Tag Archives: new york

Carnival Opens Sales for New Venezia, Year-Round Cruising from NYC

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Carnival Cruise Line today opened reservations for the inaugural season of its next new ship, the Carnival Venezia, which will begin sailing year-round from New York City starting June 15, 2023, and will showcase “Carnival Fun Italian Style,” the company said.

The ship will offer guests a wide range of sailing options, with 10 different cruise durations and 22 unique itineraries featuring visits to 25 ports across 14 countries.

“Our summer season in New York has been extremely popular, so increasing our offerings with a larger, newer ship that sails year-round provides the opportunity for more guests in the tri-state area and beyond to enjoy the convenience of sailing right from Manhattan,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “Carnival Venezia will give guests our signature fun, combined with Italian theming, to beautiful destinations from The Bahamas and the Caribbean to Bermuda and Canada.”

Following a 15-day trans-Atlantic Carnival Journeys cruise from Barcelona that departs on May 29, 2023, the Carnival Venezia will sail a variety of cruises from New York’s Manhattan Cruise Terminal, and for the summer will alternate between sailing four-, five- six- and eight-day sailings to the Caribbean, Bermuda and ports in Canada and New England, including Halifax and Saint John.

Beginning Sept. 29, 2023, the ship will alternate between operating eight- to 12-day cruises to the Eastern Caribbean, Southern Caribbean and The Bahamas, visiting destinations like St. Thomas, San Juan and Aruba, along with four of Carnival’s private destinations: Half Moon Cay, Princess Cays, Amber Cove and Grand Turk. In addition, Carnival Venezia’s nine-day cruises will feature Miami as a port of call.

Sample Cruises: 

  • Nine-Day sailing to Miami and the Bahamas (10/14/2023) – Miami, Nassau, Half Moon Cay and Freeport, Bahamas
  • 10-day Eastern Caribbean sailing (1/23/2024) – Princess Cays, Bahamas; Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos; Amber Cove, Dominican Republic and San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • 12-day Southern Caribbean Carnival Journeys sailing (2/11/2024) – Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Maarten
  • 15-day Caribbean Carnival Journeys sailing (9/29/2023) – Grand Turk, Aruba, Curacao, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Maarten and St. Thomas

Built-in 2019 and set to undergo enhancements before entering service, Carnival Venezia will be home to many of the activities and experiences guests enjoy aboard other Carnival ships, including Carnival Waterworks, Piano Bar 88, Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse, Bonsai Sushi, Seafood Shack, Cloud 9 Salon & Spa and the Serenity Adult-Only Retreat.

In 2024, Carnival Cruise Line will welcome a second Carnival Fun Italian Style ship, when the Carnival Firenze joins the fleet, scheduled to sail year-round from Long Beach, Calif.

Royal Caribbean Aiming for Return to Normality, Strong 2023

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Jason Liberty, President and CEO of the Royal Caribbean Group, shared some insight on the company’s deployment and sourcing plans for the upcoming year.

Speaking on Thursday’s third-quarter earnings call, he revealed hopes for a return to normality in 2023, focusing on a strong U.S. market.

“While we are still early in our planning cycle, 2023 is shaping up to be a strong year for the company and in the return to normal, typical business,” Liberty said.  

“Our overall capacity will grow 14 per cent compared to 2019 on account of ten new ships which have joined or will join the fleet across our brands during this period,” he added, noting that the growth will be achieved despite previous ship disposals.

Liberty also said that deployment across markets is “relatively unchanged” compared to 2019 with the Caribbean representing just over half of the overall deployment and Europe with almost 20 per cent.

“Asia is in the low single digits, with no planned deployment in the high-yielding China market,” he said.

About 18 per cent of the U.S. population is within driving distance to a U.S. homeport, Liberty added, with the “Short Caribbean” product upsized by 35 per cent compared to 2019.

Perfect Day at CocoCay has also been an important part of the deployment, with 65 per cent of the guests sailing on Royal Caribbean International’s Caribbean itineraries in 2023 set to visit the private destination in the Bahamas. The number of calls is up 30 per cent from 2019, he said.

“We expect almost 80 per cent of 2023 guest sourcing to come from North America as we continue to see particularly strong demand from that customer,” Liberty said.

Royal Caribbean’s multi-brand strategy also allows for efficient guest sourcing around the world, he added.

“Our global brands’ appeal and nimble source model allows us to attract the highest yielding guest and partially mitigate the impact from a strong dollar.”

Holland America Line Celebrates 150th Anniversary Crossing

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Holland America Line’s Rotterdam VII departed Rotterdam last week for the cruise line’s 150th-anniversary transatlantic crossing, according to a press release.

The 15-day voyage was designed to recreate Holland America Line’s first voyage onboard the Rotterdam I and the route follows the original route to New York, with stops in Le Havre, France, and Plymouth, England, according to Holland America Line.

“Today is historic for our brand as we depart 150 years to the day that Holland America Line’s very first ship began its journey to New York,” said Gus Antorcha, president, of Holland America Line.

“In that time, we’ve carried immigrants and cruising vacationers, soldiers and refugees and earned a reputation for the extraordinary care and welcoming all those guests as if into our own homes. As we sail into our next 150 years, that environment of service will be our hallmark as we create exceptional experiences for guests around the world,” he added.

Guests will travel through Holland America Line’s history with onboard enrichment programming, culinary recreations of dishes served in the original sailing, and other forms of entertainment. The celebrations will continue on October 26 with a commissioned performance on the World Stage by past and present Lincoln Center Stage performers.

The cruise line will offer its anniversary sailing again on April 6, 2023, setting sail from New York and ending in Rotterdam on April 18.