Top Headlines

Cunard to extend operations pause up to May 2021

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 25 August 2020 25 August 2020

Cunard, the UK based upmarket cruise line in the Carnival Corporation & plc group, will extend pause in its operations from the end of November to up to May next year, the company said in a statement.

“ In an acknowledgement of the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) guidance and the complexity of operating world voyages, luxury cruise line Cunard will be extending its pause in operations from November 2020 until March 25, 2021 for its ship Queen Elizabeth; until April 18, 2021 for Queen Mary 2 and until May 16, 2021 for Queen Victoria,” the company said in a statement.

Cunard president Simon Palethorpe said: “We are so sorry to all those guests who were due to sail on any of the cancelled voyages and for the disappointment this news will cause. After very careful consideration and reviewing the latest guidance, we simply do not feel it would be sensible to start sailing again with our current schedule so we have reviewed future itineraries.”

“Queen Elizabeth has returned to the UK and with ongoing uncertainty over the re-opening of many ports and countries, it is sadly not practical to continue her planned itineraries for 2021.”

“Therefore, in addition to the pause in operations, all of Queen Elizabeth’s sailings due to depart between March 26, 2021 and December 13, 2021, in and around Australia, Japan and Alaska, will be cancelled.”

Instead, Cunard will operate a programme of shorter duration European holidays ranging from three to 14 nights departing from Southampton. These will start at the end of March 2021, with a series of scenic voyages around the coast of Cornwall, the west coast of Ireland and the Scottish Isles.

There will also be short breaks to Amsterdam which will include an overnight in the city, as well as voyages to northern and southern European destinations including Norway and the Iberian coast, with several of these itineraries featuring overnight city stays.

“Queen Elizabeth’s new programme will be completed with a series of seven and 14 night voyages in the Mediterranean, sailing from Barcelona. It is an exciting new programme which I am sure will have great appeal,” Palethorpe said. All new itineraries on board Queen Elizabeth will be available to book from September 29, 2020.

Queen Mary 2, which experienced a curtailed World Voyage this year the cancellation of its World Voyage in 2021, will sail a classic World Voyage in 2022. “This will replace her scheduled sailings departing January 3, 2022 to April 3, 2022, including the voyage to South America,” Palethorpe added.

The new 104 night cruise will depart from Southampton on January 10, 2022 and include calls to Greece, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Australia and Bali before returning to Southampton via Abu Dhabi, Oman, Italy and Portugal. The ship will sail through the Suez Canal both on the outbound journey and on return. It will be bookable, either as a full world voyage or as one of six sectors, from September 8, 2020.

“Given the current uncertainty, the complexity of our scheduled World Voyage with our international mix of guests visiting many countries and continents, each with its own evolving travel regulations was a very real factor in our decision making,” Palethorpe stated.

MSC Cruises postpones restart of MSC Magnifica’s Eastern Med programme to 26 September

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 24 August 2020 24 August 2020

MSC Cruises, the Geneva based cruise line, said it has been forced to postpone the restart of MSC Magnifica’s cruises in the Eastern Mediterranean until 26 September.

“In connection with the recent introduction of additional testing measures for residents of Italy having travelled to Greece, we are seeing cancellations and a softening in demand since the ship’s itinerary includes as many as three ports in that country. This has led to the decision to delay the restart of the ship by four weeks,’ the company said in a statement.

However, MSC Cruises said they believe that reservations will start to pick up again in the coming weeks due to the appeal of the itinerary. MSC Magnifica’s sales are open to residents of the Schengen area, at the same time in this early phase of restart the majority of guests are expected to be Italian nationals and residents.

“As a result of this, MSC Magnifica cruise departures from 29 August to 19 September have been cancelled. The first cruise will depart from Bari, Italy with an unchanged itinerary on 26 September,” the company said.

Guests affected by the cancelled cruises will either be re-protected onto another cruise – in particular on MSC Grandiosa, which is currently sailing in the West Mediterranean - or will receive a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) where they have the opportunity to transfer the full amount paid for their cancelled cruise to a future cruise of their choice – on any ship, for any itinerary -- through to the end of 2021.

For UK & Irish guests due to the current UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) advice all cruises have already been cancelled and options including 125% FCC have been shared with guests.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines confirms new ships Bolette and Borealis will replace Boudicca and Black Watch

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 21 August 2020 21 August 2020

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has today confirmed it will retire two classic vessels, Boudicca and Black Watch, as the company prepares to welcome two new ships, Bolette and Borealis, into the fleet.

The two new ships will take over existing itineraries for Boudicca and Black Watch, when cruising begins again with the company’s ‘back in the water’ plan for next year.

When Bolette and Borealis join the fleet it will increase Fred. Olsen’s overall capacity by circa 30 percent – meaning more guests can enjoy exciting new itineraries. Both vessels carry under 1,400 guests and have new and larger public areas, whilst remaining true to Fred. Olsen’s small ship experience.

Those guests who had cruises booked on the two classic vessels will be among the first to sail on the new ships, with their bookings being automatically transferred onto either Bolette or Borealis. Additional cabins will go on sale in early September.

Peter Deer, Managing Director at Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, said: “I am pleased to say we are now at the stage of finalising our back in the water plans and we are very excited to be doing this with two new vessels within our fleet.

“While we are still looking at a number of options for Boudicca and Black Watch, what we do know is that they won’t resume sailing with us when we do start to cruise again.

“We know that these ships are much loved among our guests, as indeed they are by us, but it is time to evolve and look ahead to a long and bright future for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines.

“We will soon be revealing more details on our plans to resume sailing again, but in the meantime we hope many of you will join us on our virtual farewell cruises to see our two ships off in style.”

As part of Fred. Olsen’s virtual cruise programme, the company will be holding virtual farewell sailings for both Boudicca and Black Watch on Facebook, with guests and crew invited to share their favourite photographs and memories of the two ships.

The virtual cruises will be held for two weeks starting from Monday, 24th August.

Guests who were booked to sail on Boudicca and Black Watch will automatically have their booking transferred to the same itineraries on Bolette or Borealis, and will be contacted by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines with final details in the coming weeks.

Carnival Cruise Line's next Excel-class ship to be named Carnival Celebration

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 21 August 2020 21 August 2020

With the help of celebrity partners past and present, Carnival Cruise Line today announced that its next Excel-class ship arriving in 2022 to coincide with its 50th birthday celebration will be named "Carnival Celebration."

A full roster of Carnival partners, including Kathie Lee Gifford, Guy Fieri and Shaquille O'Neal, unwrapped boxes that revealed the letters of the Celebration name, which is both a throwback to one of the popular early ships in the Carnival fleet, as well as a recognition of Carnival's 50th birthday celebration that will take place in 2022 when the new Carnival Celebration will join the fleet. The video announcement was made across Carnival's social media channels.

Carnival Celebration will debut from PortMiami in November 2022, and will be a sister ship to Mardi Gras, the first in the Excel series scheduled to enter service on Feb. 6, 2021 from Port Canaveral, Fla. The addition of Carnival Celebration to Miami will maintain PortMiami's position as the top embarkation port for Carnival Cruise Line.

"The name Carnival Celebration couldn't be more perfect for a ship that will be a key component of our 50th Birthday festivities," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "Many thanks to our celebrity partners who helped us officially 'unbox the fun' and reveal the name of a ship that promises to be a spectacular addition to our fleet. Carnival Celebration is our 50th Birthday present to our guests!"

Carnival Celebration will include many of the features that have made Mardi Gras one of the most anticipated ships in cruising, including BOLT, the first roller coaster at sea, along with some unique design features created specifically for this vessel.

Carnival's 50th Birthday celebration kicks off in March 2022 – the company's birthday month – with a series of commemorative sailings that will feature special entertainment and itineraries then continue all year long, culminating with the arrival of Carnival Celebration to Miami in November 2022. Additional information on the March 2022 sailings is available at www.carnival.com/sailabration.

Carnival Celebration's itineraries will be announced over the coming weeks and the ship will be opening up for sale in October.

Carnival Celebration will be constructed at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland.

Genting Hong Kong suspends payments, two subsidiaries default on payments and more could follow

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 20 August 2020 20 August 2020

Genting Hong Kong, the cruise shipping cruise ship building to resorts group, said it has decided to suspend payments to save cash as it is in the process to restructure its finances and raise fresh funds.

Meanwhile, two subsidiary companies of the group have defaulted on certain payments to banks while the suspension of payments could trigger more defaults, which again could allow creditors to declare all debt, totaling at US$3.37 billion, due and payable immediately, the company said.

Genting Hong Kong owns Dream Cruise, Star Cruises and Crystal Cruises plus the MV Weften shipbuilding company in Germany and a resort in the Philippines.

“As the Fund Raising Exercise may or may not be consummated, the Board wishes to announce that, it has, after careful consultation with its legal and financial advisers, concluded that in order to preserve as much liquidity of the Group as possible and to fulfill the Board’s fiduciary duties and to treat all its financial creditors fairly and equitably, the Company should temporarily suspend all payments to the Group’s financial creditors (including interest and charter payments),” Genting Hong Kong said in a statement.

“On 17 August 2020, Dream Global One Limited and Dream Global Two Limited (being subsidiaries of the Company, together the “Subsidiaries”) were required to pay certain fees amounting to approximately EUR 3.7 million (in aggregate) in connection with the financing of the construction of certain ships (the “Bank Fees”). The Company guarantees the obligations to pay the Bank Fees. As of the date of this announcement, the Bank Fees have not been paid. Such non-payment constitutes an event of default under the finance documents of the Subsidiaries (the “Global Finance Documents”),” the company continued.

In addition to the defaults that have already occurred under Global Finance Documents, the company said its board anticipates that the temporary suspension of all payments to the group’s financial creditors will also likely result in events of default occurring under other finance documents of the group.

“Such events of default would give rise to a right for requisite creditors of the Group to declare that the financial indebtedness owed to them are immediately due and payable. As of 31 July 2020, the outstanding financial indebtedness of the Group is at US$3.37 billion,” the company said.

The Genting Hong Kong board will meet on 28 August to approve the accounts for six months to 30 June 2020. The company has issued two profit warnings since March as the Covid-19 pandemic has forced it to suspend operations.