Vancouver: ‘Preparing for Record Year’ in Cruise
“We are preparing for another record year in Vancouver,” Mandy Chan, manager of cruise services for the Port of Vancouver, told Cruise Industry News. “We have about 325 calls scheduled of which approximately 90 percent are homeport calls. This could mean 1.3 million passengers. Starting in April, the 2022 season will run through October. Among…
Costa’s Michelin-Star Experience
Introducing the new Archipelago restaurant, Roberto Bonomini, corporate food and beverage director for Costa Cruises, told Cruise Industry News the new concept is part of a brand transformation of the cruise line. “We are offering a Michelin-star level experience that is also sustainable,” he said. “(On any give cruise) our guests can choose from three…
Seattle: Excited About 2022 Cruise Season
The Port of Seattle is looking forward to a strong 2022 after being among the first North American cruise ports to resume service. The Serenade of the Seas launched a shortened Alaska season on July 19 of last year. which saw 83 departures by different ships, concluding with the Norwegian Encore on October 23. “It…
Galveston Sets Expansion Course
The future looks bright for Galveston, which will receive the Allure of the Seas and the new Norwegian Prima during 2022 and then Carnival’s latest Excel-class ship in 2023, the Carnival Jubilee. Already, Carnival sails three ships year-round from the Texas port, Royal Caribbean one ship year-round and one seasonally, and Disney one ship seasonally….
Holland America: ‘Quantum Leap in Product and Experience’
“With the Pinnacle-class ships we have taken a quantum leap in the product and experience we deliver to our guests,” Frits van der Werff, vice president, hotel and food and beverage for Holland America Line, told Cruise Industry News aboard the new Rotterdam. “The standard is that we can deliver a premium product, but still…
Cruise Industry Restart: Dealing with Supply Chain Challenges
The industry’s restart continues to pick up aggressively and has been met with new challenges: shipping delays, freight costs skyrocketing and general supply chain headaches, giving cruise lines a host of new obstacles in addition to public health. In some cases, bacon has disappeared on certain days from certain ships, and some whiskey brands are…
Ponant: The Most Advanced Ship Yet
Ponant’s new Le Commandant Charcot joined the fleet at the end of July, a culmination of a six-year design, development and shipbuilding process for an advanced prototype ship to run on hybrid propulsion with LNG and battery power. “When we started this project we wanted the fuel that had the least impact on the environment,”…
Shipbuilding: Fincantieri Looking Forward
Fincantieri’s orderbook counts 33 cruise ships for 13 different brands, demonstrating the effectiveness of its product and customer differentiation policy, Luigi Matarazzo, general manager of the merchant ships division, told Cruise Industry News. For 2021, six ships have been delivered so far: four from the group’s Italian yards: the Valiant Lady, the Viking Venus, the…
MSC Cruises Is Looking for Green Opportunities
“Our core focus at the moment is on decarbonization,” said Linden Coppell, director of sustainability at MSC Cruises. Solutions encompass energy efficiency both for the company’s fleet of current ships and orderbook extending through 2027, with five LNG newbuilds. “The solutions for the existing fleet and existing engines include bio fuels, using existing infrastructure,” she…
Mardi Gras Upping the Food and Beverage Game for Carnival
As the Mardi Gras is a new class of ship for Carnival Cruise Line, there are more dining venues than on any other ship in the fleet and the distribution of some venues is different, according to Cyrus Marfatia, vice president of culinary and dining. “We did a lot of research among past guests,” he…
Itinerary Planning: Princess Resuming Core Programs
“We aim to get back to our core itineraries with pretty much the same ratio of ALBDs (available lower berth days) across the trades,” Deanna Austin, chief commercial officer for Princess Cruises, told Cruise Industry News. “With bigger ships the relative percentage of guests on our main trades in Alaska, the Caribbean, Europe and Mexico…
Carnival Corporation: More Efficient and Sustainable
“Our number one goal is reducing our emissions,” said Bill Burke, chief maritime officer at Carnival Corporation. That goal is a 40 percent reduction in the company’s carbon emissions by 2030 when compared to a 2008 baseline, with carbon levels peaking for Carnival in 2011. It’s a combination of efficiency and sustainability, Burke said. That…
Royal Caribbean Awaiting Approval for China Cruises
Once the Chinese government gives its approval for international cruises, the market will bounce back strongly, Dr. Zinan Liu, chairman, Royal Caribbean Cruises Asia, told Cruise Industry News. Meanwhile, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has given the company the green light to restart cruises to nowhere aboard the Spectrum of…
MSC Food and Beverage Bringing ‘More Options and Choices’
The new MSC Virtuosa features five specialty restaurants including two new specialty dining concepts: HOLA! Tacos & Cantina and Indochine., according to Jacques van Staden, vice president of food and beverage. Staden said that the HOLA! Concept offers a street-food style Latin American and Mexican dining concept while the Indochine restaurant is the company’s original…
Ambassador Cruise Line: In With the New
A new cruise line with a host of familiar faces in management is what Ambassador Cruise Line brings to the British cruise market. Former executives of Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV), a cruise line that went into administration nearly a year ago, have teamed up to launch a new brand with a ship that was…