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Royal Caribbean details Explorer of the Seas refunds

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 28 January 2014 28 January 2014

Royal Caribbean International Statement Regarding Explorer of the Seas, January 27, 2014, 9:00 p.m.:

Explorer of the Seas is on track to return home from its 10-day cruise on Wednesday. The number of reported new cases of gastrointestinal illness has dropped sharply after a spike in the first days of the cruise, and most guests who fell ill are up and about.

The drop in new cases is encouraging. However, it is not unusual in an outbreak to still have smaller, secondary spikes. That is why, after discussions with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and our medical team, we decided the most prudent course for the health of our guests and crew was to bring the cruise home on Wednesday, two days earlier than planned.

We are glad to see many guests are feeling better. Still, in the end, the exceptional disruptions caused by the early wave of illness meant that we were unable to deliver the vacation our guests were expecting. Therefore, we have decided that all guests on this week’s cruise will receive a 50 percent refund of their cruise fare. In addition, all guests will receive an additional 50 percent future cruise credit. Those guests who had to be confined to staterooms by illness will receive an additional credit of one future cruise day for each day of confinement on this trip. We will also reimburse airline change fees and accommodations for guests whose travel home was inconvenienced by the change of travel plans.

After returning to home port on Wednesday, Jan. 29, we will perform a thorough “barrier” sanitization program on the entire ship to make certain that any remaining traces of the illness are eliminated. It will be the third aggressive sanitizing procedure the ship has undertaken since we became aware of the issue, and will additionally provide a window of more than 24 hours where there are no persons aboard the ship, which is a significant help. Guests scheduled for the next cruise on Explorer of the Seas can be confident that all possible measures will have been taken to prevent further problems

We will be cooperating with authorities and conducting our own internal assessments to make sure we are doing all we can continue to promote the health and safety of our guests and crew.

Explorer of the Seas departed Cape Liberty, New Jersey, on Tuesday, January 21. She was scheduled to call to Labadee, Haiti, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; and Philipsburg, St. Maarten. She missed her scheduled port calls in Labadee, Haiti and Philipsburg, St. Maarten.

Silversea introduces enhanced personal log-in area on its website

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 28 January 2014 28 January 2014

Ultra-luxury Silversea Cruises today revealed its latest innovation to make travel planning easier. The new "My Silversea" personal log-in area is now available at Silversea.com, enabling both guests and travel agent partners to conveniently update their profile and preferences, arrange activities prior to a reserved voyage, and access a host of additional features.

Plus, luxury travel enthusiasts who are interested in Silversea, but have never sailed with the line, can now easily register at My Silversea<https://my.silversea.com/Account/LogOn?ReturnUrl=%2fMySilversea%2f> to receive brochures and other communications.

For the first time, specialty restaurant dinner reservations can now be pre-booked in advance (from 120 to 7 days prior to sailing), along with the optional shore excursions, beauty, spa and fitness services that previously have been available to reserve in advance through the line's website. Members of Venetian Society, Silversea's past guest loyalty club, will now also be able to conveniently keep track of their past voyage history by logging into "My Silversea." "Besides being more intuitive for the user, one of the great enhancements of 'My Silversea' is that guests sailing on our classic fleet, and their travel agents, can now make online dinner reservations for the first time," said Kristian Anderson, Silversea's senior vice president of sales and general manager for North America. "And travel agents will now find it much easier to access valuable marketing support tools and manage their clients' bookings online."

For booked guests, the new more user-friendly portal replaces the "My Voyage" section of Silversea.com, and travel agents will now simply log into "My Silversea" instead of the line's previous dedicated online travel agent center.

"My Silversea" is available for guests sailing on expedition cruises; however, the option to pre-book certain services and activities is still under development and will soon follow.

Order for fourth Oasis class ship possible - analyst

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 28 January 2014 28 January 2014

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL), the world's second largest cruise shipping group, may place on order for a fourth 226,000 gross ton cruise ship for its Royal Caribbean International brand, a senior industry analyst has pointed out.

"RCCL has decided not to exercise an option for 2017 delivery, which had been an option good for either a Quantum or Reflection class ship. RCCL is still mulling an option for a 2018 delivery of a fourth Oasis class ship, and we expect a decision on that in 1H this year," said Robin Farley, leisure and gaming industry analyst at UBS Securities in New York. The company has two Oasis class vessels in service and a third one on order at STX France.

"If option is exercised, it could represent about 90bps of about +1% to +1.5% capacity growth estimate for North American market in 2018 (already included in our 2018 capacity estimates). We note that capex guidance increased by $100M every year for ’14-‘16 vs. previous guidance," she said in a note after RCCL had published its final quarter and full year 2013 results.

P&O Cruises promotes Med Fly Cruise programme for agents with 10 Fiat 500s as prizes

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 28 January 2014 28 January 2014

P&O Cruises, the contemporary market unit of Carnival Corp & plc group in the UK, says it aims to rev up new Fly-Med bookings by giving agents the chance to win one of 10 Fiat 500s. "The funky fuel efficient cars feature as star prizes in a trade promotion to support agents booking new summer fly-cruises in the Mediterranean on contemporary large ship Ventura," P&O Cruises said in a statement..

The competition to win one of the iconic Italian super-minis reflects itineraries that will see the ship sailing from Venice and Genoa between April and October this summer. The “Italian Extravaganza” promotion running throughout February and March will also give 500 agents the opportunity to win Pizza Express vouchers and in addition, the ten agents making the most fly/Med bookings will win a VIP trip to Venice.

P&O Cruises sales and distribution support director Chris Truscott said: “We are confident that this Italian Extravaganza will really ignite the focus on our fly-Med cruises and we want to reward agents in a way which will really appeal to them, for delivering bookings. Fly-Med is an opportunity to sell to those who may not have considered a cruise or who are looking for a classic family summer holiday on the Italian Riviera.

“With lead in Early Saver fares from £599pp for seven nights, or from £999pp for 14 nights, it’s not just agents who will benefit. These Fly-Med cruises tick all the boxes for families; excellent kids' club facilities both day and night, a new city to explore, beach to laze on or pool to play in every day, a fantastic choice of dining from pizzas by the pool to al fresco fine dining in Marco Pierre White's restaurant and numerous destinations to explore all in one action-packed holiday.”

P&O Cruises has also added departures from seven regional airports on selected Fly-Med cruises. The direct* regional charter flights will be available on 16 Fly-Med cruises across airports including; Bournemouth, Belfast, Cardiff, East Midlands, Glasgow, Newcastle and Stansted. Flights are also available from London, Manchester or Birmingham as standard.

Truscott continues: “These extra regional flights departures will cut the travel time dramatically from home to holiday, providing even quicker access to the sun for families, which is a real selling point for agents. Over the next couple of months we will also be visiting agents across the country for an Italian themed mega blitz with campaign details and giveaways.”

Also, as part of the Agent Matters programme the company is giving away 100 Ventura fly-Med Graduation Cruises to those agents who attain Commodore status through the online training programme. Cabins have been allocated on every seven night departure, from 26 March 2014 through to the 27 Aug 2014.

Tallink's Silja Festival chartered to Canada

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 27 January 2014 27 January 2014

US Shipbrokers announced that it has just facilitated with co-brokers the Charter/Purchase of the Silja Festival from her owners Tallink Group to Canadian interests. The Cruise Ferry Silja Festival will be used as an accommodation vessel for a construction project in Kitimat, British Columbia. "US Shipbrokers was contacted by charterers in December due to our vast experience with accommodation charters throughout the United States and the Caribbean, and with our network of worldwide brokers and our proven results, we were able to close this charter/purchase within one month," the company said in a statement.