Latest News
- Royal Caribbean to redeploy Explorer from Cape Liberty to Port Canaveral
- Serenissima refloated after Scottish incident
- British TV nature presenter Tony Soper to offer Vistas on Boudicca in October
- Holland America Line makes three director appointments in fleet operations department
- Windstar Cruises introduces new yacht and voyage collection
Top Headlines
- The American Steamboat Company to expand west
- Carnival shares open sharply lower in New York, partly recover in London after morning rout
- Carnival issues profit warning, says yields to fall, shares dive in London
- Richard J. O'Hanlon appointed Vice President, Nautical and Safety Operations for Carnival Cruise Lines
- Viking launches its ocean project, company rebrands
- Royal Caribbean's Vice Chairman and CFO Rice to retire
- TUI AG to restructure Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten unit after its deep interim losses
Ports & Destinations
- Port of Barcelona hits an annual record
- Athens prepares to host Posidonia Sea Tourism Conference
- Norwegian Breakaway makes maiden call to Bermuda
- Study demonstrates that BC cruise ports continue to be an economic hub in Canada
- Ports America awarded operating contract for Port of Los Angeles Cruise Terminal
Products & services
- Trimline completes work on Pullmantur’s Monarch
- Wallem opens offices in South Africa
- Trimline and Carnival UK agree an on board interior maintenance service for five ships
- Wärtsilä Aquarius ballast water system received final approval
- Wallem opens first hub of expertise in Singapore as it looks to establish strategic maritime locations around the world
Cruise Business Onboard
Alternative flash content
Requirements
New cruise brand with two ships to launch in the UK in 2010
- Details
- Category: Latest News
- Published on Friday, 14 August 2009 12:57
- Written by Kari Reinikainen
Cruise & Maritime Services International (CMS), a company based in Dartford in the south east of England, has set up a new brand called Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) that will introduce two ships on the British market next year. All cruises of both ships will depart from ports in Britain and they will add 27,000 berths to the market in 2010.
The 22,080 gross ton Marco Polo has been chartered from its owners for five years, whereas the 17,600 gross ton Ocean Countess – best known by its original name Cunard Countess – has been taken up by CMV for two years. Marco Polo, which has made a few cruises from Tilbury whilst on charter to Transocean Tours of Bremen, will continue to operate from there. This autumn, it will make a 32-night Caribbean cruise with a call in Plymouth to allow passengers to embark and disembark at the west of England port as well.
Following a short docking period in the UK, the vessel will commence operations under her new livery on 2 January 2010 with a new ex-UK winter programme. London Tilbury will be Marco Polo’s home port and her 2010 programme will comprise 24 ex-UK ‘no fly’ sailings featuring the Amazon, Orinoco and West Indies during the winter months followed by a season of Nordic cruises to Scandinavia and the Baltic & Russia, Iceland, the British Isles, the Mediterranean and Canary Islands.
The 800 passenger Ocean Countess will also be joining the Cruise & Maritime Voyages fleet on the 18 April 2010 under an initial two season (2010 & 2011) deck and engine charter arrangement from the Greece based Majestic International Cruises Group. As part of the deal, CMS have appointed the Global Maritime Group to supply hotel, marine and entertainment management services, which they also provide for Marco Polo, to ensure product continuity.
Ocean Countess will operate a year round programme of 22 ex-UK regional ‘no fly’ sailings operating from Hull, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Greenock, Liverpool and Plymouth with a summer season of Nordic cruises to Scandinavia, the Baltic & Russia, Iceland, the British Isles, the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands. Prior to delivery, Ocean Countess will undergo a £3million refurbishment and upgrade programme.
CMS Managing Director Chris Coates said: “For the company and our trading partners this is indeed an exciting development and presents an attractive market opportunity. We all collectively believe that despite the significant increase in the larger resort style vessels, the reducing number of smaller, traditional and lower capacity vessels generally operated by the independent and privately owned shipping companies, still have a huge following on the British market."
"We believe this potentially enables us to deliver a more personal and friendly standard of service and our vessels can also visit more remote ports of call and places not always accessible to the larger resort ships. We are all of course still mindful of the recessionary pressures facing the British and global economies but believe that our largely grey market sector is more resilient and our strong price positioning will assist us in achieving our targets as the market begins to recover during 2010 and 2011."
Viking Star
Oasis of the Seas Coverage
- Crystal creates visual magic with water for the AquaTheater on the Oasis and Allure
- Allure of the Seas features 3D digital cinema engineered by FUNA
- Allure of the Seas sails with KONE people flow solutions
- Starbucks and Royal Caribbean to offer first ever Starbucks at sea on Allure of the Seas
- Autronica delivers extensive safety system to Allure of the Seas
