Tag Archives: Olympia

AIDA Cruises To Sail in Greece From May 23

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AIDA Cruises has announced that it will be offering new cruises in Greece from May 23, 2021, with seven-day cruises departing from Corfu and travelling through the Greek islands to Crete and Rhodes, as well as to Katakolon (Olympia) and Piraeus (Athens).

Guests will be able to enjoy the amenities onboard with multiple restaurants, bars, cultural activities and sports facilities, as well as organized shore excursions to explore the ports of call.

According to AIDA’s press release, Greece is one of the most popular vacation destinations for German travellers. From May 14, 2021, the Mediterranean country will reopen for tourism.

Booking starts on Apr. 20, 2021, with 23 dates to choose from between May 23 and October 24, 2021. The Greek cruises can also be booked as 14-day trips, AIDA said.

In addition to the new offering in Greece, the AIDAperla is sailing on seven-day voyages around the Canary Islands through June.

All cruises are carried out in compliance with AIDA’s enhanced health and safety protocols, as well as applicable laws and regulations.

With a testing strategy for guests and crew members already utilized on several cruises, AIDA said it is its top priority for all guests to safely enjoy their vacation. The enhanced health and safety protocols — tested by SGS Institut Fresenius and confirmed by the classification society DNV — includes a mandatory PCR test for detecting viruses and bacteria before travelling, as well as regular health checks, social distancing and hygiene protocols, medical care including testing capacities onboard and other measures.

With the “AIDA promise,” the cruise company offers guests more flexibility and security in planning. Generous booking options are part of AIDA’s commitment to its guests, ranging from small down payments to free rebooking. The “AIDA promise” is included in the travel price for new bookings up to May 31, 2021, and applies to departures up to March. 31, 2022.

AIDA said that cruises in other destinations will not be possible at this time, with AIDA cancelling the remaining voyages of April through May.

New Celestyal Ship Gets Smart New Livery

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Celestyal Experience

Celestyal Cruises has wasted no time on its latest addition as the former Costa neoRomantica has become the Celestyal Experience.

Celestyal added the name to the ship while the vessel was docked in Greece, having taken delivery from Carnival Corporation’s Costa brand earlier in the summer.

With the new name added, Celestyal’s next move was to add a new livery to the 1993-built vessel as the trademark yellow Costa funnels are now Celestyal blu. Next up the logo has also been added to the ship.

Celestyal has yet to announce the ship’s 2021 deployment, but it is expected to operate in the Eastern Mediterranean as the company grows capacity alongside the Olympia and Cristal.

Has P&O boss made an Olympian decision about his new cruise ship?

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The publicity machine is cranking itself into gear for P&O’s new baby – the biggest cruise ship ever to be built for the British market.

As construction gathers pace in an Italian dry dock, the company has disclosed the team of senior officers who will command the ship.

The long-awaited announcement of the vessel’s name is expected to be made before the end of the month, and speculation is beginning to build.

The only certainty is that – in common with every other vessel in P&O’s fleet – it will end with an ‘a.’ Beyond that, predictions (or guesses) have veered from a revival of the much-loved Canberra to something new. My money was mischievously on Carolia – after managing director Carol Marlow – until it was announced she would be leaving the company.

Gerard Tempest, the chief commercial officer at parent company Carnival UK, told me in July that his boss, chief executive David Dingle, would have a big hand in selecting the name.

“David is a walking encyclopedia of shipping and of P&O,” said Tempest. “He knows exactly what has gone before and what the name for the new ship will mean in terms of the heritage of the business.

“Before we can make a final decision there’s the whole legal business of registering the name as a trademark and ensuring that we actually own the name.”

So it is interesting to see that within the past few weeks, Carnival UK has registered two trademarks with the UK’s Intellectual Property Office.

First to be filed, on June 12, was Olympia. It was followed on July 27 byBritannia.

If either of them is the chosen name, it will be an interesting selection. Britannia is, of course, the name of the Royal Yacht, now a tourist attraction in Leith, Scotland, rather than an active ship on Her Majesty’s service. Britannia was also the name of the first steamship built for Cunard’s Transatlantic mail service, in 1840.

Olympia has been used to name a previous P&O ship, albeit more than 100 years ago.

Both names have other historic echoes. Olympic and Britannic were sister ships to the Titanic, a name you may have heard of and which is guaranteed never to be revived.

Those crew names, by the way: Paul Brown and David Pembridge are to be captains.

Brown joined P&O in 1996 and was first promoted to captain in June 2007 on board Aurora. He then went on to be master on board Artemis, Oriana, Ventura and Azura.

Pembridge joined the company in 1976 and was first promoted to captain in October 2002 on board Pacific Princess. He then went on to be master on board Royal Princess, Sun Princess, Artemis, Oceana, Ocean Village 2, Oriana and Aurora.

Martin Allen and Hamish Sunter have been named as deputy captains, and Darljit Sharma and Keith de la Mare as executive pursers.