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Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. files to end secondary listing on Oslo Exchange

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 28 September 2015 28 September 2015

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. last Thursday announced that it has filed an application for the voluntary delisting of its shares from the Oslo Stock Exchange.

At the annual meeting held earlier this year, the Company's shareholders demonstrated strong support for this move, with over 93% of the votes cast in favor. The Company's delisting application is subject to approval by Oslo Børs. The company intends to take a number of steps to minimize inconvenience to impacted shareholders. Firstly, the company plans to maintain its OSE listing for a minimum of three months. In addition, the company will assist shareholders to transfer their shares to the New York Stock Exchange, where the Company's shares will continue to trade without interruption.

In the motion approved by shareholders, it was explained that the benefits of maintaining a secondary listing on the Oslo Børs had been outweighed by the additional costs and regulatory requirements associated with the secondary listing. The company intends to return to a single listing on the NYSE, which has been RCL's primary listing since the company first offered shares to the public in 1993.

"Norway plays an important part in Royal Caribbean's history, and we appreciate the support we continue to receive from our investors here," said Jason T. Liberty, the company's chief financial officer. "We remain appreciative of our long partnership with the Oslo Børs, and we intend to do all we can to encourage continued participation by our Norwegian shareholders and to create a smooth transition for those shareholders who do not intend to remain."

Ron L. Phillips named SVP of Human Resources – Office of People and Potential for Carnival Cruise Line

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 25 September 2015 25 September 2015

Ron L. Phillips has been appointed Senior Vice President of Human Resources - Office of People and Potential for Carnival Cruise Line. In this capacity, Phillips will oversee shoreside and shipboard human resources for the world's largest cruise line, including talent acquisition, talent management, leadership development, human capital planning, employee engagement, compensation and benefits, and performance management. Phillips begins his new role effective October 19 and will report to Carnival President Christine Duffy.

Phillips has nearly 20 years of HR experience, most recently serving as Chief Human Resources Officer for New York Presbyterian Hospital, which encompasses seven major hospitals, 23,000 employees and 6,000 affiliated physicians. Prior to that he spent eight years in human resource roles at Comcast, eventually rising to the position of Senior Vice President of Human Resources. He has also served in HR roles at Ryder Transportation and McDonald's Corporation.

"Ron brings a wealth of HR experience to his new role and we look forward to his leadership skills as we work toward continued unification of our shipboard and shoreside HR functions and strive to provide an exceptional workplace for our more than 38,000 employees worldwide," said Duffy.

Phillips has a B.S. degree from Virginia State University and a Law Degree from the University of Richmond.

MSC Cruises teams up with Barrhead to offer Glasgow-Genoa flights summer 2016

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 23 September 2015 23 September 2015

MSC Cruises, the world’s fourth largest cruise shipping group, and Barrhead Travel, the Scottish travel company, are giving Scottish guests the opportunity to fly straight to the Mediterranean sunshine in 2016, thanks to new regional departures from Glasgow, the cruise line said in a statement

Scottish travel agency giant Barrhead Travel will operate its first dedicated Glasgow – Genoa service right through the summer next year, with flights perfectly timed for cruisers joining MSC Fantasia on its seven-night Western Med sailings from the Italian city.

Giles Hawke, MSC Cruises executive director UK and Ireland said: “We know there are a huge number of MSC Cruises fans, and potential future fans, north of the border and these new flights will make it even easier for them to get straight to the heart of the med, get onboard and start their holiday with us.

“Barrhead Travel is a highly trusted name in Scotland and a great supporter of MSC Cruises. It is fantastic that we can further extend our relationship with these new flights.”

Flights will run from Glasgow to Genoa for 19 weeks between Sunday May 29 and Sunday October 2, 2016 and Barrhead Travel will offer its own selection of all-inclusive fly-cruise packages aboard the 3,274-guest MSC Fantasia. Sailings call at Cannes, France; Palma, Majorca; Barcelona, Spain; Ajaccio, Corsica; Naples, Italy; La Spezia, Italy and Genoa.

Alternatively, guests can opt to fly with Barrhead Travel on its existing Saturday flights from Glasgow to Venice, joining up with the 1,952-guest MSC Sinfonia for its seven-night Eastern Med itineraries. Again, Barrhead will offer its own all-inclusive fly-cruise packages on these sailings, which feature calls at Split, Croatia; Santorini, Greece; Mykonos, Greece; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Ancona, Italy and Venice.

Both routes use British Airways aircraft, giving guests ample leg room, a generous baggage allowance and convenient flight times. Barrhead’s all-inclusive package deals feature complimentary ‘Allegrissimo’ drinks packages, which include unlimited alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, ice-cream and speciality coffees.

Crystal Cruises' international marketing drive extended to Buenos Aires

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 23 September 2015 23 September 2015

Alan Lam reporting

The marketing drive for Crystal Cruises’ recently announced massive air, sea, and river expansion programmes has taken another decisive step, with its tentacles reaching the source market of Argentina.

In a recent luncheon gathering, held in the prestigious La Bourgogne restaurant of Buenos Aires’s Alvear Palace Hotel, attended by over 30 carefully selected local travel agents, Crystal Cruises presented to the Argentine market its latest offering – the exclusive 14-night Buenos Aires-Antarctica-Buenos Aires itinerary, which was scheduled to depart from Buenos Aires on 13 January 2016, calling at Ushuaia, Antarctica, Port Stanley (Falkland Islands), Puerto Madryn, and Montevideo before returning to Buenos Aires.

Apart from introducing the new thematic itinerary, Crystal Cruises underscored its new strategy and shored its expansive vision with this market. The company was actively promoting the concepts of Crystal Residence, Crystal Yacht, and Crystal Luxury Air in the hope of appealing to the ultra-exclusive end of this South American market.

As a luxury operator in such an expansive mode, it is understandable that the company will need to reach as many source markets as its capacity allows. Cruise Business Review believes that reaching out to Argentina’s elites is a considered and perspicacious move, as concepts such as ultra luxury air travel, for instance, has a particular appeal in the upper echelon of the Argentine society. “On Crystal Luxury Air you can sleep like an angel,” Juliana Meyer Schmidt of Crystal Cruises told the local press.

Norwegian Escape leaves Meyer Werft for open sea

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 21 September 2015 21 September 2015

Norwegian Escape, soon to be the largest ship in the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet, has departed the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany on Friday 18 September for its approximately 24-hour long conveyance along the Ems River.

“Norwegian Escape's river conveyance marks another key milestone in the ship's highly anticipated delivery. Measuring 1069 feet long and 136 feet wide, the ship is the first in the line’s Breakaway Plus class. Three additional ships in the class are on order at Meyer Werft,” the company said in a statement.

At approximately 164,600 gross tons, Norwegian Escape will be the largest vessel in the company’s fleet and exceed the 155,873 gross ton figure of Norwegian Epic, which was completed in 2006.

“After seeing firsthand this week how spectacular Norwegian Escape already looks, I am thrilled that she is officially on her journey to welcome guests next month,” said Andy Stuart, president and chief operating officer of Norwegian Cruise Line. “As the first Breakaway Plus class ship, she will offer the very best in freedom and flexibility for our guests and we cannot wait to officially welcome her to the fleet.”

Sailing backwards, Norwegian Escape left the yard at approximately 2:00 pm (local time in Germany), and made a narrow passage through the ship yard's locks, with only 1.2 metres clearance separating the ship from the "bumpers" that were specially installed along the starboard side of the locks.