Company Profile: Celebrity Cruises
As senior vice president of operations for Celebrity Cruises since last September, Greg Purdy said it was a great advantage to have a view of both marine and hotel operations, to be able to develop strategies for the total product. “It is a remarkable opportunity,” he said, “providing access to all our teams ashore and…
Food and Beverage: Windstar’s New Corp Exec Chef
There are a lot of cool, even flashy jobs in the cruise industry, but maybe the one that gives the biggest opportunity to be a rock star of sorts is executive chef. With a passion for motorcycles, race cars, exotic travel, and of course amazing food, nobody plays the role quite like Michael Sabourin. With…
Digital: Silversea Goes Streaming
Already rolled out on the Silver Cloud, guests can now watch TV, on-demand movies and enjoy newspapers from their mobile devices and laptops. Silversea plans to have the service on four more ships, the Shadow, Whisper, Wind and Galapagos by year’s end. The server can be accessed on any Wi-Fi-enabled device, ranging from iPads to…
Refurbishments: Crystal Serenity’s Super Drydock
The keys to a successful drydock? “Planning, timing and supervision,” according to Steven Spendlove, director of technical operations for Crystal Cruises, and who is in charge of the Serenity’s $17 million November drydocking in Spain. Among the main highlights for the nine-day drydock is technical work. First, Crystal is doing major maintenance work on the…
Editorial: Europe Taking ‘Five’
Our market focus in this issue is on Europe and its diversity of cruise products, driven by a decade of steady growth and expectations of an even brighter future. No matter how expert, however, forecasters do not seem able to predict such events as the Arab Spring, negative publicity from ship incidents, or economic downturns,…
Europe: Awaiting a Turn-Around
After posting an average annual growth rate of more than 8 percent a year for the past five years, the European passenger base has grown from 3.1 million in 2005 to 6.1 million in 2012. With more ships under construction by European cruise brands, and with the North American brands also sourcing in Europe, the…
Europe: Ponant Global Push
A luxury French cruise line in Compagnie du Ponant is making a worldwide push thanks to a recent newbuild program and investment from Bridgepoint, a European private equity firm. “New ships mean an increase in the consistency of our Ponant product,” said Hervé Bellaiche, executive vice president of sales. The company’s older tonnage has been…
Windstar: Major Staggered Growth
By summer 2015, Windstar Cruises will have gone from three ships and 600 beds to six ships and 1,200 beds, with the addition of the three smaller Seabourn ships. CEO Hans Birkholz said the expansion was based on three key considerations. “First, the business has been growing and we are in need of additional capacity,”…
ECA Extensions
With the ECA scheduled to go into full force in 2015, cruise lines may find that they will be granted extensions as long as they are working on compliance technology. According to a statement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the agency and the U.S. Coast Guard have been working with cruise lines and…
Food and Beverage: The Mediterranean Art of Eating
Offerings aboard the MSC Cruises fleet are built on a platform of Mediterranean lifestyle. “We present the flavors and traditions of the region to our multicultural guests, all in respect of a healthy diet,” said Monica Panero, product and project director at MSC Italcatering, in an interview with Cruise Industry News. She said the trends…
Food and Beverage: Evolving with Two Chefs
The diversity presented on Remy’s menu on the Disney Dream and Fantasy is a the result of a natural collaboration between Chef Arnaud Lallement from l’Assiette Champenoise, a Michelin 2-star restaurant just outside Reims, France, and Chef Scott Hunnel, from Victoria & Albert’s at Walt Disney World Resort. But that didn’t come easy, as Ozer…
Royal Princess: Future Proof
The Royal Princess is the greenest ship in its fleet, according to Princess Cruises, which said the new ship has been designed to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. The 141,000-ton ship has a Wartsila diesel-electric powerplant with four 46F engines with a total output of 62 MW, and traditional shaft drives. Partially thanks…
Technical: Project Mille
The new ship concept provides owners with more revenue-generating space and is more efficient to operate, said Maurizio Cergol, head of marketing and new concept development for Fincantieri, about the company’s new Project Mille design. Based on a narrower superstructure on a beam in proper portion to draft and length, more decks can be added…
China: ‘The Time Has Come’
In the central part of Beijing, the China Cruise and Yacht Industry Association (CCYIA) has a team with some 20 staff, working diligently to promote the healthy growth and development of the Chinese cruise industry. Although the CCYIA is registered as a non-profit organization in China, it has the official backing from the National Development…
F&B: Food Spend Steady
Serving up fine cuisines along with comfort food in their many dining venues and crew quarters, food spending per person, per day aboard cruise ships ran from $9.02 to 9.46 for the publicly traded companies in 2012, including lobster tails and filet mignon. Last year, the biggest spender on food was Royal Caribbean Cruises at…