Tag Archives: gaming

Orient Express Corinthian Completes Sea Trials

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Orient Express Corinthian Completes Sea Trials

The Orient Express Corinthian has recently completed its first sea trials ahead of its delivery, which is scheduled for the second quarter of 2026.

As the first ship to be introduced by Orient Express Sailing Yachts, the 15,000-ton vessel is currently being built at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique Shipyard in France.

According to an update shared by the yard, the Corinthian successfully completed a series of trials of its sail propulsion systems.

Chantiers said that, solely using its sails, the ship was able to reach 12 knots in winds of 20 knots.

According to the shipyard, the speed is a first for a vessel the size of the Corinthian, which will be able to carry 108 passengers.

The 1,500-square-meter rigs rise over 100 meters and are capable of automated piloting, the yard said, allowing the ship to operate 100 percent on wind propulsion. The system can also be used to assist the ship’s LNG-powered engines.

Chantiers added that the sails have a 360-degree rotation capability, allowing for optimal sail positioning regardless of the ship’s heading or wind direction.

With a tiltable system that allows the sails to be positioned nearly horizontally, the Corinthian will also be able to easily pass under bridges.

The entire rigging has been designed, developed and manufactured in France’s Brittany and Pays de la Loire regions.

The Orient Express Corinthian is scheduled to enter service in the Mediterranean ahead of the summer of 2026. Later in the year, the vessel is set to reposition to the Caribbean for a winter season.

Designed to offer an upscale product focused on sustainability and romance, the vessel will be followed by a sister ship, the Orient Express Olympian.

Also under construction at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard, the ship is scheduled to enter service in 2027.

TUI Cruises Launches Special Monopoly Edition

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TUI Cruises Launches Special Monopoly Edition

TUI Cruises has launched an exclusive Mein Schiff Monopoly edition, the company said in a statement.

The game allows players to discover bars and restaurants, experience a range of leisure activities and immerse themselves in the world of Mein Schiff cruises in a playful way.

Players can look forward to buying their favorite spots aboard the TUI ships, such as the TUI Bar or the pool deck.

Furthermore, the cards players draw feature onboard activities and daily programs, guaranteeing exciting rounds lots of fun, and what the company said was areal vacation atmosphere with family or friends.

The special edition is available for  €49.90 in TUI’s online store.

Royal Caribbean’s increase in on-board revenue attributed to cruise ship revitalizations

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Royal Caribbean’s increase in on-board revenue attributed to cruise ship revitalizations

Royal Caribbean reported third quarter financial results today and the big “star” of the results was the onboard spending, with a 7% increase overall.  So what is Royal Caribbean’s secret?  They think it’s all about the revitalization program.

During the financial results conference call, Royal Caribbean Chief Financial Officer Jason Liberty pointed to a few key factors that are part of the fleet-wide renovations to why the company is seeing better guest spending onboard their ships.

  • Specialty Restaurants
  • Casino
  • Internet
  • Unlimited alcohol packages
  • Shore excursions

“We benefited from new onboard venues introduced as a result of our revitalizations, and we saw further strength in spending from our U.S. customers, which helped generate improvement in gaming, beverage, specialty dining and shore excursions,” Liberty said during the conference call.Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein elaborated on how the company is looking to get more onboard spending, “So as I believe we mentioned earlier, gaming, beverage, shore excursions, retail and also some of the smaller revenue streams, internet has been doing well for us, which we wanted to see because we made a significant investment in, I think, 7 or 8x more bandwidth to the ships this year, and that seems to be paying off.

So a number of the investments that we have already made, we would expect to continue to pay dividends and revenue growth into 2014 and beyond. And we continue to look under every stone for onboard revenue opportunities that don’t conflict with the satisfaction of the product offering.”Basically, guests are spending more money in all these aspects and most of these venues are areas of the cruise ships that get upgraded or added as part of the revitalization program.  When each ship is refurbished, more restaurants are added and wifi is spread out to more areas across the ship. Add to that the new drink packages and Royal Caribbean is offering its guests more opportunities to spend money.