Cruise News
Princess Cruises celebrate Japan
As the song goes “…turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese, I really think so…” Princess Cruises brought Japan to Sydney, hosting a special themed day in its Sydney offices to celebrate the new season of Japanese cruises.
Customer service staff decked their office with Japan-inspired decorations and dressed in kimonos, while enjoying a lunch of sushi.
L-R: Danielle McCrea, Zach Gregory, Nicholas McHugh, Laura Denning and Damon Wiechni enjoy a special themed Japan day in Princess Cruises’ Sydney office.
Antarctic freeze on Aussie dollar
Aurora Expeditions has frozen exchange rates for all upcoming voyages to Antarctica for the 2013/14 season. Book an Antarctic cruise before 14 June 2013 and Aurora Expeditions will lock in an exchange rate of AUD1:USD1 across all departures.
Mediterranean cruise sale until May 31
Tempo Holidays is taking 25% off a leisurely cruise through islands of Greece and Turkey when booked and paid in full by 31 May.
The 8-day Dodecanese Mosaic cruise offers a relaxed combination of conventional cruising and private yachting on the state-of-the-art Panorama II now from $1543* per person twin share, based on a Category C cabin and on two people travelling together.
The discount is valid for departures on 1, 8 June; 6, 13, 20 July; 3, 24, 31 August 2013.
European river cruising enjoying boom time
Europe’s longest-established river-cruise company and market leader CroisiEurope took 205,000 passengers on its European river cruises last year, accounting for over 40 per cent of the market for European river cruises.
CroisiEurope’s Australian representative, Cruise Abroad, disclosed the impressive figure this week, and, according to Cruise Abroad’s managing director, the market shows no signs of slowing.
New appointment at ecruising.travel
Aurora Walker
The Ecruising Group has appointed travel industry veteran Aurora Walker as general manager of its online cruise specialist company, ecruising.travel.
Ecruising chairman Brett Dudley said that Ms Walker’s depth of industry knowledge, which ranges from airlines to travel IT systems, managing and owning travel agencies to recruitment, will enhance the already successful operations in the Sydney office.
Pacific Pearl in a ‘vivid’ new light
P&O Cruises’ superliner Pacific Pearl will become the canvas for a spectacular Vivid Sydney light and sound display – the first time a cruise ship has been part of the festival.
CLIA all set for cruise3sixty
Reservations for this year’s cruise3sixty conference and trade show have closed, with a delegation of almost forty Australian and New Zealand agents heading to Vancouver for the event next month.
As the largest cruise-focused travel agent conference in North America, the 2013 cruise3sixty has already attracted close to 1300 enrolments from nearly all fifty US states and Canadian provinces, as well as overseas.
Cruise3sixty will be held from 19 – 23 June at the Vancouver Convention Centre, with a comprehensive series of educational sessions and seminars to be offered alongside three days of general sessions led by industry leaders and a two-day trade show.
Princess launches Americas cruise program
Princess Cruises has released its new Americas program covering the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Canada & New England and West Coast cruises.
Emerald Princess-St Thomas
The new sailings include Regal Princess’ debut in the Caribbean as well as Royal Princess’ first cruises to Canada & New England roundtrip from New York. On the West Coast, new roundtrip sailings from Vancouver add another departure port for Hawaii and California Coastal cruises, and Crown Princess, the line’s newest ship on the West Coast, will offer its first full season sailing from Los Angeles.
In total, 11 ships will sail on 355 departures of 46 itineraries to more than 70 destinations.
Visit princess.com
Cruise the Pacific and North America
A double cruise aboard two Holland America Line cruise ships – ms Zuiderdam and ms Volendam – this year explores Alaska’s renowned Inside Passage and visits Los Angeles, Hawaii, Samoa, Vanuatu and Noumea before sailing back to Australia. It’s part of a holiday from CruiseAway that also ventures into Canada’s Rocky Mountains on a two-day tour and spends five nights in Vancouver.
‘Moose and Marsupials’ lasts 37 nights and costs from A$5599 twin share per person, valid at that rate till 30 June 2013 or until sold out. That’s a reduction of A$400 on the previous price levels.
This fly-double-cruise Canada and Alaska adventure begins on 12 September 2013 with a flight from Sydney to Vancouver.
For more information visit cruiseaway.com.au
Dirty waters stop famous Rome river cruises
Mauro Pica Villa from Rome Boats, the company in charge of all tourist cruises on Rome’s Tiber River said on Thursday that cruises on the river have been indefinitely suspended for the first time since they began 10 years ago because the waterway is filthy.
Pica Villa says it is embarrassing to show tourists to the Eternal City the polluted, dirty river.
“We’re ashamed of the Tiber’s state of abandonment,” he said, “Tourists and Rome residents were expecting navigation for the year to resume at Easter. But we didn’t open out of respect for them.”
A boarding pier and shores dotted with waste in front of Castel Sant’ Angelo at the entrance of “Ships of Rome”, the tourist service on the city’s Tiber. Photo: AFP
Search continues for missing cruise couple
CCTV footage onboard Carnival Spirit shows a young couple, passengers on the liner en route to Sydney at the end of a ten-day Pacific Islands cruise with family and friends, going overboard from the mid-deck of the cruise ship at 8.50pm on Wednesday.
NSW police and Australian Search and Rescue operations began yesterday, and resume again at daybreak today, for the man (30) and woman (27) from NSW. The search is focused on an area 60 nautical miles east from Forster on the state’s mid-north coast.
Head of the Marine Area Command, Detective Superintendent Mark Hutchings, said yesterday afternoon that it was too early to determine if the couple jumped or fell overboard and confirmed that none of the ship’s 2680 passengers was known to have witnessed the incident.
“At the moment our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of these two individuals and we’re pulling out all stops to try to locate them,” Mr Hutchings said.
Clive Palmer says Titanic II wages standard but love-on-the-job could be a perk!
Clive Palmer, speaking to news.com.au has said that eight applications for the top jobs on his modern-day replica of the original, ill-fated Titanic II, have already been received despite the ship not setting sail for another three years and he hints at onboard perks for employees that go beyond the norm.
“(Wages) will be pretty similar to other cruise ships but there will be a certain elitism to say you’ve worked on Titanic II,” he said.
“They’ll get to have a 20-course dinner in first class.”
“(Staff accommodation) will be in better quality cabins than the passengers.”
“I think you’d fall in love and get married. It will be a ship full of love.”
“Love seems to come to everybody regardless of how we look. That’s what keeps the human race going – it’s the chemistry you’ve got between two people.”
Avalon Expression christened in Germany
Best-selling author and travel writer Patricia Schultz has launched Avalon Waterways’ newest Suite Ship, Avalon Expression, the fifth in its new generation of luxury Suite Ships.
Schulz, the New York-based author of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, christened the 83-cabin river cruise ship at a ceremony in the scenic town of Koblenz, Germany, on Monday.
“May you sail through waters calm and serene, and explore Europe’s beautiful corners and historic sites,” Ms Schultz said.
(l to r) Captain André Harscher with Avalon Expression godmother Patricia Schultz and Avalon Waterways Managing Director Patrick Clark.
Cruise Mojo splashes onto an iPad near you!
Cruise Mojo, an innovative iPad app, has just been launched by Australian cruise agency, Clean Cruising, and was developed to make searching for the perfect cruise more efficient, informative and enjoyable for cruise enthusiasts.
One of the best features of Cruise Mojo is the scrolling calendar, which allows users to effortlessly view competitively priced cruises across 20 cruise lines in 23 regions around the world.
Princess Cruises Mother’s Day sale
Princess Cruises is offering the perfect way to give mothers the world this Mother’s Day – with special deals on a range of cruises around the globe.
The cruise line’s seven-day Mother’s Day sale launches on Wednesday May 8 with fares starting from $299* per person twin share for a two-night cruise from Sydney to Brisbane on Sea Princess departing October 26, 2013.
