Celebrity Cruises today announced new itineraries for Celebrity Millennium and Celebrity Mercury, presenting guests with new cruise vacation options from the historic coastal cities of Baltimore, Maryland, and Charleston, South Carolina, along with the brand’s popular Caribbean cruises from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Correspondingly, the line announced plans to discontinue its Australia and New Zealand cruises previously scheduled for late-2009 and 2010 on Celebrity Millennium.
Click on more below for the details on Celebrity’s moves next year.
London’s Calling! This is our last show before we depart for England and the Queen Elizabeth 2. This week the cruise lines had quite a bit of news as well.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, Carnival has managed to stir up a little controversy. As Galveston works to recover from the devastating storm, Carnival has decided to shift their Galveston operations to Houston’s new Bayport Terminal which is already up and operational.
It’s taken three years, but repairs on Carnival’s Cozumel dock are almost complete after three years. The dock is expected to re-open next month.
Port Canaveral’s efforts to prevent shoaling that could shut the port down performed flawlessly.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises is launching a $40 milion refurb program on three ships, and Cruise West has announced a curious decision to offer Europen river cruises.
Crystal says they’re headed to Iran as part of their 2010 World Cruise.
QM2 has embarked on her 100th trans-Atlantic sailing and QE2 made her final call on Boston.
Royal Caribbean has revealed the latest neighborhood on Oasis of The Seas.
We expected that we’d get a reveal from NCL in response to the Oasis reveal, instead what we got were reports of a dispute between the ship’s builder, Aker-STX and NCL that at may delay the ship’s delivery. However, there’s talk that Aker-STX is actually trying to sell the ship.
As Queen Mary 2 prepares to sail her 100th Transatlantic Crossing, Cunard Line revealed the captivating statistics that illustrate the Line’s singular hold on the bygone glamour that defines their Transatlantic travel experience. The only company offering regularly scheduled Transatlantic service via flagship Queen Mary 2, Cunard Line continues a tradition that began 168 years ago. The iconic ocean liner will depart on her 100th Transatlantic voyage on September 21 from Southampton, England arriving in New York on September 27. On arrival, she will have logged 711,288 nautical miles since her debut with 316,729 of those nautical miles on Transatlantic voyages alone.
Queen Mary 2’s regularly scheduled Transatlantic service forms the cornerstone of her annual itineraries, which also includes her second World Cruise in 2009 and forays into the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Norway.
Since the ship entered service in 2004, Queen Mary 2 has made dozens of maiden calls around the world, including San Francisco – where thousands lined the shores of the City by the Bay to witness her sail beneath the Golden Gate Bridge and her overnight visit caused gridlock traffic on the Embarcadero; along with great port cities such as Boston and Ft. Lauderdale. She has provided a glamorous backdrop for a myriad of high-profile events, including The Britannia Ball (a charity gala benefitting the New York City Opera and Brooklyn Academy of Music) in 2007; the PBS TV Concert Special: Carly Simon: A Moonlight Serenade on the Queen Mary 2; an onboard event honouring George Lucas at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival; as well as several Cunard Royal Rendezvous events in New York, Ft. Lauderdale, Long Beach, California and Sydney, Australia with her sister ships, QE2 and Queen Victoria. Queen Mary 2 even played a role in literary history, transporting the first author-signed copy of the highly anticipated Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to its U.S. debut.
In addition to logging nearly three-quarters of a million miles, Queen Mary 2 will mark other milestones on her 100th Transatlantic voyage, including:
- More than 229,000 guests crossing the North Atlantic
- 450 pets crossing the North Atlantic
- 97,000 pounds of lobster served
- 2,700 pounds of caviar served
- 206,200 bottles of Champagne served
- Enough tea to fill nearly five Olympic-sized swimming pools
Queen Mary 2 has welcomed many notable guests, including Barbara Walters, Katie Couric, Uma Thurman, John Cleese, Richard Dreyfuss, Carly Simon, Rod Stewart, Tina Brown and Harold Evans, Terrance Howard, Donald Trump, and Dame Shirley Bassey. Her eminent visitors have included HRH Queen Elizabeth II, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Noor, Former President George Bush, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Senator Hillary Clinton.
In 2009, Queen Mary 2 marks her fifth year of service with an extended Transatlantic season of 6-, 8- and 9-day Crossings. In total, she will sail 25 Transatlantic Crossings, including classic six-day voyages between Southampton and New York, two eight-day voyages between Hamburg and New York, one eight-day voyage from Boston via New York to Southampton and one nine-day Crossing from Southampton via New York to Halifax and Boston.
Crystal Cruises has set an exotic new course with a unique Middle Eastern twist for its 15th annual World Cruise set for 2010. The detailed 108-day itinerary, featuring maiden visits to Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and a host of other fascinating destinations, is now available at crystalcruises.com. Although the departure is more than a year and half away, the luxury World Cruise specialist has more than 100 guests on waitlist. Reservations open in October.
On January 10, 2010, the Crystal Serenity will depart Miami on an unprecedented voyage exploring South America, Africa and India, with a greatly expanded focus on the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Black Sea, and several European ports in the Mediterranean Sea en route to London. The epic journey will visit 41 ports in 37 countries.
Significant for 2010:
- Seven maiden calls: Port Elizabeth, South Africa; Bandar Abbas, Iran; Kuwait City, Kuwait; Manama, Bahrain; Khasab, Oman; Alfujairah, United Arab Emirates (UAE); and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
- First time Crystal has included the Black Sea ports in a World Cruise.
- Overnight stays in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Abu Dhabi, UAE; Safaga, Egypt (for Luxor/Karnak); Athens, Greece; Odessa, Ukraine; Istanbul, Turkey; and Barcelona, Spain.
- Two-night shipboard stays in Cape Town, South Africa and Dubai, UAE.
- Late night calls in, among others, Ashdod, Israel; Cochin and Mumbai, India; Bandar Abbas, Iran; Manama, Bahrain; Aqaba, Jordan; Alexandria, Egypt; Kusadasi, Turkey; Livorno, Italy.
- Complimentary shore-side events, Crystal Adventures shore excursions, onboard parties, gifts, enhanced onboard entertainment, and expanded Creative Learning Institute and Crystal Visions lecture program.
- Available in seven individual segments ranging from 13 to 21 days, or back-to-back segment combinations.
World Cruise fares will be available in October, when the luxury line will begin accepting reservations. Full World Cruisers booked for 2009 will have the opportunity to book 2010 before it is open to the public.
Cruise West, travels to Europe for the first time in 2009 with 11-and 12-day Danube River cruises. The new Vienna To Bucharest route provides tours in Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and cruising in the Danube Delta onboard the elegant, new 148-guest Amadeus Diamond; the luxury vessel is launching in 2009 . Eighty percent of the cabins have large “French balconies” providing a full wall of glass to view the passing scenery . Four departure date options include July 16 and 24,2009 and October 13 and 21, 2009. The inaugural July 16 Chairman’s Cruise will be hosted by Cruise West Chairman Richard West and wife Leslie West and the October 13 sailing is a PENTAX Photography Cruise featuring field events and onboard workshops all co-hosted by professional PENTAX photographer Kerrick James. Pre-and post-cruises are available in Prague and Transylvania on all four sailings.
Depending on the direction of their cruise, guests will be greeted at the Vienna or Bucharest airport before transferring to the Amadeus Diamond. The next 11 to 12 days, varying slightly based on the vessel’s route, will be filled with such highlights as city tours of Budapest, Osijek, Belgrade and Bucharest. Also exclusive to Cruise West guests is exploration of the remote areas of the Danube Delta aboard specialty vessels. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is the best-preserved Delta in Europe and the largest reed bed in theworld. Travelers will dine on local cuisine and experience traditional culture at horse shows, wine-tastings atworld-renowned vineyards as well as exclusive insider-access such as breakfast at the Nunnery of Saun and dinner along the Black Sea. As with all Cruise West voyages,knowledgeable Exploration Leaders accompany the cruise and share insightfulinformation on the flora, fauna, culture and history of the region.
The Danube River cruise begins at $5,199 per person including taxes, port charges, fees and onboard services. Prices are per person, based on double occupancy and are exclusive of airfare. Trips booked before December 19, 2008 will receive an early-booking discount of up to $1,100 per cabin.
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