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Carnival Cruise Lines signs exclusive agreement with Cigar City Brewing

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 15 July 2014 15 July 2014

Capitalizing on the growing popularity of craft beer in the U.S., Carnival Cruise Lines has entered into an exclusive agreement to offer Tampa-based Cigar City Brewing’s craft beers on all of its Florida-based ships.

Cigar City’s Florida Cracker Belgian-Style White Ale and Invasion Pale Ale will be available on 13 Carnival ships sailing from five Florida ports beginning this week. Combined, those ships carry more than two million guests each year.

The agreement – the first partnership of this magnitude between a craft brewery and a major cruise line – was announced Sunday, July 13, at an event aboard Carnival Legend at the Port of Tampa.

“Carnival continues to seek high-quality brands to enhance our guests’ experience, and Cigar City Brewing has been rated among the top craft breweries in the world,” said Eddie Allen, Carnival’s vice president of beverage operations. “Cigar City Brewing craft beers are a fantastic addition to our already extensive beverage menus and will provide our guests a chance to enjoy two delicious and refreshing beers that aren’t available on any other cruise line.” Allen noted that Carnival also offers its own private label draught beer, ThirstyFrog Red, which is available throughout the fleet.

"Cigar City Brewing could not be happier than to partner with another great Florida institution, that being Carnival Cruise Lines. Everyone at Cigar City Brewing is thrilled to start this wonderful partnership," said Joe Burns, national sales manager for Cigar City Brewing.

Carnival has 13 Florida-based ships sailing three- to eight-day itineraries to the Caribbean, Mexico and The Bahamas, including Carnival Breeze, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Ecstasy, Carnival Glory, Carnival Victory and Carnival Splendor from Miami; Carnival Sensation, Carnival Sunshine and Carnival Liberty from Port Canaveral; Carnival Freedom from Fort Lauderdale; Carnival Paradise and Carnival Legend from Tampa, and Carnival Fascination from Jacksonville.

Cigar City’s Florida Cracker Belgian-Style White Ale is named for the colonial-era “Cracker” cowboys of Florida. Florida Cracker Belgian-Style White Ale is brewed with unmalted wheat, orange peel and coriander, which ends with a spicy, dry finish. The beer pours cloudy straw in color and has moderate notes of orange peel, coriander and hints of vanilla.

Gold in color, Invasion Pale Ale is Cigar City's version of a “session” beer (a beer with a relatively low alcohol content), in a hoppy ale that celebrates Tampa’s alleged history of being a pirate hideout. The tropical aroma offers suggestions of peach, mango, lime and papaya. Invasion has a light caramel malt character laced with a slight “breadiness” and the finish offers a bounty of tropical and citrus hop flavor and bitterness.

Unlike most U.S. craft breweries, Cigar City Brewing packages most of its beverages in aluminum cans. Aluminum cans are the most widely recycled containers in the United States, and aluminum may be reused repeatedly without loss of strength or quality. From a beer drinker’s perspective, cans have zero light penetration to better preserve the integrity of the brew, they chill faster, are easier to store and have a longer shelf life than bottles. Cans also are shatterproof and therefore are allowed where bottles are not — such as poolside. Producing new cans from recycled aluminum reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 95 percent.

Travel agent contest to select Costa Diadema's godmother begins July 18

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 11 July 2014 11 July 2014

Costa Cruises is launching a contest to select Costa Diadema's godmother through a worldwide search among female travel agents. The application submissions run July 18 through Sept. 15, with the winner and four "bridesmaids" to be announced Oct. 15.

Female travel agency owners, managers or frontline sales staff of any travel agency that sells Costa Cruises may enter the contest. Those who want to be considered should visit www.madrinadellaregina.it, insert the Costa agency code and follow the instructions to complete the application form, which is available in Italian, French, German, English and Spanish.

"We rely on our travel agent partners to sell Costa's Italian-style product and to communicate what makes our cruises different," said Scott Knutson, vice president of sales and marketing for Costa Cruises North America. "There is no better way to say thank you for their support and efforts than to honor five Costa travel sellers from around the world at the ceremony to welcome our new flagship into the fleet."

Candidates will be asked to upload a photograph and answer three questions. The ideal godmother and bridesmaids will be proven partners of Costa who can represent the company and its values. The selection committee will look for individuals who are passionate about their job, outgoing, spontaneous and who demonstrate a positive attitude.

Once the contest closes Sept. 15, a special Costa Cruises committee based in Genoa will choose the travel agent who will become La Madrina della Regina and her four bridesmaids.

The cruise line will officially name Costa Diadema Nov. 7, 2014, at a christening event in Genoa, Italy. On the night of the christening those five women will take their place of honor alongside other women who have christened Costa ships in the past, including Claudia Cardinale, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Marion Cotillard, Margareth Madé and others. To be sure that the godmother feels like a true regina, Costa is adorning her with a new dress fit for the grand gala.

Starting Nov. 8 and for the rest of the 2014-15 winter season and the 2015 summer season, Costa Diadema -- the Regina del Mediterraneo or Queen of Mediterranean -- will depart Savona, Italy, on seven-night cruises to the western Mediterranean, calling at Marseille, France; Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca, Spain; and Naples and La Spezia, Italy.

Viking names Star godmother

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 11 July 2014 11 July 2014

Viking Ocean Cruises today released a new online video highlighting the “float out” ceremony of its first ship – the 930-passenger Viking Star – set to debut in early 2015. The traditional ceremony, which took place on Monday, June 23 at Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard outside Venice, Italy, marked a major construction milestone – the first time the ship touched water – and kicks off the final stage of outfitting and interior build-out.

Accompanying the new video, Viking also announced that Trude Drevland, the mayor of Bergen, Norway, will be godmother to Viking Star and will officially “name” the ship during a christening ceremony on May 17, 2015 – Norwegian Constitution Day. “Trude,” as she is known throughout Norway, was on-hand at the shipyard to assist with the float-out ceremony, helping weld coins to the ship – a good luck practice that dates back to Roman times – and cutting a cord to allow water to begin flowing into the ship’s building dock.

“I am so privileged to be godmother to the new Viking Star,” said Drevland. “She will be the soul of Scandinavia, with some touches of Bergen. I will love it!”

"For our first ocean ship it was very important to have a godmother who personifies our company’s Scandinavian heritage and the Viking spirit, so it is an absolute honor to have Trude as godmother to Viking Star,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking Cruises and a native of Norway. “Bergen, with its colorful harbor and stunning scenery, has always been one of my favorite cities, and we are delighted for our guests to experience it firsthand starting next spring.”

P&O Cruises Australia names its new ships

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 11 July 2014 11 July 2014

After sifting through more than 30,000 suggestions from across Australia and New Zealand, P&O Cruises today drew a line in the sand to reveal the names of its latest ships – Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden.

Port Macquarie artist, Chloe Dickey, 24, unveiled the names in a spectacular 20-metre-wide mural raked into the golden sands of Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach as scores of spectators looked on.

P&O Cruises said while it had been overwhelmed with ideas, the two names, Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden, stood out from the field as they had a contemporary feel that reflected the blissful and indulgent spirit of a P&O Cruises' holiday at sea.

Eden, suggested by Nikki Smith from Bentley Park, Cairns, was chosen because of the sense of peace and images of paradise and beautiful destinations that the name evoked. In a happy coincidence, Eden is also an idyllic regional port on the cruise line's latest itineraries.

Meanwhile Aria, an entry from Katie Luxa from Canning Vale, Perth, conveyed a sense of beauty, grandeur and escapism – all words that could be used to describe a wonderful holiday at sea.

Ann Sherry, the CEO of Carnival Australia which operates P&O Cruises, said Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden were fresh, vibrant and contemporary names that captured the essence of its cruises.

“With ethereal and heavenly undertones, we thought Aria and Eden conjured up the happy, blissful and indulgent spirit of our cruise holidays, which offer the chance to escape the everyday world,” Ms Sherry said. “They really capture the cruising state-of-mind that hundreds of thousands of Australians experience on our ships each year.”

Chloe spent more than an hour creating the mural at Bondi Beach, carefully timing tides, swell and runners to reveal the names for the very first time. (View the images on Facebook.)

“It's not every day you get the chance to reveal the names of two new ships which will call Australia home, so we wanted to do it in an uniquely Australian way at one of the country's most iconic locations,” Ms Sherry said. “Chloe has an amazing talent and it was a delight to discover her work and bring her to Sydney to create an image that we think will capture Australia’s imagination.”

More than 93 per cent of entries had featured the word “Pacific”, consistent with the current P&O Cruises fleet – Pacific Dawn, Pacific Jewel and Pacific Pearl – so the cruise line decided to maintain the prefix across all of its ships.

Ms Sherry said the extraordinary response to the two week Facebook search underlined P&O Cruises' place as the region's first and most popular cruise line.

“We were overwhelmed by the volume of suggestions from Aussies and Kiwis who wanted to put their stamp on our latest ships, which we hope will become as adored as our current fleet.”

The most common entries were gem stones' Diamond, Sapphire and Opal each suggested more than 500 times. Australians and New Zealanders also showed their creativity by putting forward names like Ozzie and Straya, Kiri Te Kawana, the Minogue sisters Kylie and Dannii as well as Dinky Di and Blinky Bill.

After coming up with the winning names and the most compelling reasons, Ms Smith and Mrs Luxa have each won a cruise for two on the inaugural voyage of the ships they successfully named and will also be invited to attend the naming celebration of the respective ships.

Pacific Eden and Pacific Aria will debut in Australia in November next year taking the cruise line’s fleet to a record five ships sailing year-round from Australia and New Zealand. The ships’ itineraries and home-porting arrangements will be announced in the coming weeks.

MSC Cruises unveils winter 2015-2016 Caribbean itineraries

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 10 July 2014 10 July 2014

Today, MSC Cruises announced its November 2015 through April 2016 winter Caribbean itineraries for MSC Divina. Now available for booking, the collection of seven-night Caribbean sailings features new ports of call and a 10-night cruise visiting Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica.

As part of its “Serving You” efforts dedicated to travel agent partners, MSC Cruises is launching the new itineraries with an appealing group promotion featuring special group rates starting at $349 per person, up to $100 ship board credit per stateroom, and no deposit due until December 31, 2014, when booked by September 30, 2014.

Available on all MSC Divina sailings from November 11, 2015 through April 16, 2016, with the exclusion of the December 26, 2015 departure, the group promotion allows travel agents to earn one tour conductor (TC) for every 13 full-fare guests, plus two amenity points per group to use towards bonus commissions or onboard enhancements such as stateroom gifts, cocktail parties, and shipboard credits. The promotion applies to group allotments of less than 100 cabins.

“We’ve released our newest itineraries earlier than ever to ensure our valued travel agent partners have the resources and crucial time needed to successfully organize group bookings, along with added incentives to make a group booking with MSC Cruises even more lucrative,” added Ken Muskat, executive vice president, Sales, PR & Guest Services.

Starting on November 11, 2015 with a 10-night roundtrip from Miami sailing highlighting three marquee ports – Cartagena, Colombia; Cristobal, Panama; and Puerto Limon, Costa Rica – MSC Divina will continue her winter 2015-2016 season with seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean sailings featuring new ports of call in La Romana, Dominican Republic; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; and Nassau, Bahamas.

In spring 2014, MSC Cruises launched an ongoing series of “Serving You” initiatives within its MSC True Partnerships program elevating MSC Cruises’ dedication to travel agents as it continues its expansion within the North American market. Most recently, the line announced the payment of 5% commission on ALL pre-paid special services pre-booked by travel agents on behalf of their clients. In addition to the current commissionable shore excursions, hotel packages, transfers, and airfare, it includes spa treatments, specialty restaurants, beverage packages and stateroom celebration packages, among others. The brand also continues to pay 10% commission on pre-paid cruise insurance coverage. Details on the list of pre-booked items available can be found on the MSC Travel Agent website www.msccruisesagent.com. Travel agents can receive additional news and updates by attending one of the Serving You Roadshow events scheduled in more than 20 major markets and regions across North America and by visiting the MSC True Partnerships’ Facebook page www.facebook.com/MSCTruePartnerships.

Named after godmother Sophia Loren, MSC Divina offers several divine new features, including two Eataly restaurants - the upscale Ristorante Italia and spectacular regional Eataly Steakhouse fashioned after the famed restaurant in Eataly’s Manhattan location and artisanal marketplace, and is the first ship to offer Aqua Cycling at sea. The 1,751-cabin ship boasts 322,900 square feet of public spaces including 18 bars and lounges, five swimming pools, a bowling alley, gym and exotic Aurea Spa, the popular Formula 1 simulator, 4-D Cinema, and new Segafredo Zanetti gourmet coffee bar.

MSC Divina also features the MSC Yacht Club, an innovative “ship-within-a-ship” concept with 69 suites on board. MSC Yacht Club guests can indulge in comfort and convenience, from their own personal Butler and 24-hour concierge service to complimentary wines and spirits available any time of the day throughout MSC Yacht Club’s exclusive lounges and pool area.