Ron L. Phillips named SVP of Human Resources – Office of People and Potential for Carnival Cruise Line

Ron L. Phillips has been appointed Senior Vice President of Human Resources - Office of People and Potential for Carnival Cruise Line. In this capacity, Phillips will oversee shoreside and shipboard human resources for the world's largest cruise line, including talent acquisition, talent management, leadership development, human capital planning, employee engagement, compensation and benefits, and performance management. Phillips begins his new role effective October 19 and will report to Carnival President Christine Duffy.

Phillips has nearly 20 years of HR experience, most recently serving as Chief Human Resources Officer for New York Presbyterian Hospital, which encompasses seven major hospitals, 23,000 employees and 6,000 affiliated physicians. Prior to that he spent eight years in human resource roles at Comcast, eventually rising to the position of Senior Vice President of Human Resources. He has also served in HR roles at Ryder Transportation and McDonald's Corporation.

"Ron brings a wealth of HR experience to his new role and we look forward to his leadership skills as we work toward continued unification of our shipboard and shoreside HR functions and strive to provide an exceptional workplace for our more than 38,000 employees worldwide," said Duffy.

Phillips has a B.S. degree from Virginia State University and a Law Degree from the University of Richmond.

MSC Cruises teams up with Barrhead to offer Glasgow-Genoa flights summer 2016

MSC Cruises, the world’s fourth largest cruise shipping group, and Barrhead Travel, the Scottish travel company, are giving Scottish guests the opportunity to fly straight to the Mediterranean sunshine in 2016, thanks to new regional departures from Glasgow, the cruise line said in a statement

Scottish travel agency giant Barrhead Travel will operate its first dedicated Glasgow – Genoa service right through the summer next year, with flights perfectly timed for cruisers joining MSC Fantasia on its seven-night Western Med sailings from the Italian city.

Giles Hawke, MSC Cruises executive director UK and Ireland said: “We know there are a huge number of MSC Cruises fans, and potential future fans, north of the border and these new flights will make it even easier for them to get straight to the heart of the med, get onboard and start their holiday with us.

“Barrhead Travel is a highly trusted name in Scotland and a great supporter of MSC Cruises. It is fantastic that we can further extend our relationship with these new flights.”

Flights will run from Glasgow to Genoa for 19 weeks between Sunday May 29 and Sunday October 2, 2016 and Barrhead Travel will offer its own selection of all-inclusive fly-cruise packages aboard the 3,274-guest MSC Fantasia. Sailings call at Cannes, France; Palma, Majorca; Barcelona, Spain; Ajaccio, Corsica; Naples, Italy; La Spezia, Italy and Genoa.

Alternatively, guests can opt to fly with Barrhead Travel on its existing Saturday flights from Glasgow to Venice, joining up with the 1,952-guest MSC Sinfonia for its seven-night Eastern Med itineraries. Again, Barrhead will offer its own all-inclusive fly-cruise packages on these sailings, which feature calls at Split, Croatia; Santorini, Greece; Mykonos, Greece; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Ancona, Italy and Venice.

Both routes use British Airways aircraft, giving guests ample leg room, a generous baggage allowance and convenient flight times. Barrhead’s all-inclusive package deals feature complimentary ‘Allegrissimo’ drinks packages, which include unlimited alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, ice-cream and speciality coffees.

Crystal Cruises' international marketing drive extended to Buenos Aires

Alan Lam reporting

The marketing drive for Crystal Cruises’ recently announced massive air, sea, and river expansion programmes has taken another decisive step, with its tentacles reaching the source market of Argentina.

In a recent luncheon gathering, held in the prestigious La Bourgogne restaurant of Buenos Aires’s Alvear Palace Hotel, attended by over 30 carefully selected local travel agents, Crystal Cruises presented to the Argentine market its latest offering – the exclusive 14-night Buenos Aires-Antarctica-Buenos Aires itinerary, which was scheduled to depart from Buenos Aires on 13 January 2016, calling at Ushuaia, Antarctica, Port Stanley (Falkland Islands), Puerto Madryn, and Montevideo before returning to Buenos Aires.

Apart from introducing the new thematic itinerary, Crystal Cruises underscored its new strategy and shored its expansive vision with this market. The company was actively promoting the concepts of Crystal Residence, Crystal Yacht, and Crystal Luxury Air in the hope of appealing to the ultra-exclusive end of this South American market.

As a luxury operator in such an expansive mode, it is understandable that the company will need to reach as many source markets as its capacity allows. Cruise Business Review believes that reaching out to Argentina’s elites is a considered and perspicacious move, as concepts such as ultra luxury air travel, for instance, has a particular appeal in the upper echelon of the Argentine society. “On Crystal Luxury Air you can sleep like an angel,” Juliana Meyer Schmidt of Crystal Cruises told the local press.

Norwegian Escape leaves Meyer Werft for open sea

Norwegian Escape, soon to be the largest ship in the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet, has departed the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany on Friday 18 September for its approximately 24-hour long conveyance along the Ems River.

“Norwegian Escape's river conveyance marks another key milestone in the ship's highly anticipated delivery. Measuring 1069 feet long and 136 feet wide, the ship is the first in the line’s Breakaway Plus class. Three additional ships in the class are on order at Meyer Werft,” the company said in a statement.

At approximately 164,600 gross tons, Norwegian Escape will be the largest vessel in the company’s fleet and exceed the 155,873 gross ton figure of Norwegian Epic, which was completed in 2006.

“After seeing firsthand this week how spectacular Norwegian Escape already looks, I am thrilled that she is officially on her journey to welcome guests next month,” said Andy Stuart, president and chief operating officer of Norwegian Cruise Line. “As the first Breakaway Plus class ship, she will offer the very best in freedom and flexibility for our guests and we cannot wait to officially welcome her to the fleet.”

Sailing backwards, Norwegian Escape left the yard at approximately 2:00 pm (local time in Germany), and made a narrow passage through the ship yard's locks, with only 1.2 metres clearance separating the ship from the "bumpers" that were specially installed along the starboard side of the locks.

Thomson Cruises adds Dubai to base ports with Thomson Celebration 2016-17 deployment 

Thomson Cruises, which is part of the Anglo-German TUI group, says it will base a ship in Dubai for the first time in the 2016-17 winter season. “Two new itineraries announced featuring seven new ports of call: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Manama (Bahrain), Doha (Qatar), Khor Fakkan (UAE), Muscat and Khasab (Oman), the company said in a statement.

Six regional airports will be serving Dubai: Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow and London Gatwick

 “With 13 million tourists visiting the destination in 2014, Dubai’s popularity is soaring and with Brits visiting more and more destinations each year, it will provide the perfect starting point for travellers to experience two exciting new itineraries from December 2016,” Thomson said.

On sale from November 2015, the two seven night itineraries – ‘Arabian Nights’ and ‘Cities of Gold’ – will stop overnight in Dubai and visit six new destinations including Khasab and Muscat in Oman, Manama in Bahrain, Doha in Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Khor Fakkan in UAE.

With the announcement of the new destinations comes an excursion programme, with 36% of respondents to a poll saying a key factor for choosing a destination was whether it would look spectacular on their Instagram account.

 Excursion highlights include the spectacular sites of the Burj al Arab and Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and the Grand Mosque in Muscat. “If the outdoors holds an exotic appeal, customers can explore the magnificent Musafi Mountains in Khor Fakkan and dine on the glamorous Dubai Dhow cruise. Customers exploring Abu Dhabi will be able to grab a taste of the action at Ferrari World, as well as taking in the dazzling Emirates Palace and test their adventurous side with desert safaris,” Thomson continued.

Customers wishing to combine their cruise with a seven night stay in Dubai can stay in luxury hotels including the spectacular Atlantis the Palm.

Managing Director for Thomson Cruises, Helen Caron said: “At Thomson Cruises we know that destinations are one of the key deciding factors for our customers and our decision to set sail from Dubai will allow holiday-makers to see and experience more destinations than ever before.”

“As Dubai becomes more and more popular for winter sun and incredible excursions, we know our customers will be as excited as we are to welcome this destination to our programme. With the average Brit visiting more than 14 foreign countries in their lifetime*, we can’t wait for everyone to discover Arabia, from the glamour and opulence of Dubai and Abu Dhabi to the ancient heritage sites in Oman,” she said in the statement.