Cruise News – August 22, 2014

 

Cruise News – August 22, 2014

Carnival  Cruise Lines beefs up Baltimore options

Carnival Cruise Lines will, for the first time, operate a one-of-a-kind series of 10- to 14-day Caribbean cruises from Baltimore on Carnival Pride.

The line is also adding a pair of 5-day Bermuda, 6-day Bahamas, and 8-day Caribbean voyages from Baltimore, beginning in October 2015.

Carnival President and CEO, Gerry Cahill, said the new itineraries were the result of feedback from passengers and travel agents seeking more varied options from the Northeast.

An example of the new itineraries: an 11-day Southern Caribbean sailing in January 2016 will take cruisers from Baltimore to San Juan, with stops at Grand Turk, Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, and St. Croix. The 5-day Bermuda sailings are in October 2015 and April 2016, and include two full days on the island.

Carnival Pride, meanwhile, will undergo a multimillion-dollar “Fun Ship 2.0” enhancement this fall, with a bunch of features to be added, including a WaterWorks aqua park and a RedFrog Pub.

 

Oceania Cruises launches new Caribbean culinary tours

Oceania Cruises is expanding its Culinary Discovery Tours to St. Lucia and Antigua, the excursions available on itineraries of Riviera.

Passengers who book the foodie experiences will be escorted ashore by a professional chef from the ship’s Bon Appetit Culinary Center for a hands-on cooking experience focused on Caribbean cuisine.

The St. Lucia venue is a private estate, the Antigua venue a boutique hotel. Also included is a luncheon (consisting of dishes you’ve made) and a market tour – where you can learn about breadfruit, soursop, and other local produce.

The excursions are being offered on Riviera‘s “Holidays in the Tropics” sailing, embarking Miami December 23, and on the ship’s “Island Paradise” itineraries in early 2015.

Presidents are in as cruise ship speakers

Two lines, Cunard Line and Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic, both announced upcoming guest lecturers this week … and in both cases there’s a president on the list – as in the former presidents of South Africa and Colombia.

The Cunard Insights program will host former South Africa President F.W. de Klerk on a Port Elizabeth-to-Cape Town segment of the Queen Mary 2 World Cruise in April 2015. Legendary actor Robert Powell will be aboard a Rome (Civitavecchia) to Dubai segment of the same 113-day cruise in January 2015.

Lindblad Expeditions will host former Colombian President César Gaviria as part of its Global Perspectives Program aboard National Geographic Explorer on a Panama Canal to Peru itinerary in September 2015.

And…

• When the action starts later this month, US Open Tennis will be streamed live on Norwegian Cruise Line ships (with the exception of Pride of America) as part of the line’s partnership with the Sport 24 network.…
• MSC Spendida will host three wine-themed cruises in the Mediterranean in November and December, the “On the Wine Routes” sailings featuring wine-focused tours, talks, and tastings.…
• For those tracking river cruise expansion, keep an eye on Tauck. The tour operator will launch two ships next year and another in 2016 – which together with two ships launched this year means a fleet expansion from four ships to nine in two years.

 

— Fran Golden

 

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^{Photo credits:Carnival Pride-Carnival Cruise Lines;DeKlerk-Cunard Line; Gaviria-Alexandre Campbell; marketplace-Oceania Cruises; wine tray-MSC Cruises}

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