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Windstar Cruises cancels Asia and adds Tahiti sailings

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 17 May 2022 17 May 2022

Small ship cruise line Windstar Cruises has cancelled its scheduled cruises in Asia for fall of 2022, citing the continued uncertainty regarding ports reopening in the region.

The move will affect seven scheduled itineraries on the all-suite Star Breeze, including a crossing of the Pacific from Alaska to Japan, two Grand Japan sailings, Island Hopping through Japan, Windstar Crew Hometowns: Philippines and Indonesia, Hidden Indonesia & the Great Barrier Reef, and Edge of the Outback.

Instead, Star Breeze will extend its Alaska season with an additional itinerary (Alaskan Splendors) in late August, followed by West Coast Epicurean Extravaganza down the coast of the U.S., a trans- ocean voyage from San Diego to Tahiti, and five sailings in French Polynesia.

During October 2022, Windstar will celebrate its 35th anniversary of operating cruises in Tahiti – one of the first lines to offer overnight cruises in the region. All sailings aboard Wind Spirit and Star Breeze in Tahiti will join in the celebration with special events planned during the cruise.

On November 11 Star Breeze departs for a trans-ocean journey to Sydney, arriving on November 22 for a scheduled charter cruise. The shift will make the December 4 Tasman Sea Treasures: New Zealand Fjords & South Australia Windstar’s first commercial cruise offered in the region. 2022 marks Windstar’s first time offering comprehensive itineraries to New Zealand and Australia, visiting small, rarely visited ports of call like Middle Percy Island.

“As Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines and South Korea are all currently still closed to cruising, Windstar joins several other cruise lines in making this decision to cancel cruises in Asia for fall,” says Windstar Cruises President Christopher Prelog. “We hope our guests rebook on these same fantastic itineraries for next year.”

Fincantieri appoints Pierroroberto Folgiero as Chief Executive Officer

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 16 May 2022 16 May 2022

The new Board of Directors of Fincantieri S.p.A., appointed by the Shareholders’ Meeting held today, which will remain in office until the Shareholders’ Meeting for the approval of the financial statements as at December 31, 2024, met today, in plenary form, under the chairmanship of Claudio Graziano.

The Board appointed Pierroberto Folgiero as Chief Executive Officer and approved the powers’ attribution, except from those reserved to the Board of Directors’ exclusive jurisdiction.

The Chairman, Claudio Graziano, was granted powers related to institutional representation, supervision of the corporate security and of the internal control and risk management system.

The Chief Executive Officer, Pierroberto Folgiero, was granted extensive powers in the matters of ordinary and extraordinary management of the Company and for the submission of business plans and annual budgets to the Board of Directors.

It was also decided that the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer will jointly participate in the definition of the communication and institutional relations activities, in the definition and development of national and international strategies and in the Company’s internationalization activities.

Cruise tourism in India has potential to grow 10 fold says Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 15 May 2022 15 May 2022

Union Minister for Ports, Shipping & Waterways Shri Sarbananda Sonowal has asserted that Indian cruise market has the potential to grow 10 folds over the next decade, driven by rising demand and disposable incomes. “The government of India realizes this potential and is determined to position India as a global cruise hub with state-of-art infrastructure for both ocean and river cruises”, he said after inaugurating the 1st Incredible India International Cruise Conference 2022 in Mumbai today.

Stating that India is a magnificent cruise destination, Shri Sonowal said several attractions of India along its 7,500 km long coastline and vast river systems are yet to be unveiled to the world. He said the global players have evinced a keen interest in promoting cruise tourism in India, and with the development of right infrastructure and adoption of modern technology, India will certainly become one of the top tourism destinations in the world.

Advisory Panel being set up to help the Task Force on Cruise Tourism

Shri Sonowal stated that the Government has set up a Task Force headed by the Secretary, Tourism and Secretary, Shipping for development of cruise tourism. The Minister today announced the setting up of a high level Advisory Committee, comprising national and international experts, to help the Task Force in creating an enabling eco-system for development of cruise tourism in the country.

Invoking Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Shri Sonowal said ‘Transformation is possible through transportation and for that we need to leverage technology’. Emphasising on the importance of Ports, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had said that Port led development can help in developing a comprehensive eco-system of transport and tourism especially in terms of cruise tourism.

Elaborating the efforts of the Ministry of Tourism and Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Minister of State, Shri Shripad Naik said ‘Four theme based coastal destination circuits such as Gujarat Pilgrimage tours, West Coast – Cultural and scenic tours, South Coast – Ayurvedic wellness tours and East Coast – Heritage tourism have been developed to activate cruise demand. ‘Lighthouse and Island development is also being undertaken to attract Coastal tourists’ he added. He further said River cruise or Inland cruise is another potential component of cruise tourism that could be explored.

Secretary Port and Shipping Shri Sanjiv Ranjan said, post pandemic the tourism sector in India is growing with resurgence and cruise tourism has registered a 35% year-on-year growth. He said the Government of India has prepared the Maritime Vision Document 2030 with focus on heritage tourism,Ayurveda tourism,coastal tourism,river cruise tourism etc. He said new business opportunities for global cruise liners as well as start-ups were discussed in detail at the stakeholders meeting in the morning.

Government of India initiatives

India aims to increase cruise passenger traffic from 0.4 million at present to 4 million. Economic potential of Cruise tourism is expected to go up from USD 110 mn to USD 5.5 bn in the years to come. In order to boost cruise tourism industry in the country, Government of India has taken several initiatives including infrastructure upgradation, rationalisation of port fees, removing ousting charges, granting priority berthing to cruise ships, providing e-visa facilities etc.

Upgradation and modernisation are being carried out at seven major ports in the country including the flagship New International Cruise terminal coming up in Mumbai with a total cost about Rs 495 crores. The iconic sea cruise terminal coming up at BPX-Indira Dock, is expected to be commissioned by July 2024. The terminal will have a capacity of handling 200 ships and 1 million passengers per annum. Similar infrastructure upgradation is taking place in Goa, New Mangalore, Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Kolkata. ‘

About the conference

The 1st Incredible India International Cruise Conference has been jointly organized by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Government of India and FICCI. Strategies for developing India as a cruise hub, policy initiatives and port infrastructure, potential of river cruise tourism, role of technology in the post-pandemic world are some of the key issues being deliberated at the two day event.

More than 300 delegates representing stakeholders including international and Indian cruiseline operators, investors, industry experts and consultants, senior officials of centre and state governments, ports, maritime boards and tourism boards are attending the conference.

AIDAdiva and AIDAperla offer new products after shipyard visits

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 14 May 2022 14 May 2022

Following its stay in the shipyard, AIDAdiva will start on its first voyage from Warnemünde to the Norwegian fjords on Saturday, May 14, 2022. Over the past few weeks, the cruise ship has been undergoing an extensive refurbishment at the Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven GmbH shipyard. From April 25 to May 12, 2022, several areas of the ship were redesigned in addition to regular class and maintenance work.

A new attraction on board AIDAdiva is the restaurant Almhütte. With delicacies from the Alpine region and various beer specialties, there is plenty of fun to be had here in a cozy hut atmosphere.

Wellness lovers can look forward to another novelty at the Body & Soul Spa: The entire wellness oasis has been expanded to include a spacious outdoor area where guests can relax and unwind with a view of the sea. In addition, the fitness equipment has been replaced by the latest generation of equipment and the cyberobics workouts with international star trainers make the hearts of fitness fans beat faster.

With AIDAdiva, AIDA Cruises is offering voyages to Norway and Denmark as well as cruises to Baltic Sea metropolises such as Stockholm and Copenhagen from Warnemünde until October.

Ice cream bar opens on AIDAperla

AIDAperla will end its three-week shipyard stay in Rotterdam on Saturday, May 14, 2022, and set off for Hamburg. The first guests will embark in the Hanseatic city on Monday, May 16, 2022, and will be able to discover numerous innovations on board during their voyage to Norway.

In addition to technical updates and scheduled class and maintenance work, AIDAperla received a visual makeover. In the new ice cream bar, guests young and old can feast on the most delicious types of ice cream. The ice cream masters surprise with delicious ice cream creations from their own production and a wide selection of cakes.

The Body & Soul Organic Spa also shines in new splendor. New on board is a Hypoxi Studio for figure shaping and, as a supplement to the extensive fitness offering, there are now also Cyberobics workouts with international star trainers. A special fashion accessories area for leather goods, handbags and sunglasses has been integrated into the shopping plaza, offering guests even greater shopping pleasure on their voyages.

In the 2022 summer season, AIDAperla will operate 10-night voyages to Norway from Hamburg.

Viking takes delivery of newest ocean ship from Fincantieri

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 12 May 2022 12 May 2022

Viking has taken delivery of the company’s newest ocean ship, the Viking Mars. The delivery ceremony took place this morning when the ship was presented at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Ancona, Italy. The Viking Mars will now make her way to Valletta, Malta, where she will be officially named on May 17, 2022 – Norwegian Constitution Day – by her ceremonial godmother, Lady Fiona Carnarvon, the Countess of Carnarvon. The ship will then sail itineraries in the Mediterranean, Scandinavia and Northern Europe before repositioning at the end of the year for voyages around Australia and New Zealand.

“As we celebrate our 25th anniversary and a year of important milestones for Viking, today we are very proud to welcome the newest ocean ship to our award-winning fleet,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking. “Lady Carnarvon has honored us by serving as godmother to the Viking Mars, and we look forward to welcoming guests on board this beautiful new sister ship in the coming weeks.”