Marella Cruises will offer voyages to Canada

A new 14-night East Coast Adventure sailing, departing Port Canaveral in October 2023 and calling at Newport, Bar Harbor, Saint John, Sydney, Halifax and Boston, will go on sale on 21 July, along with the line’s full winter 2023 programme. 

 

Speaking to TTG on Tuesday (28 June), managing director of cruise at Tui UK and Ireland Chris Hackney said the new itineraries will "bring North America to life".

 

"It’s a great time of year to go to Canada, and we’re really excited to go there for the first time," he added.

 

"We’re going to different parts of the US and offering a nice range of options. It brings to life the different destinations, whether it be the south, the north, it will be very appealing to customers and it will help tick off those bucket-list holidays."

 

Discovery will also offer a 12-night Stateside Discovery sailing, departing Port Canaveral and calling at Miami, New Orleans, the Dominican Republic and Barbados.

 

Meanwhile, the line’s newest ship, Marella Voyager, will offer three Caribbean itineraries from Barbados in winter 2023, including an eight-night Paradise Islands sailing in November 2023, which calls at Tortola, Saint Maarten, Saint Kitts, Antigua and Dominica.

Elsewhere, Marella Discovery II will homeport in Singapore and offer a 14-night Eastern Experience sailing, calling at Laem Chabang, Phu My, Malacca, Langkawi and Patong Bay.

 

"We have operated in Asia in the past, but this time we will homeport out of Singapore, where the ship will overnight, giving customers the opportunity to experience the destination in the day and the evening," Hackney added.

 

"In the past, we have received really good feedback from customers on being in a place like Singapore, where you’re centrally located in such a vibrant city, so we think it will go down really well.

 

"Everything is really exciting, and these new itineraries allow us to bring in some new destinations, we have a lot of customers who ask when we’re going back to Asia and it’s great to be able to bring it back for next winter for customers to see some fantastic parts of the world."

Norwegian Escape Resumes Service After Repairs

Norwegian Escape Resumes Service After Repairs

The Norwegian Escape is back in action. After a month out of service due to a grounding incident, the Norwegian Cruise Line ship welcomed guests back on Saturday in Port Canaveral.

Marking its first cruise since Mar. 12, the 2015-built vessel departed on a seven-night Eastern Caribbean voyage that includes calls in Tortola, St. Thomas, Puerto Plata and Great Stirrup Cay.

The Norwegian Escape ran aground off Puerto Plata on Mar. 14. The ship was freed on the following morning but was said to have suffered minor damage.

With the ship back alongside in the Dominican Republic, guests were sent back to the United States between Mar. 16-18 using charter flights.

Upon returning to its homeport with no passengers on board, the Escape remained docked in Port Canaveral while repairs were being carried out.

A total of five cruises have been affected by the incident. While the Mar. 19, Mar. 26, Apr. 2 and Apr. 9 departures have been entirely cancelled, the Mar. 12 sailing was cut short due to the event.

Upon completing the Apr. 16 Caribbean cruise, the Norwegian Escape is set to cross the Atlantic for a summer season in Europe.

Based in Civitavecchia, Italy, the vessel is offering a series of ten- and 11-night cruises to the Eastern and Western Mediterranean.

P&O Cruises is set to return to the Caribbean this autumn

Britannia will sail a 14-night round trip cruise from Barbados on 5 November

Azura will begin a series of 14-night cruises from Barbados, calling at St Vincent, Saint Kitts and Nevis, St Maarten, Grand Turk, Tortola, Antigua, Saint Lucia and Grenada on 10 December. A balcony cabin costs £2,149pp.

 

Britannia will also sail 14-night fly/cruise holidays from Barbados, calling at Curacao, St Vincent, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and St Maarten, starting on 5 November. Prices come in at £1,599pp for a balcony cabin.

 

P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow said the itineraries build on the line’s series of UK coastal cruises.

 

"Our Caribbean season, running from November through to March, is a further positive step towards our full fleet returning to service and we are looking forward to the opportunity to once again take our guests to this hugely popular and much-loved destination," Ludlow added.

Celebrity Announces June Caribbean Comeback from St. Maarten

Celebrity Cruises announced its return cruising today as the Celebrity Millennium will homeport in St. Maarten starting on June 5.

Beginning March 25, guests can book the new seven-night itineraries departing through August.

The ship will sail two different weeklong itineraries. One will call on Aruba, Curaçao and Barbados and a second itinerary will call on Tortola, St. Lucia and Barbados.

The ship will sail with the vaccinated crew and will be available to vaccinated adult guests and children under the age of 18 with a negative PCR test result within 72 hours of embarkation, according to a press release.

Guests can take advantage of special air and sea pricing offering exceptional savings on all Summer 2021 St. Maarten sailings starting at $1,999 per person for a veranda stateroom. 

Celebrity Cruises President and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said: “Returning to the Caribbean after more than a year away is such a significant moment for us. It marks the measured beginning of the end of what has been a uniquely challenging time for everyone. We have been in constant contact with the leadership of St. Maarten these past months to support each other and share learnings and best practices. That we’re able to offer people the opportunity to safely vacation onboard the revolutionized Celebrity Millennium, is incredible, and that we will sail from the magical island of St. Maarten is very special. I am forever grateful for the support and collaboration of the St. Maarten government.”

“Having a major cruise line such as Royal Caribbean Group’s Celebrity Cruises homeport here is a significant economic milestone for St. Maarten. It’s a historic agreement, the fruit of continuous dialogue and a testament to the strength of our longstanding relationship,” Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunication (TEATT) Ludmila de Weever declared. “Celebrity Cruises homeporting here will help rejuvenate our economy and drive opportunities for our people. I would like to thank the management team at the Royal Caribbean Group for their commitment to St. Maarten and their confidence in the Ministry of TEATT as a reliable and responsible partner. I look forward to the successful re-launch of their Caribbean cruising,” Minister de Weever concluded.

Hurricane-Hit Caribbean Cruise Ports Anticipate Reopening

PHOTO: The Disney Fantasy and MSC Divina docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (photo by Jason Leppert)

As far as cruise itineraries are concerned, the Caribbean is not quite back to business as usual.

However, following recent hurricane destruction, things are starting to look better. There is a glimmer of light now emerging at the end of the tunnel for St. Croix, St. Thomas, Tortola and even San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Like the recent reopening of Key West, Florida to cruise ships, the U.S. Virgin Islands are hoping to be up and running soon, according to Seatrade Cruise News. While cruise lines would like to begin returning to St. Croix and St. Thomas as early as October 15, based on Governor Kenneth Mapp’s assessment, the end of the month is more likely.

Priorities now are to reopen famed Magens Bay as well as ensure operational restaurants, stores and other beaches in addition to security infrastructure.

Seatrade Cruise News reports the British Virgin Islands are on a similar track. Even though the destination took a toll, the cruise facilities managed relatively well. Tortola Pier Park received minor damage according to Mark Vanterpool, minister of communications and works.

At least half of the pier-side shops and restaurants are looking to open by November 1. Outside the port, restoration is also underway on roadways, electricity, water and telecommunications. A status report regarding beaches and other attractions is still forthcoming.

Cruise Fever reports Royal Caribbean International’s Adventure of the Seas will return to home-porting from San Juan, Puerto Rico on October 7. Jose Izquierdo, Executive Director of Puerto Rico Tourism Company, announced the news on Twitter.

Royal Caribbean’s website still indicates all other calls on San Juan are still being replaced with different destinations. In fact, the line is also continuing to bypass St. Croix and St. Thomas, as well as St. Maarten for the time being.

Meanwhile, Princess Cruises is already anticipating being able to return with its Regal Princess to St. Thomas and San Juan for its December 17 sailing. Off limits also to Princess, though, is St. Maarten in addition to Dominica and Virgin Gorda.

Though Grand Turk and St. Barts remain closed according to USA Today, the latter is expected to be ready to accept its next scheduled call on October 30. Grand Turk, on the other hand, is still being replaced by Carnival Cruise Line.

The future for Dominica, Grand Turk, St. Maarten and Virgin Gorda remains unknown.

At least the entire industry is banding together to assist the Caribbean at large and it is all helping bring the bulk of the destinations back up to their usual paradise conditions. In the meantime, less frequented islands are seeing increased cruise ship traffic and visitor love as well.

With ocean line expansion, Viking will bring first ship stateside

Viking Ocean Cruises is a little more than two months away from accepting its second ship, the Viking Sea, an event that will multiply the fledgling line’s ability to offer varied itineraries.

Already Viking has said that its first ship, the Viking Star, will reposition to North America starting in September.

After a transition cruise that follows the route of the Viking explorers from Norway to the New World, the Viking Star will offer some fall cruises in Canada and a trip down the eastern seaboard before making its home for the winter of 2016-17 in Puerto Rico.

Richard Marnell, senior vice president of marketing for Viking River Cruises, said the company intends to hold the line on pricing.

“It is our intent to maintain the value at what it is today and essentially to fill the ships as quickly as we can build them,” he said.

Marnell said the company, which is new to the ocean side of cruising, had some kinks to work out in its first few months, but its debut received positive feedback from media and customers.

He said a rating of 5 from the editors of the Cruise Critic website and a “Loved It” endorsement from 86% of the site’s readers were especially exciting. Internally, the line’s surveys are “very, very good and encouraging,” Marnell said.

“What people are applauding is the understated elegance, the residential feel, the great bathrooms, king-size beds, the housekeeping,” he said. “Food is a surprise, and people are quite pleased with our food.”

One of the kinks had to do with an electrical transformer problem that led to the early termination of a cruise in Estonia. Another involved sudden breakage of glass shower partitions in the bathrooms.

Marnell said both problems have been fixed, and Viking might be making a design modification on future ships to ensure that the glass breakage doesn’t reoccur but added that “from a safety perspective and a utility perspective it’s fine.”

There was also an IT problem that torpedoed the television system on early cruises; that, too, has been resolved.

In addition, he said, Viking has learned from experience that some things aren’t working as expected. A singular reception area on the Star has been split into separate shore excursion and guest services desks. The gangways have been modified because the ship is too small for most air bridges, which are designed for bigger vessels, Marnell said.

By bringing the Viking Star to North America, Viking hopes to give more people a chance to see the ship. On its transition cruise from Canada to Puerto Rico, it will be making stops in Boston, New York and Florida.

Those stops, Marnell said, “will give the opportunity for those who weren’t able to attend other functions — and this is particularly important to agents — to be able to see the vessel and experience it.”

For the winter months, the Viking Star will do a series of nine 11-night roundtrips from San Juan, visiting Tortola, British Virgin Islands; Antigua; St. Lucia; Barbados; St. Kitts; Guadeloupe; St. Maarten; and St. Thomas.

Marnell said that homeporting in San Juan saves time that would otherwise be taken up sailing from South Florida for more port time in the Caribbean, a key brand promise.

Also, Viking’s overall value continues to get high marks in customer surveys, according to Marnell, and that remains a key point of differentiation.

“So we feel like we’re in a very good position, and it’s our intention to maintain that moving forward,” he said.