The Opry Country Classics Cruise, which will feature country music stars, will sail Jan. 30 to Feb. 6 aboard Royal Caribbean International’s Freedom of the Seas. Grand Ole Opry stars Charley Pride, Jim Ed Brown and Jeannie Seely are set to entertain. Newcomer Chris Young, nominated for the Top New Solo Vocalist award by the Academy of Country Music, will be part of the line-up along with special guest Helen Cornelius. This marks the Opry’s 14th annual cruise and its first on Royal Caribbean. The artists will perform their own hits in addition to country favorites throughout the week. Additional musical fun onboard will include classic country karaoke with celebrity guests and an exclusive cocktail party with fellow Opry Country Classics Cruise guests. V.Ships Leisure has recently won a catering management contract for the cruise vessel Ocean Majesty. V.Ships Leisure will provide catering and catering crew services on behalf of the vessel owners Majestic International Cruises Inc. The vessel will trade mainly from Turkey to the Greek Islands and North Africa, with the main passenger turnaround port Izmir, Turkey. Cruise duration last from 4 to 8 days. The menus are fully adapted to the Turkish culture with a mix of various food types.
The vessel is on full timecharter to Apex Tour, a well established Turkish Tour Operator. While boarding the vessel in the Port of Genoa on Saturday, July 24th, a 65 year-old Spanish woman fell to her death while boarding the cruise ship MSC Splendida while berthed at the port of Genoa,Italy. The woman plunged a height of 12 metres when the gangway leading to the luxury cruise ship apparently gave way, throwing her into the sea. Police said the woman fell into the sea between the quay and the ship’s starboard side and drowned, while crew members jumped in a bid to save her. Another man, thought to be the woman’s husband also fell off the gangway, and landed on the concrete quay, suffering serious head and leg injuries. He is reported to be in a critical condition in Genova’s main hospital. Miami/Reuters
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCL -Newss) posted above-forecast second quarter earnings and increased its 2010 earnings guidance due to stable bookings and improved cost control, boosting its shares. Royal Caribbean's bigger rival, Miami-based Carnival Corp & Plc (CCL) last month projected a weak third quarter due to costlier fuel and volatile foreign exchange rates, hitting shares of both cruise operators. "Business conditions have remained on target in each of the company's main markets while improved cost control has enabled the company to raise its earnings guidance for the year," Royal Caribbean said in a statement. "Operating costs were lower than expected due mainly to strong cost control, energy conservation measures, expense timing and currency fluctuations," it added.
CEO Richard Fain said: "Despite ongoing uncertainty with the economy, our profitability continues to improve and our booking environment continues to be remarkably stable." Washington D.C.
Any day now, the president is expected to sign the Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act, which promises to make cruising safer. The Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act will address that problem by requiring cruise lines to report crimes promptly to the FBI and to post a link on their Web sites to a Transportation Department Web site listing crimes that have occurred on cruise ships. read more... Frommer's
She is, in the end, a product of NCL, a line that I love for being scrappy, friendly, and willing to try new things, even though some of those new things end up falling flat. The line really has helped transform the cruise industry over the past 10 years, most notably by popularizing its "Freestyle" casual cruising concept. NCL has also seen its share of major failures. Most notably, it overreached in the Hawaii market, which is now scaled back from its original design. Epic, too, represents a de-escalation: Originally, she was to have been the first of three identical super-megaships, but disputes with the shipyard regarding design changes and cost overruns almost scuttled the project entirely. That leaves Epic as the sole vessel in her class, and sister to none. more... Hong Kong
When asked by WSJ Journalist Ms. Emily Veach if the the cruise industry in Asia could reach $50 billion a year in sales, Foschi the ever smiling CEO of Carnival's italian brand COSTA stated he would not see the day. Read more... Carnival Cruise Lines will help map the spread of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, using a ship that berths at Port of Tampa and several other cruise vessels. A sensor in a device on the hull of the 1,000-foot Carnival Legend will collect petroleum hydrocarbon data from the Gulf of Mexico and other waters on its cruises from Tampa to ports of call in the Western Caribbean and transmit information via satellite to University of South Florida College of Marine Science. more... New York, N.Y.
Watch the awsom Macy"s Fitrewortks in HDTV.
Aerial views as well as from onboard Norwegian Cruise Line new megaliner, the ms NORWEGIAN EPIC.
Watch here... Norwegian Epic, a 4,100-passenger ship, made its U.S. debut on July 2, with festivities in New York City that include a naming ceremony. AOL Travel went to Europe to get a sneak peek at the ship, which aims to break new ground in entertainment, dining and design at a cost of $1.1 billion.
But does this big, bold and beautiful cruise liner truly live up to its name? read more....
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The Macey's 4th of July fireworks will be held from Norwegian Epic, watch here from a Live Webcam... Fred Olsen Cruise Line marketing boss Nigel Lingard has predicted that cruise prices will need to rise by at least seven or eight per cent next year if the industry wants to continue investing in itself.
Speaking at the launch of Fred Olsen’s new 2011/12 brochure, he said cruise lines had already managed to claw back some of the rock-bottom pricing of last year by hiking rates by around five per cent, but he stressed that more was needed.
“It’s very easy to drop prices, but murder to get them back up again,” said Lingard. |
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