Cruise News – July 18, 2014

Cruise News – July 18, 2014

Oceania Cruises Adds 180-Day World Cruise for 2016

After making headlines with a pair of “Around the World in 180 Days” sailings scheduled for 2015, Oceania Cruises has scheduled an equally expansive itinerary for 2016 — calling on five continents, 45 countries and 57 UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Insignia will embark from Miami on January 4, 2016, heading south, doing the Caribbean and Brazil before heading to Africa (including Angola, Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique) before heading to Asia, the South Pacific and Australia. The trip home visits Hawaii and LA, and includes passage through the Panama Canal.

Total port calls: 92, with 14 overnight stays including two nights in Yangon, Myanmar, and Shanghai. Bookings open on July 30 with fares from $39,999.

 

Norwegian Orders Another Pair

Expanding its fleet in leaps and bounds, Norwegian Cruise Line placed an order for two additional Breakaway-Plus ships, each able to carry 4,200 passengers double occupancy and costing 1.6 billion euros.

The 164,600-ton ships will be among the largest cruise ships in the world, and will be delivered in 2018 and 2019.

The new ships are slightly larger sister ships to the 163,000-ton, 4,200-passenger Norwegian Escape, due next year, and Norwegian Bliss, due in 2017 — Norwegian Escape and Norwegian Bliss being themselves slightly larger sister ships to the 4,000-passenger, New York-based Norwegian Breakaway and Miami-based Norwegian Getaway.

“Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway have proven themselves as industry game-changers and are extremely popular with our guests,” said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Line’s CEO. “It was only natural that we build on their success with this new ship order that further solidifies our long-term growth strategy.”

Germany’s Meyer Werft is building all four new ships.

 

Construction Begins on Luxurious Seven Seas Explorer

 

How do you begin construction on what’s billed as the world’s “most luxurious ship”? You pop a cork on a magnum of the “world’s finest” Champagne, Krug Grande Cuvée, of course.

At least that’s what Regent Seven Seas Cruises did, signaling a laser to cut the first piece of steel on the 750-passenger Seven Seas Explorer. The event took place at the Fincantieri shipyard in Genoa, where the ship is now officially under construction.

Due in summer 2016, Seven Seas Explorer has such “wow” features as an opulent Owner’s Suite done up with stonework.

“We’re one step closer to fulfilling our dream of building the most luxurious ship in the world and giving our guests another exciting option to explore inspire global destinations with our special brand of all-inclusive luxury,” said Kunal S. Kamlani, president of RSSC.

Among other things, the 54,000-ton ship will have the highest space ratio and staff-to-guest ratio in the cruise industry, the line said.

 

And…

• Carnival signed an exclusive agreement with Cigar City Brewing to offer the Tampa-based company’s craft beers — specifically Florida Cracker Belgian-Style White Ale and Invasion Pale Ale — on all 13 Florida-based Carnival ships…
   
• Norwegian Cruise Line is banning smoking on all stateroom balconies beginning November 1. Carnival made a similar move last week. Both lines also ban smoking in-cabin…
   
• Paul Gauguin Cruises will do a new 10-night Roundtrip Fiji cruise on the 322-passenger Paul Gauguin, embarking October 31, 2015, priced from $5,445 including air from Los Angeles…
   
• Students and faculty from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts will bring great literary works to life — Juilliard musicians will bring great jazz performances to the sea — on Cunard Line’s Transatlantic Crossings. The shows, which include workshops, performances of pieces like “Pride and Prejudice,” and classic jazz concerts, are part of the 10^th anniversary celebration for Queen Mary 2.

 

 

— Fran Golden

 

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