Cruise
Keel Laid For HAL’s Newest
Holland America Line (HAL) celebrated the keel laying of its new 2,650-guest Pinnacle Class ship on Aug. 22 at Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard in Italy. A 680-ton block was lowered by crane into the yard’s building dock, marking the official beginning of construction. The 99,500-gross-ton ship is scheduled for delivery in February 2016. The event was attended by Holland America Line’s Keith Taylor, senior vice-president, fleet operations and Cyril Tatar, vice-president, new build and technical operations. “The keel laying of our new Pinnacle Class vessel heightens the...
Carnival Honours Top Travel Agencies
Two Canadian travel agencies were among the top 15 agencies Carnival Cruise Lines has honoured with its newly created “Excellence Awards.” They are Expedia CruiseShip Centers Scarborough East (Scarborough, Ont.) and Expression Voyages (Magog, Que.). Agencies were selected by Carnival’s sales team for their innovative marketing techniques, brand advocacy and sales success strategies. “We created the Excellence Awards as a way to celebrate the many success stories we hear of travel agencies that are building incredible business practices through new and innovative...
Norwegian Offers Alaska Savings
Norwegian Cruise Line has launched its Alaska Bonus Days. Travellers booking a 2015 cruise through Aug. 29 can take advantage of Norwegian’s seven-day “All-Inclusive Package,” valued at more than $2,400, for $899 per person. Norwegian Sun offers a series of seven-day cruises from either Vancouver or Whittier, Alaska, and explores the Inside Passage, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Sawyer Glacier and Hubbard Glacier. Norwegian Jewel offers seven-day cruises from Seattle every Saturday and visits Alaska favourites including Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan and...
Princess Introduces Regional Menus
When the new Regal Princess sails into Florida in November to begin a maiden Caribbean cruise season, it will debut a new Princess Cruises dining program showcasing regional culinary specialties designed to reflect the destinations its ships visit around the world. The new program will enable guests to enjoy regional menu items created with local produce, spices and seafood. The first special menus are inspired by the Caribbean in keeping with the ship’s fall itineraries. The regional cruise ship menus will eventually roll out across the fleet, and will include culinary specialties...
Carnival Pride To Sail From Baltimore
For the first time, Carnival Pride will operate a series of 10- to 14-day Caribbean cruises round-trip from Baltimore and one-way between Baltimore and San Juan, as well as new five-day Bermuda cruises and six- and eight-day Caribbean/Bahamas voyages, beginning in October 2015. Carnival Pride will operate a series of 10-, 11- and 14-day cruises either round-trip from Baltimore or one-way between Baltimore and San Juan in 2015 and 2016. The voyages include an 11-day southern Caribbean cruise from Baltimore to San Juan departing Jan. 17, 2016, with stops at Grand Turk, Aruba, Curacao,...
QV Refit Results In Two Cruise Cancellations
Cunard Line’s Queen Victoria will enter the Blohm & Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, in January for a multi-million dollar refit, resulting in the cancellation of Jan. 3 and 15 sailings. Passengers (and their travel agents) have been informed. A future cruise credit of $175 per person is being offered to all affected passengers, which can be used in conjunction with any alternative Cunard booking made for cruises departing within the next two years (before Jan. 3, 2017). Full refunds of any monies paid will also be available should affected passengers not be in a position to...
Uniworld Expands All-Inclusive European Offerings
Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection has introduced 33 all-inclusive European itineraries for 2015 with six new programs and 45 more departures on their popular Rhine and Danube river cruises. In Spring 2015, Uniworld will also launch its newest Super Ship, S.S. Maria Theresa. “We are delighted to offer travellers more itineraries and more capacity on our popular Rhine and Danube itineraries to satisfy consumer demand for our all-inclusive luxury river cruises on these routes,” said Uniworld president Guy Young. Uniworld’s new itineraries include: eight-day Holland...
Don’t Miss The Boat
Uniworld president Guy Young is obviously an advocate of the river cruise market – one of the hottest trends in travel – and says agents not booking the segment are missing the boat, reports assistant editor, Greg Coates in this week's digital edition of Travel Courier. During a recent interview with TC, Young noted that the luxury boutique operator's average commission is just shy of $2,000. “If you're not selling river cruise, you're missing a huge opportunity,” he said. “The earning potential is amazing.” Young added that clients also return happy, leading to a...