Cruise
Crystal Yacht Cruises Opens Bookings
Starting next month, travellers can book their luxury yachting vacation with Crystal Yacht Cruises – part of Crystal Cruises recently announced expansion plans. As Crystal Esprit charts new waters with its maiden voyage this winter, Crystal Cruises is unveiling the complete itineraries and fares for 2016 through the beginning of 2018. The routes were first made available for booking exclusively for Crystal Society members – Crystal’s repeat guest program – and will be open to all travellers on Sept. 1. The new routes mark Crystal’s first-ever offering of immersive...
ACV, MSC Introduce All-Inclusive Cruise Package
Air Canada Vacations (ACV), in partnership with MSC Cruises, is offering a unique seven-night Western Caribbean cruise onboard the MSC Opera and offering clients the option to board the ship in Havana or Montego Bay. From Havana, sailings are offered every Wednesday starting Dec. 23 to April 6, 2016, and from Montego Bay every Saturday starting Dec. 26 to April 9, 2016. The cruise begins in Havana where the ship is docked all day and overnight. This is followed by a day at sea before arriving in Montego Bay. From there, the MSC Opera sails to Grand Cayman and Cozumel before...
Emerald Christens Two in Budapest
Emerald Waterways held a dual christening event on Aug. 21 in Budapest as it officially launched its two newest “Star Ships” – the Emerald Dawn and the Emerald Sun. The godmothers were US travel industry veteran Kelly Bergin (Dawn) and UK travel industry veteran Julie Kendrick (Sun). The new vessels carry 182 guests in 72 suites and 20 staterooms, including two specifically built for solo occupancy. Ship innovations include an onboard heated swimming pool with a retractable roof, which transforms into a movie theatre in the evening; two restaurants – Reflections, the main...
Carnival Ships On The Move
Carnival Cruise Line will reposition the 102,000-ton Carnival Victory on the line’s popular five-port, seven-day southern Caribbean cruise schedule from San Juan beginning in November 2016. In addition, Carnival will position new ships in two key homeports with Carnival Ecstasy (pictured) shifting to Charleston, S.C., and Carnival Fantasy to Miami in February 2016, providing new “Fun Ship” cruise options for travellers in those markets. Carnival Victory will reposition to San Juan to offer a week-long southern Caribbean cruise schedule beginning Nov. 6, 2016. The itinerary...
HAL Enhances ‘Flight Ease’ Air Booking Program
Holland America Line (HAL) has added a new look and enhanced features to its air booking program, Flight Ease, making it more user-friendly for agents to navigate, search and book flights. In addition to the new design, the functionality of the site is now more intuitive, allowing users to select departure and return flights separately, add a stopover flight segment, easily compare real-time flexible and restricted fares, and review more detailed schedule displays. “We’re constantly communicating with our travel partners, and these Flight Ease enhancements are a result of...
MSC Grand Voyage to Include Maiden Call to China
MSC Cruises has revealed plans to make its first sailing to China, with the newly renovated MSC Lirica calling in Shanghai on May 1, 2016 after having travelled across continents. Lirica will make the company’s maiden call in China’s biggest megalopolis after a 60-day round-the-world Grand Voyage which departs on March 3, 2016 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “We are delighted to once more be able to offer our guests a brand new itinerary – from Brazil to China via Europe – which offers the chance to visit some of the most appealing places on earth, certainly across a huge...
Crystal Extends Free Wi-Fi to All Passengers
Crystal Cruises will expand its complimentary Internet access to all of its guests beginning Aug. 30 on both Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity. Crystal will provide one free hour per guest, per day for Deluxe Stateroom and Penthouse guests; 90 minutes for Penthouse Suite guests. With Crystal’s 24-hour satellite-enabled wireless Internet – which will also be available aboard Crystal Yacht Cruises’ Crystal Esprit when the maiden voyage embarks on Dec. 23, – travellers can remain connected while at sea, whether on their own devices or utilizing one of the ships’ cutting edge...
New ECO Program Available on Nova Star
The Nova Star cruise ferry’s daily crossing of the Gulf of Maine between Portland, Maine and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, is not only carrying tourists and commercial trucks, the ship also serves as a quasi-ocean research vessel for scientists from Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay who have been conducting scientific studies of the region’s changing waters and marine life for the past 17 years. This work, along with seabird marine surveys, was the inspiration for the establishment of a new ECO Program aboard Nova Star, where scientists share their experiences and...