Tuesday 29 September 2015

Holland America’s Koningsdam to feature wine-blending experience

Holland America’s Koningsdam to feature wine-blending experience


MS Koningsdam
When the ship enters service next April, Holland America Line’s Koningsdam will feature a venue where passengers can blend their own bottle of wine to take to dinner.
The venue, called Blend by Chateau Ste. Michelle, is an expansion of the cruise line’s partnership with the winery.
The two Seattle-area companies announced the partnership at a luncheon on Monday at the Chateau Set Michelle headquarters in Woodinville, Wash.
Guests will choose to blend their wines from five vintages: two cabernet sauvignons, two merlots and a cabernet franc.
“I have to say, it is one of the most exciting, engaging activities that people can do,” said HAL President Orlando Ashford. “All of you who have a competitive streak, you’re going to love it.”
There will be a facility for wine blending on Deck 2, the first at sea, according to HAL. It will be a piano-shaped room enclosed by floor-to-ceiling glass on two sides, with a table for 10 guests. 
A package that includes a lecture about how to blend the wines, and a bottle to take to dinner, will cost in the $90 range, said Michael Smith, HAL’s senior vice president of guest experience and product development. Once guests have created a blend, they can have a bottle blended for them at dinner for a reduced price.
Lisa Anciaux, director of travel products at AAA Washington, said the idea plays into heightened interest in food and wine. “People are looking for that experience. It’s a perfect fit for HAL. It’s going to go gangbusters for them,” she said.
MSC Cruises also has a wine blending experience on some of its ships, but not in a purpose-built room.
Ashford said the idea is “taking something guests already enjoy and adding a personal touch."

Royal Caribbean hews to 'price integrity' plan, sees rise in close-in pricing

Royal Caribbean hews to 'price integrity' plan, sees rise in close-in pricing

Quantum of the Seas

While long-term pricing discipline has for decades eluded the cruise industry, Royal Caribbean International is sticking to a pledge not to deeply discount its cruises in the last few weeks before departure, according to travel agents and a Wall Street analyst.

Abandoning the industry's traditional "sail full, whatever it takes" imperative, Royal has been forgoing last-minute discounts for the past seven months in an effort to wean passengers from the practice of waiting until close to the sailing date for the best deals.

Moreover, several agents said they were seeing no signs that Royal has been selectively abandoning what the cruise line calls its "price integrity" policy.

"For the short period of time it's been available, I haven't seen them break their promise; I haven't seen them discount at the last minute," said Jay Johnson, president of Coastline Travel Advisors of Garden Grove, Calif. "I have not had any clients tell me, 'Hey, we're leaving next month, and we found it lower online.'" 

Patrick Scholes, a cruise analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, said he was seeing signs in the firm's monthly survey of cruise pricing that close-in fares for Royal are far higher than they were at this time last year. In August, fares for bookings within one to three months of departure were up 13% after rising 16.9% in July and 15% in June. In fact, they have risen each month since March, when the policy began.

"This is the strongest near-in advertised pricing growth we have ever observed for the Royal brand," Scholes said of the July numbers.

Under its "price integrity" policy, Royal stops discounting 10, 20 or 30 days before departure, depending on itinerary and other variables. In a conference call with analysts in July, Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal's parent, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., said that one sign the program is working was that Royal recently extended the no-discount period to 40 days in some cases.

"We recognize that this policy is costing us some money in the short term, but we believe that in the long term it will pay handsome dividends," he said.

Fain said the impact on occupancy has been "relatively small," but where it might be costing the brand is in lower prices for bookings made from four to six months before departure.

Scholes said his surveys show that Royal prices for cruises four to six months from departure were up only 1.7% in June and down 0.1% in May. 

"We suspect [Royal] is not aggressive on the four- to eight- [month] pricing, so better load the ships earlier on so they have less last-minute inventory to fill," Scholes said.
Other cruise lines might be copying the strategy, at least informally. Scholes said Carnival Cruise Line's surveyed pricing for bookings one to three months out was up 14.8% in July, which he described as "not too dissimilar to the Royal brand's."

However, several travel agents said they were seeing no signs that Carnival was mimicking the Royal policy.

"All the competitors around [Royal] haven't changed," said Linda Bosch, owner of Just Cruises & More in St. Louis.

Bosch said she was excited to see Royal try to end last-minute discounts because it makes for smoother planning and fewer rebooking hassles when prices drop.

"We, as the agent, are looking to project that bookings are there," Bosch said. "We can't project when they're doing the discounts at the last minute."

But Bosch predicted that it will take six months to a year before the changed incentives are reflected in consumer behavior, primarily in the form of earlier booking habits.

Johnson said he fielded an inquiry from one group recently for a cruise on the Harmony of the Seas next summer and the price went up between their first phone call and the time they called back to make a deposit.

"They said, 'Find out if you can get the lower rate back,' but I don't think I can," Johnson said.

Monday 28 September 2015

Carnival’s Fathom brand melds cruise, charity for new kind of vacation fun

Carnival’s Fathom brand melds cruise, charity for new kind of vacation fun

Distributing ceramic water filters is one job passengers will do along with local residents on a Fathom cruise in the Dominican Republic. Fathom President Tara Russell is at far left.

AMBER COVE, Dominican Republic —When Carnival Corp.’s new Fathom brand docks for the first time here next April, guests will emerge onto the pier of the newest port in the Caribbean. Everything about it will say vacation, from the duty-free store at the foot of the pier, to the shopping village full of souvenirs, to the thatched-roof cabanas sitting Polynesian-style on platforms over the water.
But Fathom travelers will be on a decidedly nontraditional vacation. Instead of choosing which beach to visit, they’ll be surveying options for how they can help the residents on the north coast of this country, where the per-capita income is about $11,680 a year. Many homes in the countryside lack electricity or running water. Wood fires are common for cooking.
Fathom is not a conventional travel product, especially in the fun-and-sun cruise sector. But the brand’s managers hope to make the case that combining travel and social responsibility can be its own kind of fun.
“It’s a meshing of what in many households would be two different spheres of their lives,” said David Drier, Fathom’s vice president of sales and former CEO at Clipper Cruise Line.
Drier said a simple way of thinking about Fathom is that people budget different time and money for travel and charity each year. “Now, we’re melding those two buckets together.”
Drier and his sales team have a bit more than six months to fill Fathom’s 710-passenger ship, which will alternate between weekly visits to this port and a second itinerary in Cuba.
Meanwhile, several agents have reached out with interested clients, including Barbara Silver, manager of OmniTours in Deerfield, Ill.So far, Drier has focused on explaining Fathom to major consortia such as Signature Travel Network and Ensemble Travel Group; the latter recently named Fathom a preferred supplier.
Silver said she is trying to book a Fathom trip for a group of about 40 in a central Florida retirement community in the fall of 2016. The group leader is in her early 80s, Silver said, and honeymooned in Cuba.
“She’s very anxious to go back there and visit and bring her travelers with her,” Silver said.
Cuba is the more expensive of the two itineraries, with prices beginning at $1,800 per person for an inside cabin. Comparable cabins on Dominican itineraries are $974.
Nevertheless, Cuba seems to be outselling the Dominican Republic early on, even though Fathom’s program there is less developed. Fathom’s president, Tara Russell, said that Cuba’s appeal is singular because of the decades-long travel ban for Americans.
“The object for travel is totally different” than in the Dominican Republic, she said, where the social impact work involved in a Fathom cruise has to be the primary selling point.
“The latent demand for the Dominican Republic is smaller,” she said. “There is less curiosity.”
In the D.R., Fathom passengers will spend three days docked at Amber Cove, the new $85 million port near Puerto Plata.  From there, they will fan out on buses to help Dominicans with a range of projects.
One impact activity takes place in Altamira, about 20 miles from port in the hills above Puerto Plata. There, Fathom passengers will help out at Chocal, a cooperative formed by 30 local women so that they wouldn’t have to move to bigger cities to find work and leave their families.
Chocal makes artisanal chocolate out of the cacao trees that thrive on the tropical island.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has loaned the money for equipment, but to pay the loans and hold down expenses, none of the cooperative members draws a salary.
“They can’t afford to hire more people now until they pay off their loans, so this volunteer program is just amazing,” said Caroline Bucher, a consultant for Fathom in the Dominican Republic.
At Chocal, some passengers will help separate cacao beans from their shells, a tedious process that can be only partially mechanized. Others will assist with cutting, folding and gluing wrappers to the finished chocolates or make fertilizer for a nursery that produces young cacao trees.
Elsewhere in the Puerto Plata region, Fathom cruisers will visit schools to help with English instruction.
A group of Fathom employees and journalists on a “sampler” tour at the Maria Isabel Meyreles school in Cupey sang a song in English with a class of about 30 students. Afterward, the volunteers helped the students do a worksheet that had them finish fill-in-the-blank questions about the English lyrics.
Sabina Rodriguez, a regional educational administrator, said foreign language skills in particular help Dominicans get jobs in the tourism sector.
On another day, Fathom passengers might find themselves at a factory helping to sift clay and mix materials for inexpensive ceramic water filters that can turn river water 99% pure. A lunch of traditional Dominican fare awaits after a morning’s work. The next day, they will help distribute the filters and hear stories about how better water access improves families and communities.
Russell said Fathom’s programs were developed with variety in mind so that travelers will get a different type of experience each day.
To help agents promote such a new and different product, Fathom is offering an across-the-board 15% commission through Oct. 15 for agencies that register as Fathom Founder’s Circle members.
In the Dominican, Fathom is also offering a 1-for-9 tour conductor credit during that time frame. For bookings of back-to-back cruises to Cuba and the Dominican Republic, Fathom is offering a 10% discount on the fare for each departure.

The Escape a step forward for Norwegian Cruise Line

The Escape a step forward for Norwegian Cruise Line

Part of the Guy Harvey hull painting on the Norwegian Escape. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst
PAPENBURG, Germany — The Norwegian Escape will be a bigger, and improved, version of the two ships that preceded it in the Norwegian fleet.
On a tour here, Norwegian executives showed off the line’s 14th ship, which is about six weeks away from its debut in Miami in early November.
Although it is based on the same platform as Norwegian Breakaway and Getaway, the Escape will be notably different in its details and carry more passengers.
Escape, designated Breakaway Plus in early discussions, will have one more deck of cabins, giving it a capacity of 4,270 at double occupancy, up from 3,969 for its predecessors.
The extra deck also allowed for a two-story design in the deluxe Haven area, which now has an elegant glass-enclosed curving staircase connecting the two levels. The Haven also has an indoor-outdoor restaurant, a feature from Norwegian Epic that was skipped on Breakaway and Getaway but is being resurrected.
The pool area of Norwegian Escape. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst

On almost every deck, Escape has something that distinguishes it as new. On the top deck, the ropes course has been expanded to three levels and has 99 elements, including five zip tracks. The Plank, a balance beam that extends out over the side of the ship, is now on either side of the ship, doubling the opportunity for passengers to try it.
The Aqua Racer water slide has been given a bigger diameter and can accommodate 1,000 riders an hour, up from less than 500 previously.
Breakaway/Getaway’s ice bar has been deep-sixed in favor of The Cellars, Norwegian’s first wine bar. Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville replaces the more generic Flamingo bar near the Spice H2O entertainment area, and his 5 O’Clock Somewhere bar will use the space occupied by the Fat Cats jazz and blues club on preceding ships.
At the new Food Republic, guests will order dinner on iPads. “These ships come out with ever-more innovative features with every ship we build,” said Norwegian President Andy Stuart.
Stuart said that the outdoor dining area in The Haven and the ropes course are among his favorite additions on Escape. “The ropes course is going to blow people away," he said.

Sunday 27 September 2015

Video: Norwegian Escape Heads to the Sea

Video: Norwegian Escape Heads to the Sea

Norwegian Escape Heads to the Sea (2)
Norwegian Escape, soon to be the largest ship in the Norwegian Cruise Line’s fleet, departed Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany on Friday, September 18, for her approximately 24-hour long conveyance along the Ems River.
Measuring 1,069 feet in length and 136 feet in width, the ship is the first in the line’s Breakaway Plus class, with three additional Breakaways on order at Meyer Werft.
Sailing backwards, Norwegian Escape left Meyer Werft at approximately 2:00 pm local time, and made a narrow passage through the shipyard’s locks, with only 1.2 meters of clearance separating the ship from the “bumpers” that were specially installed along the starboard side of the locks. This maneuver took approximately 2 hours at a maximum speed of 0.2 knots.Norwegian Escape Heads to the Sea3After passing through the locks, Norwegian Escape continued along the river, stern first. Before reaching her final destination in Eemshaven, Netherlands at approximately 12:30 pm on Saturday, September 19, Norwegian Escape navigated through additional narrow passages including the Weener Bridge in Weener; Jann-Berghaus Bridge in Leer; and Ems-Barrier in Gandersum.Norwegian Escape Heads to the Sea4Following her arrival in Eemshaven, she will head to the North Sea for sea trials later this month.
Norwegian Escape will sail weekly seven-day cruises from her year-round homeport of Miami to the Eastern Caribbean beginning on November 14, 2015.
The 164,600 gross ton ship will be the largest ever to home port year-round in Miami, carrying 4,200 guests to Caribbean destinations including St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Tortola, British Virgin Islands and Nassau, Bahamas.

Watch below the Video of the Conveyance, this was filmed by HD1080ide in fantastic HD.

Norwegian Escape

Latest Escape News

Norwegian latest Mega-ship berthed for 5 days at Eemshaven to take onboard her life boats, provisions and the final materials required to finish her fit out. Friday 25th September 2015 she steamed out of the port Eemshaven on her own power for her sea trials. Below is the the exact location and mapping of the sea trial which ended on Saturday night, after the trials she made for the port of Bremerhaven, she docked at 22:19 hours for a well earned rest.


Thursday 24 September 2015

Norwegian Escape cruisers are learning the ropes

Norwegian Escape cruisers are learning the ropes

Norwegian Escape ropes adventure course.
Norwegian Cruise Line has developed its own signature top deck attraction, one that will emerge in a spectacular way in the coming weeks on the Norwegian Escape.
Just as Carnival Cruise Line has made the water slide its own, and Royal Caribbean International adopted the rock climbing wall as its emblem for top deck adventure, Norwegian has become the cruise line with the ropes course that leaves all others behind.
Norwegian started its love affair with the ropes course on the Norwegian Epic, and has continued it with the Norwegian Breakaway and Getaway. The 4,200-passenger Norwegian Escape, due in Miami next month, will take everything one shaky, scary, thrill-inducing step further.
The ropes course on the Escape is a dizzying construction of beams, platforms, tracks, ladders and lines. It will have three levels, up from two on the Getaway and Breakaway, and 99 individual elements, nearly double its predecessors.
An element unique to Norwegian is the Plank, a 6-inch steel beam extending eight feet out over the side of the ship, daring harnessed plank-walkers to venture out to the end.
There will be two planks on the Escape, one on either side of the ropes course, up from a single one on earlier ships.
Another over the edge element will be a bowed zip-track, one of five “” that are included in the course.
The challenge of the ropes course is tailor-made for teens but also a good family activity. It provides an exhilarating view from the very top of the 20-deck ship.
The only drawback to the ropes course is its vulnerability to bad weather, including high winds on a sunny day.
Other cruise lines have ropes courses, too, including four of Carnival Cruise Lines’ most recent vessels. The MSC Seaside from MSC Cruises is expected to have a unique take on ropes when it is delivered in 2017.
But for now, when the Norwegian Escape arrives in Miami in late October, spectators won’t be able to mistake her profile for any other ship, partly because of the most elaborate ropes course at sea.

Carnival Fantasy to sail Mexico cruises from Alabama

Carnival Fantasy to sail Mexico cruises from Alabama

Carnival Cruise Line will move the Carnival Fantasy to Mobile, Ala., for a year-long series of four- and five-night cruises to Mexico, starting November 2016.
The move cements Carnival’s return to Mobile, a drive-market port that it pioneered and then abandoned in 2011.
The Fantasy will depart Thursdays for Cozumel on four-night itineraries, and depart Mondays or Saturdays on five-night itineraries that will visit either Progreso or Costa Maya.
“Carnival Fantasy’s four- and five-day cruises from Mobile provide consumers with an affordable way to visit stunning Mexican ports from a convenient homeport while offering our valued travel agent partners an exciting new short vacation option to market to their clients,” said Christine Duffy, Carnival’s president.
If current itineraries hold, Carnival will have ships based in Galveston, New Orleans, Mobile and Tampa for the 2016-17 winter season.
Before it starts service from Mobile, the Fantasy will be renovated, getting new venues such as Guy’s Burger Joint, Blue Iguana Cantina, Red Frog Rum Bar and Blue Iguana Tequila Bar.

Wednesday 23 September 2015

Carnival Corp. earns $1.21 billion in its third quarter

Carnival Corp. earns $1.21 billion in its third quarter



Carnival Corp. said net income in its third quarter fell 2% from the same period a year earlier, from $1.24 billion to $1.21 billion. Revenue stayed roughly unchanged at $4.9 billion.
The quarter includes an unrealized loss on fuel derivatives of $137 million. On an adjusted basis, Carnival said it earned $1.4 billion, the highest quarterly amount in its history.
Carnival said net revenue yields, a measure of ticket price and occupancy, improved 5% from the same quarter in 2014.
“Clearly our ongoing investments in the guest experience, combined with our global marketing and public relations efforts along with our initiatives to leverage our scale, are having a positive impact,” Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald said.

Tuesday 22 September 2015

Crystal Cruises parent agrees to buy German shipyard

Crystal Cruises parent agrees to buy German shipyard


The parent company of Crystal Cruises has agreed to acquire leading shipyard Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven, Germany.
Global cruise and resort company Genting Hong Kong is to pay €17.5 million for 70% of a new shipbuilding business and a 50% ownership of the shipyard’s land.
The company will complete the acquisition of Lloyd Werft subject to the fulfilment of certain final purchase conditions.
The move follows plans for massive expansion of Crystal Cruises with the introduction of Crystal Yacht Cruises in December, Crystal River Cruises and Crystal Luxury Air in 2017 and new cruise ships from late 2018.
Genting Hong Kong signed a letter of intent earlier this year with Lloyd Werft to build Crystal’s ‘Exclusive Class’ polar-class cruise ships.
Lloyd Werft will also build luxury river yachts to sail to destinations in France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria.
Genting Hong Kong chairman and chief executive, Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, said: “Lloyd Werft has built and lengthened six of the ships owned by an affiliate of the company and has the expertise to build a series of world class cruise ships for the company, which will include the ‘Exclusive Class’ vessels for Crystal Cruises.
“Ownership in Lloyd Werft will enable Genting Hong Kong to leverage on the shipyard’s technical expertise and their well-established and long track record in the shipbuilding industry.”
Crystal president and chief executive, Edie Rodriguez, said: “With such great anticipation for Crystal River Cruises and Crystal Exclusive Class ocean vessels, we are incredibly excited about Genting’s groundbreaking investment in the Lloyd Werft shipyard that will contribute mightily to Crystal Cruises’ expansion.”

Royal Caribbean unveils info site for shore excursions

Royal Caribbean unveils info site for shore excursions

Screen Dump of Royals new Shore Excursion site. Credit Dave Jones

Royal Caribbean International said it has created a website for travel agents to provide more information about its shore excursions.
The new site has tour clips, photography and other tools to help agents plan clients’ shore excursions. There is also information about commissions paid on group bookings.
Royal Caribbean pays 10% on groups booked by an agent on standard and custom excursions, and a 5% referral fee when group clients pre-book individual shore excursions. Royal Caribbean, like most lines, does not pay commission on individual bookings of shore excursions.
The new website follows a recent expansion of Royal Caribbean's shore excursion program.



Silversea ship to join its expedition fleet

Silversea ship to join its expedition fleet

The Silver Cloud will be converted into an ice-class ship.

Silversea Cruises said it will shift its Silver Cloud vessel to expedition itineraries starting in November 2017.
The 296-passenger Silver Cloud will be converted into an ice-class ship during an extensive refurbishment scheduled to start in August 2017.
Silversea is scheduled to take delivery of a new ship, the 596-passenger Silver Muse, for its luxury fleet in April 2017. 
The Silver Cloud, which entered service in 1994, is Silversea’s oldest ship. After conversion to an expedition ship, it will carry 260 passengers at double occupancy, and will be limited to 200 in polar regions. It will still be three times as large as the biggest expedition ship now in Silversea’s fleet.
Silversea currently has three ships in expedition service and five in luxury service.  

Thursday 17 September 2015

Bolidt celebrates ten years of Bolideck Future Teak

Bolidt celebrates ten years of Bolideck Future Teak



Bolidt has won contracts to supply its Bolideck Future Teak lightweight synthetic decking system onboard three of its long-term customers’ new cruise ships.

Norwegian Cruise Line has ordered 15,000 sqm of Bolideck 525, Bolideck Select Soft and Bolideck Future Teak for the exterior decking onboard its latest newbuild Norwegian Escape. Bolidt will also supply 4,500 sqm of flooring for balconies and interior public areas onboard the 4,200-guest newbuild, which will be delivered this October.

“Norwegian uses Bolideck products on all of its cruise ships and we have known each other a long time,” said Van Overbeek. “The company places contracts with us due to our focus on solving problems, our nice designs and our flexibility. Collaboration with its designers is great and if the they have a new idea, we create samples until they get what they are looking for.”

Bolidt will also supply Bolideck Future Teak for the outer decks of Royal Caribbean International’s new 5,479-passenger Harmony of the Seas, which will debut in April 2016. The 226,000gt ship will also feature Bolideck Select Soft in the inside public areas, Bolideck Select Hard in the swimming pools and Bolideck Helideck on the helicopter landing platform.

Holland America Line’s latest newbuild Koningsdam will also feature 4,700 sqm of Bolideck Future Teak on the outer decks. Currently under construction at Fincantieri’s Marghera yard in Italy, the 2,650-gues ship will be the largest in Holland america’s fleet when she is delivered in 2016.

Meanwhile, AIDA Cruises’ AIDAdiva, Holland America Line’s Amsterdam and Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Victory were all outfitted with Bolidt flooring during recent refits at Blohm + Voss and Grand Bahama Shipyard respectively.

Bolideck Future Teak, which was launched a decade ago, is a durable and has been designed to look and feel like real teak flooring.

“Bolideck Future Teak remains the product of choice for cruise ship operators and shipbuilding yards, as well as specialist designers,” said Jacco van Overbeek, director of Bolidt’s maritime division. “This reflects the fact that it is a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to natural teak.”

The Escape a step forward for Norwegian Cruise Line

The Escape a step forward for Norwegian Cruise Line

Part of the Guy Harvey hull painting on the Norwegian Escape. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst
PAPENBURG, Germany — The Norwegian Escape will be a bigger, and improved, version of the two ships that preceded it in the Norwegian fleet.
On a tour here, Norwegian executives showed off the line’s 14th ship, which is about six weeks away from its debut in Miami in early November.
Although it is based on the same platform as Norwegian Breakaway and Getaway, the Escape will be notably different in its details and carry more passengers.
Escape, designated Breakaway Plus in early discussions, will have one more deck of cabins, giving it a capacity of 4,270 at double occupancy, up from 3,969 for its predecessors.
The extra deck also allowed for a two-story design in the deluxe Haven area, which now has an elegant glass-enclosed curving staircase connecting the two levels. The Haven also has an indoor-outdoor restaurant, a feature from Norwegian Epic that was skipped on Breakaway and Getaway but is being resurrected.
The pool area of Norwegian Escape. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst
The pool area of Norwegian Escape. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst
On almost every deck, Escape has something that distinguishes it as new. On the top deck, the ropes course has been expanded to three levels and has 99 elements, including five zip tracks. The Plank, a balance beam that extends out over the side of the ship, is now on either side of the ship, doubling the opportunity for passengers to try it.
The Aqua Racer water slide has been given a bigger diameter and can accommodate 1,000 riders an hour, up from less than 500 previously.
Breakaway/Getaway’s ice bar has been deep-sixed in favor of The Cellars, Norwegian’s first wine bar. Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville replaces the more generic Flamingo bar near the Spice H2O entertainment area, and his 5 O’Clock Somewhere bar will use the space occupied by the Fat Cats jazz and blues club on preceding ships.
At the new Food Republic, guests will order dinner on iPads. “These ships come out with ever-more innovative features with every ship we build,” said Norwegian President Andy Stuart.
Stuart said that the outdoor dining area in The Haven and the ropes course are among his favorite additions on Escape. “The ropes course is going to blow people away," he said.

Norwegian Bliss- first steel cutting at Meyer Werft

Norwegian Bliss- first steel cutting at Meyer Werft

Meyer Werft’s Bernard Meyer joins Norwegian’s Andy Stuart and Christer Karlsson

PAPENBURG, Germany — Construction of Norwegian Bliss began here with the push of a large red button, sending automated plasma steel cutters into action on the first plates for the ship, due for completion in 2017.
Among the first items cut was a 2-foot outline of the ship, inscribed Norwegian Bliss. Executives from Norwegian Cruise Line and the Mayer Werft shipyard signed the commemorative plate, mounted on an easel outside the cutting room.
“To be cutting the steel for our next new ship is very exciting,” said Norwegian President Andy Stuart. “Norwegian has gone through a lot of changes over the last year and this will be the first ship delivered for the new Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.”
Meyer Werft managing director Bernard Meyer noted that Bliss will be the 10th ship built for Norwegian at Meyer Werft, which has become one of the most advanced cruise ship construction operations in Europe.
He said the yard expects to deliver the new ship, designated 694 at the yard, in the spring of 2017. “It will be a surprise for the market again,” Meyer predicted.
Norwegian’s latest ship, the 4,200-passenger Norwegian Escape, is scheduled to begin its conveyance from Papenburg down the Ems River to the North Sea on Friday. Plans call for the Escape to enter service in Miami in early November. 

Tuesday 15 September 2015

Carnival makes higher commission levels easier to reach

Carnival makes higher commission levels easier to reach

Carnival Cruise Line said it will lower the number of cruises agents have to sell to reach a higher tier in its commission structure.
The move will make it easier for agents to earn more selling Carnival and reverses a move the line made three years ago in the opposite direction.
Adolfo Perez, vice president of trade sales and marketing, said the move was his top priority since being promoted to his new job in June.
"Essentially what we’re doing is reducing each of the thresholds for each of the commission levels, so anywhere from the 11% to the 15% commission level we’ve reduced the number of sailed cabins required to hit that tier,” Perez said.
For example, agents who previously had to sell 400 cabins to earn the 15% level will now have to sell 250. To earn 14%, the threshold goes from 300 to 175.
The 13% level is now reached at 125 cabins, down from 200, while the 12% level is reached at 50 cabins, down from 100.
Small or beginning agents will need to sell 40 cabins, down from 50, to boost their commission rate to 11% from the starting rate of 10%.
Agencies already earning the top rate of 16% are unaffected. Perez said he feels the structure for those commission levels is already adequate.
In a statement, Vicky Garcia, chief operating officer of Cruise Planners of Coral Springs, Fla., said Carnival’s moves to recognize the value agents bring to the bottom line is a step in the right direction for the competitive landscape.
"It is obvious the company has reprioritized travel agent relationships and this trend should continue to keep the brand top of mind for travel agents,” she said.

Carnival negotiating return to Mobile

Carnival negotiating return to Mobile

Carnival Cruise Line confirmed that it is in final negotiations for a resumption of cruises from Mobile, Alabama.
In a statement, Carnival said officials met with Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson on Sept. 2 in Miami. 
"We are in the final stages of contract negotiations with the City of Mobile for future cruises from the port,” the statement said. "We expect this process to be concluded by the end of the month.”
Carnival operated at Mobile from 2004 through 2011, occupying a $28 million terminal that has gone largely unused since it departed four years ago.
At the time, Carnival cited prices that were lower than achieved at other ports for the pullout. Carnival also has Gulf Coast cruises that depart from Galveston, New Orleans and Tampa.
No other cruise line stepped in to take Carnival’s place in Mobile after it left.
In a press conference, Stimpson said Mobile is not negotiating with any other cruise operators. 

The "Escape" runs tomorrow from the North Sea

The "Escape" runs tomorrow from the North Sea

If the parking lot of the Meyer shipyard in Papenburg an RV park is like and many people flock to the levees of the river Ems, this has always been the same reason: The conversion of a cruise ship is waiting. Tomorrow is expected to be back so far.Around midday - so the current state of planning - to leave, according to the Meyer Werft shipyard in the harbor basin of the North Sea, the "Norwegian Escape"."However, the weather conditions have to be right," limited company spokesman Peter Hackmann on a demand of NDR.de. Due to the better maneuverability of the cruise giant takes over the Ems passage backwards in attack. Accompanied by several tugs as the bottlenecks at the Friesenbrücke in Weener and Jann Berghaus Bridge are happening in Leer. NDR.de transmits the spectacle live here in the video stream.

Ocean liner is ready for the bottleneck Ems


 The undocking on 15 August the "Escape" is the outfitting pier of the yard.According to information from Hackmann last work on the interior fittings are made ​​currently. "It all goes to plan, we're pretty far," Hackmann had stressed in an interview with NDR.de recently. The 326 meter long and 41 meter wide luxury liner was composed of a total of 70 blocks. He is the first ship of the Breakaway Plus class for Norwegian Cruise Line. The "Escape" has 18 decks and thus one more than the previous "Norwegian Breakaway" and "Norwegian Getaway", which had been delivered in April 2013 and in January 2014th Overall, the "Escape" can accommodate more than 4,200 passengers and 1,700 crew members.


Thousands of kilometers of cables and pipelines

For interior of the luxury liner include a theater with 815 seats, 15 restaurants, eight bars, a cinema and various spas.The maritime painting with tropical fish, stingrays and sea turtles at the bow of the vessel was applied to a design by artist and conservationist Seafood Guy Harvey with a laser. The 59-year-old Jamaican had taken a picture of the work in Papenburg in July itself. The total weight of the ink used is around 300 tons, as well as 2200 km cable and 400 kilometers of pipelines were laid. In mid-October, the ship should be passed to the shipping company

.