Adria Bono joins Swan Hellenic as Destination Management Director
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- Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä
- Category: More News More News
- Published: 04 March 2021 04 March 2021
Today, Wednesday the 4rd of March, Swan Hellenic announced that its top management was being strengthened with the arrival of Adria Bono, bringing the cultural expedition cruise leader the connections and insight of twenty years’ unrivalled high-end excursions design and commissioning expertise in the luxury and expedition cruise markets.
Joining as Destination Management Director, Adria will work closely with Director of Expedition Operations Pierre Thomas to ensure that the expert lecture, expedition and excursion facets of Swan Hellenic’s cultural expedition cruises complement and enhance one another to the highest standards, providing guests with an exceptionally complete, insightful and enriching experience.
With an increasingly strong management team of top names in the high-end cruise industry, growing local market partnerships to provide close customer care, and an order book of three custom-designed expedition cruise ships all due for delivery on schedule, Swan Hellenic is clearly on track to deliver on its promise of an entirely new high-end cruise experience. Public enthusiasm is reflected in strong bookings for its maiden season, launching year-end 2021.
“We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Adria to the team. With her tremendous focus on quality of guest experience and strong relationships with leading excursion partners worldwide, nobody could be better placed to ensure our guests enjoy unforgettably insightful explorations ashore, fully in tune Swan Hellenic’s pioneering heritage,” explained Swan Hellenic CEO Andrea Zito.
Adria Bono commented: “I’m excited to join the dynamic, expert team bringing the Swan Hellenic vision of cultural expedition cruising to life across a distinctively stylish new five-star fleet. I look forward to contributing to the creation of a truly unique discovery experience.”
P&O Cruises to offer “staycation” cruises this summer
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- Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen
- Category: More News More News
- Published: 03 March 2021 03 March 2021
P&O Cruises, the UK focused contemporary market unit of Carnival Corporation & plc, said it would offer a series of short break and week-long UK cruises as “the ultimate escape” staycation this summer.
Staycation has emerged as a term to mean a holiday spent in the UK rather than by travelling abroad. The now unveiled cruises would go on sale later in March.
P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow said: “Following recent Government announcements and as the vaccine programme is rolled out across the globe we can all begin to feel a sense of reassurance and hope that this current lockdown period in the UK will come to an end. Life can, we hope, slowly return to some semblance of our previous normality as hospitality opens up and summer holidays can be booked with confidence.
“Whilst holidays here in the UK will be the first to become a reality we will, of course, gradually see the return of international travel but first we want guests to be able to enjoy a proper summer holiday at sea with the best in relaxation, entertainment and dining choice.
“These sailings will leave from our home port in Southampton and sail around UK coastal waters enjoying the summer sunshine. More details of dates, prices and the experience on board will be announced later this month, but they will, of course, all have flexibility so guests can book with confidence.
“We hope that the UK “ultimate escape” staycation option will have wide appeal and we will do our utmost to make it a very special time. There really will be something for everyone and the opportunity to spend precious and much-longed for time with family and friends.
“In order to offer these UK breaks it does mean that unfortunately we need to cancel some of our current published programme of holidays this summer. Cruises on Arcadia, Aurora, Azura and Ventura have been cancelled until the end of August and on Britannia and Iona until the end of September.
“We remain in very close contact with the UK Government and associated bodies as we monitor the latest situation and guidance on travel. From the moment we see travel restrictions lifting we will begin the significant logistical task to re-start our operations. It will take some time for the first ship to return to service, followed by the phased return of the remaining fleet. We cannot wait to welcome everyone back on board with the protection of effective protocols to safeguard the health and wellbeing of all crew and guests.
“I really am so sorry for the disappointment these cancellations will cause but hope that the new UK cruises will enable everyone to enjoy a wonderful holiday this summer.”
All guests whose cruises have been cancelled will automatically receive a Future Cruise Credit worth 125% of what they paid. This 125% Future Cruise Credit can be redeemed against any new booking made by the end of December 2021, on any cruise on sale at the time of booking.
Australia extends cruise standstill to 17 June
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- Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen
- Category: More News More News
- Published: 03 March 2021 03 March 2021
The Australian government said the human biosecurity emergency period under the Biosecurity Act 2015, which has been in place since 17 March 2020 will be extended by an additional three months until 17 June 2021.
“The Governor General has today declared the extension of the human biosecurity emergency period, which will ensure the Australian Government has the powers to take any necessary measures to continue to prevent and control COVID-19,” the Department of Health said in a statement.
“In particular, the Australian Government continues to work closely with state and territory agencies, national health committees and the cruise industry to develop a framework for the staged resumption of cruise ships in a manner that is proportionate to the public health risk,” it added.
Photo: Pacific Adventurer is one of the ships of P&O Cruises Australia
Two NCLH units price $1.10 billion note offerings
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- Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen
- Category: More News More News
- Published: 03 March 2021 03 March 2021
Two subsidiaries of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) have priced two note offerings totaling at $1.10 billion.
NCL Corporation Ltd. (NCLC) announced that it has priced $575 million aggregate principal amount of its 5.875% Senior Notes due 2026, which were offered in a private offering.
“The NCLC Notes will form part of the same series as the $850 million aggregate principal amount of 5.875% Senior Notes due 2026 issued on December 18, 2020 and will be guaranteed by certain of NCLC’s subsidiaries on a senior unsecured basis. The price to investors will be 100.000% of the principal amount of the NCLC Notes,” NCLH said in a statement.
Meanwhile NCL Finance, Ltd. subsidiary of NCLC, has also priced $525 million aggregate principal amount of its 6.125% Senior Notes due 2028 which were also offered in a private offering. The NCL Finance Notes will be guaranteed by NCLC and certain of NCLC’s subsidiaries on a senior unsecured basis. The price to investors would be 100.000% of the principal amount of the NCL Finance Notes.
“The offerings of the Notes are expected to close on March 3, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. NCLC and NCL Finance expect to use the net proceeds from the offerings to fully repay the aggregate principal amounts outstanding under two of NCLC’s senior secured credit facilities, together with accrued but unpaid interest thereon, and to pay any related transaction premiums, fees and expenses, with the remainder of the net proceeds from the offerings to be used for general corporate purposes,” NCLH said in a statement.
Windstar Cruises to open Miami office next year
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- Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä
- Category: More News More News
- Published: 01 March 2021 01 March 2021
Windstar Cruises has announced it plans to relocate its office from Seattle, Washington to Miami, Florida in June 2022. The small ship cruise line also alerted guests and travel advisors on February 24 that it was pushing back its restart of operations from May to June 2021.
“With time and space away from our Seattle office, we’ve thought about our location and other possibilities once our two year lease is up,” said Windstar Cruises’ President Christopher Prelog. “Although we have all adapted to working remotely with great success, we have been working on a plan for a new office location. A long timeline is needed to facilitate a smooth transition.“
The Miami office will accommodate mostly cruise operation functions and some direct supporting teams to operations. Other functions such as marketing, revenue, accounting and IT will have the opportunity to move to parent company Xanterra’s Denver office to collaborate with team members there. Windstar Cruises is owned by Xanterra Travel Collection, a group of global hospitality and travel companies, based in Denver.
“Windstar is poised for success in the small ship cruise segment,” said Andrew N. Todd, CEO of Windstar Cruises and Xanterra Travel Collection. “Our expert team is nimble and adaptable with many years of experience. We are looking forward to the advantages of a new Miami office, combining teams in Denver and collaborating remotely as we have done this past year.”
Windstar plans to open the new Miami office and transition shared/support services to Denver in June 2022. Windstar expects some employees will choose to work remotely from the Seattle area and others to relocate to Miami or Denver depending on job function.
Prelog says that as the center of the cruise industry in the U.S., a Miami office will be beneficial for building industry relationships and attracting new talent. It will also enable operations employees in Miami to be closer to the line’s ships and crew as they pass through Florida and shorten up flight times to the ships in Europe and the Caribbean.
On Wednesday, February 24, Windstar announced that after carefully assessing multiple factors it was canceling May sailings and would restart operations in June 2021. The decision was made after reviewing current information on Covid transmission rates, travel restrictions and government regulations. The line will re-start cruise operations in a phased manner with initial cruises at a reduced guest occupancy, some modified itineraries, and enhanced health and safety protocols.
New timeline for resumption of operations:
Wind Spirit – June 10, 2021 – Tahiti
Star Breeze – June 19, 2021 – Caribbean
Wind Star – June 19, 2021 – Mediterranean
Wind Surf – June 29, 2021 – Mediterranean
Star Legend – July 4, 2021 – Mediterranean
Star Pride – July 14, 2021 – Northern Europe/Iceland
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