Tuesday 06 March 2012 Darwin: Australia’s next home-port? · 2015-09-11 · Marketing of...
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Website: www.cruiseweekly.com.au | Phone: 1300 799 220 | Fax: 1300 799 221 | Email: [email protected] Page 1 Tuesday 06 March 2012 TODAY’S ISSUE OF CW Today’s issue of Cruise Weekly features four pages of all the latest cruise news. Today is the last day that Karen Christensen, GM and Director of Sales and Marketing of Silversea Cruises Australia and NZ will be answering questions from CW readers. For the answers to Karen’s questions today, click on the Facebook link at the end of each question. Q1 from Vanessa, Mona Vale, NSW: Vanessa would like to know if all Silversea ships are the same, or if there are differences. Q2 from Paula Davidson: Paula has asked what type of activities are available on Silversea ships (for example is there a theatre?). Rhapsody revitalisation LOCAL favourite, Rhapsody of the Seas, entered the Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore last week, for the commencement of her multi-million dollar revitalisation. Rhapsody, which has spent five consecutive seasons in Australia, is now in for an extensive four week makeover, after Royal Caribbean decided to extend its initial revitalisation program from two-weeks to a month. As part of the US$54m works, Rhapsody will receive upgraded decor and furnishings, five new dining venues (Chops Grille steakhouse, Italian Giovanni’s Table, Japanese restaurant Izumi, Park Café deli-style eatery and the exclusive private dining Chef’s Table venue). Rhapsody’s cabins will also be fully made over, whilst the vessel’s outdoor pool area will be fitted out with a large outdoor movie screen, and her atrium will be transformed into a new venue with nightly entertainment and aerial spectacles. The ship’s Champagne Bar will become the 1960’s inspired R Bar, whilst families will appreciate the new Royal Babies & Tots Nursery for children aged 6 months to 3yrs. Rhapsody going into drydock Darwin: Australia’s next home-port? Tourism managers have touted the Top End as an ideal hub for cruises to Asia. TONY Clementson, General Manager of Tourism Top End, has called for cruise lines to base a ship in Darwin as a potential home-port for “more exotic” cruising from northern Australia. “In my opinion, Australia to Asia is the next obvious emerging cruise route,” he told Cruise Weekly in a telephone interview. “If a ship was based in Darwin, it could do seven-day sailings to Asia and people could fly back from Singapore, Indonesia or Manila.” Darwin could also be used as an embarkation or disembarkation point for shorter sectors of Australian circumnavigations “because not everyone wants to cruise for 17 days”, he said. “It would suit time-poor people to end or begin here, so they could do an east coast or west coast cruise without going all the way around the country.” Clementson said he has had informal discussions with the management of Royal Caribbean, and Tourism NT was “spreading the message of Darwin” at the upcoming Seatrade cruise conference in Miami. Celebrity Cruises is also planning a Singapore-Sydney repositioning cruise via Darwin in November, “so it’s already happening in a way,” Clementson said. “But my vision is to see Darwin evolve into a small home-port for people who want to travel to exotic destinations, both for outbound Australian passengers and inbound passengers coming here from Europe or the US.” The tropical city, which opened a new cruise terminal in 2008, has welcomed 13 ships to its shores so far this year, including maiden calls by the Queen Mary 2, Celebrity Century and Zaandam, as well as regular visitors such as Diamond Princess and Rhapsody of the Seas. More than 50 vessels are scheduled to visit in 2012. “Many passengers have enjoyed the city of Darwin and have taken up trips down the track to Litchfield National Park and attractions like the jumping crocodiles on the Adelaide River, and a few adventure-seekers have chartered light aircraft to visit Kakadu,” Clementson said. “We also have warm climatic conditions that are conducive to cruising and being out on deck, so maybe it is time for our great cruise line leaders to consider Darwin as the Caribbean of the north [of Australia].” Europa 2 takes shape in France HAPAG Lloyd Cruises celebrated the next stage in the creation of Europa 2 last week, with the lifting of the ship’s first block into drydock at the STX Europe shipyard in France. The keel laying was replete with the traditional coin ceremony, which saw Sebastian Ahrens, MD of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, and Laurent Castaing, GM of STX France, each place a coin in the block, to bring ‘luck’ to the vessel. Concurrently with the start of drydock construction, manufacture of the vessel’s suites commenced in the shipyard’s cabin factory. If all goes to plan, it is expected that the 516- guest Europa 2 will launch in the Northern hemisphere spring of 2013. New Cruising programs for 2012/13 25 Years’ experience New Mekong River Cruise New China Cruise & Rail Journ Helen’s Choice Bonuses No Hidden Extras Intimate group sizes Call 1300 788 328 or visit helenwongstours.com
Transcript of Tuesday 06 March 2012 Darwin: Australia’s next home-port? · 2015-09-11 · Marketing of...
Website: www.cruiseweekly.com.au | Phone: 1300 799 220 | Fax: 1300 799 221 | Email: [email protected] Page 1
Tuesday 06 March 2012
TODAY’S ISSUE OF CW Today’s issue of Cruise Weekly featuresfour pages of all the latest cruise news.
Today is the last day that KarenChristensen, GM and Director of Sales andMarketing of Silversea Cruises Australiaand NZ will be answering questions fromCW readers. For the answers to Karen’s questionstoday, click on the Facebook link at the endof each question.Q1 from Vanessa, Mona Vale, NSW: Vanessawould like to know if all Silversea ships are thesame, or if there are differences.Q2 from Paula Davidson:Paula has asked what type of activities areavailable on Silversea ships (for example isthere a theatre?).
Rhapsody revitalisation LOCAL favourite, Rhapsody of the Seas,entered the Sembawang Shipyard in Singaporelast week, for the commencement of hermulti-million dollar revitalisation. Rhapsody, which has spent five consecutiveseasons in Australia, is now in for an extensivefour week makeover, after Royal Caribbeandecided to extend its initial revitalisationprogram from two-weeks to a month. As part of the US$54m works, Rhapsody willreceive upgraded decor and furnishings, fivenew dining venues (Chops Grille steakhouse,Italian Giovanni’s Table, Japanese restaurantIzumi, Park Café deli-style eatery and theexclusive private dining Chef’s Table venue). Rhapsody’s cabins will also be fully madeover, whilst the vessel’s outdoor pool area willbe fitted out with a large outdoor moviescreen, and her atrium will be transformedinto a new venue with nightly entertainmentand aerial spectacles. The ship’s Champagne Bar will become the1960’s inspired R Bar, whilst families willappreciate the new Royal Babies & TotsNursery for children aged 6 months to 3yrs.
Rhapsody going into drydock
Darwin: Australia’s next home-port?Tourism managers have toutedthe Top End as an ideal hub forcruises to Asia. TONY Clementson, General Manager ofTourism Top End, has called for cruise lines tobase a ship in Darwin as a potential home-portfor “more exotic” cruising from northernAustralia. “In my opinion, Australia to Asia is the nextobvious emerging cruise route,” he told CruiseWeekly in a telephone interview. “If a ship was based in Darwin, it could doseven-day sailings to Asia and people could flyback from Singapore, Indonesia or Manila.” Darwin could also be used as an embarkationor disembarkation point for shorter sectors ofAustralian circumnavigations “because noteveryone wants to cruise for 17 days”, he said. “It would suit time-poor people to end orbegin here, so they could do an east coast orwest coast cruise without going all the wayaround the country.” Clementson said he has had informaldiscussions with the management of RoyalCaribbean, and Tourism NT was “spreading themessage of Darwin” at the upcoming Seatradecruise conference in Miami. Celebrity Cruises is also planning aSingapore-Sydney repositioning cruise viaDarwin in November, “so it’s alreadyhappening in a way,” Clementson said. “But my vision is to see Darwin evolve into asmall home-port for people who want to travelto exotic destinations, both for outboundAustralian passengers and inbound passengerscoming here from Europe or the US.” The tropical city, which opened a new cruiseterminal in 2008, has welcomed 13 ships to its
shores so far this year, including maiden callsby the Queen Mary 2, Celebrity Century andZaandam, as well as regular visitors such asDiamond Princess and Rhapsody of the Seas. More than 50 vessels are scheduled to visit in2012. “Many passengers have enjoyed the city ofDarwin and have taken up trips down the trackto Litchfield National Park and attractions likethe jumping crocodiles on the Adelaide River,and a few adventure-seekers have charteredlight aircraft to visit Kakadu,” Clementson said. “We also have warm climatic conditions thatare conducive to cruising and being out ondeck, so maybe it is time for our great cruiseline leaders to consider Darwin as theCaribbean of the north [of Australia].”
Europa 2 takes shape in France HAPAG Lloyd Cruises celebrated the nextstage in the creation of Europa 2 last week,with the lifting of the ship’s first block intodrydock at the STX Europe shipyard in France. The keel laying was replete with the traditionalcoin ceremony, which saw Sebastian Ahrens,MD of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, and LaurentCastaing, GM of STX France, each place a coinin the block, to bring ‘luck’ to the vessel. Concurrently with the start of drydockconstruction, manufacture of the vessel’s suitescommenced in the shipyard’s cabin factory. If all goes to plan, it is expected that the 516-guest Europa 2 will launch in theNorthern hemisphere spring of 2013.
New Cruising programs for 2012/13
25 Years’ experience
New Mekong River Cruise
New China Cruise & Rail Journ
Helen’s Choice Bonuses
No Hidden Extras
Intimate group sizes
Call 1300 788 328 or visit helenwongstours.com
Website: www.cruiseweekly.com.au | Phone: 1300 799 220 | Fax: 1300 799 221 | Email: [email protected] Page 2
Tuesday 06 March 2012
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GERALDTONAthena Tue 06 Mar
CruiseCalendar
Cruise Weekly’s cruise calendar detailsupcoming port calls of passenger cruiseships at various destinations in Australia.
BRISBANEArcadia Tue 07 MarPacific Dawn Sat 10 Mar
SYDNEYCelebrity Century Tue 06 MarBlack Watch Tue 06 MarQueen Mary 2 Wed 07 MarPacific Pearl Fri 09 MarArcadia Fri 09 MarVolendam Tue 13 Mar
FREMANTLERadiance of the Seas Tue 06 MarAthena Wed 07 Mar
HOBARTPacific Pearl Wed 07 Mar
ADELAIDERadiance of the Seas Sun 11 MarArcadia Tue 13 Mar
MELBOURNEPacific Sun Tue 06 MarArcadia Sun 11 MarRadiance of the Seas Tue 13 Mar
DARWINSea Princess Sun 11 Mar
Celebrity unveils Europe and AlaskaCelebrity Cruises is planning itsbiggest European program in2013 and will send CelebritySolstice to Alaska after itsinaugural season in Australia. FOR the first time, the revamped CelebrityInfinity will be offering summer cruises fromthe UK from mid-2013. Infinity was one of four ships to be ‘Solsticised’with new features from the fleet’s award-winning Solstice Class and will offer new BritishIsles and Fjords sailings from Harwich, England. The summer of 2013 will mark Celebrity’sbiggest season ever in Europe, with Infinityjoining Celebrity Eclipse, Constellation, Equinox,Silhouette and the soon-to-debut Reflection inoffering the broadest array of modern luxurycruises on the newest fleet of ships in the region. “Our decision to expand our Europeancruising options from the UK on our newly‘Solsticised’ Celebrity Infinity is in directresponse to increased demand for more of themodern luxury holidays that only Celebrity canprovide,” said the company’s president & CEO
Dan Hanrahan. Alaska is also in line for its first Solstice Classvessel, with the 2,850-passenger flagshipCelebrity Solstice joining Celebrity Century andMillennium in summer 2013. “Celebrity Solstice is the ideal platform for amodern luxury cruise in the gorgeous state ofAlaska… and with 85% of staterooms havingverandas, guests will have more opportunitiesto take in the endlessly appealing views,” saidHanrahan. Meanwhile, Celebrity Summit, which thismonth became the third in the line’s MillenniumClass fleet to complete the brand’s Solsticisinginitiative, will return to Bermuda; and theintimate 96-passenger Celebrity Xpedition willcontinue to explore the Galapagos Islands. Full details of Celebrity’s summer 2013itineraries are set to be announced this monthwhen the first of the series opens for booking.
AUCKLANDSun Princess Wed 07 MarRegatta Thu 08 MarOcean Princess Mon 12 Mar
Bench Egypt on the water LUXURY operator, Bench International haslaunched a fully escorted 17-day cruise/tour ofEgypt, priced from $5,595pp including flights. With a limit of 17 guests, the tour will departSydney on 04 September, and will includestops in Cairo, Alexandria, Lake Nasser and AbuSimbel, see www.benchinternational.com.au.
Costa Allegra update AROUND seventy percent of guests who werecruising onboard Costa Allegra when a fire brokeout in her electric generator room last Monday,have opted to finish their holiday on land inthe Seychelles Islands at Costa’s expense. Despite not spreading to any other area ofthe ship, and causing no injuries or casualties,the fire did knock out the ship’s power,meaning that Allegra had to be towed toDesroches Island and then onto Mahé overthree days, where it arrived last Thursday. During the towage procedure, guestsprimarily spent their time out on deck due to alack of air-conditioning, and had to make dowith non-flushing toilets. Helicopters supplied the ship with food, water,and “comfort items” such as flashlights, whilstguests kept clean by using mineral water. When they arrived in the Seychelles, 480guests took up Costa’s offer to stay in hotels onthe Island and finish out their holidays, whilstthe remaining 147 flew home. In addition to covering a one or two weekstay in the Seychelles, guests have also beenoffered a full refund for the cruise, plusassociated travel costs and a full refund ofonboard expenses. *TERMS & CONDITIONS APPLY
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Website: www.cruiseweekly.com.au | Phone: 1300 799 220 | Fax: 1300 799 221 | Email: [email protected] Page 3
Tuesday 06 March 2012
Last MinuteDeals
This weekly column highlights hot deals oncruises departing soon – ideal for ourspontaneous readers.Check out this week’s cruise bargain:
7-night Antiquity to Byzantium cruiseonboard the mega yacht Harmony G
• From: $4,199pp• Departs: 13 April 2012• Visits: Athens,Palaia Epidaurus, Nafplion
- Mycenae, Gythion, Pylos, Katakolon -Olympia, Itea - Delphi and Marina Zeas.
• Includes: Return flights; seven-nightscruising; two-nights accommodation atRaffles, Dubai; guided sightseeing; andthree-nights accommodation at theRoyal Olympic Hotel, Athens.
• Contact: www.ecruising.travel
Get good Galapagos shots ZOOLOGIST and wildlife photographer MarkCarwardine has been booked by Abercrombie& Kent to lead its photo safari in the GalapagosIslands departing 24 May to 03 June. During the adventure Carwardine will sharewith budding photographers practical tips forcapturing animals such as giant tortoises, sealions, marine and land iguanas, and indigenousbirds including the blue-footed booby, ontwice-daily shore excursions. Carwardine will also host presentationsonboard about his adventures with StephenFry filming ‘Last Chance to See,’ a BBC seriesdevoted to animals facing extinction. The trip sails on the 48-passenger Eclipse,which earned the Rainforest Alliance‘SmartVoyager’ green seal of approval forenvironmentally-sensitive operations. For details and pricing information see yourlocal travel agent.
Moscow cruising with Chekhov GATEWAY Travel has recently releasedMoscow to St. Petersburg cruises onboard theMS Anton Chekhov, priced from $1,859 perperson, twin share. The 10-night voyages include stops in Uglich,Goritsy, Kizhi and Mandrogi, as well as allmeals and sightseeing (with English speakingguide), a welcome cocktail reception and dailyaerobics and Russian language/song lectures. See your travel agent for details.
CW winner shares his story THE winner of Cruise Weekly’s CelebrityCentury competition which ran in Decemberlast year, Jason Gale, has written to CW abouthis experiences sailing for 18-nights fromAuckland to Perth onboard Century. “Having never sailed Celebrity before, mywife and I were very excited to not only winthis amazing 18 night cruise but also thechance to experience a different line,” he said. To read Gale’s full account, check out CW’sFacebook Page. MEANWHILE, CW has also uploaded ChristinaAustron’s winning My Cruise competition storyonto Facebook, click on the ‘F’ link to read.
Jason Gale is pictured above with his wife, enjoying a meal inCentury’s Murano restaurant.
Celebrity sea dining on land CELEBRITY Cruises’ master chefs, JacquesVan Staden and John Suley, have been selectedto host a meal at the esteemed James BeardHouse in New York City. The James Beard House is known for itsevents, including guest chef-led dinners, whichaim to educate, inspire, entertain and foster anappreciation of cuisine, and is regarded as apremiere culinary performance space. “We selected Jacques and John to cook atthe James Beard House because the culinaryjourney that they have created for guests onCelebrity Cruises’ ships is truly outstanding,”said Izabela Wojcik, Director of HouseProgramming, The James Beard Foundation. “Their incredible creativity is the reason whyCelebrity’s guests have the opportunity to delveinto an extraordinary range of globally influencedflavours and presentations,” she added. The pair will treat diners to a six-coursemenu on 05 April this year.
New bridges in Port Canaveral TEAM Ports and Maritime has been enlistedto install two state of the art passengerboarding bridges at the new cruise terminal inPort Canaveral, which will be operational fromJuly this year.
EXTREME reading. Guests who love reading and cruising arebeing encouraged to combine their lovesand sail on American Cruise Lines’ MarkTwain tribute cruise onboard its newpaddlewheeler, Queen of the Mississippi. Celebrating the life, works and times ofthe great American author, whose novelsinclude Adventures of Tom Sawyer andAdventures of Huckleberry Finn, the voyagetakes guests along the river in the sameway that Twain would have seen it as ariverboat pilot in the 1800’s. Stops will include Twain’s hometown ofHannibal, Missouri.
W E L C O M E T O A U S T R A L I A ’ S
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US 100 onboard credit*
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Enquiries to: [email protected]
Website: www.cruiseweekly.com.au | Phone: 1300 799 220 | Fax: 1300 799 221 | Email: [email protected] Page 4
Tuesday 06 March 2012
Cruise Weekly is Australia’s favourite online cruising publication.In production since 2007, Cruise Weekly is published each Tuesday,with a further travel industry update each Thursday.Cruise Weekly is free and is sent to subscribers via email as an AdobeAcrobat PDF document.Sign up for a free subscription at www.cruiseweekly.com.au.PO Box 1010, Epping, NSW 1710Phone: 1300 799 220 Fax: 1300 799 221
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Micronesia the Next Cruise Discovery?by: Roderick Eime
Orion IIChildren in PalauOcean Hunter III offers local adventure cruises
A hirtherto unknown patch of the North Pacific Ocean couldwell begin to feature more frequently in cruise itineraries if thenewly formed Micronesian Cruise Association (MCA) has their way. Launched twelve months ago, the MCA have been busyexhibiting the region at trade and tourism conferences andgaining some success for the sprawling array of tiny islandnations and states. Micronesia is a term applied to describe thatregion of the Pacific above Melanesia (PNG, New Caledonia) andto the northwest of Polynesia (Hawaii, NZ) and comprises fivedistinct political regions: the ‘hub’ of Guam (a US territory), theMarianas to the north, and Palau, the Federated States ofMicronesia (FSM) and the Marshall Islands broadly across thesouth. Cruise ships already visit the region on an ad hoc basis withCunard, Princess, Hapag-Lloyd and Japanese lines makingaround six visits annually. Guam, with its US military gradeinfrastructure hosted over 4,000 pax and crew from QM2 in 2012but is realistically more suited to Sun, Sea and Pacific Princessesscheduled to arrive this year. “The challenges for us are that we are in the early stage ofdevelopment, and there is limited local cruise knowhow at thistime,” said Gerry Perez, a Guamanian on the current PATA board,“We must work together to streamline any current entry barriers,and build incentives for more frequent visits from cruise ships.” One step forward is the introduction of the Star AllianceMicronesia Airpass, spearheaded by the now dominant airline inthe region, United, which absorbed the previous Continental
routes in the much talked about merger this week. UnitedAirlines flies weekly to Guam from Cairns year-round, andextends the service to bi-weekly in peak periods, with regularconnections to the smaller islands. While the move to attract more frequent visits by the big linesmay be years away at this time, Micronesia is perfectly poised toaccept low impact visits by vessels from the world’s growingfleet of adventure and expedition vessels. Hapag-Lloyd’s fleet ofluxury expedition vessels are regular guests and in Novemberthis year, our own Orion Expeditions will conduct their firstMicronesian odyssey, beginning in Rabaul and wrapping up inGuam. Prior to this, the now defunct US small ship line, CruiseWest, regularly visited Micronesia on their popular Pacificvoyages. To date, much of the tourism throughout Micronesia hashinged on their renowned diving locations and WWII historicsites like Peleiu. The tiny city of Koror comes alive daily with itsbuzzing fleet of dive boats heading out in all directions to any ofthe scores of mapped locations within easy reach. One of thepremier operators, Fish ‘n’ Fins, even offers a superb liveaboardoption with itineraries of a week or more on their Australian-builtvessel, the 16-passenger Ocean Hunter III. Catering mainly todivers, the trip also includes cultural visits, land tours, hiking andkayaking. Warships wrecks, manta rays, sharks and vivid coralarrays feature prominently for keen divers of all levels. For more information on Micronesia, visitwww.magnificentmicronesia.com.
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