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P&O Cruises presents winter 2021-22 roadmap to resume more operations

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 22 June 2021 22 June 2021

P&O Cruises, the UK focused contemporary market unit of Carnival Corporation & plc, has published its expected deployment and phased re-start plan for the remainder of 2021 and into early 2022.

This entails four of the six ships of the line, with Aurora’s winter deployment due to be published soon. This leaves only Arcadia without a published itinerary to resume cruising

Britannia will begin the planned western Mediterranean itineraries on September 25 and Iona will start her Atlantic coast holidays from the same date. These cruises will follow the series of UK coastal cruises beginning in June, the company said in a statement.

Ventura’s first cruises will be the planned programme of Atlantic islands holidays from October 3.

Following the Mediterranean season, running until October, Britannia will reposition to the Caribbean for her winter season as scheduled, followed by Azura which will begin Caribbean fly/cruises slightly later than published from December 10, 2021.

P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow said: “We are very much looking forward to getting Britannia and Iona back to sea for the series of UK coastal cruises – staycations at their best - which are certainly proving very popular and then beginning our international re-start as we phase in each of the other ships.

“As we know the UK Government has developed a traffic light system for holidays abroad this summer. The current situation means that whilst unfortunately there will be a number of cancellations of itineraries on some ships, we are looking ahead and planning for the future with vigour."

"We are confident that destinations will soon open up their borders both for UK travellers and also for cruise ships. Spain and its islands and the Caribbean are both looking very positive and we are seeing, one by one, countries publicly looking forward to welcoming us back,” he said in the statement.

The length and complexity of Arcadia and Aurora’s planned long haul cruises from January next year has forced their cancellation and these two ships will not begin sailing until next year. However a replacement itinerary for Aurora, with winter sun appeal, will be announced shortly.

Holland America to operate two ships from San Diego, four ships from Port Everglades this fall

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 21 June 2021 21 June 2021

Holland America Line is gearing up to restart cruising out of Port of San Diego in California beginning with a season of cruises to Mexico, Hawaii and along the California coast aboard Koningsdam and Zuiderdam. The cruise line has expanded the season with the addition of six new cruise departures for Zuiderdam and two new cruises on Koningsdam, offering a total of 40 cruises from San Diego from September 2021 through April 2022.

With the resumption of service on the West Coast, Holland America Line also is looking toward cruising in the Caribbean with four ships. All sailing roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the season will begin Oct. 23, 2021, with Nieuw Amsterdam. The ship will be joined by the new Rotterdam Nov. 3, Eurodam Nov. 14 and Nieuw Statendam Nov. 21. Caribbean cruises range in length from 4 to 14 nights, span the entire region and include a call at Half Moon Cay, Holland America Line’s award-winning private island.

“San Diego has always been an incredible homeport for our ships, and we are eager to restart on the West Coast with two ships operating an expanded season, including the debut of Koningsdam on these itineraries and close-to-home California cruises that our guests are going to love,” said Gus Antorcha, president of Holland America Line. “We’ve also been anticipating announcing our plans for the Caribbean and we’re thrilled to have four ships in the region, including our new Rotterdam. Cruising is back and having vaccinated ships for these cruises in 2021 ensures that we can deliver the experience just how our guests remember and expect. We’re ready to cruise!”

A cruise experience that is a cruise

The on-board cruise experience will offer amenities that are a hallmark of the brand. Dining will be available in all restaurants and specialty venues, as well as room service. Entertainment will be in full swing in the main show lounge, and live music and dancing will be featured in Lincoln Center Stage, B.B. King’s Blues Club, Billboard Onboard and Rolling Stone Rock Room.

Port-to-Table culinary demonstrations, EXC Talks and other enrichment programming will bring regional cultures on board through engaging activities and special presentations. Guests may choose to explore port destinations independently or on ship-sponsored tours, following the local ports’ health guidelines.

2021 cruises to Asia, Australia and South America canceled

While Holland America Line continues to work with governments and port authorities in coordination with the phased resumption of cruising in other areas of the world, the company is canceling cruises in Asia, Australia and New Zealand and South America through the remainder of 2021, along with the Collectors’ Voyages (combined cruises) associated with those departures. This affects itineraries on Noordam (Asia), Oosterdam (Australia) and Westerdam (South America). In addition, fall sailings through the end of 2021 on Volendam and Zaandam also are cancelled.

Meyer Turku celebrates Icon of the Seas production start

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 17 June 2021 17 June 2021

Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland said it has started the production of Icon of the Seas, the first of three LNG powered ships to be built for Royal Caribbean International.

The start of production of the ship that will be of about 200,000 gross tons and the revealing of the ship’s name were celebrated in a corona-safe manner at the shipyard's plate hall.

Meyer Turku CEO Tim Meyer, Chairman of the Board of Meyer Turku , Bernard Meyer, Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, Richard Fain, and Harri Kulovaara, Executive Vice President of Maritime & Newbuilds, were present. CEO and president of Royal Caribbean International, Michael Bayley, attended the event remotely.

“We made our commitment to making clean power at sea a reality – and soon the norm – when Icon Class was first announced in 2016, and we’re excited to see construction underway on what will truly be a ship unlike any other,” said Michael Bayley in a statement.

“We have eagerly accepted this challenge. Now that ship production in our halls has begun, we are beginning to see the results of our design take physical form. This is always a solemn moment for us shipbuilders," CEO Tim Meyer said.

When completed in 2023, Icon of the Seas will be an advanced cruise ship with special focus on environmental technologies. The ship will, for example, have air lubrication of underwater hull, sending millions of microscopic bubbles along the hull of the ship to reduce friction and advanced waste heat recovery system to turn waste heat into up to 3MW extra energy.

“We look forward to revealing more of the game-changing features our guests and crew have in store as she begins to take shape," CEO Michael Bayley concluded.

Cunard cancels number of long haul winter 2021-22 cruises

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 16 June 2021 16 June 2021

Cunard, the premium to luxury market unit in the Carnival Corporation & plc group, said it would cancel a number of winter 2021-22 long haul cruises, but proceed according to previously published plans to resume cruising from the UK on 19 July.

Due to the ongoing complexities of navigating global travel, Cunard has announced that they will be cancelling the following voyages:

- Queen Elizabeth’s sailings from the UK to Australia and her homeport season in Australia from the 18 October, 2021 up to and including the 9 March, 2022.

- World Voyages on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria in 2022 are now cancelled.

- Queen Victoria’s sailings from the 10 September, 2021 up to and including the 29 April, 2022 are now cancelled.

- However, five of Queen Victoria’s sailings will transfer onto identical voyages on sister ship Queen Elizabeth. These voyages are V126, V128, V129, V130 and V201.

Cunard president Simon Palethorpe, said in a statement: “Sadly, the path for a return to sailing across international waters is less clear and we are extremely sorry for the huge disappointment cancellations will cause for all guests who have been affected. Unfortunately, there are simply too many international ports of call affected by the ongoing complexities of COVID-19, which has sadly led to this decision.”

“We’re really excited about the new itineraries mentioned, such as Queen Mary 2’s sailings around the Caribbean, and hopefully these will appeal to those looking for some much needed winter sun and those looking for adventure later this year and in 2022.”

Cunard will resume operations from 19 July, 2021 as Queen Elizabeth welcomes guests on board for a series of UK voyages from Southampton and beginning 13 October, 2021 sailing internationally with new voyages including to the Iberian coast and the Canary Islands.

Queen Elizabeth will then leave the UK in mid-February to resume her previously scheduled season in Japan from 13 April, 2022.

Queen Mary 2 will resume sailing with a Transatlantic crossing on 14 November, 2021 as per her existing schedule and will now sail on a series of voyages around the Caribbean between January and April, 2022, with embarkation options from Southampton, New York and Hamburg before resuming her existing published schedule on 24 April, 2022.

Queen Victoria will embark on three new voyages departing from Southampton from the 22 April, 2022 which include Western Europe, the Baltics and the Iberian Coast before resuming her existing published schedule on 20 May, 2022.

Odyssey of the Seas cruises canceled as eight crew test positive for Covid- 19

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 16 June 2021 16 June 2021

Royal Caribbean International has confirmed the first few scheduled sailings will be canceled due to positive cases of Covid-19 onboard the ship among crew members.

"All crew members on Odyssey of the Seas were tested on June 4 when the ship arrived in Port Canaveral, as part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Conditional Sailing Order,” royalcaribbeanblog reported on its website

The crew were tested again on June 10, and eight crew members tested positive. All crew have been asked to quarantine for 14 days, it said.

The ship operated in the Mediterranean, based in Israel, earlier this year. However, the programme had to be cancelled due to outbreak of violence in the region.

Odyssey of the Seas was delivered by Meyer Werft in Germany to Royal Caribbean International, the contemporary market unit of the Royal Caribbean Group, in the winter.