Carnival to spend $500 million on new restaurants, entertainment

Posted on 8 October, 2011 by Spacejunkie2

Carnival to spend $500 million on new restaurants, entertainment

By Donna Tunney

Carnival Cruise Lines has launched Fun Ship 2.0, a $500 million multiyear project that will add dining venues, bars, lounges and entertainment options across most of its fleet.

Carnival’s new branded spaces will include the RedFrog Rum Bar, BlueIguana Tequila Bar and three other themed bars and lounges, as well as the BlueIguana Cantina casual restaurant.

The line has partnered with several celebrities for new entertainment and cuisine choices.

Entertainer George Lopez will become Carnival’s creative director for comedy and will enhance comedy clubs; Food Network star Guy Fieri will develop a burger venue called Guy’s Burger Joint; and video game manufacturer EA Sports will create the first EA Sports Bar at sea.

Additionally, Hasbro is partnering with Carnival on “larger-than-life game shows” featuring iconic games and brands. Miami’s DJ Irie was named Carnival’s official DJ.

The Carnival Liberty will be the first ship to feature many of the new restaurants and bars when it returns from a scheduled refurbishment later this month. Fourteen ships are scheduled to receive many of the Fun Ship 2.0 enhancements through 2015.

“Fun Ship 2.0 is the largest and most ambitious initiative that our company has ever undertaken and it will serve to significantly transform the Carnival vacation experience for our guests,” said Carnival CEO Gerry Cahill.

“Through breakthrough partnerships with some of today’s biggest talents and most popular entertainment brands, plus our very own new branded experiences and onboard destinations, Carnival fans and those new to our cruises are destined for an incredible vacation experience.”

No enhanced redundancy package for Co-op travel staff

Posted on 7 October, 2011 by Spacejunkie2

No enhanced redundancy package for Co-op travel staff

Oct 05, 2011 07:45AM GMT

The Co-operative Group has refused to give staff in the travel division an enhanced redundancy package being offered to employees in other parts of the business, despite appeals from unions and staff.

As part of a management integration programme the group is providing staff made redundant from the financial services and retail divisions with a topped-up package of statutory redundancy multiplied by three, with an extra eight weeks.

However, despite protests from the unions, the group has said it would be “inappropriate” to extend the offer to travel staff, who will transfer employment to Thomas Cook under the terms of the joint venture. The merger was officially completed on Tuesday.

The Co-op has yet to reveal how many travel staff will lose their jobs, but some said the decision showed the company was “washing its hands” of travel.

One employee said: “From a company that boasts about its ethical and moral values and how it treats its staff, it is going in the face of that to discriminate against the travel staff. It is washing its hands of travel in a joint venture that will save millions.”

Trade unions the National Association of Co-operative Officials (Naco) and Usdaw, fought the decision at a meeting with Co-operative Group chief executive Peter Marks on September 29. Marks is also a non-executive director of the travel joint venture.

Neil Buist, general secretary of Naco, said: “While we have made every effort to secure enhanced redundancy terms for those affected by the joint venture, unfortunately the group chief executive has confirmed the enhanced terms will not be extended.”

A spokesman for the Co-operative Group said: “The group chief executive has listened to the submissions but has determined that it would not be appropriate in the case of employees joining the new joint venture to introduce a discretionary ‘top-up’ to our present terms.”

Countdown to the launch of Disney Fantasy

Posted on 27 September, 2011 by Spacejunkie2

Countdown to the launch of Disney Fantasy

By Donna Tunney

The six-month countdown to the launch of Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Fantasy is about to begin. The 4,000-passenger ship sails its inaugural cruise March 31 roundtrip from Port Canaveral, with port calls at Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Castaway Cay.

The final piece of Disney’s fourth ship was put into place a few weeks ago at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany, when builders added a 265-ton portion of the vessel’s bow.

Designed to reflect the glamour of the golden age of cruising during the 1930s, the Disney Fantasy is seen as a “thematic extension of the Disney Cruise Line fleet,” said the line. The ship, it added, will feature “the same attention to detail Disney is known for, while introducing new and immersive, one-of-a-kind venues and experiences.”

The atmosphere will be decidedly art nouveau, Disney said, “where elegance and sophistication mingle with Disney storytelling and whimsy.”

The Fantasy, of course, sports the line’s signature bronze statue in the atrium lobby. On this ship, it’s Mademoiselle Minnie Mouse, dressed in 1920s fashion and with steamer luggage at her side.

On the Disney Dream, it’s Admiral Donald who welcomes passengers in the lobby. On the Disney Magic, it’s Helmsman Mickey, and on the Disney Wonder it’s Ariel, from the classic animated Disney film “The Little Mermaid.”

Minnie Mouse statue on the Disney Fantasy Following its launch cruise, the Disney Fantasy will be based at Port Canaveral, along with the Disney Dream, and operate seven-night Caribbean itineraries. The Dream will sail three-, four- and five-night cruises to the Bahamas.

In a much-publicized deployment, Disney set its sights on New York in 2012. Beginning May 25, the Disney Magic will sail a total of 20 cruises from New York, including eight-night cruises to the Bahamas, five-night cruises to New England and Canada and two-night weekend getaways.

The Bahamas cruises will include a day at Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay; Nassau, Bahamas; and Port Canaveral, with an opportunity to visit the nearby Walt Disney World Resort.

Nine five-night cruises up the New England coast will call at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Saint John, New Brunswick.

Other new homeport destinations for Disney in 2012 include Galveston and Seattle.

From May 28 through early September, the Disney Wonder will sail 14 seven-night cruises from Seattle to Tracy Arm, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan, Alaska; and Victoria, British Columbia.

And from Galveston, the Disney Magic will sail 12 seven-night cruises to the Western Caribbean starting Sept. 22. Calls will be made to Grand Cayman and Mexico’s Costa Maya and Cozumel.

The Mexican Riviera and the Pacific coast also are on Disney Cruise Line’s schedule next year.

The Disney Wonder will operate seven-night Mexican Riviera cruises from Los Angeles throughout winter, spring and fall. It also will sail four seven-night Pacific Coast cruises from Los Angeles, in September and October, calling at San Francisco, San Diego and Ensenada, Mexico.

Hawaii is proving to be a winning destination for Disney. The line last week announced that demand for its one scheduled Hawaii cruise, from Los Angeles, has been so great that it added a second itinerary.

The original 15-night Hawaiian itinerary, which includes nine days at sea, departs April 29. The additional sailing, 14 nights with eight days at sea, departs Oct. 14.