Regal Princess sets sail on inaugural voyage

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: More News More News

Published: 20 May 2014 20 May 2014

The newest cruise ship to join the Princess fleet, Regal Princess, arrived in Venice on May 20 to welcome guests on the maiden voyage. Sister ship to the acclaimed Royal Princess, her 7-night inaugural cruise includes stops in Corfu, Mykonos and an overnight call in Istanbul.

“We’re absolutely delighted to welcome another addition to the Princess family with Regal Princess,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises president. “This new ship now expands our fleet to 18 vessels that visit worldwide destinations, and guests traveling aboard Regal Princess will truly have a special experience while enjoying her exciting features including the showpiece atrium, exceptional dining, relaxing Lotus Spa and innovative features like the over-water SeaWalk.”

Throughout the summer, the new ship will sail on Princess’ signature Grand Mediterranean cruises, with two itinerary choices. Regal Princess will debut in North America in November, when the traditional naming ceremony will take place, followed by a season of Eastern Caribbean cruises.

Regal Princess, a sister cruise ship to Royal Princess, will offer its 3,560 guests a variety of enticing features, including:

The SeaWalk – The ship’s most distinguishing design element is an over-water SeaWalk, a top-deck glass-bottomed enclosed walkway on the ship’s starboard side extending more than 28 feet beyond the edge of the vessel. From here guests can enjoy dramatic views, including to the sea 128 feet below.

Dramatic Atrium – The social hub of the ship, the soaring atrium offers a vibrant collection of always-changing quick bites and light meals, beverages, entertainment, shopping and guest services. Features such as Bellini’s Italian cocktail bar, Ocean Terrace seafood bar, and a gelateria add to the Piazza’s lively atmosphere.

Chef’s Table Lumiere – Princess has set a new standard for the chef’s table experience with the Chef’s Table Lumiere in which guests will be magically surrounded by a curtain of light – providing a soft wall of privacy that envelopes diners as they savor the chef’s special menu.

Princess® WaterColor Fantasy – The ship’s central pool area features daily and nightly performances of four separate themed sequences comprised of dancing fountains, special music and live performers. The Movies Under the Stars screen is also incorporated as an additional show element.

Princess Live! – The ship’s television studio features programming throughout the day from 8 am until midnight. Guests can enjoy live talk shows, demonstrations and performers here, including the daily Wake Show.

Super Tuscan Wines – More than 20 choices of these headline-making wines from Tuscany are available in Sabatini’s. Ranging from recognizable Super Tuscans such as Masseto, Solaia or Tignanello to some lesser known vintages such as Castello del Terricio 'Cappuanino' or Il Bruciato Bolgheri, these wines are featured by the bottle and in a Sabatini’s Super Tuscan Wine Tasting event, where guests can enjoy the rare opportunity to sample the wines accompanied by delicious small plates from the Italian restaurant.

Horizon Bistro Pastry Shop – At the Horizon Court’s dedicated pastry shop guests can indulge in fresh-baked goodies throughout the day and even get to see Princess’ pastry chefs in action as they demonstrate their skills in chocolate work and cake decorating.

Private Cabanas – Private cabana options give guests the opportunity to personalize their relaxation time, with elegant cabanas in The Sanctuary and poolside cabanas at the Retreat Pool. Cabana guests looking for a gourmet treat can order one of the ship’s new cabana picnic baskets, packed with artisan edibles paired with a premium wine.

Two new features of Regal Princess include an additional aft pool and access to the exterior promenade on deck 7, enabling passengers to walk the length of the ship.

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises simplify planning with new digital platform

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: More News More News

Published: 20 May 2014 20 May 2014

Recognizing that vacation time is precious and every moment counts, Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises have developed an all-new planning tool that allows guests to seamlessly and intuitively plan all aspects of their cruise vacation quicker and easier than ever before. The cruise lines are once again leading the industry with the totally revamped Cruise Planner, a tool that makes it possible for all reservations, activities and entertainment to be booked well in advance of departure, ensuring no vacation time needs to be spent on planning. In addition, Royal Caribbean International’s Quantum of the Seas’ Dynamic Dining reservations also are open and available for guests to book.

With the new Cruise Planner, planning and personalization is simplified with a game-changing approach that eliminates guess work with a modern, user-friendly format enabled for desktops and tablets. Complete with an extensive search and filtering feature that makes it possible for guests to easily navigate and research products and opportunities available on their specific booked itinerary, Cruise Planner is the ultimate resource for vacation planning.  Whether a seasoned cruiser or a traveler setting sail for the first time, guests will appreciate Cruise Planner’s quick and easy menus that dive deep into the vacation options available, enabling access to restaurants and beverage packages with just one click, and the ability to browse hundreds of shore excursions by day, port, activity type, number of guests, and more. Cruise Planner even provides custom activity recommendations and featured product displays to spark ideas and inspire more ways to enjoy the cruise vacation. 

“Planning a vacation should not be a complicated process” said Adam Goldstein, President and COO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. “With the new Cruise Planner we are transforming the way our guests plan their experience. By taking cues from the technologies and resources that our guests use every day we have created a tool that is simple and intuitive to use and will transform our guests experience from the moment they begin planning their vacation. Once they step onboard, we want our guests to have nothing to do but simply enjoy themselves, and Cruise Planner makes that possible.”

Guests can use the platform to explore each and every activity that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises offer both on and off the ship, and make changes to activities and reservations up until four days prior to their sail date. A streamlined order history, shopping cart with a categorized summary, and printable calendar that is color-coded for each member of the traveling party, keeps track of everything so that guests can easily and visually plan their cruise.

Guests booked on Royal Caribbean International can now see the all new Cruise Planner by visiting http://bit.ly/18S7tcq. Guests on Celebrity Cruises can see the platform on June 10.

Cruise Planner was developed in partnership with Isobar a global digital marketing agency consisting of nearly 3,500 digital pioneers in 63 offices, across 37 markets worldwide.

Royal Caribbean unveils 52 night Quantum of the Seas positioning voyage to China

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 19 May 2014 19 May 2014

World Travellers will not need to trek out to New York City to catch Quantum of the Seas, the most anticipated cruise ship to-date. "The ship will come to them. Royal Caribbean International has announced the details of the Quantum Global Odyssey, a 57-night epic journey, departing May 2, 2015, from the New York-metropolitan area to its new home in Shanghai (Baoshan), China," the company said in a statement.

"Quantum of the Seas will take its never-before-seen-at-sea experience globally to savvy holiday-makers after the ship’s inaugural winter season in New York. Guests sailing the entire Quantum Global Odyssey to the other side of the globe will be a part of history as Quantum of the Seas is celebrated at some of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities along the way. The Quantum Global Odyssey will open for sale on May 20, 2014, for Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society loyalty members and on May 22 for the general public."

Quantum of the Seas will sail its nearly two-month, epic journey around the world via the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean. Alternatively, holiday-makers can choose among six sailings, comprising three- to 16-night itineraries, departing from Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, N.J., Barcelona, Dubai, Singapore and Shanghai (Baoshan). Guests aboard the Quantum Global Odyssey will have the opportunity to enjoy all the Quantum-class innovations, while visiting a curated collection of fascinating destinations for an experience only found on Royal Caribbean.

The groundbreaking Quantum-class ships, Quantum of the Seas and sister-ship Anthem of the Seas (debuting in Southampton, U.K. in Apr. 2015), will introduce a new set of first-at-sea onboard experiences, such as Ripcord by iFLY, a heart-pounding skydiving experience; North Star, a thrilling adventure that transports guests more than 300 feet in the air on a breathtaking journey; cutting-edge transformative venues including SeaPlex, the largest indoor sports and entertainment complex at sea with bumper cars, roller skating and more; and the cruise line’s largest and most advanced staterooms ever.

Guests also will enjoy the new Quantum-class “Dynamic Dining,” a completely new culinary experience that offers a landscape of 18 restaurant concepts as vast and varied as dining in the world’s most cosmopolitan cities, including specialty restaurants created with partner-chefs Jamie Oliver, Devin Alexander and Michael Schwartz, the company said.

MSC Cruises four ship lengthening programme begins

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: More News More News

Published: 19 May 2014 19 May 2014

MSC Cruises, the Geneva based cruise shipping company, says it has today laid out the first block of new keel section to be inserted into MSC Armonia as part of the cruise line’s four-ship Renaissance programme.

The work, at the Fincantieri shipyard in Palermo, Italy, marks the beginning of the €200 million lengthening and improvement programme, an important step towards ensuring that all of MSC Cruises’ ships benefit from the latest in terms of technology and comfort, the copany said in a statement.

The section laid out today weighs around 350 tonnes. In the next three months an additional three sections will be built, which are currently being cut in the Palermo yard. The whole block will be finished at the end of July, and will be inserted into the mid-section of the ship at the end of August when MSC Armonia. Close to 200 cabins will be added, as well as new entertainment spaces and new technological enhancements.

The ships will boast a completely new spray park, with an exhilarating pathway of water features and water cannons. The impressive onboard boutiques will be enhanced with new interiors, more space and an all-new perfumery with display corners dedicated to leading brands. The end of the work is scheduled for November 17 2014, the day on which the ship will leave the shipyard to sail to Genoa before heading to the Canary Islands.

The Renaissance programme will ultimately see the lengthening and refurbishment of MSC Cruises’ four Lirica class vessels (MSC Armonia, MSC Lirica, MSC Sinfonia and MSC Opera) and will be completed in 2015

Schedule and key figures

MSC’s Lirica class Renaissance programme will follow the below dry dock schedule:

·         MSC Armonia (2004): August 31 to November 17 2014

·         MSC Sinfonia (2005): January 12 to March 16 2015

·         MSC Opera (2004): May 2 to July 4 2015

·         MSC Lirica (2003): August 31 to November 9 2015

The four Lirica Class ships were built between 2003 and 2005 at the STX yards in Saint-Nazaire, France. They are currently 251 metres long, have a gross tonnage of 60,000 tons and carry 2,069 passengers. After the “Renaissance programme”, the ships will be 275 meters long, measure at 65,000  gross tons and carry 2,680 travellers, boasting 193 additional cabins (plus 59 new cabins for crew members).