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Carnival Cruise Line to celebrate Texas arrival of Carnival Freedom with special event

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 14 January 2015 14 January 2015

Carnival Cruise Line, Texas’ number one cruise operator, will welcome Carnival Freedom to its new year-round homeport of Galveston, Texas, on Saturday, February 14, by hosting a celebration to honor U.S. military families. Through a partnership with Operation Homefront, a national non-profit organization dedicated to providing financial and other assistance to military families, Carnival will provide a day of onboard fun and exciting activities for service members and their families. Among the day's festivities will be a special outdoor Carnival LIVE performance by country superstar Martina McBride.

Carnival will also host more than 250 travel agents who will have an opportunity to experience for themselves first-hand all the exciting features available on Texas’ newest ship.

“The arrival of Carnival Freedom to its new Galveston homeport is historic as it marks the first time a cruise line has based three year-round ships in Texas,” said Jim Berra, chief marketing officer for Carnival Cruise Line. “We’re thrilled to celebrate this occasion by giving back to the great state of Texas and welcoming aboard military families who make our freedom possible.”

As part of the festivities, 14-time GRAMMY® nominee Martina McBride will perform that afternoon outdoors on one of the ship's top decks. The country singer has previously performed as part of the line’s breakthrough onboard concert series, Carnival LIVE, which offers guests the best live music at sea from some of the most popular and highly requested music acts.

“I am incredibly excited to have the opportunity to perform again on a Carnival ship and am thrilled that I was chosen to be part of this wonderful event that honors U.S. service members and their families,” said Martina McBride. “I’ve played for many audiences in my career, but it will truly be a privilege to salute these incredible families and partner with Carnival to bring them an extra special Valentine’s Day.”

Military families who have registered through Operation Homefront will enjoy a full day and evening of fun aboard the 110,000-ton Carnival Freedom while it is in port, including overnight accommodations, meals, entertainment and activities, all compliments of Carnival Cruise Line.

Prior to the concert, Carnival will conduct a special check presentation to Operation Homefront providing $100,000 to the organization.

“We are very excited to be partnering with Carnival to honor military families and celebrate the cruise line’s expansion in Texas,” said Tim Farrell, chief operating officer of Operation Homefront. “While we serve military families across the nation, we’re grateful for a partner like Carnival who wants to give back right here in our home state of Texas where we have the second largest active duty and veteran population in the country.”

Carnival Freedom recently underwent a $70 million makeover which added an array of Fun Ship 2.0 product enhancements. Event attendees will have access to the ship’s new family entertainment programming including Seuss at Sea, as well as the new Camp Ocean kids facilities. The latest updates also incorporated a number of bar, dining and entertainment innovations including complimentary eateries such as BlueIguana Cantina and Guy’s Burger Joint, developed in partnership with Food Network personality Guy Fieri, poolside bars serving up delicious frozen drinks and cocktails including BlueIguana Tequila Bar and RedFrog Rum Bar, as well as the pharmacy-themed Alchemy Bar and the line’s Caribbean-inspired RedFrog Pub.

Carnival Freedom kicks off year-round sailings from Galveston February 15, 2015, with a special six-day voyage to Mexico followed by the launch of four- to seven-day cruises that visit beautiful ports throughout Mexico, the Caribbean, Bahamas and Florida. Together with Carnival Triumph and Carnival Magic, the line will carry more than 600,000 passengers annually from Texas – more than any other cruise line.

Princess Cruises launches 2015 'Come Back New' advertising campaign

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 14 January 2015 14 January 2015

To ring in the new year Princess Cruises has launched a fresh advertising campaign to remind travelers of the memorable moments they can experience while aboard a Princess Cruises vacation. The multi-million-dollar program comes on the heels of last year’s successful “come back new” marketing campaign that marked the return of the line’s advertising on television in more than a decade and reminded viewers that cruising can transform and enrich their lives.

The new travel advertising campaign debuts at the beginning of “wave season” when many guests book their cruise vacations for the upcoming year, and promotes Princess Cruises’ 50th anniversary milestone with national broadcast, print and digital advertising.

Created by San Francisco-based, award-winning agency Goodby, Silverstein and Partners, the broadcast creative evolves the storytelling approach of the “come back new” theme to showcase Princess guests experiencing unforgettable events as they happen on Alaska cruises and cruises to the Caribbean, two of the line’s most popular destinations. Print ads explore a variety of cruise destinations, cultures and culinary experiences that can lead guests to discover new things while on a cruise vacation. The ads and other campaign materials will roll out through the month of January.

“This new campaign is an exciting opportunity for us to continue the successful momentum of our first ‘come back new’ campaign with fresh content for our 50th anniversary year,” said Gordon Ho, senior vice president of marketing, Princess Cruises. “These new spots showcase the juxtaposition between the reality of daily life and the experience our guests have when they cruise with us to amazing destinations.”

Many of the ads also promote the cruise line’s recently announced partnership with the Discovery Channel and the “Discovery at Sea” program, including stargazing, interactive onboard activities and shore excursions based on top-rated Discovery network shows and designed to entertain and delight families aboard Princess ships.

“Princess Cruises passengers are passionate about exploring and experiencing the world around them and the new Discovery partnership takes this to a whole new level,” added Ho.

The new broadcast spots are available at http://www.princess.com/come-back-new/inspiration/

MSC Cruises' 'Renaissance Program' moves into phase two as MSC Sinfonia enters drydock

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 13 January 2015 13 January 2015

With the arrival of MSC Sinfonia at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Sicily on Jan. 12, MSC Cruises’ has now moved into the second phase of its $273 million Renaissance Program to renew and enlarge four ships in its fleet.

Over the next 10 weeks, MSC Sinfonia will undergo the same intensive work schedule as her sister ship, MSC Armonia, which resumed service on November 17, 2014.

Fincantieri’s world-class marine engineers will carefully bisect MSC Sinfonia’s hull, after which the two halves of the ships will be slowly drawn apart. On January 20 and 21, the engineers will insert a pre-built 78 foot midsection containing 193 extra cabins. Then they will refit and renew much of the ship’s interior, bringing an enhanced sense of comfort and space.

Before MSC Sinfonia’s arrival, Fincantieri’s preparations were already well under way for the work on board and in the shipyard. On January 9, the new midsection was floated into the shipyard and hauled into the drydock area where MSC Sinfonia will remain for the duration of her stay.

Once the work is complete, the renewed MSC Sinfonia will weigh anchor from the shipyard on March 25 for Genoa. She will feature new areas for children created in partnership with Chicco® and LEGO®, and a new Baby Club, Mini Club, Young Club and Teens Club. MSC Cruises has also made updates to the onboard dining experiences – keeping the buffet open 20 hours per day and installing fresh new dining spaces, a brand new lounge and an extended restaurant.

The ship’s MSC Aurea Spa will be enriched with additional massage areas, and a new outdoor spray park will be added on deck 13 – an exciting series of playful water features and jets.

The remainder of the Renaissance Programme will progress according to the following schedule:

– MSC Opera: May 2 to July 4, 2015

– MSC Lirica: August 31 to November 2, 2015

MSC Cruises currently carries roughly 40,000 guests per day, but by 2022 will double its capacity to 80,000 guests a day – 3.4 million per year – once the Renaissance Program is completed and the last of seven planned ships is delivered.

Uniworld to introduce River Ganges programme in 2016

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 09 January 2015 09 January 2015

Uniworld, the boutique river cruise operator that is part of the London based The Travel Corporation Group, says it will introduce a River Ganges programme of 13 night cruises in 2016.

The itinerary, which will include hotel stays as well, will use the 56 passenger Ganges Voyager II that is currently under construction, the company said on its website. All accommodation on the vessel will be in suites that can accommodate two persons.

Ctrip acquires UK based travel content aggregator

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 09 January 2015 09 January 2015

Ctrip.com International, Ltd., China’s travel industry giant and the newest cruise ship operator, has just completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Travelfusion. Alan Lam reports.

Ctrip’s meteoric rise seems to be endless and gravity defying. Travelfusion is a leading UK-based online Low Cost Carrier (LCC) travel content aggregator and innovator of Direct Connect, which is a distribution platform that enables the world's travel agents and mobile travel services to search and book the content through Travelfusion's API, desktop or internet booking engine technologies and facilitates global payment and settlement solutions.

Having recently entered a partnership with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. to set up and operate SkySea Cruises in China, and having launched the most advanced cruise-booking platform in Chinese languagefor booking worldwide cruise voyages, the group’s latest acquisition will help further strengthening its position in the global cruise market. The control of Travelfusion will also mean a firm foothold in the UK and European travel markets.

"The strategic relationship we built with Travelfusion will further extend our leadership in China's international travel market,” said James Liang, Chairman and CEO of Ctrip,“and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our IT system by leveraging Travelfusion's advanced technology. We are excited to work with Travelfusion's team to create greater value for our customers."

"China is expected to be the largest travel market in the world,”said Mr. Moshe Rafiah, CEO of Travelfusion,“and Ctrip is the clear leader in the online and mobile travel industry in China. After 15 years of building Travelfusion to be an industry leader, we are thrilled to take further steps to realise and fulfil our potential in such a great market with such a powerful industry leader."