Norwegian’s specialty restaurants to go a la carte

Posted on 15 July, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

Norwegian Cruise Line said most of its alternate dining venues will move to a la carte pricing rather than cover charges starting next year.

The line is introducing a la carte pricing on the Norwegian Escape, due in November, for three of its specialty restaurants that now have cover charges. In addition, it will also introduce a new dining concept.

The restaurants are La Cucina, Le Bistro, Cagney’s Steakhouse and the new Bayamo by chef Jose Garces. At the same time, diners will be able to choose how many courses to order.

At Cagney’s Steakhouse, starters on the new a la carte menu range from $4.99 to $7.95 and main courses from $17.99 to $29.99. Main courses at Le Bistro start at $15.99 and $12.99 at La Cucina.

Moderno Churrascaria and Teppanyaki will remain at a cover charge of $19.95 and $29.95 respectively, and entertainment dining will also stick with a single fee.

The new a la carte pricing will apply to Ocean Blue restaurants on the Norwegian Getaway and Breakaway starting Oct. 3. The plan will then go fleetwide in January.

Norwegian said anyone buying a specialty dining package will have access to all menu items at La Cucina, Le Bistro and Cagney’s Steakhouse at no additional charge, while dining in Bayamo by Jose Garces will cost an extra $15.

Norwegian Cruise Line and Nickelodeon part ways

Posted on 2 July, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

Norwegian Cruise Line said its partnership with Nickelodeon won’t be renewed when it expires at the end of the year.

Nickelodeon characters such as SpongeBob Square Pants and Dora the Explorer have been on select Norwegian ships for the past three years.

“These experiences will not appear on Norwegian Escape and on Norwegian Epic as of October 2015 and on the remaining four ships beginning in January 2016,” the statement said.

In some cases, Norwegian will have to dismantle fixtures, such as the SpongeBob characters that decorate its water play parks. There have also been Nickelodeon character meet-and-greets, a poolside show, an arts and crafts experience and a Nickelodeon-themed Pajama Jam Breakfast.

Norwegian said it will continue to make investments “to further elevate our family programming” on its ships.

Virgin Cruises seeks dismissal of Veitch lawsuit

Posted on 11 June, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

Virgin Cruises has asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed in March that alleges it misappropriated the basics of its cruise strategy from Colin Veitch, a former cruise line CEO turned consultant.

In a motion filed June 1, Virgin argues that any agreement between Veitch’s consulting firm and Virgin Management USA falls short of a working partnership that could form the basis of a lawsuit.

In addition, the response says communications between the two parties indicated that a preliminary agreement on how income would be allocated between the partners was subject to later revision. In filing suit, Veitch said that Virgin unilaterally revised the financial terms of the partnership once it realize the potential for profits. At that point, the partnership fell apart, the lawsuit said.

Virgin also asks that the Veitch lawsuit be dismissed because it names a number of Virgin entities as defendants but fails to say what misconduct is attributable to each defendant.

Virgin, which is associated with Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, said in December it will enter the cruise business by building two new “world-class cruise ships.”

The Veitch lawsuit contends that the business outlined by Virgin was based on a plan for “ultra ships” that he presented to Virgin in 2011.

Veitch was Norwegian Cruise Line’s CEO from 2000 to 2008.