Hurtigruten to leave Oslo bourse after takeover by investors

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 11 December 2014 11 December 2014

Hurtigruten, the Bergen based company that operates expedition cruises and the Norwegian Coastal Express ferry service, will leave the Oslo Stock Exchange after shareholders accepted a bid by an investment company, Hurtigruten said in a statement.

Silk Bidco AS. the investment company formed by two directors and an investment fund, controlled 97.3% of the shares in Hurtigruten after the expiry of their bid late last week. Silk Bidco offered NK7.00 per share in Hurtigruten, which valued the company at NK2.94 billion or 55.9% more than the average trading price of the shares in the company on the Oslo bourse in October.

Britannia to feature 70 British beers

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: More News More News

Published: 10 December 2014 10 December 2014

Britannia, the new ship of P&O Cruises, will offer 70 different bottled British beers, the company said in a statement.

"Where will you find an Orchard Pig Reveller side by side with a Knight of the Garter? A Rutland Panther sitting next to a Black Sheep? Or a Speyside Oak Aged Blonde rubbing shoulders with Admiral Lord Collingwood? You’ll find all of these - plus many more interesting beers, ales and ciders - on Brodie’s Great British Beer Menu on P&O Cruises newest ship Britannia when it launches next March," P&O Cruises said.

The Great British Beer Menu features 70 different bottled beers, ales and ciders from 56 UK counties including pilsners, ales, stouts, gluten-free beer and speciality beers such as Chocolate Tom from Robinson’s Brewery in Cheshire, Ginger Hare from Bath Ales in Somerset and Orange Peel from the Wadsworth Brewery in Wiltshire.

P&O Cruises spent months scouring the UK to source this selection of beers both from smaller, local, artisan brewers such as Windsor & Eton Brewery (Berkshire), Elgoods Brewery (Cambridge), Whitewater Brewery (Belfast), Fyne Ales (Dumbarton), Felinfoel Brewery (Pembrokeshire), Okell`s (Isle of Man) and the Hilden Brewing Company (County Antrim) as well as renowned breweries including Marstons (West Midlands), Greene King (Suffolk), Belhaven (Dumfries), Fullers (London), Theakstons (North Yorkshire), Brew Dog (Aberdeen) and Hall & Woodhouse (Dorset).

P&O Cruises marketing director Christopher Edgington said: “The UK boasts more breweries per head of population than any other country in the world with the industry growing at over 10% each year. This new beer menu celebrates the growing popularity of traditionally made British beers and ciders and reflects our aim of showcasing the very best that Britain has to offer.”

The Great British Beer Menu is available in Brodie’s, a classic pub which is named after one of the founders of P&O Cruises, Brodie McGhie Wilcox. A great place to meet with friends, relax with a beer or glass of wine, Brodie’s offers a variety of entertainment including quizzes, live music and karaoke as well as poker and roulette tables in the adjoining casino.

Azamara may avoid calling at Indian ports in the future

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 10 December 2014 10 December 2014

India’s complicated immigration and customs bureaucracy may have dealt the country’s cruise business another material blow. Alan Lam reports.

 

Azamara Club Cruises, the luxury subsidiary brand of Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd. (RCCL), is considering dropping Indian port calls from 2017, after its guests and crew having experienced considerable delays and inconvenience upon arriving at Chennai Port on 8 December 2014, according to a media report.

 

The crew and passengers had to wait at the port gate for about two hours before being allowed to land, owing to duplication of paperwork. Even the media contingent waited 20 minutes before being able to board the ship.

 

“If India wants cruise liners to call on its ports,” Captain Jose Vilarinho told reporters on his ship Azamara Quest, “then the procedures have to change. When the immigration and customs formalities are completed in a shot time at Indian airports, the [sea] ports can also do that.” 

 

He made it clear that the problem did not lie in port facilities, but with the immigration and customs authorities. “We may not be calling on Mumbai port from 2017 onwards,” he warned, signaling that the RCCL group had been deliberating on this matter.

 

While both the cruise lines and India’s tourism authorities are keen to develop the country’s cruise potentials, its notorious bureaucracy continues to be one major stumbling block. It has been cited as a main reason for this country’s cruise business being sounderdeveloped, as compared to other similarly dynamic economies in Asia. 

 

Azamara is the latest of a series of cruise lines having suffered this kind of misadventure at the hands of Indian bureaucrats.

 

Given the nature of and the lead-time required for cruise ship itinerary planning, once the line decides to drop India, it could take a long time and a lot of effort to lure it back again.

Celebrity Constellation to homeport Abu Dhabi

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 10 December 2014 10 December 2014

The Gulf region is once again highlighted as a favourite winter destination, as Celebrity Cruises homeports its 2,038-lower berth Celebrity Constellation at Zayed Port for the 2016-17 season. Alan Lam reports.

 

The line, which announced this intention in November, will offer itineraries from Abu Dhabi for the first time in winter 2016, undertaking six sailings in the region, starting 28 November 2016 and ending on 11 January 2017, before returning the ship to Singapore.

 

Cruise business in Abu Dhabi has grown five folds in the last six tear. According to Noura Al Dhaheri, the cruise terminal manager of Abu Dhabi Ports Company, the company responsible for developing cruise business at Zayed Port, 600 ships and more than 900,000 passengers have called at Abu Dhabi since the business began in earnest.

 

“The fact that Celebrity Cruises has chosen to homeport a ship in Zayed Port,” said Al Dhaheri, “which is a first for the Gulf region, demonstrates how attractive Abu Dhabi has become as global holiday destination.”

 

Celebrity has previously made calls into Abu Dhabi, but this is the first time the line homeport a ship here. The company is part of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL).