Thursday 28th August

I have just returned from a trip to see both Anthem of the Seas and Quantum of the Seas under construction in Germany - quite an incredible sight, and two new innovative ships on their way!  Here are some of my pics from Quantum of the Seas - see here

And talking about Quantum here is the interview from Travel Weekly with Richard Fain in which he talks about some of the technical innovations that makes the ship unique - read here.

Some of those technical developments are covered here from TTG - including the chance to get from sidewalk to cabin in 15 minutes, and huge strides forward in on-board wifi connectivity - read here.

Over at sister brand Azamara Club Cruises there is a wide range of new initiatives that are aiming to 'woo' the trade, with a new Advisory Board, incentives and events coming up this year - read here.

Of course the new Royal Caribbean ships are not the only new ships in production, and this week we saw the first steel cut for the new Pinnacle Class Holland America Line ship.  She will be 2,600 guests and almost 100,000 GRT when delivered - read here.

There is innovation too at Princess Cruises with a new night time feature on Regal Princess where the Retreat Pool will transform into open air disco The Night Time Lounge - read here.

Meanwhile over in the expedition cruise sector, Fred Olsen Travel have created a new brand dedicated to those cruises in what they are claiming is a first for a tour operator - read here.

And in the river cruise sector we were delighted to see that APT have ordered two new ships for the growing river cruise destination of Burma.  The ships will be delivered in 2016 - read here.

Whilst on the subject of ricer cruising it was great to see th coverage in Travel Weekly this week - read here.

We look forward to seeing some of our cruise line and travel agent partners this weekend in Dover for our first Premium and Luxury Cruise Expo!

Until next week!