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.
The steel of the first of two LNG cruise ships for Princess Cruises took place in San Giorgio di Nogaro (Udine) at Centro Servizi Navali, a company specialized in logistics and production of sheet metal for the Fincantieri yards located in northeastern Italy.
The ship will be built in the Monfalcone yard.
At 175,000 gross tons, the “Sphere” vessels will be the largest ships built so far in Italy. They will each accommodate approximately 4,300 guests and will be based on a next-generation platform design, being the first Princess Cruises ships to be dual-fuel powered primarily by LNG.
Disney Cruise Line has announced AquaMouse, the first-ever Disney attraction at sea, which will debut on the Disney Wish next summer.
Disney previously revealed “Scuba Scramble” — inspired by “The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse” animated shorts — which will immerse guests in an underwater adventure with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse through show scenes and special effects, and now has more news, including two brand-new original animated adventures to experience during a water ride onboard the ship.
The second show is “Swiss Meltdown,” where Mickey and Minnie will invite guests on a mountain sledging excursion that will go awry. When the sun comes out and the snow begins to melt, passengers will be off on a frantic dash to the mountaintop while trying to avoid obstacles like avalanches, leaky rock walls and waterfalls.
The story is inspired by one of the Emmy Award-winning “Mickey Mouse” shorts, “Yodelberg,” and composer Christopher Willis adapted his iconic score from the episode for the attraction.
There are many fun Disney easter eggs to catch during a ride on AquaMouse, such as an appearance by the abominable snowman from the Disneyland attraction Matterhorn Bobsleds. One of my favourite details is that Chip and Dale are hiding in each show, hitchhiking their way to Disney’s private island of Castaway Cay, according to the company.
P&O Cruises Australia has announced its plan to re-start operations with voyages for vaccinated guests and crew.
President of P&O Cruises Australia Sture Myrmell said governments were linking society returning to normal to sufficient numbers of Australians being vaccinated for COVID-19, according to a statement.
“P&O Cruises is the longest-serving cruise line in the country with a proud 90 year history of sailing from Australia, and we want to do our bit to get this country back up and running again,” Myrmell said.
“Governments have been connecting vaccination rates to plans to end lockdowns, border restrictions and, ultimately, re-opening Australia. In addition, our research shows that the vast majority of our guests want to cruise with other vaccinated Australians.
“P&O’s vaccination policy is an indication tht everything possible is being done to support the resumption of cruising in a way that provides further reassurance for our guests and the authorities that public health and wellbeing are our top priority.
“We expect that P&O’s vaccination only policy for guests and crew would provide further reassurance for local authorities in working with the sector in developing protocols for resuming domestic cruise holidays,” Myrmell said.
“We anticipate this policy will be in place until governments and public health authorities advise the broader community it has achieved the required public health outcomes and/or provides direction on public health management in the post-vaccination phase.”
Myrmell said the imperative to resume cruise operations in Australia has never been greater.
“In the past 15 months, more than $6 billion in economic activity linked to cruising in Australia has been wiped along with the livelihoods of suppliers including farmers, technical support services, tour operators and entertainers,” he said.
P&O Cruises Australia said it would provide guests with further detail on the policy once there was an agreed re-start date for domestic cruising, however, the broad intent was to require proof of vaccination for those in the population eligible to be vaccinated at the time. In line with its flexible booking policies, P&O Cruises Australia said any guest who wishes to cancel their cruise due to the vaccination policy will receive a full refund.
