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Holland America's Oosterdam to kick off Seattle's homeport season Sunday, May 6
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- Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä
- Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations
- Published: 05 May 2012 05 May 2012
When Holland America Line's Oosterdam arrives at Seattle this Sunday, May 6, it will mark the beginning of the city's summertime Alaska homeport cruise season. The line's Westerdam arrives Saturday, May 12, and ms Amsterdam begins its roundtrip Alaska sailings from Seattle on Friday, May 18.
In addition to the 52 roundtrip Seattle cruises this season, six South Pacific or Pacific Northwest cruises will either begin or end at Seattle, for a total of 58 calls and more than 104,000 guests.
"We always look forward to the start of the Alaska season because it represents a homecoming of our ships to our hometown of Seattle," said Richard Meadows, executive vice president, marketing, sales and guest programs. "It's meaningful not only for our officers and crew, but also for our shoreside employees and the many vendors and service providers we support in Seattle and throughout Washington State."
With three Seattle-based ships sailing out of the homeport for the five-month cruise season in 2011, Holland America Line contributed US$186 million to the Seattle economy and US$222 million across Washington State just from cruise ship calls alone. Factor in office and payroll costs for the 1,335 people the line employs locally at its headquarters, and its total economic impact rises to US$372 million in Seattle and US$526 million statewide.
Indeed, for each port call by the 1,380-guest Amsterdam the line spends approximately $169,000 locally on provisions. For the 1,916-passenger Oosterdam and Westerdam, provisioning costs about $272,000 per week. Holland America Line works with 654 local vendors, from food and beverage suppliers to piano tuners, office supply stores and marine suppliers, among many more.
Holland America Line provisions each ship on "turnaround" dates. Provisioning a ship means bringing aboard all of the supplies and food products needed during a cruise. For example, Oosterdam requires some over 23,000 eggs and 1,375 gallons of milk each week - all coming from local farmers. In addition, local growers supply 147,550 pounds a week of fresh produce.
Also contributing to Holland America Line's economic impact in 2011 was spending by passengers and crew in local shops, restaurants, hotels, museums, sightseeing attractions and taxicabs. Other expenditures include maintaining its ships, plus port fees, charges and taxes.
Costa Crociere’s Palacruceros in Barcelona enjoyed strong 2011
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- Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen
- Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations
- Published: 26 April 2012 26 April 2012
The Palacruceros, Barcelona’s cruise terminal managed by Costa Cruises, the largest Italian travel group and Europe’s n.1 cruise company, enjoyed a 20% rise in passenger volume last year on 2010, Costa Crociere said in a statement.
“The number of passenger movements at the Palacruceros was 731,621, with an increase by 20% in comparison with the previous year. These figures confirms the investment of €12 million that the company did for the construction of the terminal,” Costa Crociere said.
“Furthermore, in 2011 reservations coming form Costa Cruises fleet set up by 50% of the total traffic in the Catalan terminal, which offers the best standards of quality also for the largest ships of the fleet. “
In addition to the facility in Spain, Costa Crociere also operates the Palacrociere terminal in Savona in Italy.
Cruise season kicks off at Cruiseport Boston
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- Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä
- Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations
- Published: 22 April 2012 22 April 2012
Cruiseport Boston’s 2012 season got underway April 21 when Norwegian Dawn sets sail on a special 6-day cruise to Bermuda, the first of 22 weekly cruises to the island. This is the second year for the 2,224 passenger ship to sail the ever-popular 7-day itinerary. The season also brings with it a boatload of new itineraries giving vacationers many more cruising options from Boston. The main newcomer at Cruiseport Boston is Carnival Cruise Lines’ 2,974-passenger Carnival Glory, which will sail a series of 4, 5 and 7-day itineraries to New England and Atlantic Canada during the months of June and July. The first Carnival cruise leaves Boston June 3 heading out for 7 days to Portland, Maine; Saint John, New Brunswick; and Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia. Thereafter Carnival Glory will sail a series of 4-day “long weekend” cruises to Saint John, New Brunswick, and 5-day cruises to Halifax, Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick.
"We’re going to have a very busy season at Cruiseport Boston this year," said David S. Mackey, Massport’s Interim CEO & Executive Director. "In 2010 we completed an $11 million renovation of the facility to bolster our appeal to the cruise lines, and that investment is paying off with all the new itineraries being offered from Boston."
Another indication of the popularity of the renovated Cruiseport Boston facility is the number of passengers starting and ending their cruise vacation in Boston is now 60 percent, compared to the Port-of-Call passengers who visit the city for the day. That increase is helped by the entry of Carnival Glory.
Carnival is known as “The World’s Most Popular Cruise Line®,” with 23 “Fun Ships” giving their guests the sense that they're crossing over into a whole new world of fun every time they walk up the gangway. The 13-deck Carnival Glory was launched in 2003 and offers spacious accommodations, a 270 square foot poolside Seaside Theatre LED screen showing movies, concerts and other programming; a 13,300 square foot spa, four swimming pools – one with a 214-foot-long Twister Waterslide; expansive, modern play areas for children, ’tweens and teens; and Serenity, an exclusive adults-only retreat. Several dining options are also available such as a 24-hour pizzeria, a patisserie, and a classic American steakhouse.
"We’re looking forward to launching our first extended cruise schedule from Boston aboard the Carnival Glory in June," said Gerry Cahill, Carnival Cruise Lines president and CEO. "These four- and five-day cruises not only provide our guests with a convenient and affordable ‘Fun Ship’ cruise choice departing from one of America’s great cities but also offer an opportunity to visit two of Atlantic Canada’s most charming and picturesque destinations, Halifax and Saint John," he added. In addition, Holland America’s Veendam, and three luxury cruise lines: Compagnie du Ponant’s LeBoreal, Seabourn’s Seabourn Soujourn and Crystal Cruises’ Crystal Symphony will all offer new itineraries to Canada & New England ports. As will Norwegian Dawn upon completion of regular weekly Bermuda cruises. Veendam will also offer an18 and 31-day repositioning cruise to South America via the Panama Canal, and Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas will now sail weekly on Sundays to Canada & New England rather than Saturdays.
This new season has the widest array of cruise options in the 26 year history of the Terminal, with something to appeal to all ages and every budget. In 2012, 112 ship calls are scheduled, and Massport anticipates a third consecutive year of more than 300,000 passengers traveling through its Black Falcon Cruise Terminal and an expectation to break the 2010 passenger record high of 322,161. The 2012 cruise season runs from April to November.
French Riviera Cruise Club revamps website
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- Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen
- Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations
- Published: 19 April 2012 19 April 2012
The French Riviera Cruise Club that brings together various parties to promote Cote d’Azur as a cruise destination, has relaunched its website after an extensive revamp, the organisation said in a statement.
Among the new features are maps and description of each member port town, list of excursions that are available, directory of partners and their special offers plus calendar of cruise ship calls. It also features videos about the region.
The aim of the revamp has been to help cruise passengers to plan their trip and to provide information to the cruise industry itself about the region as a destination.
French Riviera Cruise Club has about 120 members and it was founded in 2006.
Visit Greenland launches a new website for cruise professionals
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- Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä
- Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations
- Published: 19 April 2012 19 April 2012
Visit Greenland, the national tourism board of Greenland, is proud to announce the launch of www.cruisegreenland.gl, a dedicated website for cruise professionals devoted to providing detailed information on cruise operations in Greenland.
Due to ever-increasing interest in serving Greenland as a port of call, Visit Greenland realized the need for a one-stop dedicated website for cruise professionals that offers everything necessary to add Greenland to a cruise itinerary.
The website features a calendar detailing the ships calling on each port daily during the tourism season, which in Greenland is typically from June to October. Furthermore, it contains rich content on each of the ports which can be called in all regions of Greenland, maritime operation information including berthing and arctic navigation information, a distance calculator to aid in the calculation of fuel consumption between ports and contact information to make adding calls in Greenland simple.
"We hope that cruise professionals will welcome and use the site for planning cruises to Greenland; and while we wouldn't say the site is perfect from the start, it contains all crucial information needed and contact information necessary for professionals to contact us or our partners in Greenland whenever necessary. That's what we're here for," says Senior Cruise Consultant of Visit Greenland Malik Milfeldt.
Visit Greenland is the national tourism board of Greenland and a government owned agency for the development of tourism in Greenland. We are dedicated to developing and promoting Greenland as an adventure and exclusive cruise destination through destination development, regional and national branding and innovation & product development.
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