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MSC Cruises outlines offerings on MSC Orchestra Dubai to Australia voyage

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Latest offers Latest offers

Published: 05 February 2014 05 February 2014

MSC Cruises, the Geneva based cruise shipping company, has outlines its pricing package structure for MSC Orchestra's voyage from Dubai to Fremantle in the spring of 2015.

Giles Hawke, Executive Director for MSC Cruises UK, Ireland and Australia commented: “We are very excited that the official launch of the new itinerary almost coincides with the launch of our new pricing structure as it not only allows an insight into the perks of the new 'Experiences' pricing but will also give travel agents an indication to how it will work. We are proud to offer our clientele a brand new product and feel that this itinerary highlights MSC Cruises' continuing evolvement and growth."

Prices for this itinerary start from £3,129pp cruise only for an inside cabin with Bella Experience. The ship will sail from Dubai on 21 February and reach Fremantle on 26 March 2015.

Bella and Fantastica guests:
• Oriental Odyssey drink package: 4 drinks per day during meals are
Free. Choose from wine, draft beer, mineral water and soft drinks.

• Oriental Odyssey shore package: 3 all-day excursions and 2 half-day excursions of choice from Mumbai, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide

• 30% discount on laundry services.

Aurea guests:
• Oriental Odyssey Spa package: treatments especially designed for
Aurea guests. They include different kinds of massages, a medical
personalised consultation and various fitness activities.

• Oriental Odyssey shore package: 3 all-day excursions and 2 half-day
excursions of choice from Mumbai, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

• 30% discount on laundry services.

 

Cuba Cruise offers 2 for 1 promotion on all new bookings before February 28th

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Latest offers Latest offers

Published: 03 February 2014 03 February 2014

Cuba Cruise introduces a special 'Buy One, Get One' offer all new bookings made before February 28th, 2014. "Bring a friend, family member or spouse for free and enjoy the enchanting island of Cuba on an exclusive 7-night circumnavigation sailing. Cuba Cruise will even hold your cabin for 7 days to find your flights – no obligations!" Cuba Cruise says in its release.

"Winter is the ideal time to warm up in sunny Cuba, especially with the family," says Cuba Cruise President Dugald Wells. "We're thrilled to offer guests this special promotion, making it easier and more affordable than ever to explore this charming island."

The special promotion applies to all cabin categories and direct bookings, including reservations for children. Add a child to a booking and the second child is also free*.

For passengers travelling alone, Cuba Cruise also waived* the single supplement.

What's Included

" 7 nights accommodation in the selected cabin category

" Full breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks every day

" Fitness centre

" Fully supervised children's program for ages 4-12

" Daily entertainment program

" Evening entertainment and theme nights

" Your very own Cuba!

Guests can join the 7-night cruise at either Havana or Montego Bay. Cuba Cruise features Canadian imported cuisine as well as local specialties, and explores diverse ports including Santiago, Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Punta Frances on the Isle of Youth. The 480-stateroom boutique cruise ship Louis Cristal allows access into Cuba's remote areas, many of which have never been accessible on a single itinerary without complicated and uncomfortable travel between locations. Cuba Cruise makes it simple, relaxing and a whole lot of fun to see all of Cuba's most magnificent offerings on one comprehensive trip.

*For full terms & conditions, visit [http://www.yourcubacruise.com/DatesPrices.aspx]

To make a reservation, visit [http://www.yourcubacruise.com] and book online directly.

London Heathrow implements capacity cap

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Air & Sea Air & Sea

Published: 12 July 2022 12 July 2022

Statement of John Holland-Kaye, CEO of Heathrow:

"The global aviation industry is recovering from the pandemic, but the legacy of COVID continues to pose challenges for the entire sector as it rebuilds capacity. At Heathrow, we have seen 40 years of passenger growth in just four months. Despite this, we managed to get the vast majority of passengers away smoothly on their journeys through the Easter and half term peaks. This was only possible because of close collaboration and planning with our airport partners including airlines, airline ground handlers and Border Force.

We started recruiting back in November last year in anticipation of capacity recovering this summer, and by the end of July, we will have as many people working in security as we had pre-pandemic. We have also reopened and moved 25 airlines into Terminal 4 to provide more space for passengers and grown our passenger service team.

New colleagues are learning fast but are not yet up to full speed. However, there are some critical functions in the airport which are still significantly under resourced, in particular ground handlers, who are contracted by airlines to provide check-in staff, load and unload bags and turnaround aircraft. They are doing the very best they can with the resources available and we are giving them as much support possible, but this is a significant constraint to the airport's overall capacity.

However, over the past few weeks, as departing passenger numbers have regularly exceeded 100,000 a day, we have started to see periods when service drops to a level that is not acceptable: long queue times, delays for passengers requiring assistance, bags not travelling with passengers or arriving late, low punctuality and last-minute cancellations. This is due to a combination of reduced arrivals punctuality (as a result of delays at other airports and in European airspace) and increased passenger numbers starting to exceed the combined capacity of airlines, airline ground handlers and the airport. Our colleagues are going above and beyond to get as many passengers away as possible, but we cannot put them at risk for their own safety and wellbeing.

Last month, the DfT and CAA wrote to the sector asking us all to review our plans for the summer and ensure we were prepared to manage expected passenger levels safely and minimise further disruption. Ministers subsequently implemented a slot amnesty programme to encourage airlines to remove flights from their schedules with no penalty. We held off putting additional controls on passenger numbers until this amnesty process concluded last Friday and we had a clearer view of the reductions that airlines have made.

Some airlines have taken significant action, but others have not, and we believe that further action is needed now to ensure passengers have a safe and reliable journey. We have therefore made the difficult decision to introduce a capacity cap with effect from 12 July to 11 September. Similar measures to control passenger demand have been implemented at other airports both in the UK and around the world.

Our assessment is that the maximum number of daily departing passengers that airlines, airline ground handlers and the airport can collectively serve over the summer is no more than 100,000. The latest forecasts indicate that even despite the amnesty, daily departing seats over the summer will average 104,000 – giving a daily excess of 4,000 seats. On average only about 1,500 of these 4,000 daily seats have currently been sold to passengers, and so we are asking our airline partners to stop selling summer tickets to limit the impact on passengers.

By making this intervention now, our objective is to protect flights for the vast majority of passengers at Heathrow this summer and to give confidence that everyone who does travel through the airport will have a safe and reliable journey and arrive at their destination with their bags. We recognise that this will mean some summer journeys will either be moved to another day, another airport or be cancelled and we apologise to those whose travel plans are affected.

The airport will still be busy, as we are trying to get as many people away as possible, and we ask you to bear with us if it takes a little longer to check in, go through security or collect your bag than you are used to at Heathrow. We ask passengers to help, by making sure they have completed all their COVID requirements online before they come to the airport, by not arriving earlier than 3 hours before their flight, by being ready for security with laptops out of bags and liquids, aerosols and gels in a sealed 100ml plastic bag, and by using e-gates in immigration where eligible. We are all recruiting as fast as we can and aim to return to the excellent service you should expect from the UK’s hub airport as soon as possible."

Finnair opens new polar route between Seattle and Helsinki

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Air & Sea Air & Sea

Published: 05 June 2022 05 June 2022

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) welcomed its latest new international service on June 1 with Finnair’s inaugural service from Seattle to Helsinki. The flight’s shorter polar routing provides easy access to the Nordic countries as well as efficient connections to destinations throughout Europe and beyond. In Seattle, passengers can connect to the extensive network offered by Finnair’s oneworld partner, Alaska Airlines.

“We’re proud of the resilience of the Seattle market,” said Lance Lyttle, SEA Airport Managing Director. “Finnair’s Helsinki service is SEA’s eighth new international service to launch since the start of the pandemic, and we’re excited to be able to welcome them into our brand new International Arrivals Facility.”

With Alaska Airlines’ entry into the oneworld alliance in 2021, Alaska Mileage Plan members will be able to earn and redeem frequent flier miles on Finnair’s entire network.

SEA Airport is making significant investments to make international travel through SEA more efficient and representative of our region. The recently-opened new International Arrivals Facility provides travelers an expanded and more efficient experience to meet the growing regional demand for international travel. The new facility is over four times the size of the current facility and includes an iconic aerial walkway which is the longest over an active taxilane in the world!

The new flight operates three times per week – Monday, Wednesday, and Friday using an Airbus A330 aircraft.