As we start 2014 and go straight into WAVE season we are of course surrounded by incentives and offers to help drive some cruise business (an area we choose not to discuss here) - but it has still been a busy old week for the cruise industry.

It starts with an interview in Travel Weekly featuring Jo Rzymowska in her new role for Celebrity Cruises (Jo is also the Chair of CLIA UK & Ireland I hasten to add) - where she says her brand focus is on affluent couples and affluent families and the potential of the gay and lesbian market.  Read the interview here

Whilst on the subject of Celebrity Cruises it is great to see Ben Fogle making the news on TTG with a great competition: read here

On the subject of big interviews Giles Hawke is neatly settling into his new role with MSC Cruises and talks to Travel Weekly about some new exciting deployments in Australia and Asia - a destination that MSC believes will resonate with UK guests.  Read here

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines (based of course in Ipswich) are also making the news with a tie in with Ipswich Town FC as a new sponsorship deal.  Read here from TTG

There has been plenty of recruitment news recently.  Richard Twynam over at Azamara Club Cruises and this week some new PR and marketing talent at Princess Cruises.  Read here.

Globally, the big news on personnel this week was the retirement of global cruise veteran Pier Luigi Foschi, described by Seatrade Insider as "one of Carnival Corp. & plc's key figures since 1997 and an important driver in the growth of European cruising". Read here

Over in the States the new year has prompted good news and a positive outlook on all things cruise (read here) as the US Travel Weekly describes 2014 as having the potential to be a "breakthrough year".  Will the same be true in the UK?

There are a couple of stories this week that we could not ignore.  The first is the announcement by CLIA UK & Ireland of brand new "Kick Start Your Cruise Sales" workshops across the UK - covered here by TTG; and there is the exciting news of the brand new Norwegian Getaway coming to the UK next week - read about the ship here.

But we end with a tremendous story from metro that proves that cruising is cool as more young people want to take a cruise holiday! Read here

Back next Thursday as we debark Getaway!  See you then...