Tag Archives: southampton

MSC Cruises to homeport ‘enlarged’ ship in Southampton

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MSC Cruises is to lengthen and refurbish one of its ships and homeport it in Southampton for the summer season in 2021.

The ship, which has not been named, will go into drydock and re-emerge as “a super-enhanced version” of itself.

It will be the first time MSC has based one of its ships in the UK for a full season.

Speaking exclusively to Travel Weekly, Antonio Paradiso, managing director for UK & Ireland, said: “This is not just a refitting. It will be a perfect blend of an old prototype ship and a new one.

“The larger ship will sail northern Europe itineraries to the Baltic capitals, Norwegian Fjords, North Cape and some southbound destinations.”

He also said: “It was the first time we have made a 100% commitment to the UK market.”

Paradiso revealed the ship would partner with “exciting British brands” and be “adapted” to meet the needs of the UK market.

“We learnt a lot from MSC Magnifica, bringing on British food, kettles and tea bags,” he added. “It has satisfaction scores of 7.5 out of 10 which is great for a first operation out of the UK.

“2021 gives us an opportunity to further improve those scores.”

Paradiso said plans were still being finalised and he would confirm the ship, deployment and details in “two to three months’ time”.

NCL’s Leonardo class to sail out of Southampton

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Norwegian Cruise Line’s new Leonardo ship class will sail out of Southampton after the vessels begin to launch in 2022.

Frank Del Rio, chief executive of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH), said at least one of the six Leonardo ships, which will carry around 3,300 passengers and are 140,000 gross tonnes, will operate from Southampton.

But he would not reveal which Leonardo vessel will sail ex-Southampton sailings.

Speaking to Travel Weekly, he said: “There are a handful of iconic ports of around the world – Port Miami and Barcelona, which caters Europe.

“Southampton is the one for northern Europe. We do seasonal departures from Southampton, but it is not enough.

“Southampton is a port in which we will put our Leonardo Class ships in.”

Del Rio called Southampton a “sophisticated” port that demanded new hardware.

He later said there were always times that a line had to “stimulate” a marketplace by “adding more value to the product” and that there were “dozens” of under-served markets around the world.

Del Rio suggested that older vessels, such as Norwegian Dawn, would operate out of new ports, such as Baltimore, Charleston and Texas, where NCL ships are expected to sail out of from 2022.

Leonardo vessels would then be free to sail itineraries from ports where NCL’s older vessels operated from.

“It is about controlling risk,” he said. “It means we have ships in both new and established ports.”

He dismissed overcapacity fears in the premium market, saying: “Every single one of our ships is packed. We are constrained by capacity.”

Princess Cruises unveils biggest ever ex-UK and Europe deployment

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Princess Cruises is to operate its biggest season ever sailing out of the UK and Europe for 2020 – and will name new ship Enchanted Princess in Southampton.

Ex-UK capacity for 2020 will be 30% more than in 2019, with three ships sailing a full season out of Southampton for the first time. It amounts to 1.4 million cruise nights on board.

The 3,080-passenger Crown Princess will sail for more than 150 days out of Southampton between May and November to the Mediterranean, Canary Islands and northern Europe; 2,200-passenger Island Princess will spend June to October sailing from Southampton to northern Europe; and 3,560-passenger Regal Princess will sail out of the UK’s largest cruise port from May to September.

Princess’ European capacity will also increase in 2020 by 15% in 2019, the line revealed last night.

Sky Princess, which launches next year and will carry 3,660 passengers, will spend its first spring and summer season sailing Scandinavia and Russia roundtrip from Copenhagen.

The line’s newest ship Enchanted Princess will hold its naming ceremony in Southampton in late June 2020 and will be the first Princess Cruises vessel to be named in the UK since Royal Princess in 2013. It will sail out of the Mediterranean after its naming ceremony.

Wednesday night’s event was the launch of Princess Cruises’ 2020 programme, which also includes sailings across Asia, the Caribbean, Alaska and Canada & New England. The UK-based ships, Crown Princess and Island Princess, will go on sale 9am on Thursday, November 8, with the rest of Europe, Caribbean and Canada & New England sailings available for agents to sell from 5pm the same day. Alaska and Japan voyages are on sale from Thursday, November 15, at 5pm.

Tony Roberts, vice president Princess Cruises UK and Europe, said: “We have seen great demand for sailings from the UK and it continues to be really strong. We have great support from the trade.

Roberts told Travel Weekly that the ex-UK programme was “bread and butter” for UK agents and that a four-night sampler cruise to Rotterdam and the Channel Islands onboard Crown Princess could help them encourage new-to-cruise customers.

“Once they cruise they want to cruise again,” he said. “Asia has grown largely from people who love cruising and want to go to new destinations in different parts of the world.”

Roberts, who said the UK accounted for around 5%-10% of Princess Cruises’ market, also praised the “successful” introduction of the line’s wearable Ocean Medallion technology, which last month was worn by 100% of guests on board Caribbean Princess – the first time every passenger on a ship has been able to use the technology at once.

Roberts could not reveal dates of when other ships would follow suit but confirmed that the line’s plan is to make the technology available fleet-wide.