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Special Features
Headlines
Ports & Shore Excursion
News
Inside the
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Special Features:
The past
and present of the America's Cup comes to life...online
One month ahead of the first race of the 2006
Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts, the history of the America's
Cup comes to life on
www.americascup.com. A new feature has been added
to the website, the Circling Galaxy, which is a graphic
relational database featuring stories on the people, events
and boats that make the America's Cup the singular event
that it is.
A collection of stories by renowned Cup historian Jacques
Taglang along with photos and sketches of people and boats,
the Circling Galaxy is a fun way to enter into the rich
history of the oldest sporting trophy in the world. The
Circling Galaxy is a work in progress, with 128
personalities profiled, along with the stories behind 136
boats which were built to compete for the America's Cup.
More of each will be added as time goes by so that this
becomes the most complete online archive of America's Cup
history.
The Circling Galaxy is currently online in English and
French, with other language editions to be added in the
future.
America's Cup racing begins this season with the Louis
Vuitton Acts 10 and 11 from the 11th to 21st of May in
Valencia, Spain.
Ryder Cup 2006 in Ireland - unique buy-in
opportunity Seabourn Cruise/Ryder Cup Program
This fully developed program with all the
bells & whistles including badges for each day, parties,
ground transportation, play the next Ryder Cup venue and a 4
day cruise ending in London is now available for a group
purchase - max of 25 staterooms, must be sold as a group, of
5 or more staterooms to qualify for this low pricing.
Ryder Cup.
 The
Emeraude is a replica paddlewheel cruise ship with 39
staterooms, meticulously decorated and designed to evoke the
nostalgic charm of colonial Indochina. The Emeraude offers
cruises on the beautiful Bay of Halong - one of the great
natural wonders of the world and a UNESCO World Heritage
Site, Halong Bay covers an area of 1,500 km over which are
scattered thousands of limestone islands and grottoes rising
from the clear, emerald waters of the Gulf of Bac Bo.
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Headlines
Royal
Caribbean International revealed the naming of its newest
ship
RCI has announced the
name of its second Freedom class ship. it is to be
called the Liberty of the Seas. The Liberty will debut
in May 2007, one year after its sister ship, the Freedom of
the Seas.
Ambassadors Int'l to buy Delta Queen
Steamboat Co.
Ambassadors International will buy the Delta Queen Steamboat
Co. from Delaware North Cos. Ambassador subsidiary
Ambassadors Cruise Group will acquire Delta Queen’s three
vessels, the Delta Queen, the American Queen and the
Mississippi Queen, and its operating assets for around $4
million in cash, about $9 million in customer deposits and
$35 million in debt.
Ambassadors acquired another U.S.-based river cruise line,
American West Steamboat Co., in January. Ambassadors
President and CEO Joe Ueberroth said in a statement that the
combination of the two companies “creates a national,
American cruise company.” He added that the acquisition will
increase the company’s number of vessels to five and the
number of berths from 365 to approximately 1,400, making it
the “largest operator in our category”.
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Holland America Line Introduces Signature
Master Chef’s Dinner an Entertaining New Concept in Fine
Dining at Sea
Dancing waiters! A napkin ballet! Flying pepper grinders and
a plate-spinning kick-line! “Dinner theater” takes on a
whole new meaning on Holland America Line with the debut of
the entertaining and innovative Signature Master Chef’s
Dinner which combines the premium line’s award-winning
cuisine, service and entertainment into an engaging new fine
dining concept at sea.
“We are well-known for our outstanding service, excellent
food and innovative entertainment,” said Richard D. Meadows,
vice president of marketing and sales. “Our new Signature
Master Chef’s Dinner builds on these strengths while
creating an unforgettable dining experience.”
Guests are greeted by more than 75 smiling service staff
including dining room stewards, cruise activities staff as
well as the ship’s singers and dancers, all dressed as
“chefs,” wearing dazzling white hats and jackets.
A crisp, pleated chef’s hat festooned with a clever
collector’s menu in the shape of kitchen utensils describes
the evening’s dining and wine selections. Stewards welcome
guests to the special dinner event and invite them to join
in the fun and don the honorary chef’s hat, which when
lifted off the plate reveals a fresh-baked dinner roll also
in the shape of a chef’s hat.
Musicians set the tone for the evening with custom-made
“foodical” instruments such as drums shaped like cakes
sitting on bread-stick stands, a banana saxophone, and a
pear-shaped bass. The lights dim as the music begins.
Act 1, the “Waltz of the Napkins,” involves the precise
delivery of napkins by staff in a choreographed waltz. The
dancers orchestrate each movement culminating in the
presentation of a domed silver platter containing the
“Chef’s Amuse Surprise,” a small treat that is a welcoming
gesture from the executive chef. The “Chef’s Amuse Surprise”
selections are served on a rotating schedule and include
delicacies such as Mushroom Mousse with Asparagus in Bouché,
Smoked Salmon Mousseline with Chive and Dill, and Foie Gras
Petit Four with Caramelized Anjou Pear.
Act 2, the “Show Salad Spectacular,” literally brightens the
air with blurs of red, green and yellow as stewards juggle
colorful vegetables into an over-sized salad bowl. Singer
“Pepper Romaine,” costumed in a sequined, full-length green
“salad” gown, accompanies the action. The atmosphere
pulsates with servers cavorting around the salad bowl
tossing baby greens, peppers, mushrooms, scallions and
cherry tomatoes. The juggling is raised a notch as pepper
grinders join the airborne entourage. Salads are then
delivered direct from the galley as servers point out to
guests the delectable choice of starters and entrées
detailed on the menu’s rolling pin and butcher knife.
The menu offerings feature an array of starters, including
Alaskan Salmon Tartare with Avocado, Golden Baked Brie in
Phyllo Dough, Lobster Bisque or Oxtail En Croute. The
evenings highlight comes in the form of a choice of entrées
that are a food-lover’s delight. Whole Roasted Tenderloin of
Beef; Grilled Lamb Chops with Oregano and Apple Chutney;
Duck Breast à l’Orange; Sautéed Shrimps “Provençale”;
Apricot Glazed Salmon with Soya Garlic and Ginger Splash;
Tagliatelle with Roasted Chicken and Portobello Mushroom; or
Wild Mushroom Strudel. The band provides background music
during the starter and main courses.
The Signature Master Chef’s Dinner “Grand Finale!,” Act 3,
features Master Chef Rudi Sodamin’s “Hats Off” dessert — an
incredible creation that captures the dynamic, nuanced
flavor of bittersweet chocolate in a luxurious mousse,
surrounded by rubies of macerated berries and topped with a
white chocolate chef’s hat with Chef Rudi’s signature in
dark chocolate.
As guests receive and enjoy their signature “Hats Off”
desert, the sweet sounds of The Archie’s hit song “Sugar,
Sugar” resonates throughout both levels of the stylish
dining room. Next, the spectacle turns to the ship’s real
chefs who emerge from behind-the-scenes to line the dramatic
balcony. The clever choreography continues as the servers
dance through the audience with dinner plates spinning high
in the air and then line up to form a kick-line. The rousing
finish has guests singing and clapping along with the music
as confetti flies through the air.
The Signature Master Chef’s Dinner will be featured in the
elegant two-tiered main dining room once on every Holland
America Line cruise by fall of 2006. The event has debuted
on the ms Volendam and will be rolled out on the ms
Amsterdam in May. By early July, the dinner theater show
will be on the ms Rotterdam, ms Zaandam, ms Maasdam, ms
Ryndam, ms Statendam and ms Veendam. The dinner show debuts
on the ms Prinsendam in late July and will be on board the
Vista-class ms Noordam, ms Oosterdam, ms Westerdam and ms
Zuiderdam in the fall.
The event is the creation of Master Chef Rudi Sodamin, who
serves as culinary consultant for Holland America Line’s
fleet of five-star ships. Sodamin, a driving force behind
the enhancement of Holland America Line’s already superb
dining offerings has developed a fresh line of full-concept
dining “experiences” for Holland America Line guests. One of
the hospitality industry’s most accomplished chefs, Sodamin
brings excitement, innovation, and unparalleled quality
standards to menus at sea. Together with the Holland America
Line Culinary Arts Team, Sodamin continues to whip up more
cruise line and food industry firsts, such as the new
Signature Master Chef’s Dinner.
Regent's Paul Gauguin just emerged from a $6 million
makeover.
The ship received a new piano bar, new casino, and five
additional balcony cabins as well as newcarpets and seating.
The updated ship will continue sailing seven-day Tahiti
itineraries round-trip from Papeete.
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PRIDE OF HAWAII Sails
The Meyer Werft built 93,000 gt, 2,400 passenger PRIDE OF
HAWAII departed the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg,
Germany, today, April 6, after completing a final
inspection. PRIDE OF HAWAII is expected to be handed over to
NCL America at the end of April. NCL have dubbed her "the
largest U.S.-flag passenger vessel ever built".
Fire Aboard Star
Princess Results in Passenger Death
A fire broke out aboard Princess Cruises' Star Princess in
the early hours of Thursday, March 23 which resulted the
death of a passenger and smoke inhalation injuries in two
others. The
fire started on the balcony of a suite, officials said, and
quickly jumped to balconies on three decks covering roughly
one quarter of the vessel's length. The flammable agent that
caused the fire to spread so quickly is probably paint. The
Coast Guard confirms that the port side of Decks 10-12 was
the worst area of fire damage, affecting more than 100
cabins. Because the fire raged up the outside of the ship,
Star Princess' smoke detectors failed to respond while the
blaze spread. And because it broke out at 3:00 a.m., it
spread unchecked until a passenger or crew member saw the
flames and called in the alarm.
Early reports and pictures of the ship, showing three decks
of twisted and charred balconies, would indicate it was a
harrowing experience for many onboard." Some passengers
described balconies engulfed in flames ("a wall of fire," in
the words of one) with heavy losses of their belongings.
Many passengers reported being at their muster stations for
six-plus hours. According to news reports, some lifeboats
were lowered, but the captain did not order an evacuation of
the vessel.
Princess Cruises has cancelled five Star
Princess voyages due to the damage caused by the fire
including a Caribbean cruises which departed on April 9 as
well as April 16 and 23 sailings, along with the April 30
Transatlantic crossing. The ship will sail this week from
the Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport, where she underwent
inspection and basic repairs, to the Lloyd Werft shipyard in
Bremerhaven, Germany for repair of the damaged cabins.
Princess Cruises will have the ship returning to service in
time to do its first Europe cruise as scheduled, which will
depart from Copenhagen on May 15. Passengers booked on the
cancelled cruises will receive a full refund of their
cruise and non-refundable air charges. Princess Cruises will
also provide passengers with a future cruise credit equal to
25 percent of the cruise fare paid on these sailings.
This incident is almost certainly likely to
effect the whole industry and may well lead to retro-fitting
of additional fire detection sensors and changes in
materials used in the construction of cruise ships.
Panama Canal to be widened.
The Panama Canal Authority has approved a
plan for a US$7.5 billion upgrade of the Canal. The Canal
which was finally opened to traffic in 1914 has, with advent
of ever larger ships, become to small for today's large
vessels. The plan is likely to be approved by the
Panamanian government. The new construction project, which
will take about seven years to complete, will add huge new
locks, allowing wider vessels to transit the canal. The
project will be funded by loans, increased transit fees and
by selling future transit fees at today's prices.
Ports & Shore Excursion News
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Royal Caribbean unveils port changes to numerous vessels
Royal Caribbean recently announced that the Explorer of the
Seas now will sail year round out of its port in Bayonne,
N.J., staying through the winter months for the first time.
Starting in May, the ship will operate alternating 6 and
10-day itineraries to Bermuda and the Caribbean, switching
to 6 & 8-day itineraries taking in Canada and New England
for the fall and then back to the Caribbean for 10 and
13-day Caribbean sailings over the winter.
The cruise line also announced that the Empress of the Seas
will split its home porting between Norfolk, Va., and
Philadelphia, starting in April 2007. The ship will operate
Bermuda sailings from both ports. In other port change
news, the Voyager of the Seas will replace the Rhapsody of
the Seas in Galveston, Texas, and the Splendor of the Seas
will home port in the Dominican Republic.
Princess to base five ships in Europe for
2007 season
Emerald Princess and Royal Princess to debut in the Med.
Princess Cruises will make its largest ever Europe
deployment in 2007 when it sends five ships to the
Continent, offering 81 departures and 31 itineraries
visiting 110 ports, a 33% increase over last year. The
extended season will start in April and run through December
2007.
The Emerald Princess, Princess Cruises’ next ship currently
under construction at Italy’s Fincantieri shipyard, and the
Royal Princess, the ship it will acquire from U.K.- based
Swan Hellenic, will both make their Princess debuts in 2007
in the Mediterranean and will offer Med itineraries
throughout the season.
The Emerald Princess’ first sailing will be out of Rome,
scheduled for April 11, 2007. The 113,000-ton vessel will
embark on a 12-day Greek Islands itinerary and will then
offer a series of Greek Islands and Mediterranean cruises
before heading to Fort Lauderdale in October. The
Royal Princess will add new ports to Princess’ itineraries,
visiting Ravenna, Italy; Split, Croatia; Kotor, Montenegro;
and Canakkale, Turkey. The ship also will resume Holy Land
trips to Israel and Egypt, which had been on hiatus.
In addition, the Grand Princes will sail a mainly Northern
Europe series; the Star Princess, predominantly in the
Baltic region, with a few late-season Greek Isles sailings;
and the Sea Princess will sail out of Southampton, England,
with a series of Iberian, Mediterranean and Scandinavian
sailings.
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Norfolk’s new terminal to be used by RCI's
Bermuda ship
Royal Caribbean Intl.'s Empress of the Seas
will sail seasonal seven-day Bermuda cruises from Norfolk’s
new cruise terminal starting in April 2007. This will
make RCI the first line to take advantage of the new
terminal, Sister brand Celebrity Cruises’ Horizon was
a regular caller before the vessel was transferred to Island
Cruises.
The Norfolk deployment was among a host of new Royal
Caribbean itineraries announced, the Empress of the Seas
will also sail Bermuda cruises from Philadelphia in 2007.
The decision to homeport from Norfolk was not specifically
because of the new terminal but did have much to do with the
community’s support of cruising, according to Richard Fain,
chairman and ceo of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. ‘It’s an
intangible but it actually is an important part of our
consideration,’ he said.
Among the facilities in Norfolk’s new terminal is The
Bermuda Room, which will detail the historic links between
the island and Norfolk. Kirkland said RCI may wish to make
use of the room as a VIP check-in or waiting area.
Meetings and incentive groups will have
more short-cruise options when Navigator of the Seas
commences four- and five-night cruises from Miami.
Enchantment of the Seas will continue a
similar itinerary from Fort Lauderdale until next winter
when the ship redeploys to Tampa, also on a five-five-four
pattern.
Galveston will gain its first Voyager-class ship in Fall
2007 when Voyager of the Seas replaces Rhapsody of the Seas
for the winter season. Weekly itineraries will alternate, to
Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, and to Roatán, Costa
Maya and Progreso. Rhapsody will take over those routes in
the summer.
Inside the Industry
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Goldman Sachs takes Carnival's rating down
a notch (04/11/2006)
Goldman Sachs has downgraded its rating for Carnival Corp.
in the wake of the cruise line’s decision not to embrace
recommendations made by the Wall Street investment firm in a
report last month. Among those recommendations,
Goldman Sachs suggested that cruise lines reduce the
commissions they pay travel agents for bookings from an
average of 14% to 10%.
In a follow-up report released on March 30, Goldman Sachs
cut Carnival’s rating from “outperform” to “in-line,” while
retaining the outperform rating for Carnival competitor
Royal Caribbean. The report said that after speaking to
management and having “dug deeper” into the industry, “we
would recommend RCI as the better alternative for leisure
investment.”
In explaining why Royal Caribbean kept its outperform
rating, the Goldman analysts wrote, “It seems to us that RCI
is more aggressive on reducing their fuel expense and
controlling travel agent commissions.”
However, in their ratings report, Goldman analysts also
pointed to other factors having a negative impact on the
cruise industry, including volatile fuel costs and weakness
in the Caribbean market. They observed that because Carnival
is the industry leader, with 53% of the market compared with
Royal Caribbean’s 24%, “any difficulties in the broader
cruise sector would negatively impact CCL more than RCCL.”
The report mentioned the cruise industry’s recent wave of
bad publicity and noted that the upcoming release of the
movie “Poseidon” could only heighten the public’s fear of
cruising. It also suggested that new ships are being sent to
Europe and Alaska while both lines’ Caribbean fleets are
aging, which might contribute to slow bookings there.
Carnival’s rating cut dragged down Goldman’s overall rating
for its leisure group sector (Carnival, Royal Caribbean and
Harley Davidson) to “neutral” from “attractive.” Goldman
cited consumers’ discretionary spending and fuel prices as
factors.
NCL welcomes new Head of sales in
its European team
NCL welcomes a new Head of Sales at its
Continental Europe office in Wiesbaden. As of April 1, 2006
Jurgen Stille will lead the Sales and the Inside Sales team
which is comprised of ten employees who will continue to
focus on the development of existing and new sales
co-operations in Continental Europe. Stille reports directly
to Michael Zengerle, General Manager for Continental Europe.
Stille who had held the position of Vice President Touristic
& Servicespreviously with AIDA Cruises, a German cruise tour
operator. Priot to Joining AIDA he worked with the Deutsche
Lufthansa AG, ITS/Jet Reisen as well as Club Mediterranee
Germany where he gathered substantial knowledge in the areas
Sales, Marketing and Product Management.
“Jurgen Stille accounts for 15 years of experience in the
tourism sector as well as expert knowledge of the cruise
industry. We are convinced that his skills as well as the
new structure of our Sales department will contribute to the
continuous growth of NCL in Europe”, said Michael Zengerle,
General Manager for Continental Europe.
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Who'se who and who
does what at RSSC.
The Carlson Companies’ merger of its cruise
and luxury hotels businesses and the re-branding of Regent
Seven Seas Cruises last month added duties for the Fort
Lauderdale-based executive team led by president Mark
Conroy. Conroy now oversees Regent cruises and hotels,
reporting to Jay Witzel, president and ceo of Carlson Hotels
Worldwide and Carlson Cruises Worldwide. Conroy directs the
Regent brand on a global basis, although each region is
responsible for its own sales and marketing.
On the hotel side, Conroy will host periodic meetings with
Regent’s global partners, Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific, led
by Paul Kirwin in Singapore, and Rezidor, which handles
Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
This structure allows better economies of scale and the
ability to expand the product offerings to guests on a
personalized basis, Conroys team will also be responsible
for developing U.S. source business for the other regions
and they will do the same for the Americas.
Ken Watson, evp sales and marketing for cruises worldwide,
added Regent hotels in the Americas to his portfolio.
Similarly, Christian Sauleau, evp operations, now oversees
both ship operations and Regent hotels in the Americas.
Monica Neumann, vp operations for hotels, reports to Sauleau.
RSSC executives like Sophie Vlessing, vp customer strategy
and marketing, and Andrew Poulton, director of strategic
marketing, continue to focus mainly on the cruise side but
are involved with the hotels in terms of the global
marketing of the brand.
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Rising cost of fuel
initiates fuel surcharge
Due to the rising
fuel prices in French Polynesia, Regent Seven Seas
Cruises will increase the fuel surcharge on all 2006 Tahiti
sailings from the current $5 per person per day to $12 and
the air fuel surcharge to $55 per person each direction from
$45. Any reservations paid in full by April 22 will be
exempt.
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