Carnival pull their ships from Europe 2014

Posted on 10 May, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

10 May 2013

Dear Valued Agent Partner

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for the support we’ve received from you this year. Our advertising and trade programmes have certainly “Switched On” demand for the Carnival product in the UK and Ireland and we are pleased that we are able to welcome even more guests on board Carnival in 2013. We couldn’t have done that without all of you.

I also wanted to update you on a few Carnival deployment announcements. As you may have seen recently, we have made the decision to base the Carnival Legend seasonally in Australia next year. Additionally, we have made the decision to keep the rest of the fleet sailing from our US home ports. Given the current market conditions, increasing air fares, and the fact that most of our guests are from the U.S., we have decided to not deploy a Carnival ship to Europe in 2014. This was a difficult decision for us, as we realise our guests truly love sailing with Carnival in Europe, largely because we provide great holidays at great value for money. We are hopeful we will return in the future.

Carnival continues to be committed to the UK and Irish markets. Whilst we have relied on you all for our European deployment in 2013, you continue to bring guests to Carnival in the Caribbean…and they love it. In fact, the majority of our UK customers choose a cruising holiday that departs from North America. After all, we are the cruise industry leader in year-round Caribbean cruise holidays including departures from all of the major Florida ports and we are the only cruise line to offer year-round departures from Barbados, a true British favourite.

In addition, our dedicated trade sales team, competitive commercial terms, and co-op marketing funding will remain in place during 2014. We have 24 ships in our fleet and we will increasingly rely on the UK to help fill those ships. We will continue to work hard to support the UK and Irish Trade next year and work on sourcing even more guests from these markets.

We look forward to working closely with you to find the key products that sell extremely well with guests from the UK and Ireland and help you sell more on those products. We are also ensuring that our travel partners have the opportunity to see a Carnival FunShip by hosting over 100 agents aboard the Carnival Sunshine this summer as well as ship visits to the Carnival Legend while she’s deployed in the UK this year.

Thank you again for your support this year. We look forward to continuing our strong partnerships in the future.

Yours sincerely,

Adolfo M. Pérez
Managing Director, UK and Ireland

Carnival Cruise Lines
© 2013 Carnival Cruise Lines

Rowdy passenger removed from Rhapsody of the Seas

Posted on 17 April, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Rowdy passenger removed from Rhapsody of the Seas

Royal Caribbean has been forced to remove a passenger from one of its vessels, following a bout of rowdy behaviour.

According to reports, the guest was removed from the Rhapsody of the Seas after throwing items overboard and other similar activities.

Cruise Critic reports that the unnamed 29-year-old passenger from Australia had also tried to throw a chair overboard into the south Pacific, but was unsuccessful in the attempt.

“Because this guest violated our Guest Conduct Policy, a decision was made to disembark him the following day in Noumea, New Caledonia, the next port of call,” said Cynthia Martinez, director of global corporate communications at Royal Caribbean, to the news provider.

If passengers are removed from a voyage for violating Royal Caribbean’s terms of conduct, they will be responsible for paying for their own transport home.

Rhapsody of the Seas is currently touring the South Pacific. The vessel is set to spend the summer months touring the waters around Alaska, before heading back to the South Pacific for the winter season.

Down Under overview: Cruise growing by leaps and bounds

Posted on 11 January, 2012 by Spacejunkie2

Down Under overview: Cruise growing by leaps and bounds

By Donna Tunney

The cruise industry in Sydney is in an extraordinary growth phase, and it doesn’t look like it will slow down, according to Chris White, chairman of Cruise Down Under, the cruise marketing organization representing the Pacific region’s national and state tourism agencies, regional ports, shipping agents and cruise operators.

In his recent year-end report, White said there were 214 ship visits to Sydney in 2011, up from 150 in 2010; that represents a 43% increase.

For the 2012-13 season, 264 ship visits have already been booked.
Sydney’s harbor is the only one in Australia with two dedicated cruise passenger terminals, he noted.

This winter, several ships will make their maiden visits to Sydney, including Costa Cruises’ Costa Deliziosa, Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas, Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Century, Holland America Line’s Zaandam and Princess Cruises’ Sea Princess.

February will be the high point of the cruise season, said White, with a new record of 33 ship visits, up from 27 for February 2011. Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth is one of the ships that will call at Sydney next month.

The Sydney Ports Corp., which develops and maintains the city’s facilities, is taking steps to improve the services and infrastructure necessary to sustain the city’s growth in cruise shipping. It is, among other initiatives, planning a significant upgrade at Sydney harbor’s Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay during the next couple of years, said White. And it will begin work soon on a $57 million terminal at White Bay, which is part of Sydney harbor where a temporary dock has been operating.

Meanwhile, said White, other developments are springing up in the Pacific region. The Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority, for example, has set its sights on luring more cruise ships by 2013. About 100 ships called in Papua New Guinea in 2010. Numbers for 2011 were not yet available.

“Papua New Guinea, the world’s truly last frontier, is waiting, beckoning to be explored and experienced. Every step in this uniquely diverse country of 800 different languages, tribes and peoples is an experience on its own,” said White.

A cruise port and terminal is located at Port Moresby, on the Gulf of Papua. Tourism officials are working to raise awareness of the destination with additional marketing projects and by attending major trade shows, such as Cruise Shipping Asia.

On the shore excursion front, Cruise Down Under recently announced a new product that might be an eye-opener to cruise passengers who visit Tasmania.

It’s a guided tour of the Coal Mines Historic Site, a former convict site, near Port Arthur.

“Located in a now peaceful bush landscape about 30 minutes’ drive from Port Arthur, the Coal Mines is a little known element of the great experiment in crime and punishment on which the Australian nation was founded,” said White.

Participants will explore the ruins of houses, barracks, offices and the underground cells of those who once lived and worked at the Coal Mines, a place where the “worst of the worst” convicts were sent for punishment.