Tag Archives: Mediterranean Cruise

New Carnival Venezia Ready to Debut in Europe

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The new Carnival Venezia is ready for its big debut in Europe.

After being prepared at the Navantia shipyard in Cádiz, the 2019-built vessel is on its way to Southern Spain, where it will embark on its first commercial voyage on May 29.

A transatlantic crossing, the cruise precedes Venezia’s U.S. debut, which is scheduled for mid-June. Sailing from Barcelona to New York City, the 15-night repositioning voyage features visits to five ports in Spain, the UK, Portugal and Canada.

Upon arriving in New York on June 13, the Venezia is set to kick off a year-round program of cruises out of the Manhattan Cruise Terminal.

Extending through late 2024, the schedule includes four- to 15-night cruises to Bermuda, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Canada and New England.

For the 2024-25 winter, the Carnival Venezia is set to debut in Florida offering a series of cruises to the Caribbean and the Bahamas departing from Port Canaveral.

The first ship in the company’s new “Carnival Fun Italian Style” brand, the Venezia is debuting a brand-new concept.

Initially built for Costa Cruises, the Vista-Class vessel was designed with public areas and facilities inspired by the Italian city of Venice.

Combining the ship’s existing features with Carnival’s signature product, the new concept offers Italian-themed activities and experiences, such as a different version of Guy’s Burger Joint – which will serve its classic burgers and new, especially-created options inspired by Italy.

During its recent drydock in Spain, the Venezia also received other signature features of Carnival Cruise Line, including the Carnival Waterworks aqua park, the Piano Bar 88 and the Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse.

In 2024, a second ship is set to join the “Carnival Fun Italian Style Concept,” as the Florence-inspired Costa Firenze enters the fleet for a West Coast program.

Carnival Horizon Completes Five Years in Service

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The Carnival Horizon is completing five years of service in March.

After being built at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy, the Vista-class vessel was delivered to Carnival Cruise Line on March 28, 2018.

After leaving its building dock, the 4,000-passenger ship repositioned to Barcelona, Spain, where it departed on an inaugural Mediterranean cruise a few days later.

First, in a series of four sailings from the European port, the 12-night voyage included visits to different ports of call in Italy, Croatia and Malta.

After the short season in the Mediterranean, the Carnival Horizon crossed the Atlantic for the first time in May.

The vessel then spent the remainder of the summer, offering a schedule of four-night Bermuda and eight-night Caribbean sailings departing from New York City.

Before kicking service from the Big Apple, the Horizon was officially christened by its godmother musical artist and actress Queen Latifah on May 28, 2018.

After receiving raising donations both onboard and ashore, Carnival also donated $100,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital during the ceremony.

In late September, the ship repositioned to Miami – its current homeport – for a year-round program of six- and eight-night cruises to the Southern, Eastern and Western Caribbean.

Following the Carnival Vista, the Carnival Horizon debuted as the second in a series of three ships known as Vista Class.

According to Carnival, the vessels in the class were designed to connect guests to the ocean while offering “sweeping views and plenty to do both outdoors and indoors.”

Among the unique features of the Vista Class ships are the SkyRide, a suspended open-air cycling experience, and the Dreamscape, a three-deck-high LED sculpture in each vessel’s atrium.

In addition to these elements, the Horizon introduced two firsts for Carnival Cruise Line: the brand’s first Teppanyaki Restaurant and the first unit of Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse and Brewhouse.

Norwegian Cruise Line Confident in Europe 2023 Despite Baltic Limitations

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Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is increasing its capacity by six per cent in Europe in 2023, coming at the expense of the Caribbean, according to Frank Del Rio, president and CEO, speaking on the company’s third-quarter earnings call.

He said that yields on ticket prices and onboard revenue for cruises in Europe were “dramatically better.”

And this is in despite of limitations in the Baltic, with ships not calling at Russia’s Saint Petersburg. 

“If you had asked me what is the single city in the world, port in the world that you cannot live without, I’d tell you it’s Saint Petersburg, and we lost it,” Del Rio said. “Very, very high yields, incredible shore excursion sales. So onboard revenue was just higher than any other itineraries that I can think of, and it’s a relatively long season. You can get (there) in mid-May and you can leave in mid-September.”

That limitation in 2022 sent one Norwegian ship elsewhere, as the Getaway moved to the Caribbean for the summer sailing from Port Canaveral.

“It did affect load factors and no question, it affected pricing. And the impact on EBITDA has to be in the tens of millions of dollars,” Del Rio explained.

But both the Baltic and the Mediterranean look encouraging for 2023, with Del Rio noting that Americans travelling to Europe book the highest cabin categories earliest.

“This revenge travel or pent-up demand that we’ve been talking about for months is really alive and well for Americans going to Europe,” he said.

“We believe that Europe is poised for an incredible 2023 season. That’s why we increased our capacity there by 6 percentage points of occupancy at the expense of the Caribbean. And I’ll take that trade all day long because the yields both on a ticket and on onboard revenue are so dramatically better for European cruises that we’ll take that trade.”