drives Virgin RockStar Suite
Virgin Voyages is upping the game for its top suites aboard the highly anticipated Scarlet Lady, with new offerings to ensure that Mega RockStars won’t have to worry about a thing during their voyage. In celebration of the expanded offerings, the brand has released exclusive video content of the suites, which features Virgin Group founder, Sir Richard Branson, and legendary British pop star, Geri Horner, of the hugely successful girl group, the Spice Girls. The video documents Horner test driving the Virgin Voyages “Gorgeous Suite,” one of the ship’s most glamorous cabins,...
Variety Offers Exclusive Travel Agent Rates
Variety Cruises is offering travel agents specially reduced rates on select summer and winter on select itineraries in the Adriatic Sea, Dalmatian Coast, Spain & Portugal or The Seychelles and more. Rates for agent offer start from US$200 per person. Variety Cruises, with eight upscale yachts ranging in capacity from 17 to 36 cabins, focuses on experiential cruise itineraries, embracing each destination by visiting much-loved and less frequented ports of call in a private, intimate and relaxed atmosphere. Variety is also known for its high passenger-to-crew ratio, averaging two...
PONANT Foundation Launched
French cruise line PONANT has announced the creation of the PONANT Foundation to support sustainability initiatives that will focus on research, raising awareness and conservation efforts for the oceans, polar regions and indigenous populations. The project initially began in 2018 when the company created the PONANT Foundation’s preliminary endowment fund. “Well aware of the challenges and the scale of the task, we remain true to our belief as sailors eager to share our passion for the oceans. Thirty years after the company was created, that same philosophy still drives each and...
Agents’ Choice: Two Decades Of Tracking Trends
For 20 years, Baxter Media has worked diligently to make the Annual Agents’ Choice Readership Survey the most-trusted and authoritative travel industry poll in Canada. And the result, Canadian travel agents have made it their own, voting for their favourite suppliers in growing numbers, year-after-year. Over two decades, we've learned a lot by listening to agents across the country because, no matter how you slice it, Agents' Choice is their survey. It's our way of giving them an opportunity to let suppliers know how well they're doing from one year to the next. So here it...
HAL Dishing Up Prized Copper River King Salmon
The season’s first batch of Copper River king salmon recently arrived in Seattle and Holland America Line (HAL) was among the first to secure a supply of the premium fish on Eurodam. In addition to the Copper River king salmon, the cruise line also took delivery of sockeye salmon, which is equally prized. Orion Balliet, HAL's manager of culinary operations, and the ship’s executive chef inspected the salmon before taking delivery of the valued shipment. Known as a rite of spring in Seattle, the arrival of the fresh Copper River king salmon from Cordova, Alaska, kicks off the...
Agents’ Choice Celebrates Josef Ebner
Being presented with the W.H. Baxter Lifetime Achievement Award at last night's second annual Agents' Choice Awards Gala is just the latest highlight for a man whose career and life have seen many lofty achievements. Josef Ebner, regional vice-president - Canada and managing director of downtown Toronto's Chelsea Hotel has also received accolades from the likes of Hotel Association of Canada, Canadian Hotel and Marketing Sales Executives, the Greater Toronto Hotel Association, the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario, the Austrian Canadian Council, and SKAL. His efforts to create...
Carnival Steps Up Its Support for Travel Agents
Carnival Cruise Line continues to expand its year-long “Why Use a Travel Advisor,” or WUATA, program dedicated to promoting the value of travel agents. Originally launched in May, Carnival has now expanded the program with the launch of WUATA.com, a WUATA brochure and an exclusive WUATA Facebook page. According to Adolfo Perez, Carnival’s senior vice-president of sales and trade marketing, the new initiatives are the industry’s first consumer-focused efforts that are 100% dedicated to telling the story of the value of using a travel advisor. “We're really stepping it up...
Virgin Voyages Introduces Canadian Captain, New Itineraries
Fresh off attending Monday night's Toronto Raptor game, which he called exhilarating, Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Voyages team unveiled exciting cruise news – including the introduction of a Canadian captain – during a press event yesterday (June 11) in Toronto. Virgin Group founder Branson and Virgin Voyages president and CEO Tom McAlpin announced the appointment of Captain Wendy Williams as Master of Scarlet Lady, Virgin Voyages first ship, which will set sail out of Miami in spring 2020. When Williams takes the helm of Scarlet Lady, she will become the first Canadian...