Thursday February 27
It has been yet another week that has demonstrated that the cruise industry is commited to growing the cruise business in the UK & Ireland, led by the excitinmg news that Royal Princess will be based in Southampton for part of 2015: read the story here
Talking of ship itineraries, the news from Thomson Cruises this week was about investment in the Caribbean, with Thomson Dream now also being based there for some winter sunshine: read the story here
Meanwhile it appears that new ports are going to be a big part of the plans for a number of cruise lines - most recently announced by Celebrity Cruises - read here - and by Regent Seven Seas Cruises - read here and also by Oceania Cruises - read here
The talk of 2015 continued when last Friday Britannia was floated out of its Italian ship yard to an audience of key travel agent partners - read here.
This week we also say lucky travel agents head to the Med to enjoy a glittering few days on-board MSC Splendida for the first international 'All Stars of the Sea' ceremony to acknowledge key travel partners. During the event it was revealed that the longer voyage to Australia has been selling fast - read here.
Over in the world of river cruising the big announcement came from Avalon with the introduction of Suite ships to France: read here.
And CLIA was not short of news either with the launch of our dedicated site for the Selling Cruise Conference - read here and visit here.
Until next week....
Wednesday 26 February 2014
Thursday 20 February 2014
Thursday February 20th
There has been a lot of love since last Thursday - primarily because of valentines Day on the Friday, which was a great reason for the good people here at CLIA UK & Ireland to tell everyone about some recent developments in the resources, events and learning that is on offer - here Travel Weekly talk about the CLIA River Cruise Expo in London (read here), and here is the story on other enhancements (read here).
Of course it wasn't all just about us! There has been plenty of news this week about continued refurbishment of existing cruise ships. Here the US version of Travel Weekly talks about the changes to Crystal Serenity - read here; and here is the story on Celebrity Cruises upgrading it's suites: read here
Meanwhile with more investment meaning more ships, news emerged this week from Norwegian Cruise Lines of it's next ship Norwegian Escape, which is larger than Norwegian Epic and includes an expanded haven area (94 suites compared to 64 on Getaway) read here.
And Norwegian were also in the news this week for reporting their figures in what they described as a 'Seminal Year' - read here
Talking of new ships - how great to see the announcement from CroisiEurope of a new river ship on the Rhine, which will take just 84 guests and is being billed as a 4 star ship - read here
With non-ship specific news, here in the UK MSC Cruises announces a change to its senior team with a newly created role of Commercial Director UK & Ireland and a promotion for Stephen Moffett. Read the story from TTG here.
And talking of MSC Cruises - great to see them hosting a huge international travel agent event on-board Splendida next week to acknowledge travel agent partners from around the world - read here
To keep everyone inspired and to remind us of the incredible places that cruising connects, then read this great piece from the Telegraph on Arctic Cruises through Greenland - read here
To conclude for this week, a reminder of our February Informer so you do not miss a thing - read here - and our latest listing of webinars and events - read here - and if that wasn't enough then we are pleased to announce our Selling Cruise Conference mobile website (built to read on the go!) - visit here
There has been a lot of love since last Thursday - primarily because of valentines Day on the Friday, which was a great reason for the good people here at CLIA UK & Ireland to tell everyone about some recent developments in the resources, events and learning that is on offer - here Travel Weekly talk about the CLIA River Cruise Expo in London (read here), and here is the story on other enhancements (read here).
Of course it wasn't all just about us! There has been plenty of news this week about continued refurbishment of existing cruise ships. Here the US version of Travel Weekly talks about the changes to Crystal Serenity - read here; and here is the story on Celebrity Cruises upgrading it's suites: read here
Meanwhile with more investment meaning more ships, news emerged this week from Norwegian Cruise Lines of it's next ship Norwegian Escape, which is larger than Norwegian Epic and includes an expanded haven area (94 suites compared to 64 on Getaway) read here.
And Norwegian were also in the news this week for reporting their figures in what they described as a 'Seminal Year' - read here
Talking of new ships - how great to see the announcement from CroisiEurope of a new river ship on the Rhine, which will take just 84 guests and is being billed as a 4 star ship - read here
With non-ship specific news, here in the UK MSC Cruises announces a change to its senior team with a newly created role of Commercial Director UK & Ireland and a promotion for Stephen Moffett. Read the story from TTG here.
And talking of MSC Cruises - great to see them hosting a huge international travel agent event on-board Splendida next week to acknowledge travel agent partners from around the world - read here
To keep everyone inspired and to remind us of the incredible places that cruising connects, then read this great piece from the Telegraph on Arctic Cruises through Greenland - read here
To conclude for this week, a reminder of our February Informer so you do not miss a thing - read here - and our latest listing of webinars and events - read here - and if that wasn't enough then we are pleased to announce our Selling Cruise Conference mobile website (built to read on the go!) - visit here
Thursday 13 February 2014
Thursday Feb 13
It has been a tale of three ships this week - with big announcements from P&O Cruises over their new ship Britannia, with Royal Caribbean announcing 2015 summer itineraries for Anthem of the Seas as she is based in Southampton, and with the official christening of Norwegian Cruise Line's Getaway.
Here is the TTG story on the Norwegian Getaway launch that took place at her home-port of Miami: read here
Meanwhile, Anthem of the Seas announces a series of sailings for 2015, including plenty of taster cruises at the start of the season. This, according to Travel Weekly, will help travel agents attract new to cruise guests. You can read the full story and itineraries here.
And as if that wasnt enough new ship excitement for the week, P&O Cruises held a star-studded event for Britannia in London on Wednesday night (here are our pictures from the night - view here) a ship that, according to Travel Weekly will define the cruise line itself: read the full story here.
In other cruise news, Holland America Line have appointed top Australian chef Mark best to their Culinary Council - read here; Celebrity Cruises announce a new Suite Class experience being rolled out in 2015 that includes a suites only restaurant, VIP lounge, unlimited internet access and so on: read here.
There has been a lot of investment in new resources for travel agents announced this week - here is the re-launch by Norwegian Cruise Lines website story from Cruise News UK: read here.
And here - and widely covered across the trade press are the stories on new initiatives from your very own CLIA UK & Ireland on online resources (read here) and a brand new UK river cruise event (read here).
Innovation remains key to the success of the cruise industry - here is a great story on new virtual balconies by Royal Caribbean (read here); but despite that innovation there remains the Myths that need to be 'busted' here is that story from the US: read here
Finally, a reminder that the CLIA Informer is available for reading here.
Happy cruising.
Thursday 6 February 2014
Thursday February 06th 2014
It has been another busy week in our cruise industry - with European deployments, UK growth, Strictly Come Dancing, and Tom Daley... what more could you ask for?!
Royal Caribbean announced this week that Allure of the Seas will be deployed from Barcelona (and Rome) in 2015 - great to have the biggest cruise ship in the world now within much easier reach: read the story from Travel Weekly here
Meanwhile over at Royal Caribbean's sister brand - Azamara Club Cruises - the talk from new boss Richard Twynham is further growth in guests sourced from the UK... but will we see more ships in the fleet?? Read the interview from Travel Weekly here.
On the subject of ship deployment the growing unrest in Thailand has caused Crystal Cruises to announce that it will not be visiting Bangkok - read here. Whilst MSC Cruises announces its first itinerary to Australia in 2015 - read here.
It was great to see that Paul Ludlow from Princess Cruises is to be promoted with his responsibilities now spreading across Europe - well done Paul! Read the story from TTG here.
Closer to home, and we in the UK are delighted to be taking the lead as the official training team at Seatrade in the Med in September as reported by Seatrade Insider here.
And whilst Tom Daley made the front page of Travel Weekly last week for Royal Caribbean - we should not forget those Strictly folk working with P&O: read here.
And finally - our favourite story of the week from Spain - how cruises are getting more popular than churches for weddings... read here.
Just before we head off towards the weekend, do not miss the Directors Blog on Alaska this week: read here; and in The Hub this month in the members area of cruiseexperts.org we talk Vietnam, shoppers and the importance of add-ons, Top Ten Things to Do on a Norwegian Fjord cruise and much more. Head to the CLIA UK & Ireland website here.
It has been another busy week in our cruise industry - with European deployments, UK growth, Strictly Come Dancing, and Tom Daley... what more could you ask for?!
Royal Caribbean announced this week that Allure of the Seas will be deployed from Barcelona (and Rome) in 2015 - great to have the biggest cruise ship in the world now within much easier reach: read the story from Travel Weekly here
Meanwhile over at Royal Caribbean's sister brand - Azamara Club Cruises - the talk from new boss Richard Twynham is further growth in guests sourced from the UK... but will we see more ships in the fleet?? Read the interview from Travel Weekly here.
On the subject of ship deployment the growing unrest in Thailand has caused Crystal Cruises to announce that it will not be visiting Bangkok - read here. Whilst MSC Cruises announces its first itinerary to Australia in 2015 - read here.
It was great to see that Paul Ludlow from Princess Cruises is to be promoted with his responsibilities now spreading across Europe - well done Paul! Read the story from TTG here.
Closer to home, and we in the UK are delighted to be taking the lead as the official training team at Seatrade in the Med in September as reported by Seatrade Insider here.
And whilst Tom Daley made the front page of Travel Weekly last week for Royal Caribbean - we should not forget those Strictly folk working with P&O: read here.
And finally - our favourite story of the week from Spain - how cruises are getting more popular than churches for weddings... read here.
Just before we head off towards the weekend, do not miss the Directors Blog on Alaska this week: read here; and in The Hub this month in the members area of cruiseexperts.org we talk Vietnam, shoppers and the importance of add-ons, Top Ten Things to Do on a Norwegian Fjord cruise and much more. Head to the CLIA UK & Ireland website here.
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