Wetravel2u's Weblog

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I love all things Cruise and add that to my hobby Photography I’m in dreamland, I’m an exTravel agency owner with the inside contacts, so I will try to keep you updated in all things travel related with a side serving of images and other maritime stories.
  • We Travel 2U - Weblog

    We Travel 2U-Weblog

    Norwegian Dawn Kicks Off Tampa Program as the 10th NCL Ship Back in Service

    The Norwegian Dawn is welcoming guests back today as the tenth vessel to resume commercial service for the Norwegian Cruise Line.

    The 2002-built ship is also marking the company’s return to homeport operations in Tampa after a 21-month hiatus.

    Through April, the Dawn is set to offer 15 cruises from the Florida port, sailing to the Bahamas, the Western, Eastern and Southern Caribbean.

    The five- to 11-night itineraries feature visits to popular destinations such as Cozumel, St. Thomas, Curaçao and Harvest Caye, Norwegian’s private resort in Belize.

    Originally ordered for Star Cruises, the Norwegian Dawn entered service in 2002. The 92,250-ton vessel is a sister to the Norwegian Star and can carry up to 2,200 guests in double occupancy.

    The Germany-built ship also introduced the concept of hull art, a feature that was later added to the entire fleet.

    In 2016, the Dawn underwent an extensive revitalization as part of The Norwegian Edge program, which aimed to elevate the standard of the NCL fleet. During the refit, the vessel received several new features, including Los Lobos Cantina, a Mexican speciality restaurant, and the Sugarcane Mojito Bar.

    The design and décor in all of the ship’s public rooms and staterooms were also updated, including a complete makeover of the Garden Villas, the largest suites in the Norwegian fleet.

    In addition to the Norwegian Dawn, the Norwegian Pearl is also resuming guest services this month. The 2,400-guest ship is set to welcome passengers back on Dec. 23 in Miami, kicking off a program of Caribbean and Panama Canal itineraries.

    After a 500-day operational pause, Norwegian Cruise Line first resumed revenue services in July, with the Norwegian Jade. During the summer, the vessel offered a series of destination-intensive cruises to the Greek Islands.

    The brand later expanded its restart to additional destinations, including Alaska, the Caribbean, the Western Mediterranean, the West Coast, Bermuda and more.  

    Currently, Norwegian is offering cruises in the Caribbean, the Middle East, the Mexican Riviera and Europe from nine different homeports. 

  • We Travel 2U - Weblog

    We Travel 2U-Weblog

    MSC Group’s Explora Journeys Launches Online Travel Advisor Center

    Explora Journeys, the new luxury lifestyle cruise brand of the MSC Group, has launched its new online travel advisor centre in order to “further cement its links with the travel advisor community.”

    “Our new Travel Advisor Centre is another important step forward in our vision and purpose, based on the extensive research we completed to create an ocean experience like no other,” said the cruise line’s Chief Executive Officer Michael Ungerer. “We have created what I believe is a seamless, best-in-class digital experience for travel advisors to underscore our mantra of just how easy it is to do business with Explora Journeys. Given our belief in this brand to create a new category in luxury, lifestyle travel, we will continue to invest in its expansion to create what we refer to as an `Ocean State of Mind` for all our guests.” 

    According to a press release, the Explora Travel Advisor Centre is designed with extensive travel advisor input and includes:

    • Booking Suite – allows advisors to search and book journeys of their clients’ choice, select suites, access fares, generate options and quotations.
    • Knowledge Suite – intuitive access to a variety of chapters to equip travel advisors with the knowledge to tell the Explora Journeys’ story. Additionally, advisors can learn “valuable tips” and generate a “go-to-market action plan” with specific clients identified.
    • Marketing Suite – access to digital and print assets designed exclusively for travel advisors and their clients. Assets include digital banners, brand booklets, image library, brand logos, videos, recommended social media assets, email and print templates.
    • Performance Suite – reporting dashboard where advisors can track all their bookings, commissions paid via the industry’s first rolling commission payment program, meet the Explora Journeys team and contact details.
    • Headlines – news and updates from Explora Journeys including new journeys, travel advisor benefits and, from 2022, information about onboard and destination experiences.

    “We are proud to announce this next step in the brand’s journey and this is another example of Explora Journeys putting the travel advisor community first. A year in the making, we are proud to launch our platform and we will continue to engage travel advisors for input as we add valuable resources to make doing business with Explora Journeys joyful,” the Chief Sales Officer for Explora Journeys, Chris Austin, said.

    The Travel Advisor Centre follows Explora Journeys’ By Appointment service launched in September that allows travel advisors to set up an appointment with an Explora Journeys Ambassador to discuss and make a booking on one or more of the eight inaugural journeys during Explora I’s first year, including the vessel’s maiden journey in May 2023.

  • We Travel 2U - Weblog

    We Travel 2U-Weblog

    MSC and Chantiers Mark Double Newbuild Milestones

    MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique today celebrated two significant new-build milestones for the construction of the line’s next generation of environmentally advanced vessels.

    The new MSC World Europa was floated out, while the coin ceremony was held for the MSC Euribia. Of note, MSC also confirmed the World Europa will have a fuel cell on board.

    The MSC World Europa and MSC Euribia will become the first LNG-powered vessels to join the MSC fleet next year representing an investment of €3 billion in Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) ships with the construction on MSC World Europa II due to commence in early 2023, according to a statement. 

    Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman, MSC Cruises, said: “Today is another important milestone in our journey towards net zero emissions by 2050 for our marine operations. Following billions of euros of investment, we are announcing significant construction developments in not just one but two of our next-generation LNG-powered vessels bringing us ever closer to our vision of the emissions-free cruise industry.

    “We have a lot more to do but I am pleased that despite all that we have faced from the pandemic over the last two years, we have still been able to achieve with our partners at Chantiers de L’Atlantique the launch of these new LNG vessels – the first ever made in France that will also introduce potential new fuel cell technologies to make them even more efficient. We now need to take even bigger steps and we will need the continued support of our suppliers, partners and Governments to achieve this. We all need to work together to achieve our green future.”

    Laurent Castaing, General Manager, Chantiers de l’Atlantique, added: “It is indeed a very special moment we are living today. This is not only because these ships are respectively the 15th and the 16th we are building for MSC Cruises- which shows the outstanding quality of the relationship we established between our two companies since the ’90s. This is not only because they will rank among the largest and the finest of the world’s cruise market. But it is also and especially because they represent a giant step towards what the cruise ships of the future will look like. At their delivery, they will have the best carbon footprint of the market, in terms of emissions per passenger and per day”

    MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique also confirmed today the installation of a fuel cell pilot plant onboard the MSC World Europa known as Blue Horizon. The technology will use LNG to convert fuel into electricity at one of the highest efficiencies of any power solution available today, producing electricity and heat on the ship, the company said. 

    The fuel cell technology selected by Chantiers de l’Atlantique (CdA) and MSC Cruises is the SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cell) developed by Bloom Energy.

    The SOFC will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) by about a further 30 per cent compared with a conventional LNG engine without producing emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides or fine particles.

    Anne Claire Juventin responsible for Quality Control from Chantiers de l’Atlantique, and Valentina Mancini, Brand Manager from MSC Cruises performed the traditional maritime ritual as godmothers representing the shipowner and the shipbuilder when they placed two coins under the keel as the historical sign of blessing and good fortune for the project, and the ship’s operational life at sea.

    The float out of MSC World Europa, which will be the first LNG-powered vessel to join the MSC Cruises fleet took place at the shipyard in Saint-Nazaire where she will now be moved to a wet dock for work to continue on the ship until her delivery in November 2022.