Ports & destinations

Saint John named a top port of call on Smarter Travel

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 14 April 2013 14 April 2013

The Smarter Travel piece, also published by popular travel site Yahoo Travel, ranked Saint John as one of seven travel destinations in their "Best ports of call" feature. The city is listed alongside ports like Marina Bay, Singapore and Tasmania, Australia.

Smarter Travel writer Dara Continenza notes the surge in cruise traffic in North American markets, highlighting Saint John specifically.

"Once docked, check out the quaint uptown area, filled with Victorian charm, before experiencing the famous Reversing Falls via jet boat. Almost everything in Saint John revolves around the water—a perfect destination for seafaring travelers," she writes.

Port Saint John is fourth in the country by cruise traffic, with close to 188,000 passengers visiting in 2012.

"We are thrilled to receive such prestigious international recognition for Saint John as a leading cruise destination," said Jim Quinn, President & CEO, Port Saint John. "To be recognized by a high profile travel site such as Yahoo in this way continues to raise awareness of this port of call to cruise consumers; this will further develop and strengthen destination awareness in this market is a priority of our cruise marketing efforts."

To read "Best ports of call" visit, http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/best-ports-of-call-222515556.html?page=7

Valletta organises special welcome for Costa Cruises' 65th anniversary

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 08 April 2013 08 April 2013

Cruise industry stakeholders at Valletta, Malta teamed up to celebrate Costa Cruises’ 65th anniversary. For the arrival of the Costa Favolosa on the 29th March, the Costa Fascinosa on 2nd April and the Costa Favolosa on the 5th April, 2013 a special welcome was organised by Valletta Cruise Port and SMS International Shore Operations, local handling agents for Costa Cruises.

The ships were greeted by an eight-cannon salute, fired from the historic Saluting Battery. The Valletta Cruise Port pier and terminals, were decorated with festive banners and blue and yellow balloons, the colours of the Costa Cruises’ brand. On arrival, a 15-piece village band entertained guests with a number of lively compositions. Girls in traditional local costume handed out local sweets. An Inguardia re-enactment courtesy of the Malta Tourism Authority showed events happening during the Knights of St John period.

"The business relationship between Valletta and Costa Cruises goes back a considerable number of years. We look forward to yet another joint fruitful year," commented John Portelli, Chief Executive Officer of Valletta Cruise Port.

AIDAstella opens the season in Zeebrugge

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 08 April 2013 08 April 2013

Monday morning March 25th, AIDA Cruises’ AIDAstella arrived in the port of Zeebrugge. She was the first cruise ship of the new season to call on Zeebrugge. In 2013, Zeebrugge will receive over 110 cruise ships.

The port of Zeebrugge is the largest cruise port in Flanders. With over 91 cruise calls and 333.000 cruise passengers, 2012 was a record year. The new season, will be even better. Already 110 cruise ships have announced a visit to Belgium’s coastal port. Zeebrugge provides the quickest access to the many historical cities in Belgium: Bruges foremost but also Ghent, Antwerp and Belgium’s capital Brussels. Another major tourist attraction are the battlefields of 1914-1918 and the many commemorative events surrounding the centenary of the Great War.

The steep rise of Zeebrugge as a transit port demonstrates that complete co-operation within the port and a forward thinking management working with the local tour operator can bring success. Bob Harrison, who has been marketing the port of Zeebrugge for the past 3 years is pleased that his hard work is now showing results and with the new cruise terminal planned to be ready for business in 2015 the future for the port of Zeebrugge is looking very bright.

"We are listening to what the market is saying. Cruising in Northwest Europe is becoming increasingly popular but the industry is also faced with new challenges and is looking to reduce costs whilst offering more choice to the passengers. Zeebrugge fits the picture. We want to improve our service level to the lines and their guests by offering turnarounds from our new terminal building. We have the transport infrastructure and the hotel accommodation. We can do it."

Holland America Line develops multilingual tours and tailors shore excursions for international guests

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 08 April 2013 08 April 2013

To enhance the experience of Holland America Line's growing mix of international guests, the line now offers multilingual European shore excursions and enhanced hundreds of existing tours to cater to Spanish-, Dutch- and German-speaking guests.

The new tours were developed for European travelers who may be more familiar with these ports and already visited key monuments and traditional sights such as the Colosseum in Rome or Acropolis in Athens. Now Spanish-, Dutch- and German-speaking guests looking for something new can opt to book a less traditional tour - offered in their own language - such as a hiking adventure, biking through town or visiting the countryside. However, for European guests who still want to visit popular landmarks, tours also will be available in the three languages to those destinations. Foreign language tours are offered when 30 guests who speak a common language are booked on a voyage.

"We have a multicultural mix of clientele and adding these tours in three languages ensures that all of our guests have an enriching and fulfilling cruise, both on board and ashore," said Richard Meadows, executive vice president, marketing, sales and guest programs for Holland America Line. "These tours are not just translations of our English-language tours; they were developed while thinking about the preferences of our international guests."

Tours offered in Dutch include Hiking Ft. Floien in Bergen; an excursion from Monaco to the city of Villefranche-sur-Mer or a relaxing Kayak along the Aurlandsfjord in Flam. German-speaking tours include a visit to the ancient city of Iliada from the port of Katákolon, Greece or a beer cruise on the Bosporus Strait in Istanbul, Turkey. Spanish-speaking guests might enjoy a 4x4 expedition to the village of Cámara de Lobos in Portugal or a beach tour in Valencia, Spain.

The program is expanding and select excursions are offered in German and Spanish throughout South America.

The international tours are part of Holland America Line's signature shore excursion experience. When in port, guests can choose from a multitude of diverse tours including Overland Adventures, off-the-beaten-track explorations, Signature Collection private-car touring and exclusive Medallion Collection excursions.

Visi twww.hollandamerica.com<http://www.hollandamerica.com> and view Ports & Excursions tab for details.

New member for the Atlantic Alliance – Port of Bordeaux

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 21 March 2013 21 March 2013

At the start of 2013, the Atlantic Alliance welcomed the Port of Bordeaux to the marketing association.

The world renowned wine capital Bordeaux is a Unesco World Heritage Site, and offers cruise ships a really unique and stunning city center call. Cruise passengers arriving at Bordeaux first see and enjoy the magnificent 18th century façade alongside which their ship will berth. Passengers can easily discover the town on foot, enjoy shopping and restaurants in the pedestrian heart of the city, and within easy distance by bus, they can explore the famous châteaux and vineyards of Médoc, Saint-Emilion, Margaux, Pauillac or Sauternes.

"Atlantic Alliance is a cooperation of the finest ports and destinations in Western Europe, and we felt that Bordeaux, which is a real gem on the Atlantic coast, had every reason to become a member of the Atlantic Alliance," commented Laurence Bouchardie, Cruise Bordeaux, Atlantic Port of Bordeaux.