We may have missed a week, but we’re back now. Taking the week off allowed us to collect a whole show’s worth of cruise line news too.
Carnival Sensation will be getting her Evolutions of Fun upgrades in January, while Carnival Fantasy will be staying in Mobile until she heads to the shipyards for her own Evolutions of Fun upgrades.
MSC will be sending their two newest ships to the Caribbean for the 2009/10 season and orders two new Musica class ships from Aker Yards.
Carnival will be recategorizing their staterooms and we get some insight into how Joe Farcus designs ships for Carnival and Costa.
Cabo San Lucas is getting some infrastructure updates and is considering an actual cruise ship pier.
Princess has selected the Godparents for Ruby Princess and we get a look at some of what’s planned for Seabourn Odyssey.
Be sure to check in next week when I’ll be talking about a different sort of cruise that I’m taking this week.
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Filed under: Carnival Cruise Lines, MSC Cruises, Podcast, Princess Cruises, The Yachts of Seabourn Posted by Michael on 07/28/08
Folks appear to be returning from their summer vacations as this week we had some actual cruise news to discuss!
First up was a small piece from Royal Caribbean’s earning call, what caught our attention was the announcements of layoffs and spending cuts intended to save the company as much as $125 million a year.
Seabourn announces the godparent for Seabourn Odyssey although godparents would be more accurate.
The NTSB released their final report in the investigation of the Empress of The North grounding last year in Alaska.
Holland America announces early advantage fares on all 2009 sailings and folks in Ketchikan want visiting ships to stay longer.
(0) Comments (Leave a Comment)Filed under: Azamara Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line, Majestic America Line, Podcast, The Yachts of Seabourn Posted by Michael on 07/22/08
One extraordinary yacht, one incredible voyage, and 450 godparents. Those are the numbers behind the highly anticipated launch of Seabourn Odyssey, the newest member of the Seabourn fleet, in June 2009. Those fortunate enough to secure one of the few remaining spots aboard Odyssey’s maiden voyage will share the unprecedented honor of being named a “godparent” of the new vessel - a distinction usually reserved for a celebrity or otherwise noteworthy personality. It’s an honor that will be recognized for the duration of the luxury yacht’s seagoing life.
Each passenger aboard Odyssey’s maiden voyage, scheduled to depart Venice, Italy, on June 24, 2009, will have his or her name engraved on a plaque to be displayed on board the sleek yacht. An early-evening ceremony to christen the new yacht is planned to coincide with the summer sunset over the domes and steeples of Venice’s skyline - with all 450 godparents taking part in the momentous event. Seabourn Odyssey will then make its stately way from the canals to the lagoon and beyond - a gala, 14-day voyage exploring the Dalmatian coast, the Greek Isles, and Turkey.
Highlights of the cruise will include sailing into the dramatic fjord of Kotor in Montenegro, a day of water sports from the yacht’s marina while anchored off the Greek Isle of Mylos, and a signature Exclusively Seabourn evening reception and concert in the torch-lit ruins of Ephesus in Turkey.
(0) Comments (Leave a Comment)Filed under: The Yachts of Seabourn Posted by Michael on 07/09/08
The Yachts of Seabourn has announced an exciting selection of special shoreside experiences planned to entertain and enlighten the privileged guests aboard Seabourn Odyssey’s inaugural world cruise. The ultra luxury, 450-guest Seabourn Odyssey will launch in June 2009, with its maiden world cruise visiting 42 ports between Ft. Lauderdale and Athens in a voyage of 108 days from January 5 to April 24, 2010.
Full World Odyssey guests are invited to stay overnight and attend a gala Bon Voyage Ball at the St. Regis hotel in Fort Lauderdale the night before departure. Then there will be five complimentary events reserved solely for guests who book the full world cruise. Those guests embarking in Los Angeles for 92 days will enjoy four of them. An additional seven ports will feature complimentary Exclusively Seabourn shoreside experiences to which all guests on board will be invited, regardless of the length of their voyages.
Where will Odyssey’s world cruise shoreside experiences take you? • The full world cruise events begin on January 18, 2010, with a spectacular catamaran cruise from tiny Cabo San Lucas, at the tip of Baja California, to seek some of the six species of whales which gather each year in the Sea of Cortez. Sailing on a comfortable catamaran, guests will pass the famed natural formation of Los Arcos, the secluded golden sands of Lover’s Beach, the resident colony of sea lions, and beyond. A naturalist guide will impart details of sea and land life, and answer questions as guests toast the starkly beautiful and biologically rich environment of the Baja Peninsula.
• On February 6, full world cruise guests will be greeted by the haunting tones of a conch-shell salute and fragrant tiare flower leis as they stroll a candlelit path into a tropical garden at Papeete, Tahiti. There, under a canopy of South Pacific stars, they will enjoy an evening of cocktails, lilting Tahitian music and a sumptuous feast capped by a rousing performance of traditional Polynesian song and dance.
• In Sydney, Australia on February 24, a private sunset dinner cruise of scenic Sydney Harbor will end alongside the city’s iconic Opera House, where guests will be escorted inside to enjoy the featured performance, before returning by the same boat to Seabourn Odyssey.
• Hong Kong will be the site of the next world cruise event on March 15. The waterside Aberdeen Marina Club will be transformed into a colorful Chinese bazaar with craftsmen’s booths, traditional fortune-tellers and calligraphers, a Chinese musical ensemble and a spectacular Lion Dance. In addition to a buffet of delectable Chinese specialties fit for an emperor, the kaleidoscopic evening will include exhibitions of Chinese Opera “face-changing,” kung fu martial arts and acrobatics.
• The dramatic climax of the world cruise exclusive events will unfold in a colorful setting on the island of Phuket on March 29. Greeted by a Thai long drum troupe, Seabourn guests will enter a Phuket Thai cultural village to be regaled by women in traditional Thai costumes, gaily decorated elephants, and exhibitions of classical Thai dance, traditional boxing, floral decorations and elaborate fruit and vegetable carving. There will be demonstrations of Thai cooking, puppet carving, rubber tapping, and even chances to ride in an ox-cart or atop a decorated elephant.
(0) Comments (Leave a Comment)Filed under: The Yachts of Seabourn Posted by Michael on 07/02/08
Twin blue-white flames in the noonday sun signaled the simultaneous welding of coins Tuesday onto two steel keel blocks that will become the sleek hulls of two new, ultra luxury cruising yachts in 2010 and 2011.
The ceremony, which was officiated by Seabourn’s president & CEO Pamela C. Conover and Marco Bisagno, president of T. Mariotti S.p.A., marks the beginning of the next stage in a three-vessel expansion project that will increase Seabourn’s capacity of luxury cruising accommodations by over 217 percent in the next three years.
The first of the three hulls, which will become Seabourn Odyssey, was delivered to Mariotti’s shipyard in Genoa, Italy at the end of May, where it will be finished and fitted out over the next year, prior to delivery in June of 2009. It will represent the first newly built capacity in the ultra luxury end of the cruise industry in over six years. Carrying just 450 guests, it will be especially notable for its intimate size, which embodies Seabourn’s commitment to yacht-style vessels at a time when most other brands are engaged in building ever-larger ships. The new yacht promises to further embellish Seabourn’s peerless reputation for superb onboard experiences with an unmatched ratio of space per guest, encompassing a wide range of sumptuous ocean-view suites measuring from 295 to over 1,600 square feet, 90 percent of which will boast private verandas. Additional features include five inviting dining alternatives, an innovative concierge lounge called Seabourn Square and an indoor/outdoor spa facility of over 11,400 square feet, spread over two decks.
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