Tag Archives: aviation

River cruise sustainability guide launched

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River cruise sustainability guide launched

A guide offering best practices to river cruise operators on how to operate with as little environmental impact as possible has been developed by the Travel Foundation.

The ‘Environmental Sustainability for River Cruising’ is designed to support the river cruise tourism industry in working towards a sustainable future by identifying ways to reduce water and energy use, and waste generation on river cruise ships.

The best practices offered in the guide come from audits done on ships in Egypt, along the Nile, and in Europe, along the Danube, Rhine, and Rhône rivers.

Twelve Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection ships were audited. The recommendations made from the findings were used to form the basis of the guide, which provides training material for the river cruise industry at large in managing their own environmental performance.

The guidance will mark a breakthrough in reducing the environmental impact of river cruising tourism worldwide, charity the Travel Foundation claims.

Uniworld president Guy Young said: “With the growth of the river cruise sector, it is essential that we all do our part to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for our waterways, which is why we are so proud to be part of such an important first-of-its-kind project in the river cruise sector.

“All river cruise companies should seek to better understand and adopt environmental performance measures in an effort to prevent serious environmental impact in the destinations where we travel and operate.

“To this end, we hope this Environmental Sustainability for River Cruising guide will provide them with best practice examples, tools, and sources of further information, as well as a self-assessment checklist in their own efforts of continuous improvements towards a more sustainable future.”

Salli Felton, acting chief executive of the Travel Foundation, added: “It’s important that the river cruising sector addresses the environmental impact of its day-to-day operation, so that it can grow sustainably.

“We’ve broken the guide down into small manageable chunks so that companies can take a step-by-step approach to minimising the negative effect they may be having on the environment.”

Uniworld Boutique River Cruises are sold through Titan Travel in the UK.

Carnival introduces guarantee

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Carnival introduces guarantee

By Tom Stieghorst
Carnival CruisesCarnival Cruise Lines unveiled a guarantee, promising to refund 110% of the fare if guests cut short their cruise for any reason.

The offer includes complimentary return transportation and a $100 onboard spending credit for a future Carnival cruise.

To activate the guarantee, passengers must report to the guest services desk within the first 24 hours of a cruise.

The guarantee applies to U.S and Canadian residents only and is valid on three- to eight-day voyages to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Canada and New England departing through April 30, 2015.

“The ‘Great Vacation Guarantee’ is designed to provide an assurance to those consumers who may be considering a cruise that we stand behind our product,” said Carnival Cruise Lines CEO Gerry Cahill.

It is designed to give potential cruisers “complete peace of mind,” Carnival said.

Carnival will promote the guarantee with ads, through travel agents, and on a section of its website.

The contented Carnival cruiser

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The contented Carnival cruiser

By Tom Stieghorst
*InsightIn most businesses, customer satisfaction looks like a bell curve.

On one end, there are a few loyal patrons who can’t stop raving about their experience. There’s a big group in the middle who are moderately content, and then a few very unhappy campers.

At this point, the public may think most Carnival Cruise Lines passengers are all in the last group, and that taking a cruise with Carnival is a risk that few sane vacationers would accept.

But there are plenty of Carnival passengers in the other two groups. This fall, the company plans to feature some of them in an ad campaign to reboot public perception about Carnival.

To that end, it is collecting testimonials on its Facebook page from customers who have enjoyed their cruise.

There were plenty of them on a recent Carnival Sunshine cruise I took in the Mediterranean. The ship had an admittedly rough start after emerging from a drydock in May. Areas of the ship weren’t ready for passengers, due in part to last-minute sabotage of some cabins, company President Gerry Cahill said at a media briefing.

But the cruise that I was on was uneventful.*TomStieghorst

There were no fires, no illness outbreaks, or rogue waves, or missed ports of call, or mechanical breakdowns or any of the other misfortunes that tend to draw media attention to a cruise.

It was smooth sailing, literally, on a flat Mediterranean Sea. Passengers were largely unaware of a hearing that took place during the cruise, in which Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) outlined his bill to give them more rights.

Typical, perhaps, was a group I lunched with on a port call in Marseille, France. Some said that after booking Carnival, they monitored news about the company to be sure they hadn’t made a mistake. None felt they had.

A honeymoon couple said they chose the Sunshine cruise for the port-intensive itinerary, which included Marseille, Rome, Florence, Naples, Venice, Dubrovnik, and Messina, in Sicily, in nine days.

An older couple picked Carnival for the low price and good value.

The group wasn’t giddy, but they did seem satisfied. Ads with real folks like these, talking from first-hand experience, could be just what Carnival needs to bring the discussion about cruising closer to reality.