Costa to give a new look for the Fortuna prior its return to Europe

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 02 October 2018 02 October 2018

Costa Cruises announces that major renovation work will be carried out on Costa Fortuna at the Singapore shipyards from Dec. 10-16, 2018. The work involves the restyling of many public areas and the introduction of new services for guests, with an investment of 8 million euros.

The 103,000 gross ton ship, which can accommodate 3,470 guests, is currently operating in the Asian market but will return to Europe at the end of March 2019 to offer one-week cruises in the Mediterranean departing every Friday from Genoa, Italy. A substantial part of the work will, therefore, involve the creation of areas associated with providing typically Italian products and experiences, which distinguish the Costa Cruises brand. These new services will also be available for cruises in the Far East from Dec. 2018 to Feb. 2019, departing from Singapore and available for sale in all markets.

The restyling of Costa Fortuna was designed by the professionals of Artefice Group — an independent Italian group with over 22 years of experience in creating brand and retail design languages on the national and international market —​​​​​​​ with the exception of the Costa Shop, which will be in the hands of Dordoni Architetti, the Milanese firm that recently designed the cabins for the new Costa Smeralda flagship.

Deck 10 will welcome the Pizzeria Pummid’Oro, which will serve pizzas made with top quality ingredients. This pizzeria will only use San Marzano DOP tomatoes, selected flours and sourdough thanks to a partnership with the University of Gastronomic Sciences, Pollenzo, which, together with Costa Cruises, promotes a sustainable diet, respecting the land and the environment. Thanks to a collaboration with “Latteria del Curatino” and innovative machinery made by Comat, the mozzarella will be produced directly on board and used to top the pizzas as well as in many standard dishes featuring all the different varieties, from “fior di latte” to “treccia”, buffalo mozzarella to “stracciatella.”

On deck 9, beside the central swimming pool, the new Gelateria – Bar Amarillo ice cream parlor will be installed for guests to treat themselves to a delicious handmade ice cream, freshly made on board every day. In renewing this area, the Artefice Group architects have taken inspiration from traditional Italian bathing establishments, using pastel colors that give the space a playful and relaxed atmosphere for the ice-cream parlor, as well as inspiring guests to taste the highly sought-after cocktails during evenings by the pool.

In addition, specifically so that guests can capture the best moments of their holiday, a new photo shop will be installed on deck 4, with an exhibition gallery featuring the new "My Moments" concept, which is due to make its début at the end of Oct. on Costa Pacifica and in December on Costa Diadema. The My Moments shop and gallery will offer guests a new experience, introducing a variety of different shades of color to the environment depending on the products on offer: Photo Shades, for professional photos and high quality photo books, Portraits with captivating settings and backgrounds and classic photos and Souvenirs, which capture the highlights of life on board. Moreover, before guests return to their daily lives, a visit to the new Costa Shop, offering Costa branded clothing and accessories, will be a must.

The elegant and completely refurbished central atrium of Costa Fortuna will be dominated by three large sails illuminated by LEDs in different colors in an environment inspired by the new visual identity, with stylized waves inspired by the iconic yellow funnel of Costa Cruises ships.

The cruise company has also planned to restyle the Conte Verde ballroom, which will be transformed into a multifunctional space in which to sip a drink in the lounge bar or hold conferences and meetings, and the Conte Rosso, where guests will be welcomed by a "constellation" of lights under which to savor a glass of wine from the wine bar selection and enjoy the entertainment in the piano bar. The Sala Leonardo will also sport a new look: it will in fact be fitted with more modern lighting and its dance floor will be extended. Restyling work will be carried out on the outdoor swimming pools and jacuzzis, as well as the two main restaurants, also fitted with new and more efficient lighting systems.

Costa Cruises will also be paying special attention to the suites, which have always guaranteed comfort and elegance: guests occupying these cabins will be able to relax under the water jets from brand new emotional showers complete with lights, which will replace the jacuzzis. Finally, the Club Restaurant kitchens will be adapted to offer the special menu for guests choosing to stay in the suites (and Costa Club Perla Diamante members, subject to availability).

After the shipyard work is completed in Singapore, from Dec. 16, 2018, to Feb. 26, 2019, Costa Fortuna will sail on two different one-week itineraries, which can be combined, departing from Singapore to discover Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia. On March 5, 2019, the repositioning cruise will take place from Singapore to Genoa, which will be the ship's main departure port for the rest of the year. The first call is scheduled for March 26, 2019, with a mini-cruise; from March 29 to Nov. 8, 2019, the ship will be in Genoa every Friday for two different itineraries. In Spring and Fall, in addition to the Ligurian port, the ship will also visit Marseilles, France, Barcelona and Valencia, Spain, and Civitavecchia and La Spezia, Italy; for the summer, calls are scheduled for Marseilles, Tarragona, Palma de Mallorca, plus a long stopover in Ibiza, Spain, and Olbia, Italy. The ship will call at Genoa 34 times in total.

Eesti Gaas places order for the first LNG bunker vessel for Northeast Baltic Sea

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 02 October 2018 02 October 2018

The leading Estonian energy company Eesti Gaas has placed an order for an LNG (liquefied natural gas) bunker vessel with bunker tank capacity of 6,000 m3. The new vessel will provide mobile and efficient LNG bunkering for the growing number of LNG-fuelled vessels in the Northeast region of the Baltic Sea and onshore clients. The vessel will be built by the Dutch shipyard Damen Group and will be delivered in September 2020.

“The vessel will load LNG in the Baltic Sea region terminals for distribution in the Baltic area. The vessel will predominantly operate in the Gulf of Finland area, which has a clear need to move towards clean energy supply,” commented Ain Hanschmidt, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Eesti Gaas.

Eesti Gaas will operate this LNG bunker vessel under a long term charter from its parent company and owner of the vessel, Infortar AS. The technical management for the vessel will be provided by the region’s leading shipping company Tallink Grupp.

By creating a mobile LNG-fuelling infrastructure, the LNG bunker vessel incentivises the construction and use of new LNG-fuelled vessels in the Baltic Sea Region and, therefore, has the potential to reduce Co2 emissions annually by more than 66 000 tons.

The two type-C LNG tanks will contain up to 6,000 m³ LNG at -163°C. The tanks and their piping system will be located partly exposed on the deck, which ensures good access and easy upgrade options as the LNG consumer market develops.

The LNG bunker vessel is an important part of the new mobile LNG infrastructure in the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea. This project is co-funded by the EU through the CEF Transport programme.

MV Werften strengthens management team with appointment of new Chief Technology Officer

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 02 October 2018 02 October 2018

Raimon Strunck (53) has been appointed as MW Werften's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), taking over the newly created role on October 1. His responsibilities include project management, design, planning as well as procurement and logistics. He is a member of the senior management and reports to CEO Peter Fetten.

"MV Werften has a unique and remarkable newbuilding program. This program now has to be successfully implemented," explained Raimon Strunck. "I look forward to helping the company achieve its goals, both in terms of the new construction projects themselves as well as in the effective organization of the company."

A qualified engineer, Raimon Strunck has 24 years of professional experience in the shipbuilding industry. After studying mechanical engineering at the University of Hanover, he held various positions in the areas of project management, sales and planning, working for different shipyards in Germany and abroad. His experience includes three years at HDW in Kiel and 15 years at the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft. Most recently, Raimon Strunck served as managing director of the Neptun Shipyard in Rostock, where, amongst other things, he oversaw the construction of 14 river cruise ships, an LNG gas tanker and multiple floating engine room units for cruise vessels.

"We are delighted that Raimon Strunck has joined the MV Werften team. With his extensive experience in project managing new ship builds as well as his experience in business and personnel management, our shipyard group is gaining a skilled industry expert," remarked Carsten J. Haake, MV Werften's managing director.

Princess Cruises reports OceanMedallion activation milestone

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 30 September 2018 30 September 2018

For guests sailing on Caribbean Princess since early September, satisfaction scores indicate they thoroughly enjoy using their OceanMedallion to discover how a personalized vacation can elevate their experience to a higher level by removing friction points, delivering enhanced levels of personalization and guest service all while staying connected with land-like internet streaming speeds.

OceanMedallion, the wearable device guests use to access enhanced experiences, continues to roll out as part of a phased activation plan that since early September has been used by all of the 3,100 guests on Caribbean Princess. OceanMedallion features leading-edge technology that enhances guest-crew interactions, enables interactive entertainment, and delivers personalized service.

MedallionClass vacations offer guests an extensive portfolio of OceanMedallion-enabled features specifically designed to enhance the vacation experience. They currently include:

– Keyless Stateroom Access: Stateroom entry is a seamless experience where each guest is securely validated and the door automatically unlocks, with personalized greetings launching soon.

– MedallionPay: All guests use an easy and hassle-free, payment experience enabling crew members to focus on guest service interactions.

– OceanCasino: On smart devices and select portals, guests can wager real money on a portfolio of games, including slots, poker, bingo, roulette, keno and lottery from anywhere on board.

– OceanCompass featuring OceanNav and ShipMates: On select portals guests can use OceanNav for point-to-point wayfinding throughout the ship via an intelligent navigation assistant, and utilize ShipMates to easily locate friends, family and kids.

– JourneyView: On portals throughout the ship, guests can access a real-time look at their itinerary, along with events and activities taking place during their cruise.

– OceanView: Guests can stream more than 100 hours of award-winning Ocean Original travel content – which airs nationally on weekends on ABC and NBC - to their smart device anywhere on the ship at no cost.

– PlayOcean: On portals located shipwide, guests are able to play family games, including trivia, word jumble, a matching game, and Ocean Treks Adventure – an interactive, shipwide digital scavenger hunt.

Caribbean Princess now also features Carnival Corporations’ MedallionNet, offering guests Wi-Fi connectivity that is fast, reliable, unlimited and affordable with an access point in every stateroom. Guests on MedallionClass ships experience land-like connectivity for streaming sports, movies, music and videos, communicating on video phone calls from anywhere on the ship, and sharing their vacation experiences in real time with friends and family back home on social media platforms – another factor contributing to higher guest satisfaction scores.

“Having 100 percent of our guests using OceanMedallions on every sailing of Caribbean Princess is a significant milestone that we are celebrating on the path to fleet-wide implementation,” said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises, the world’s largest international premium cruise line. “It is very validating to have our guests tell us that OceanMedallion is turning an already extraordinary experience on Princess Cruises into an even more spectacular vacation, making sailing on Caribbean Princess the ultimate Caribbean cruise vacation.”

OceanMedallion activates a travel industry first with an Experience Internet of Things (xIoTTM) platform using a guest-centric approach that helps maximize a cruise vacation in real-time based on guests’ choices and preferences. The result delivers enhanced personalization on a large scale across every aspect of a cruise vacation.

OceanMedallion was first unveiled by Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald at CES 2017 and was a key factor in Fast Company recognizing the corporation with two Innovation as Design Awards that same year. The company’s guest experience platform actively learns an individual guest’s needs, wants and desires in real time. The guest experience intelligence then flows into a tool used by crew members called GuestView, which provides them with relevant insights, such as a display of a guests' names and where they are from, and information about their loyalty level or assigned dining. When that guest visits another bar or restaurant on board, the staff has visibility into that guest’s preferences, enabling them to anticipate ways to provide an even higher level of personalized service.

In addition to current Medallion-enabled features on Caribbean Princess, Princess Cruises will continue rolling out additional advanced offerings for guests this fall while also continuing to refine the enhanced experience based on guest and crew feedback.