Godja Sonnichsen appointed communications director at TUI Cruises

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 19 April 2012 19 April 2012

Godja Sonnichsen has been appointed director of communications at TUI Cruises, the Hamburg based premium market cruise shipping company as of 1 June 2012, the company said in a statement.

She follows Alexa Huhner, who will return to her earlier position of spokesperson for TUI Deutschland, which is part of the TUI AG group that owns 50% of TUI Cruises. The other half belongs to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd..

Sonnichsen worked for the pat six years at DMK, the biggest dairy group in Germany, where she was in charge corporate and market communications.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines to celebrate St George’s day

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 19 April 2012 19 April 2012

Despite its Norwegian heritage, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is known for a very British atmosphere on board; Sterling is the currency used, and English the first language spoken. In the same vein, afternoon tea is a time-honoured and enduringly popular tradition, and some of the bars even offer draught beers, in the traditional pub style, the company said in a statement.

“It is no surprise, then, that the ships all celebrate the Saint’s Days for the British Patron Saints. On Monday 23rd April 2012, the guests and crew on all four Fred. Olsen ships will mark the occasion in style. A special English ‘pub lunch’ will be served in restaurants and cafés, and the ships will be decorated in red and white, the colours of St. George. The daily onboard newspaper, the Daily Times, will have a special insert marking the occasion, and activity will include English quizzes, a traditional ‘sing-along’ in the evening, and much more.”

On St. George’s Day, Black Watch will be at sea, en route back to Southampton, at the end of her 106-night World Cruise; Braemar will be at Praia da Vitoria in the Azores, on a cruise to the Canaries and Azores; Balmoral will be returning to Southampton after her unique Titanic Memorial Cruise, and Boudicca will be in Dakar in Senegal, as part of a cruise to the Cape Verde Islands.

Nathan Philpot, Sales and Marketing Director of Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines said: ‘Although our guests, of course, love to travel the world, and visit new and exciting ports of call, many are also very patriotic, and enjoy celebrating occasions such as St. George’s Day.  As a British cruise line, we also encourage celebrations for St. Andrew’s Day, St. David’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day.

Many guests on Black Watch, in particular, who have been on the 106-night World Cruise, have not seen England since early January, so no doubt they will be happy to celebrate their homecoming in this way. As with all special occasions on board, the staff will make every effort to ensure everyone has a marvellous time and St George’s Day is marked in style and with enthusiasm.’

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines offers a comprehensive choice of ex-UK cruises, from a wide range of UK regional ports. Currently, cruises depart from Dover, Southampton, Portsmouth, Newcastle (Port of Tyne), Greenock (Glasgow) and Rosyth (Edinburgh.) From 2013, there will be an even greater choice of departure ports, with cruise programmes from Harwich, Liverpool and Belfast.  As well as cruises to destinations worldwide, the quintessentially British cruise line offers cruises around the British Isles.

The company is owned 50/50 by Ganger Rolf and Bonheur, two holding companies listed on the Oslo stock exchange and controlled by the Olsen family. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is based in Ipswich, England.

Columbus 2 christened in Mallorca

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 18 April 2012 18 April 2012

On April 17, 2012, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises christened their newest addition to the fleet, the Columbus 2. After a short conversion period in Barcelona, the Columbus 2 joined the fleet immediately. The first cruise will sail from Mallorca to Malta this week.

The next expansion step by the Hamburg operator is the completion of the new-build, the Europa 2. From May 2013 onwards the ship will be positioned in the five-star segment, as a modern lifestyle-oriented version of the fleet’s flagship, the Europa. All cruises on the new Europa 2 will be fully bilingual and will cater to the English-speaking market.

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises took over the Columbus 2 from Oceania Cruises, with a two-year charter contract and the option to extend. The Columbus 2 has 11 decks and 349 cabins, accommodating a maximum of 698 passengers. "Thanks to a few conversion measures, including the addition of a Kids and Teens area, we can now attract families onboard the Columbus 2. The family-oriented ship will be positioned in the four-star segment, and will offer a range of German-language cruises," according to managing director Sebastian Ahrens.

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ new Europa 2 will take to the high seas in May 2013. Her maiden voyage will take place from May 11-25, 2013 from Hamburg to Lisbon. The ship is currently being built at the shipyard STX Europe in Saint-Nazaire, France. The newly built addition to the fleet will feature eleven decks, all-suites with their own outdoor verandas, and the largest space per passenger ratio in the cruise industry. All of the cruises of the Europa 2 will be international, meaning they will be conducted in both German and English for the duration of all cruises. An English-language brochure will be published in the autumn of 2012.

Sixteen new ports in Swan Hellenic's 2013-14 programme

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 17 April 2012 17 April 2012

Swan Hellenic introduces its 2013/14 programme of cruises which sees its flagship 350 passenger ship, Minerva, visiting 16 new destinations. In total, the ship will sail to 184 ports around the world during 2013/14, the company said in a statement.

 

To celebrate the launch of the 2013/14 programme, the destinational UK based cruise line is offering passengers a 10 per cent discount on selected 2013 cruises and free travel insurance.

 

Passengers can benefit from free insurance on all bookings made between 17 April and 31 May 2012 on departures from 21 May 2013. An early booking incentive of 10% is also available on selected sailings during this same period.

 

Plus, for the first time, passengers choosing a higher grade Balcony suite (Grades A-C) can enjoy a complimentary return chauffeur service from their home to the UK airport or port within a radius of 75 miles (excess mileage charges on journeys over 75 miles will apply) on all cruises departing from 13 February 2013. Additional discounts can also be made if, when booking your 2013 cruise, you also book a cruise in 2012, and you can also achieve up to 30% savings on booking Grand Voyages in winter 2012/13. Terms and conditions apply on all these offers. 

 

In Summer 2013 Minerva will be sailing from its home port of Portsmouth, offering a varied programme of no-fly cruises to the Baltic, Norway, Spitsbergen, The British Isles, Iceland, France and Ireland. These include partnership cruises that have been designed in conjunction with the National Trust and the Royal Horticultural Society. Fly-cruises are also available, including the Black Sea and the Dalmatian coast and itineraries that explore the Mediterranean in the Autumn sunshine. 

 

Further highlights of the summer 2013 programme include a cruise focusing on Oslo and the Fjords. This cruise, in June 2013, marks Minerva’s return to Oslo and also offers maiden calls in Haugesund, Førde and Ulvik. Scenic cruising in the fjords is a highlight of the cruise, which also features cruising Sognefjord to Flåm, for a chance to ride on the famous railway, and Nordfjord to see the spectacular Briksdal Glacier in Jostedal National Park. Prices start from £2,495 per person for a 16-day cruise.

 

Minerva will visit Spitsbergen for the first time on its Above the Arctic Circle itinerary in July 2013, spending four days calling at the remote settlements of Longyearbyen, Barentsburg and Ny-Alesund as well as cruising in Magdalenefjord. Prices start from £3,395 per person for a 21-day cruise.

 

Swan Hellenic, a British company founded in 1954, is also announcing its Winter 2013/14 programme, marking the start of its Diamond anniversary year.  Minerva will cruise to the Caribbean, Central America and make a circumnavigation of South America. New ports of call include Havana, Santiago de Cuba and Casilda in Cuba, Cartagena in Colombia and the San Blas islands. Passengers can enjoy the 84-day winter voyage around South America from £11,765 per person.

 

Renowned for its eminent Guest Speakers, the 2013 programme includes Professor Mark Horton, co-presenter of BBC2’s BAFTA award winning programme Coast, the historian Mr Antony Beevor, Dr Andrew Burnett, Deputy Director of the British Museum, and Dr Emily Lethbridge, who recently spent a year in Iceland reading and researching the sagas in the landscapes in which they were written.

 

Swan Hellenic’s Managing Director, Colin Stone commented:

 

“Our passengers are constantly in search of new cultural experiences and enjoy visiting destinations that other larger cruise lines do not explore. With the addition of 16 new ports of call across five continents the forthcoming programme has something to suit all tastes. In addition, we always listen to our passengers’ comments and are pleased to be able to announce some new launch promotions. We anticipate that the complimentary insurance and chauffeur service will be well received, further reinforcing Swan Hellenic’s reputation of exceptional inclusive value small ship discovery cruising.”

 

Further highlights of the 2013 programme include:

 

-     The Realms of the British Isles cruise in partnership with the National Trust. This 15-day itinerary offers visits to distinguished National Trust houses, gardens and also features scenic cruising in the Inner Hebrides and along the Jurassic coast of Dorset. National Trust Guest Speakers feature on this cruise. Prices start from £2,175 per person for the 15-day cruise.

-     In partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society, and with an RHS Guest Speaker, explore further off the beaten track with a cruise to the Shores of the Emerald Isle. Visit diverse gardens and enjoy maiden calls in the remote ports of Dingle in Eire, Inishmore on the Isles of Arran and the nature sanctuary of Lundy Island.  Prices start from £2,175 per person for the 15-day cruise.

-     Rhythms of Cuba and the Caribbean offers two days exploring Havana, a full day in Santiago de Cuba and a morning call in Casilda, allowing exploration of many of the UNESCO world heritage sites in Cuba. Prices start from £1,950 per person for the 16-day cruise.

 

All brochure prices include return flights to/from the UK, transfers, a comprehensive selection of inclusive shore excursions in every port, and the opportunity to listen to enlightening talks by the eminent Guest Speakers on board. There are no additional gratuities or hidden extras and entrance fees to all attractions featured in the shore excursion programme are also included.