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First cruise of Sun Princess after dry dock cancelled on technical problems

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 20 August 2013 20 August 2013

Princess Cruises has cancelled the first sailing of the 1995 built Sun Princess after a major refit in Singapore due to technical problems, UK based Travel Weekly reports on its website.

“Sun Princess was due to embark on a 14-night Asia cruise ending in Fremantle, Australia, but Princess Cruises has cancelled the sailing following a malfunction in the ship's switchboard. About 2,000 passengers were due to sail on the ship,” the report said.

The cruise line said the issue resulted in limited onboard power, which hindered its ability to run hotel operations. A statement from the line said: "Regretfully, we've made the decision to cancel the cruise scheduled to depart today in order to make the necessary repairs.” The ship will resume service on 3 September.

"We're providing all passengers a full refund and a 100% future cruise credit. Additionally, we're covering the costs for all return flights home and incidentals. A special team has been sent to Singapore to assist passengers."

Hamburg chosen for model testing of Titanic II design

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 20 August 2013 20 August 2013

Blue Star Line Chairman Clive Palmer today announced Blue Star Line in conjunction with German hydrodynamic service and consulting company Hamburg Ship Model Basin (HSVA) will next month be conducting the first model testing of the proposed Titanic II, the Australian company said in a statement.

Palmer said a 9.3m wooden model of Titanic II will be put through resistance and powering tests in a 300m long tank at HSVA’s Hamburg facilities in mid-September. Titanic II is scheduled to be completed in China in 2016, before its maiden passenger voyage retracing its original journey from Southampton to New York, the company said. No firm order has been placed as yet to construct the ship.

“This model testing by HSVA will be an important stage in the Titanic II project,” Palmer said in the statement. “The Titanic II model is to be tested in the HSVA tank at speeds of between 18 and 24 knots. This testing is crucial for assessing the speed and power performance of this prototype vessel design.”

HSVA Director of Resistance and Propulsion, Dr Uwe Hollenbach, said HSVA was delighted to be part of the historic Titanic II project in the company’s centenary year. “Model testing is the only accurate and reliable method for a passenger vessel prototype such as Titanic II,” he said.

“Titanic II is a prototype as present day passenger vessels have a completely different type of main hull parameters and therefore are unsuitable as references. The speed and power performance model testing is one of the critical aspects for a prototype vessel and needs to be verified before a construction contract is completed.”

UPDATED: Celebrity Millennium has propulsion problems, misses ports

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 20 August 2013 20 August 2013

Celebrity Cruises has canceled the remainder of Celebrity Millennium's Alaska sailing, after failing to resolve mechanical issues that stranded the ship in Ketchikan late Sunday. The line is providing chartered air out of Ketchikan, as well as a full refund and 100% future cruise credit, CruiseCritic reports.

"Our engineers, along with expert consultants from the motor's manufacturer, and our Marine Operations team in Miami, have continued working around the clock to resolve the mechanical issues onboard Celebrity Millennium," Cynthia Martinez, director of global corporate communications for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL), told Cruise Critic.

RCCL is the parent company of Celebrity Cruises.

Mechanical problems with a propulsion unit plague Celebrity Millennium in Alaska, Cruise Critic reports on its website.

Yesterday, the ship was held in port in Ketchikan, less than one week after engine problems stranded the ship in Seward for four days. It is unclear at this time how long the ship will need to remain in port.

"Due to a mechanical problem in one of Celebrity Millennium's two propulsion units, the ship returned to Ketchikan last night," Cynthia Martinez, director of global corporate communications for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., told Cruise Critic.

In addition to missing yesterday's scheduled trip to Icy Straight Point, Celebrity has confirmed it will cancel Millennium's scheduled call in Juneau, Alaska, today. The line did not specify what was causing the mechanical problem in Millennium's propulsion unit. Celebrity also did not say whether the current problem onboard is related to the propulsion problem that forced the ship to alter a cruise last week.

A statement from the line said: "Along with expert consultants, our engineers have been working around the clock to resolve the issue. Upon further investigation, it is clear that our teams need additional time to fully determine the root cause of the problem."

The line said they will be compensating guests for the itinerary changes, but has not yet said what the compensation would be, the report said. CElebrity cruises, which owns the ship, is part of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL) group.

"The ship is capable of sailing without the affected unit; however, in an abundance of caution, the Captain decided the safer and more prudent action was to return to port to evaluate the issue… While in Ketchikan, our technical teams will make a full inspection of the unit, and assess the need for any necessary repairs."

Martinez did not respond to questions about whether the propulsion problem this week is related to the engine problem last week.

The ship's visit to Icy Strait Point, scheduled for today, has been canceled. Updates on other scheduled ports of call are expected later today.

Celebrity Millennium departed Vancouver on August 16 and is scheduled to call on Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway before concluding in Seward on August 23.

MyFerryLink says first trading year "highly successful"

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 19 August 2013 19 August 2013

MyFerryLink, the French owned Dover-Calais ferry firm, says it has just completed "a highly successful first year of trading. "

Robin Wilkins, Managing Director of the company in the UK said in a statement: “We are now the number two operator on the Dover-Calais route with our July figures showing we have now gained 8.2% of the tourism car market. Our freight figures are equally encouraging; we now have 10% of the market after just one year of operation.”

The firm is operated by an employee partnership of the French-based shore staff and crew. As a result, each member of staff has a close interest in the performance of the company, as Wilkins explained, “We are consistently getting high scores from people travelling with us on TrustPilot and other service comparison sites, so we are confident that we are offering a good service to our customers."

The company operates 16 crossing per day and the crossing time is about 75 minutes.

Norwegian launches destination driven promotion for UK agents

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 19 August 2013 19 August 2013

Norwegian Cruise Line, the Miami based cruise shipping company, says it has launched its latest Partners First initiative – Norwegians Love Destinations - in the UK." The promotion will showcase a different destination each month between August and December, highlighting the products whilst providing agents with insight and information to help them to sell cruise destinations to customers, as well as giving them a chance to win destination themed prizes," the company said in a statement.

The UK is the second most important source market for Norwegian, after North America.

The ‘Norwegians Love Destinations’ campaign has been devised in partnership with destinations including Alaska & Seattle, Baltics, New York City, Tampa, New Orleans, and Spain. By visitingwww.ncl.co.uk/agents/destinations agents can find destination information, links to destination websites and downloadable destination fact sheets. Agents will also receive a special mailbag on 22 August delivered directly to their place of business with a dedicated Alaska brochure, Alaska & Seattle fact sheets and the latest Partners First Newsletter

Throughout August the focus will be on Alaska & Seattle’s offerings for customers and to kick start the month Norwegian hosted a special Partners First Webinar on 13 August. Agents can watch a recording of the webinar at www.ncl.co.uk/agents/partners-first/gallery. They can also sign up to future destination webinars at www.ncl.co.uk/agents/partners-first.

Alongside the educational element of the ‘Norwegians Love Destinations’ campaign, agents will have the chance to win a selection of prizes by taking part in the monthly Destinations Competition. To enter agents need to visit the promotion website where each month the competition information will be uploaded. The prizes up for grabs in August are an Alaska & Seattle goodie bag which includes an Alaskan recipe book, Starbucks hamper and a pair of Olympus binoculars.

Nick Wilkinson, Director Business Development at Norwegian Cruise Line said: “Our Partners First philosophy puts the trade at the heart of everything we do, and this campaign builds on our on-going commitment to helping agents in getting their cruise bookings rolling."