Cruise News Daily Headlines for August 8, 2014

* Bringing Home a Little Seuss to Remember Your Cruise
There are new additions to the Fun Shops - Carnival’s online store for gifts and decorations to be delivered onboard your Carnival Cruise. And if I said one was a cat in a hat, would it give you a clue?

* Cape Town Asks the Age-Old Question: Which Comes First? The Chicken or the Larger Terminal?
Cape Town has decided not to build a larger cruise terminal, because they have decided they just don’t need it.

* Other Things You’ll Want to Know
CND subscribers also read about what happens if the weather cooperates ... and celebrating 100.

The complete articles appeared in the e-mail edition of Cruise News Daily delivered to our subscribers.

The crew of Carnival Splendor turns out to celebrate their perfect USPH score.

Cruise News Daily Headlines for August 7, 2014

* Fitness Garden to be Constructed on Crystal Symphony
Crystal Symphony is scheduled for a refit this fall, and one of the new features to be added will be an outdoor fitness “garden” on Decks 7, 8 and 12 aft. At the same time the indoor facility will be refit with new state-of-the-art equipment.

* Move the Ship - Wiki Wiki!
With Hurricane Iselle headed toward the island of Hawaii tonight, Pride of America needs to move out of the way. The ship is at Kauai today (at the other end of the state) and had planned an overnight two-day call, but NCL said today the ship will leave tonight at 7pm (local time) and remain at sea all day Friday, safely out of the storm’s way.

* Other Things You’ll Want to Know
CND subscribers also read about being all dress up and nowhere to go ... and Iceland may tighten tender rules.

The complete articles appeared in the e-mail edition of Cruise News Daily delivered to our subscribers.

Meyer Delays Quantum Float Out

Meyer Werft said today that Saturday's float out of Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas would not take place as planned. Adverse weather is forecast for Saturday at Papenburg.

The decision will also cancel the rearrangement of the two floating sections of Anthem of the Seas in the building dock. One of those is already floating in the shipyard's harbor.

Meyer said they will make an announcement of a new date for the float out early next week.

Update August 8: The float out has tentatively been rescheduled for Tuesday, August 12 at 4pm (10am Eastern US time). 

Update August 12: Weather is still preventing the float out. The process is now scheduled to begin Tuesday evening at 8:00pm (2:00pm Eastern US time) with the moving of the sections of Anthem of the Seas out of the way, but the actual float out of Quantum of the Seas will now occur around 6:00 am on Wednesday, August 13 (just after midnight Wednesday in the US). It should be docked at the outdoor pier about three hours later. It's all still subject to weather conditions.

Quantum of the Seas sits at the ready to float out of the building dock. Just ahead of her is a section of Anthem of the Seas.

Photo courtesy of Meyer Werft. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission.

Hans Hesselberg to Head MSC Hotel Operations

MSC Cruises appoints Hans Hesselberg as new Senior Vice President Hotel Operations


FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (August 7, 2014) – MSC Cruises USA President Richard E. Sasso announced today the appointment of Hans Hesselberg as senior vice president of Hotel Operations.

In this role, Hesselberg will be responsible for overall vessel operation including product delivery and shipboard services on MSC Cruises ships operating in the Caribbean. Sasso noted that this is a particularly strategic hire citing Hesselberg’s role to ensure that the signature service and onboard experiences of MSC Divina, the line’s first ship dedicated to the North American market, continue to evolve to meet the needs of the market as the ship prepares for her first season in the Mediterranean in spring 2015.

“Hans Hesselberg’s distinguished career of more than 40 years in the industry makes him uniquely qualified to contribute to our continued commitment to deliver a product that appeals to the North American market,” said Sasso.

Before joining MSC Cruises, Hesselberg served in a number of senior-level operations roles, most recently as the head of Hotel Operations for Costa Cruise Lines based in the Genoa, Italy, head office. Prior to that, he was vice president, Operations for the Americas for Costa. He joined Costa from American Hawaii Cruises where he served as vice president of Hotel Operations.

Hesselberg and his wife, Mary, are residents of Miami.


Source: MSC Cruises

Cruise News Daily Headlines for August 6, 2014

* The Place to Catch “Falling Stars”
Costa offers passengers aboard their neoCollection ships special experiences of various types, but aboard sailings over the next few days they are outdoing themselves.

* Other Things You’ll Want to Know
CND subscribers also read about Lusitania being remembered ... an unusual situation aboard Costa Concordia ... and Concordia’s captain still stirring things up in Italy.

The complete articles appeared in the e-mail edition of Cruise News Daily delivered to our subscribers.

Lusitania Exhibit to Sail aboard Cunard's Queen Victoria

Lusitania Exhibition to be Assembled for Commemoration Cruise aboard Queen Victoria
Unique collection to tell the story of the triumph and tragedy of Lusitania


06 August 2014 – Cunard has commissioned historian Eric Sauder to produce a temporary exhibition of Lusitania memorabilia that will be displayed on board Queen Victoria during her 3 May 2015 voyage commemorating the loss of Lusitania 100 years earlier. Eric Sauder has been interested in ocean liners, particularly Lusitania, for more than 30 years, with his first job being a tour guide on Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. He has dived on the wreck of Lusitania and has authored two books on the subject: RMS Lusitania: The Ship and Her Record and The Unseen Lusitania: The Ship in Rare Illustrations, the latter to be released for the 100th anniversary of the sinking.

Lusitania was the first of 22 Cunard ships lost in the First World War. On 7 May 2015 it will be exactly 100 years since the Cunard flagship was torpedoed while en route from New York to Liverpool. The ship sank approximately 11 miles off the old Head of Kinsale in Ireland.

This special seven-night Lusitania Remembered cruise by Queen Victoria will commemorate the loss of Lusitania and the other Cunard ships in World War One. Queen Victoria will call at Cobh (formerly Queenstown) on 7 May 2015. Cobh will forever be associated with the tragedy. The sinking was a human catastrophe on a scale that this small town had not experienced before or since. People there witnessed first-hand the trauma, tragedy and heartbreak that ensued. The dead, the injured and the bereaved were brought among a community that mobilised itself and responded with courage and compassion to their needs.

"The sinking of Lusitania was a tragedy and we intend to mark the anniversary of her sinking on 7 May 2015 in a fitting and respectful way,” said David Dingle, CEO of Cunard Line. “But her story was also one of triumph in the technical achievement of her construction and her glittering career from 1907 until the outbreak of war. We are pleased to be working with Eric Sauder on this exhibition that will recall that triumph and tragedy, and bring an added element on this special Lusitania voyage which the passengers who book this special cruise will experience."

Eric Sauder said, "I have been fascinated will all things Lusitania for many years and am pleased to be working with Cunard on this exhibition that I hope will bring to life the Lusitania story in a unique way.”

All passengers aboard Queen Victoria will be invited to attend a special service ashore as well as witness a number of other tributes occurring that day, and a Commemorative Dinner will be held for them that night on board the ship.

Sailing from and back to Southampton, the Lusitania Remembered voyage will call at St. Peter Port (Guernsey), Le Havre, Cobh and Dublin. Cunard fares start from $1399 per person for an inside cabin and from $2099 for a balcony cabin.

The Lusitania exhibit will feature china, silver, brochures, postcards, memorabilia and souvenirs that will bring to life the story of Cunard's flagship.

Lusitania and her sister Mauretania were the first of the floating palaces and today still conjure up images of power, speed, Palm Courts, Smoking Rooms, afternoon tea and grand staircases.

For more information about Queen Victoria, please visit visit www.cunard.com.

Source: Cunard Line

Cruise News Daily Headlines for August 5, 2014

* P&O Details Plans for Aurora
After the peak summer season, and before its holiday cruise and epic winter trips, P&O will be giving Aurora a three-week 26-million-pound refit in Hamburg. In addition to cosmetics, they will be adding a number of features to the 14-year-old ship as well as updating the functionality of others.
   The most visible change to the 76,000-ton vessel is that Aurora will be the first P&O ship in the new Union Jack livery in which a contemporary version of the flag begins at the bow and streams back down the forward portion of the hull. The stack will take on a striking new dark blue color. At one time the white hull was striking and distinctive, but with the new livery, there now will be no mistaking P&O ships.

* Another Port Fretting about Parking Revenue
It seems another port is realizing they are being cut out parking revenue (by outside lots) and how important the revenue is to them. But while the port management at New Orleans tries to figure things out, it seems they don’t want to go to war with the private lots - for now.

The complete articles appeared in the e-mail edition of Cruise News Daily delivered to our subscribers.

CruisingExcursions.com Expands UK Team

CruisingExcursions.com boosts UK Team with three new appointments


Cruisingexcursions.com, the company offering a prebookable, competitively priced alternative to the excursions available on cruise ships, has boosted the UK team with three new appointments.

Ryan Inman is appointed marketing executive, Tamhas Woods joins as PPC & marketing executive and Laura Spiteri is a junior graphic designer.

Ryan joins cruisingexcursions.com from Anatolian Sky Holidays where he was assistant marketing manager and prior to that he gained valuable experience at several cruise companies including cruise.co.uk, Cruise and Maritime Voyages and MSC Cruises. Ryan also worked for three years at Thomas Cook in the cruise division. In his role at cruisingexcursions.com Ryan is responsible for newsletters, mail shots, affiliate marketing and social media.

Tamhas Woods was previously online marketing manager at the Hazel Group, in addition after graduating from Staffordshire University with a MA in broadcast journalism, he completed a prestigious internship at Sky News. Tamhas will be working on cruisingexcursions.com’s online presence and social media campaigns.

Laura Spiteri is a BA Hons graduate from Hereford College of Arts where she studied graphic and media design and previously worked as a graphic designer / illustrator at designbysoap. Laura’s creativity will be utilized with the numerous newsletters, brochures and collateral required showcasing the cruisingexcursions.com product.

All three new employees will be based at company HQ in Cannock, Staffs and will report to chief operating officer Simonne Fairbanks. Simonne said: “Cruisingexcursions.com’s latest headcount numbers forty and it’s great to be able to welcome to the team such talented, creative, enthusiastic individuals as Laura, Ryan and Tam. As the company expands we are bringing more and more of our previously outsourced requirement in-house and we’re finding it very productive.”

Source: Cruisingexcursions.com

Cruise News Daily Headlines for August 4, 2014

* STX Turku Yard Purchased
German-based Meyer Werft today announced they had reached an agreement to acquire 70% of the STX Finland shipyard at Turku, Finland from STX. The Finnish government will continue to hold the other 30%.

* TUI Cruises Orders Two Ships
Simultaneously with the announcement of the acquisition of STX Finland by Meyer Werft came the announcement that TUI Cruises had ordered two additional ships from the Finnish yard.

* Carnival to Develop Haitian Port
Carnival Corp reports that last week they signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a port on the Haitian island of Tortuga, off Haiti’s northwest coast.
   The port will be another of the company’s self-contained resorts for passengers to enjoy beach time and related activities in a private facility, such as they currently operate in the Bahamas, Grand Turk and the Bay Islands in Honduras.

* Other Things You’ll Want to Know
CND subscribers also read about a date to mark on their calendar ... and Bertha's impact.

The complete articles appeared in the e-mail edition of Cruise News Daily delivered to our subscribers.

Meyer Werft Schedules Quantum of the Seas Float Out

Meyer Werft has scheduled Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas to float out from their covered building dock next Saturday, August 9 (2014). The operation is scheduled to begin at approximately 7:30am (local time, 1:30am Eastern Time in the US).

Thruster and stabilizer tests will be performed in the lagoon the following day. The ship will remain at Meyer's pier for final outfitting until its conveyance down the Ems River in mid-September.

Quantum of the Seas ready for float out

Photo courtesy of Meyer Werft. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission.

Goldfarb Selected as MSC Public Relations Director

MSC Cruises Names Alyssa Goldfarb as Director of Public Relations

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (August 4, 2014) – MSC Cruises USA Executive Vice President of Sales, PR & Guest Services Ken Muskat announced today that Alyssa Goldfarb has joined the cruise line as director of public relations.

In this role, Goldfarb is responsible for overall communications strategy and media outreach for the line, playing an integral role in the continued expansion of the MSC Cruises brand in North America.

“We’re delighted to welcome Alyssa to the team,” said Muskat. “With nearly a decade of public relations and marketing experience, her expertise brings additional firepower to our communications efforts and is an ideal complement to our executive team.”

Prior to joining MSC Cruises, Goldfarb served as account director in Ogilvy Washington’s Corporate and Public Affairs practice managing public relations campaigns for clients such as Susan G. Komen and LG Electronics. Before that, Goldfarb worked at Environics Communications, a full-service PR agency, serving as the day-to-day contact for association, health care and technology clients.

Goldfarb began her career as a communications specialist at ICF International, a management and technology consulting firm, where she provided marketing communications support to various government agencies including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Highway Administration.

“This is an exciting time for MSC Cruises,” said Goldfarb. “The cruise line has established itself as a market leader in the global cruise industry and I’m thrilled to be joining MSC Cruises as it continues to expand its presence in North America.”

A resident of Delray Beach, FL, Goldfarb graduated summa cum laude from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.

Source: MSC Cruises USA