Merry Christmas to Everyone

Ambassador Chief Plays Down 'Speculation' on the Lines Finances.

AMBASSADOR CHIEF PLAYS DOWN 'SPECULATION' ON LINE'S FINANCES

The boss of Ambassador Cruise Line, Christian Verhounig, has played down "speculation" about the line’s finances after it cancelled two festive cruises onboard Ambiance, stressing the decision was made "for safety reasons only".

Posting to his public Facebook page, addressing guests, officers, staff and crew directly, Verhounig said the line was left with no option but to cancel its Festive Market Getaway and Christmas and New Year Canary Islands cruises owing to an issue with Ambiance’s lifeboat stations, requiring unscheduled maintenance.

"I am sad we had no option but to withdraw these itineraries, a sentiment shared by my colleagues in the Ambassador management team," said chief executive Verhounig. "Events like these never happen at a good time, but technical issues and challenges are unfortunately part of a cruise company’s day-to-day life – and we, at Ambassador, will never compromise on the safety of our guests or crew, however, low the risk."

Verhounig went on to address the line’s financial health. "As a business, we have never been anything less than transparent, and we will continue to be so in the interests of our valued guests and employees. The recent changes to our operation were made for safety reasons only, and not, as some have speculated online, due to the financial position of the Ambassador.

"I want to reassure you that we are a financially robust business with trust arrangements in place and full insurance cover for incidents of this kind designed to ensure that all our guests are and will remain fully protected."

Verhounig apologised to guests affected by the cancellations, as well as the Ambassador crew and shoreside staff. "It was the last thing we wanted to do. I can only personally say I’m sorry, and I hope one day our guests will offer us the chance to make amends for the inconvenience and disruption caused.

"As well as offering our sincere and heartfelt apologies to all guests affected by these recent developments, I would also like to take this opportunity to apologise to the team - from those in the UK, who have been outstanding in coming together at such short notice to do their very best at this difficult time, to the staff and crew onboard, who have been so looking forward to hosting our guests over Christmas and into the New Year."

Explaining the specific circumstances of the cancellations, Verhounig revealed Ambiance had in the months of December and January been due to undergo a planned independent survey to renew its Passenger Ship Safety Certificate.

"The inspection covers hundreds of different safety, technical and operational checks onboard the vessel, which is conducted both at sea and in port across a two-month period," Verhounig continued. "This annual cycle is linked to the anniversary of the ship being built, and is not in any way related to when Ambassador actually started trading."

 

’WE’LL BE BACK STRONGER

Verhounig said one of the required checks involved the safe and secure lowering of the ship’s lifeboats. During an inspection of the lifeboat stations on Sunday 18 December, a surveyor observed a slight movement of one of the sheaves used for guiding the steel wire ropes that move and hold the lifeboats in position.

"When checking on this movement further, the inspection brought to light a hairline crack on the bracket holding these sheaves in position, and more of these were found in a similar position on other brackets," said Verhounig.

 

"While none of these would have interfered in any way with the ship’s safe operation immediately, these cracks could have led to potential issues in the future and needed to be repaired. Therefore, we decided to immediately arrange repairs and not to operate the itineraries."

He added: "Ambassador and Ambience will be back in operation in the New Year, stronger than ever."

Fred. Olsen Cancelling Some Winter Cruises Due to Lack of Demand

Fred. Olsen Cancelling Some Winter Cruises Due to Lack of Demand

Fred. Olsen Cruise Line announced it is cancelling four winter cruises on the Bolette due to a lack of bookings.

In addition, the next cruise on the Balmoral is cancelled due to a propeller issue and the company also noted that none of these challenges is due to the resignation of Chairman Fred. Olsen Jnr. decided to step down after spending 35 years in the cruise industry.

The company said it continues to be proud of its family-run business with both Fred. Olsen and Anette Olsen remain on the board.

"We got through the pandemic which was the most difficult time for the travel industry, and cruise lines in particular. During this time, we invested in our business by buying two beautiful new ships. Like every travel company, trying to get back to normal, we are still having to navigate some choppy seas along the way," said Peter Deer, managing director, in a prepared statement. "Our job during this is to look after our guests and crew and ensure we provide a wonderful experience. I sincerely apologise to all guests who are affected on cruises this winter. I hope you will give us the chance to put this right for you."

In regards to Bolette's cancellations, the company said:  "This is always a quieter period for cruising and this small number of sailings did not quite reach the guest numbers we were hoping for, especially in light of the current high fuel prices we are all facing. With most of our crew remaining onboard (and the remainder taking their planned leave), we will use this time to bring forward some routine technical work which we had planned to do in 2023 - it will also leave us with one of our ships in the north of the country and one in the south for most of the winter."

The company said that cancelling these cruises was not an easy decision its team has been speaking with affected guests to help them find an alternative cruise to look forward to.

The Bolette will return on December 21 2022 for her planned Christmas cruise to Norway.

The company also made the decision to move her full winter schedule from Tilbury to Dover and Southampton, and any guests who are affected by this have been contacted over the last couple of days.

Making matters worse, the company also said it had an issue with one of the propellers on the Balmoral this week.

"These things happen of course, but the timing really couldn’t be worse," the statement read. "As a result, she will need to go into a very short drydock in Newcastle which means we have been left with no alternative but to cancel her next cruise which was due to depart from Rosyth on Monday. We have been looking after these guests today, explaining their options. Balmoral will be sailing again from Southampton on 11th September and the rest of her schedule will remain unchanged."

 

MSC Preziosa will sail a winter season of northern European cruises from Southampton

MSC Preziosa will sail a winter season of northern European cruises from Southampton

MSC Preziosa in Southampton

Preziosa will arrive in early October offering itineraries visiting five European cities, with its 2022/23 winter season due to run through to April 2023.

Sales will open in the coming days, said MSC. Preziosa will replace MSC Virtuosa, which will sail in summer 2022 from Southampton.

Virtuosa’s season will get underway with a Guernsey mini-cruise departing 29 April and will wrap up with a final Mediterranean sailing scheduled to depart on 4 November.

MSC managing director the UK and Ireland, Antonio Paradiso, said Preziosa’s deployment from Southampton underlined MSC’s commitment to the UK market and travel trade.

"We are proud that we are providing agents with such a variety of products to sell in the ex-UK space this year," said Paradiso. "Sailing MSC Virtuosa from Southampton last year allowed us a great opportunity to access the new-to-cruise market, which made up 50% of our sales for summer 2021."

Preziosa will offer a seven-night winter itinerary featuring five European city destinations, with calls in Hamburg, Zeebrugge (for Bruges and Brussels), Rotterdam (for Amsterdam) and Le Havre (for Paris).

MSC Pausing Cruise Operations in Europe

MSC Grandiosa.

MSC Cruises today said that it will temporarily pause the operation of the MSC Grandiosa later this month per a directive from the Italian government.

MSC also said it will move the planned restart of MSC Magnifica to January as a result of new travel measures introduced by the Italian government for the Christmas and New Year period.

The new rules include extensive restrictions to people’s mobility across the entire country that will severely impact the ability of future guests - Italian residents, plus those from overseas - to reach any of the ships’ embarkation ports in Italy, the company said.

The Italian government has said it will tighten the movement of its residents between regions, cities and towns in its efforts to combat the pandemic ashore between 21 December 2020 and 6 January 2021, which will also restrict the ability of holidaymakers from abroad to travel to, through and from Italy.

This has caused the cancellation of three future planned voyages of MSC Grandiosa and three sailings of MSC Magnifica.

The MSC Grandiosa will temporarily pause her current program of seven-night voyage sailings on Dec. 20 in Genoa, Italy and will resume her Western Mediterranean cruises on Jan. 10, 2021, also from Genoa.

The MSC Magnifica, which was due to re-start 10-night voyages in the West and East Mediterranean on Dec. 18 from Genoa, will now commence its sailing programme on Jan. 15, 2021, following the cancellation of three previous sailings.

After All-Nighter, Carnival Glory Patched and Cruising

After All-Nighter, Carnival Glory Patched and Cruising

The Carnival Glory has sailed on her Christmas cruise from New Orleans after an all-night effort to repair damage to the ship following a collision in Cozumel with the Carnival Legend on Friday.

Crews worked through the night to enclose the aft dining room which took the brunt of the damage, removing damage and welding in new steel to cover the opening. 

The 2003-built ship departed a day late on her itinerary, but passengers were able to board on Dec. 22 as scheduled. The itinerary called for a sea day on Dec. 23 followed by calls in Cozumel, Costa Maya, Mahogany Bay before two more sea days and a conclusion in New Orleans on Sunday, Dec. 29.

Carnival honored refunds for guests that opted not to join the sailing. For passengers embarking, they received one day pro-rated refund and a $100 onboard credit per stateroom.

 

Celebrating Christmas in Norway on Hurtigruten’s Finnmarken

Finnmarken is one of Hurtigruten’s 11 ships that sail year-round along the Norwegian coast, round trip 12 days from Bergen to Kirkenes, making some 65 port calls ranging from 15 minutes to more than four hours.

The 2002-built, 15,690-ton Finnmarken can accommodate up to 740 passengers in staterooms and another 250-day passengers, as well as cargo and up to 47 cars.

The current Christmas cruise includes large contingents of passengers from India and China in addition to passengers from South Africa, Australia, the UK, Germany and the United States.

Winter attractions include Norway’s nature, including the Northern Lights, and shore excursions ranging from sightseeing to dog sledging, cross-country skiing and mountain hiking.

The culinary experience is focused around Hurtigruten’s Coastal Kitchen concept, featuring ingredients and dishes native to Norway.

 (Photos by Angela Reale Mathisen and Oivind Mathisen)

Avalon adds more Christmas cruises

After having tripled the number of its Christmas-themed sailings during the past five years, Avalon Waterways is adding five new holiday itineraries to its roster for 2017.

“In addition to increasing our Christmas cruise departures to cater to the growing popularity of festive cruises, we are also offering travelers more diverse itineraries from which to choose,” said Patrick Clark, managing director of Avalon, in a release.  

For 2017, Avalon has added these five cruises: Christmastime in Alsace & Germany; Christmas in the Heart of Germany; Christmas time from Prague to Basel; Christmas time from Frankfurt to Vienna and Christmas time from Vienna to Frankfurt.

Avalon’s holiday cruises range from five to 15 days in length and with the five added itineraries, Avalon now has 16 different holiday cruises to choose from.