The endless allure of Europe paired with the popularity of cruise vacations on Celebrity Century in the region have led Celebrity Cruises to redeploy the ship to the Mediterranean next summer. The new sailings replace the previously announced series of 4- and 5-night cruises from Miami between May and October 2010.
Celebrity Century will continue to present 4- and 5-night Caribbean cruises from November 2009 through early May 2010. As a prelude to its European season, the ship will depart Miami May 20, 2010, on a 14-night transatlantic voyage visiting Ponta Delgada, Azores; Lisbon, Portugal; and Seville and Malaga, Spain, ending in Barcelona. There, on June 3, Celebrity Century will begin a series of 12-night, roundtrip Mediterranean cruises, with a host of enticing ports of call that vary depending on departure date.
Among the destinations on Celebrity Century’s new Mediterranean sailings include the French Riviera’s luxurious Cannes and Monte Carlo, exceptionally “nice” Nice, and Provence, known for its aromatic fields of lavender; the stunning seaside communities of Sicily and Salerno on Italy’s Amalfi Coast; historic Florence/Pisa and Rome; endlessly romantic Venice, complete with overnight stays in port; Ephesus, Turkey, with its fascinating ancient ruins; Greece’s classic and enriching Athens, and festive Mykonos; and the enchanting, Adriatic seaside communities of Dubrovnik and Split, Croatia.
Celebrity Century’s 2010 Europe season will be capped with a 14-night transatlantic voyage departing Barcelona October 25, with calls on Malaga, Spain; Madeira, Portugal; and Tenerife and La Palma, Canary Islands, ending November 8, 2010, in Miami, Fla., where the ship will resume its popular 4- and 5-night Celebrity Caribbean getaways.
Bookings for Celebrity Century’s new Europe sailings in 2010 open Thursday, August 27. All guests with confirmed bookings on Celebrity Century’s 4- and 5-night Caribbean sailings between May 20 through November 4, 2010, are being contacted with an exceptional option: To be reaccommodated from their 4- or 5-night cruise on Celebrity Century to a 7-night sailing on the new Celebrity Solstice, subject to availability, in a like category at the same fare paid.
Disney Cruise Line celebrated the keel laying of the Disney Dream, the first of two newly-designed ships destined to expand family cruise options to more people in more places around the world.
“Since our inception, families have come to know and love Disney Cruise Line, and they are looking for additional ways to enjoy all that we have to offer,” Disney Cruise Line President Karl Holz said during the ceremony at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. “Our fleet expansion will allow us to satisfy demand on both the East and West coasts of the United States while also giving us the flexibility to explore additional global destinations for our Guests.”
The keel laying ceremony is the first time the Disney Dream will begin to take shape after many years of design work. In the maritime industry, the ceremony marks a momentous occasion when the first block – or section – of the ship is lowered into the building dock and a coin is placed under the keel for good fortune.
Doing the honors of placing the coin was Captain Tom Forberg. With a distinguished maritime career aboard Disney Cruise Line, Forberg was the first crew member hired and the captain who launched the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder. Recently, Forberg was named as the future Master of the Disney Dream.
The ship will continue to take its form through a block construction process in which pre-fabricated complete hull sections are joined together in block units and are then brought together to form the ship. The Disney Dream will be made up of 80 blocks, with the first block weighing in at approximately 380 tons.
Designing the Disney Dream
The Disney Dream is scheduled to join the current fleet in 2011, followed by Disney’s second new ship, the Disney Fantasy in 2012. Together the two new ocean liners will more than double the capacity of Disney Cruise Line, each having 1,250 staterooms and a tonnage of 128,000.
Bringing together innovation in superb shipbuilding and creativity in imaginative storytelling, Disney Cruise Line and Walt Disney Imagineering, along with the Meyer Werft shipyard have created a truly distinctive design. Like the existing ships, these ocean liners were designed to deliver a unique vacation that every member of the family believes was created just for them. Design details will be revealed later this fall.
Synonymous with its name, the Disney Dream will evoke the unique heritage of the company’s ideals in creating enchanting places and stories where families’ vacation dreams come true.
Homeports
Both new ocean liners will call Port Canaveral, Fla., their home, where expansion efforts are underway to accommodate the larger ships and additional guests. In addition to an extension of the dock and enlargements to the one-of-a-kind Disney terminal building, a new multi-level parking structure will be built, complementing the design and storytelling elements of the ships. The new enhancements will provide guests an even more seamless transition from land to sea during their vacation experience.
Disney Cruise Line also recently announced that the Disney Wonder will operate from the Port of Los Angeles starting in 2011.
Future Itineraries
In addition to the new ships, Disney Cruise Line continues to expand itineraries, with plans to once again sail the Mediterranean region aboard the Disney Magic during the summer of 2010. In addition to the popular ports in Spain, Italy and France, the ship will visit Tunis, in Northern Africa, the island nation of Malta and Corsica. Disney Magic will also visit the historic cities of Northern Europe for the first time calling on Warnemunde, Germany, the gateway to Berlin and St. Petersburg, Russia. Enchanting Scandinavian ports like Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm, will also be a first for Disney.
Holz noted that the company will begin to announce some itineraries for 2011 in September during the D23 EXPO, the ultimate fan experience where the entire world of Disney will come together under one roof at the Anaheim Convention Center in California.
Ok, this week no weird distortion on the show. I’m not sure if I fixed the issue – but at least it hasn’t come back so there’s that…
Princess decided to shift capacity from the Mexican Riviera in order to offer some new Hawai’i and Pacific itineraries. Patricia and I debate the wisdom of MSC using thermal imagers to as part of screening passengers for H1N1. Famed artist Wyland adds his touch to a pool on Ruby Princess New Orleans makes progress on upgrading the Julia Street Terminal Paul Gauguin Cruises has been sold – not Paul Gauguin the ship There was a minor fire on Pullmantor’s Zenith And finally a major art installation will happen this week in the new terminal in Fort Lauderdale that will be home to Oasis of The Seas
Last week a delegation of Royal Caribbean executives were in Turku checking on the progress of Oasis of The Seas as well as work on some of the start up procedures for the new ship. Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain brought back pictures of the new ship, this time we get to see quite a few shots of the interior of the ship.
As Ruby Princess approached Venice this afternoon, passengers aboard the Princess Cruises ship were treated to a special live art event as famed marine life artist Wyland painted an unusual canvas – the bottom of the ship’s Neptune Pool.
Known worldwide for his unique works featuring sea animals, Wyland is aboard the ship for special art events and meet and greets with passengers. However, painting the ship’s pool was not on his original agenda. Ruby Princess Captain Tony Draper suggested the idea to the artist after being inspired by watching ship crew members painting the Princess “seawitch” logo on the bottom of the ship’s other main pool.
A first for the cruise line, Wyland agreed to paint the mother dolphin and her baby as a way to increase awareness of his conservation message. Passengers were invited to follow along with a live top-deck event hosted by the ship’s cruise director, including live video of the painting in progress broadcast on the ship’s Movies Under the Stars screen.
Passengers were able to enjoy watching the artist at work just prior to the ship’s arrival into the Venice canal system.
Marine life artist Wyland is an accomplished painter, sculptor, photographer, writer and SCUBA diver. His non-profit Wyland Foundation has supported numerous conservation programs since 1993, including the monumental Whaling Wall mural project – and epic series of more than 100 life-size marine life murals that spans 14 countries on four continents and is viewed by an estimated 1 billion people every year.
Wyland and Princess Cruises have a long-time association. Many Princess ships incorporate his sculptures in the swimming pool areas, and are featured in his latest book “100 Whaling Walls.” Wyland’s artwork is also featured in the ships’ onboard art galleries.
Ruby Princess is currently sailing on 12-day Grand Mediterranean voyages between Barcelona and Venice, with calls at Monte Carlo, Florence/Pisa, Rome, Naples/Capri, Mykonos, Istanbul, Kusadasi, and Athens.
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p”>Check out the pictures of Wyland working on the pool:
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