Regent Seven Seas Grandeur - Video

This video was filmed of the Seven Seas Grandeur's first visit to the historic City of Liverpool

Seven Seas Grandeur is an Ultra-Luxary cruise ship operated. It's the third vessel in the Explorer Class, known for its all-inclusive experience and high staff-to-guest ratio. The ship debuted in November 2023 and features a reimagined Compass Rose restaurant, a state-of-the-art spa, and luxurious accommodations. 

Key Features:

• All-inclusive experience:

  Seven Seas Grandeur offers a luxurious, all-inclusive experience with gourmet dining, included excursions, and premium beverages. 
• Luxurious accommodations:

  The ship features spacious suites with private balconies, plush bedding, and high-end amenities. 
Culinary excellence:
It boasts multiple restaurants, including the reimagined Compass Rose, offering a variety of dining experiences. 
Wellness and spa:
The ship features a state-of-the-art spa with treatment rooms, thermal suites, and a relaxation area. 
Art and design:
The ship showcases a blend of art and bold décor, creating a sophisticated and striking ambience. 
Sister ship to Seven Seas Explorer and Seven Seas Splendor:
It shares similarities in size and layout with its sister ships but with unique enhancements. 

Destinations:

Seven Seas Grandeur offers cruises in the Mediterranean, Caribbean, and Northern Europe.
In 2025 and 2026, the ship will visit various destinations, providing opportunities to explore these regions in style. 

Here’s What Happened to the Former Crystal Cruises Fleet

Here’s What Happened to the Former Crystal Cruises Fleet

Crystal Cruises’ ocean-going fleet has found new homes. Here’s the latest on the new destinations for Crystal’s ships:

Crystal Endeavor
Year Built: 2021
Capacity: 200 guests
Status: Sold to Silversea Cruises

Silversea Cruises acquired the former Crystal Endeavor earlier this month. Sold for $275 million, the 2021-built expedition vessel will be renamed Silver Endeavour before entering service for the ultra-luxury operator.  

Set to debut in time for the 2022-2023 season in Antarctica, the ship is expected to undergo a minor refit work that includes signage changes, the addition of Silversea’s livery and a few restaurant adjustments.

Crystal Serenity
Year Built: 2003
Capacity: 980 guests
Status: Sold to A&K Travel Group

In June, the Crystal Serenity was sold to the A&K Travel Group at auction for $103 million.

According to the new owners - who also bought the Crystal Cruises brand and other assets - the vessel will be subject to a major refit before resuming service in 2023.

Crystal Symphony
Year Built: 1995
Capacity: 848 guests
Status: Sold to A&K Travel Group

The Crystal Symphony was sold at a judicial auction in June. Like its fleet mate Crystal Serenity, it was bought by the A&K Travel Group, who bought the ship with a bid of $25 million for a 1995-built luxury vessel.

Before resuming service in 2023, the ship will also be subject to a major revitalization, the new owners revealed recently.  

Crystal Esprit
Year Built: 1989
Capacity: 48 guests
Status: Sold to Lindblad Expeditions   

Sold by Crystal Cruises in September 2021, the Crystal Esprit was acquired by Lindblad Expeditions.

Renamed National Geographic Islander II, the 48-guest mega-yacht will offer year-round expeditions to the Galapagos Islands. After a significant refit in Northern Europe, the former Esprit is set to launch service for its operator in August.

Crystal Bach, Crystal Mahler, Crystal Debussy and Crystal Ravel
Year Built: 2017 and 2018
Capacity: 106 guests each
Status: Pending

While all the former ocean-going Crystal ships have now met their fates, the company’s river fleet continues to sit in limbo.  

Built by the MV Werften between 2017 and 2018, the four Rhine-Class sister ships are currently laid up in the Netherlands.

Crystal Mozart
Year Built: 1987
Capacity: 154 guests
Status: Pending

Like its Rhine fleet mates, the Crystal Mozart is also waiting for a decision regarding its future. Rumours suggest the ship has been sold.

Currently docked in Austria, the vessel was built in 1987 and underwent a full revitalization before joining Crystal in 2016. As the biggest river ship in the fleet, it has the capacity for a total of 160 guests.  

Silverseas Acquires Crystal Endeavour for $275 Million

Silversea Cruises has received court approval for the purchase of the ultra-luxury cruise ship Crystal Endeavor. 

Originally delivered to Crystal Cruises in 2021, the ship will be renamed Silver Endeavour when it officially joins the Royal Caribbean Group subsidiary later this month.

 

The purchase price for the vessel was $275 million and was fully financed through a 15-year unsecured term loan, guaranteed by the German export credit agency, Euler Hermes, with no amortization payments in the first two years.

 

The fifth expedition ship in Silversea’s fleet of 11, the vessel is scheduled to begin service in winter 2022/2023, spending its inaugural season in Antarctica starting November 2022.

 

"With Endeavour, we are seeking to grow our world-class fleet to meet the exceptional demand for ultra-luxury expedition cruising, while also enhancing our profitability profile and affirming Silversea’s position as the industry’s leading ultra-luxury and expedition cruise line," said Jason Liberty, president and chief executive of Royal Caribbean Group. 

Built to PC6 polar class specifications, the ship can operate all of Silversea’s current expedition itineraries and is designed to take travellers to remote destinations, including both polar regions.

 

As part of the ongoing RCL Cares program, Royal Caribbean Group will protect the deposits of guests who were originally booked on Crystal Endeavor and make a new booking on one of its brands – Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises. 

 

To the extent the Crystal Endeavor guests do not receive their deposits back from Crystal or other sources, the Royal Caribbean Group will refund any amount paid on their new booking up to the number of their lost deposits from Crystal.

Silversea Cruises has added three new Antarctica Bridge sailings

The move comes in response to a recent uptick in demand for the luxury line’s fly-cruise offering. 

 

Adding to Silversea’s existing Antarctica Bridge offering for 2022 and 2023, the line has added two new five-day expedition voyages aboard Silver Cloud, departing 2 and 7 February 2024, and a six-day sailing departing 12 February 2024.

 

After arriving at Chile’s Eduardo Frei Montalva air base on King George Island, Silver Cloud’s guests will spend the same amount of time exploring Antarctica as on the cruise line’s conventional itineraries. They will journey to destinations such as Antarctic Sound, the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands.

"In response to exceptional demand, we have added three new fly-cruise voyages aboard Silver Cloud for 2024, enhancing our industry-leading Antarctica offering and strengthening our destination leadership," said Roberto Martinoli, Silversea’s president and chief executive.

 

"We offer guests the luxury of choice, with the most diverse offering in ultra-luxury Antarctica cruising."

Silversea fleet to undergo ‘enhanced’ renovations after Royal acquisition approved

Silversea fleet to undergo ‘enhanced’ renovations after Royal acquisition approved

Royal Caribbean Cruises has announced a series of renovations to the Silversea fleet after its deal to acquire a majority stake in the luxury line was formally approved this week.

‘Project Invictus’ will see a number of upgrades to specific areas on Silversea ships including an upgraded champagne and caviar ‘offering’.

Work will begin on Silver Muse on August 19 before being rolled out fleet-wide.

The planned renovation of Silver Whisper in December 2018 will be “much more comprehensive” than initially planned and include a partial refit of all guest cabins, according to Royal.

Silver Wind will enter dry dock in December followed by an enhanced dry dock of Silver Shadow.

Regulators formally approved Royal Caribbean Cruises’ acquisition of its majority stake in Silversea Cruises yesterday.

Royal has bought a 66.7% stake in the Italian ultra-luxury line worth $2billion.

Chairman and chief executive Richard Fain said: “We are proud to officially welcome Silversea’s industry-leading team to the RCL family.

“This is a dynamite combination and we can’t wait to work with Manfredi, Roberto and the entire team as together we take Silversea to the next level.”

Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio will remain Executive chairman of Silversea and retain a 33.3% stake.

Lefebvre said: “We’re excited to join the Royal Caribbean family and ready to begin this next chapter as part of an industry leader that is uniquely qualified to support Silversea’s future growth.

“This partnership enables us to realize our vision of being the uncontested leader in ultra-luxury cruising and expedition, taking our guests to more than 1,000 destinations aboard some of the world’s most luxurious vessels.”

Norwegian Yacht Voyages Reveals First Ship Design

PHOTO: Norwegian Yacht Voyages' M/Y Caroline final design rendering versus old concept (inset). (photo courtesy of Norwegian Yacht Voyages, Oslo)

Norwegian Yacht Voyages continues to be an ever-evolving brand, but it is also one that is uniquely including the public in all of its initial designs from phase one through the finished product.

Now, it is unveiling its final design for the line’s ultra-luxury inaugural vessel—the M/Y Caroline, considered by the company to be the “World's First True Hybrid Expedition Mega-Yacht.”

That means the ship will be capable of operating dual fuel generators powered by diesel and LNG (liquefied natural gas). It will also feature battery banks for peak-shaving over the need for extra energy via diesel at key times like at startup, as well as solar-powered hydrogen fuel cells.

The resulting environmentally-friendly vessel can fully run on LNG for several days at a time but can’t indefinitely due to the fuel’s limited availability in the ship’s global destinations.

Besides what’s under the hood, the ship will sport even sleeker lines than it did originally, as can be seen in the comparison of the old (inset) and new designs in the header image above. It will now measure in at 173.8 meters long with a passenger capacity of 220 accommodated in 110 suites.

A total of 160 crew members will cater to guests onboard.

Individual suites will be sized from 485-square-foot entry-level ones to 1,506-square-foot Penthouses. Each will be equipped with private balconies, and some will even be connecting for even greater configurations.

It may be untraditional, but Norwegian Yacht’s marketing approach has certainly been refreshing.

In a press release, the company humbly admitted, “We have changed our brand three times and we have evolved our design from something more traditional to something dramatically the world has not seen before. While we are not going to reveal everything yet, we promise to introduce news-breaking innovative solutions and amenities not seen on board any other vessels today,

“Secrecy and NDAs might work for the well established players, but we strongly believe that by creating a transparent brand, and already at the earliest stages invite our future potential guests and partners to share their thoughts and comments, we are able to create a brand that will offer exactly what the market wants.”

Let’s take a look at the exterior design a little closer.

From the get-go, the swooping superstructure at the stern to midship has always been in place, but now the lines are even more yacht-like than before as the smokestack is further integrated into the curvature outlined by the rear windows. The stack wonderfully disappears into the design as does the singular satellite sphere on top.

Particularly edgier are the forward elements from the near-vertical bow to the angular windows’ leading edges. Even the UFO-like observation lounge perched on the top deck sits back, nestled closer to the stack, making for a more aerodynamic forecastle. Thankfully, the awesome diamond-patterned atrium side glass remains.

As a concept drawing, the M/Y Caroline is a beauty akin to an aquatic sports car.

Fincantieri starts construction of ultra-luxury cruise ship for Carnival Corporation

Fincantieri starts construction of ultra-luxury cruise ship for Carnival Corporation

http://en.portnews.ru/

The keel laying ceremony of “Seabourn Encore”, the first of two ultra-luxury cruise ships that Fincantieri will build for Seabourn, brand of Carnival Corporation, was held today at the Marghera shipyard.

“Seabourn Encore”, due to join the Seabourn’s fleet at the end of 2016, will be built according to the standards and technical solutions that make Seabourn one of the most prestigious brands in the ultra-luxury segment and will continue the fleet’s modernization that began in 2009.

The all-suite ship will be approximately 41,700 gross tons, 210 metres long and 28 metres wide and will be able to reach a cruising speed of 18.6 knots. It will carry up to just 600 guests, based on double occupancy. Every suite will feature a private veranda.

Safety will be one of this ship's major strong points. It will be built using the very latest technologies, whose standards will exceed the requirements of the relevant legislation. Fuel consumption will be significantly reduced by optimizing the ship's hydrodynamics.

Fincantieri has built 70 cruise ships since 1990 and other 14 ships are currently being designed or built in the Group's yards.