Carnival Cruises have announced details of their ‘October Recharge’ event that will feature many special offers throughout the month.
The offers are in conjunction with the ‘Fun Ship’ departures and will include booking incentives, free stateroom upgrades and many special discounts on 2009 cruises.
Special offers are available on many cruises including three to seven day Caribbean and Mexican cruises or longer sailings to Europe and Alaska.
For the full press release see The Cruise News.
Carnival Cruises are offering a series of nine day voyages to Quebec onboard Carnival Triumph for the summer of 2009.
Carnival Triumph will depart on round-trips from New York on 25th June 2009, 23rd July 2009 and 20th August 2009.
The voyage will see Carnival Triumph call at Quebec City, Baie-Comeau, Havre St Pierre as well as a daylong cruise along St Lawrence River.
The cruise also gives guests the opportunity to enjoy several shore excursions including trips to Montreal, Boreal Park and Saguenay Fjord.
For the full press release see The Cruise News.
Carnival Cruise Lines are to send Carnival Elation on a brand new three and four day cruise from San Diego due to begin in February 2009.
All three day cruises will depart on Thursdays to Ensenada and all four day cruises will depart on Sundays and visit two ports, these ports being Ensenada and Catalina Island.
Carnival already offers a similar and successful experience onboard Carnival Paradise. These short cruises are from Southern California and depart on Fridays and Mondays.
“Between the two ships, consumers will have a choice of two very popular departure points, Long Beach and San Diego, as well as four different departure days each week to select from,” said Terry Thornton, Carnival’s senior vice president of marketing planning. “These will be the only ships in the Southern California market offering three and four-day cruises starting in 2009, and with short getaways currently a trend among North American consumers, combined with the inherent value of a cruise, these voyages represent an extremely desirable vacation choice,” he added.
Carnival have sold Pacific Star, one of their P&O Cruises Australia fleet, to Royal Caribbean for an undisclosed fee. She will be pressed into action by Pullmantur Cruises, the Spanish cruise line purchased by Royal Caribbean in 2006.
Pacific Star will be renamed for the fourth time in her history following the sale. She was built in 1982 and christened Carnival Tropicale before being moved to Costa Cruises and renamed Costa Tropicale.
Currently cruising in the southern hemisphere, she has a capacity to carry 1,350 passengers and weighs 35,000 tons. The date for the transfer has not yet been announced.
Estimated Inaugural: February, 2007
Cruise Line: Carnival Cruises
Ship Name: Carnival Freedom
Size: GRT: 110,000
Capacity: 2974 (double occupancy)
Builder: Fincantieri – Sestri, Italy
This is an additional Conquest class vessel ordered as part of a four-ship deal with Fincantieri, two of which ended up going to the Carnival brand. As a Conquest-class, it will not fit through the Panama Canal. Given that there is an almost two-year lag between this ship and the previous one of this class delivered (Carnival Liberty), there will likely be some progressions in the design.
Estimated Inaugural: April, 2007
Cruise Line: MSC Cruises
Ship Name: MSC Orchestra
Size: GRT: 89,600
Capacity: 2,550 lower berths – 3,000 total & 1,000 crew
Builder: Aker France – St. Nazaire, France
This will be the second of the Musica class.
Estimated Inaugural: May 19, 2007
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean
Ship Name: Liberty of the Seas
Size: GRT: 160,000
Capacity: 3600 lower berths
Builder: Aker Finnyards – Finland
This will be the second of the “Ultra Voyager-class” When it is delivered the class will still have bragging rights to being the largest passenger ships in the world.
Estimated Inaugural: Spring, 2007
Cruise Line: Princess Cruises
Ship Name: Emerald Princess
Size: GRT: 116,000
Capacity: 3100
Builder: Fincantieri – Monfalcone, Italy
This is an additional Caribbean-class vessel ordered as part of the four-ship order with Fincantieri, the only one in the order designated for Princess. It will be the third in the series. It has not necessarily been designated for the Caribbean as the previous two were, but it will likely have a long life in whichever ocean it starts since it will not fit through the Panama Canal.
Estimated Inaugural: May, 2007
Cruise Line: Costa Cruises
Ship Name: Costa Serena
Size: GRT: 112,000
Capacity: 3000 (double occupancy), total capacity 3,780
Builder: Fincantieri – Sestri, Italy
This will be the second of Costa’s Concordia class. Deployment is thought to be year round in the Mediterranean.
Estimated Inaugural: October, 2007
Cruise Line: Norwegian Cruise Line
Ship Name: Norwegian Gem
Size: GRT: 92,000
Capacity: 2,384 lower berths
Builder: Meyer Werft (Papenburg Germany yard)
This will be the third in the Norwegian Jewel series with 540 staterooms and suites with private balconies.
Estimated Inaugural: December 11, 2007
Cruise Line: Cunard Cruises
Ship Name: Queen Victoria
Size: GRT: 90,000
Capacity: 2000
Builder: Fincantieri – Marghera, Italy
This ship will be similar to HAL’s line of Vista-class vessels, but with Cunard’s own twists in the design and slightly larger. It will be built to Panamax standards, so it can be used in both the Atlantic and Pacific. 86% of the cabins will be outside, 71% of those with private verandahs. In September 2004 the design was enlarged as part of an order of four other ships from Fincantieri. It was originally slated for 88,000 tons and a capacity of 1968. Eleven meters were added to the length raising the tonnage to 90,000 and increasing the capacity to 2000, but the ship will still be able to transit the Panama Canal.
Initial Deployment: The first two voyages will be round trips from Southampton. Cunard says it will be used for a mix of cruises, ocean crossings and world cruises.
The Azamara Quest Cruise Ship is adrift off the Philippines after suffering engine failure caused by a fire on Friday. Thankfully there are only a handful of injuries; five brave crew members who were attending to stop the blaze. On-board …