Tag Archives: spain

2 Norwegian ships to undergo refurbishments

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2 Norwegian ships to undergo refurbishments

By Donna Tunney
Norwegian Cruise Line said that its Norwegian Spirit and Norwegian Jade will enter drydocks this fall for multimillion dollar enhancements.

The Norwegian Spirit enters a 13-day drydock on Sept. 25 in Mobile, Ala. The 2,018-passenger ship will be fitted for WiFi and will receive new carpeting, flat-screen televisions and upgrades to the Stardust Theater and the Raffles restaurant.

When the ship returns to service Oct. 9 it will sail a series of seven-day western Caribbean itineraries from New Orleans, calling on Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; and Belize City, Belize, through April 8. The ship will then operate a 13-day transatlantic cruise, arriving in Barcelona on April 28, before beginning 12-day Mediterranean cruises alternating from Barcelona and Venice through Oct. 13, 2012. Beginning on Nov. 6, 2012, the ship will sail nine-day Canary Islands cruises from Barcelona, through April 8, 2013.

The Norwegian Jade will undergo its upgrades in Marseille, France, from Nov. 26 to Dec. 8. A Brazilian steakhouse, Moderno Churrascaria, will be added and new carpeting and tile will be installed throughout the ship. The ship will also receive technical enhancements, the line said.

After emerging from drydock, the 2,402-passenger Norwegian Jade, which sails year-round from Europe, will cruise a nine-day itinerary departing Barcelona calling on Funchal, Portugal; Tenerife and Arrecife in the Canary Islands; and .

Union ‘not consulted’ about Cook Co-op merger

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Union ‘not consulted’ about Cook Co-op merger

Aug 19, 2011 07:00AM GMT

The trade union representing staff at the Co-operative Group has expressed dismay at the company’s failure to consult it ahead of receiving Competition Commission clearance for the travel retail merger with Thomas Cook.

The Commission gave a final go-head to the deal to merge The Co-operative Travel, Midlands Co-operative and Thomas Cook retail division on Tuesday, after announcing provisional clearance on July 21.

The deal will see the creation of a new joint venture with more than 1,200 shops and in excess of 9,000 staff. It will be run and majority-owned by Thomas Cook, with most of the 9,000 staff from Cook and the Co-ops required to transfer employment.

Shop workers’ union USDAW said it had no warning that the announcement was imminent.

USDAW national officer Sharon Ainsworth said: “We have concerns about whether stores will have to shut and we are not happy about the fact we don’t know more.

“The Co-op did not consult us and that is unusual. I deal with the company day to day and the unions were not told.”

The Co-operative Travel head office employees at Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, and in Manchester will face a choice between a transfer within the Co-op, a move to Thomas Cook headquarters in Peterborough or redundancy.

Ainsworth said: “Everything has been on hold since the merger was referred to the Competition Commission. There have been no talks. We had expected a decision in October, so the announcement was quite a shock.

She said the Co-operative Group had now agreed to a meeting with union officials.

Both the Co-operative Group and Thomas Cook have declined to give details of the joint venture and staff-transfer process ahead of consulting staff, but the process is likely to begin within six weeks.

Thomas Cook staff are represented by a separate union – the transport union TSSA.

Thomas Cook denies plans to close ‘hundreds of shops’

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Thomas Cook denies plans to close ‘hundreds of shops’

By Ian Taylor  |  Aug 15, 2011 08:00AM GMT

Thomas Cook has dismissed a weekend report that it is considering “plans to close hundreds of shops”.

A Thomas Cook spokeswoman said: “There is no substance at all to the story” – which appeared in the Sunday Times.

The group is poised to merge its UK retail outlets with The Co-operative Travel and Midlands Co-operative to create a chain of more than 1,200 travel agencies and has consistently said no more than about 75 shops will close as a result. The deal could be signed off by the Competition Commission any time between now and October.

The Sunday Times claimed Thomas Cook “is expected to rethink the number of shops it needs”. However, the spokeswoman told Travel Weekly: “We have said we will close 75 when the deal goes through.” She added: “We have said the strategic review will look at the multi-channel [distribution] business.”

Thomas Cook announced a “fundamental review” of its UK business following a profits warning in July. In a statement in early August – on the day Manny Fontenla-Novoa stepped down as chief executive – the group identified “the efficiency of our retail network” and “the size and structure of the airline” as among the areas the review would examine.

The spokeswoman confirmed the review is looking at the airline, including the size of the fleet, but said: “No decisions have been taken.”

The merger with the Co-ops has been touted as a means to increase both in-house distribution and margins, since more high-margin package holidays are sold through shops than other channels. However, industry commentators have questioned the wisdom of acquiring such a sizeable chain of stores during a consumer downturn.

Members of the Thomas Cook board – led by chairman Michael Beckett, acting chief executive Sam Weihagen and chief financial officer Paul Hollingworth – sought to demonstrate confidence in the group last week by purchasing more than 775,000 shares in the company.

The share price fluctuated wildly through last week along with the market, losing 16% on Monday, regaining 17% on Tuesday and climbing 6% on Friday to leave shares trading at 55.6p at the week’s end – giving Thomas Cook a market capitalisation of just under £487 million. Further fluctuations are expected.