Traveling Deep with Princess

You may remember that Fathom, Carnival's brand without a ship, developed a group program which sailed to the DR in January aboard Crown Princess to continue their people-to-people humanitarian work. That trip was so successful, they immediately scheduled two more in March and May.

Those booked out so successfully, Fathom has now scheduled four more through the rest of 2018 aboard Caribbean and Royal Princess.

The Fathom sailings now have been branded “Travel Deep” sailings.

The complete story appeared in the March 2 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Fathom Rides Again

You may remember Carnival's Fathom brand. They came into being to operate people-to-people programs in the Caribbean, and began with several options in the Dominican Republic, operating with P&O's former Adonia. Then they branched out with programs in Cuba. Then P&O wanted their ship back and Fathom became a Carnival brand without a ship.

They have developed several people-to-people shore excursions that are available as day excursions on other Carnival brands calling at the DR. Now they've developed a program which has been sold as a group on a Crown Princess sailing in January. It was such a success, Fathom and Princess have scheduled two more group sailings in March and May of this year.

The complete story appeared in the January 17 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - June 2, 2017

CND subscribers also read about:

• Mein Schiff 6 being christened in Hamburg. 
• Adonia wrapping up its cruises for Fathom and returning to P&O
• AIDAperla has arrived at its home port
• Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas will operate a cruise that will put it right under the path of a total solar eclipse.

Details appeared in the June 2 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Mein Schiff 6 christening at Hamburg

Photo courtesy of TUI Cruises. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Uh-Oh. Results May Not Be Exactly as Expected

This could be either good news or bad news, depending if you are a consumer or a cruise line. And it seems to only be good news if you are a consumer AND you want to go to Cuba.

What made us start looking into this and considering the broader topic was a press release we received today from Fathom announcing a new low promotional rate on their alternate-week sailings to the Dominican Republic to which a call at the Cuban port of Santiago de Cuba was recently added.

The complete story appeared in the January 13 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Special Added Attraction

Fathom Travel said today they have obtained approval to add the Cuban port of Santiago de Cuba, the second largest city in Cuba, to six of its upcoming Dominican Republic sailings.

Yes, this will reduce time in the Dominican Republic by a day, but it will add a stop that should create a lot more interest in the Dominican program.

The complete story appeared in the December 22 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Fathom Ending Cuba Program

Last Wednesday, Carnival Corp let it be known that there are going to be changes coming to their highly touted Cuban cruises, but Carnival isn't ready to put all the details out there yet. The main point they put out there is that the Cuban cruises will be operated by another Carnival brand beginning in the second half of 2017, subject to Cuban approval. Adonia will return to P&O and resume programs for them similar to what it was doing before it was “loaned” to Fathom.

That's about all Carnival was willing to say on the record, but it tells us lots, and it shouldn't be that surprising, because it seems to have been setting up for months.

The complete story appeared in the November 28 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Everyone Will Have a Chance to Do Good

Just a week after hearing the enormous impact Fathom Cruise Line has had during its calls at the Dominican Republic, Fathom's parent, Carnival Corp, has decided that Fathom's shore excursions in the DR should be opened to all their brands calling there.

Amber Cove has already become a popular leisure resort style call for passengers sailing on the Carnival brands, but this month, passengers will be able to purchase a social impact excursion similar to what Fathom offers there. Those brands include AIDA, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa, Holland America, Princess and P&O Cruises UK.

The complete story appeared in the November 2 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

What Good Comes from the “Other” Itinerary?

Most all the focus these days on Carnival's Fathom brand is on their cruises from Miami to Cuba. Many people seem to have forgotten Fathom's roots before Cuba approved their every-other-week program to that island. On the other weeks Fathom still go to the Dominican Republic where passengers still do social impact programs and meet the people of the DR.

In 13 sailings to the DR, Fathom passengers have had a lasting impact on the people of the DR. The line has compiled some impressive figures.

The complete story appeared in the October 26 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

More to See in Cuba

Beginning this week, Fathom has expanded their shore excursions on the island of Cuba. The line has added three new excursions, two from Havana and one from Santiago.

The complete story appeared in the September 21 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - September 15, 2016

CND subscribers also read about:

• Harmony of the Seas getting back to sea after its tragic accident on Tuesday
• Gratuities going up on Princess
• Crystal scheduling a President's Cruise on Crystal Mozart
• New promotional pricing on Fathom and what it means
• Micky Arison checking up on the construction of Majestic Princess

Details appeared in the September 15 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Micky Arison and Stein Kruse tour Majestic Princess at Fincantieri's Monfalcone yard today

Photo courtesy of Princess Cruises. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Newton's Third Law

Fathom Cruises said today they have received approval to operate two additional sailings to Cuba in October and November, citing “strong consumer demand” for Cuba.

It shouldn't be any surprise that there's demand for Fathom's Cuba program, since they currently have a monopoly from the US, but the more interesting story is where Fathom's ship isn't sailing.

The complete story appeared in the September 9 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Fathom's Evolving Onboard Experience

Part of launching a new product is getting feedback from customers and finetuning it after the launch. Fathom is doing that aboard their cruises from Miami to Cuba.

"We have been listening to our travelers and creating new experiences onboard based on their feedback to facilitate rich immersion and to provide more robust insight into the culture and people of Cuba," said Fathom president Tara Russell.

The complete story appeared in the June 29 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Lights out on Adonia

There was another little bump in the road on the way to Cuba for Fathom’s Adonia. On Sunday, about 5pm, as it was leaving Miami en route to Havana, the ship experienced a power outage which shut down most onboard systems.

The outage was short (about 30 minutes), but once things were up and running, Adonia made a U-turn and went back to Miami, arriving about 10pm. The ship was checked out and ready to leave again at 3am Monday morning.

Details appeared in the May 31 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Making Change

Fathom has added some new programming aboard Adonia that passengers will experience as the ship sails to the Dominican Republic and to Cuba.

The new program was developed for Fathom by Ashoka, the world’s largest network of social entrepreneurs.

The complete story appeared in the May 26 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

The Americans Have Arrived

Fathom’s Adonia sailed from Miami yesterday on its first cruise to Cuba, the first by any American-based ship in more than fifty years. As advertised, it arrived in Havana this morning, and the first modern American cruisers disembarked and began seeing the city and meeting the people.

The complete story appeared in the May 2 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Adonia arriving Havana

Photos courtesy of Fathom Travel. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Fathom May Get Some Competition

As you know, Carnival’s new Fathom social impact brand will begin cruising from Miami to Cuba on Sunday. It will be the first time in 50 years the average American can cruise to Cuba.

Under US law it’s still not possible to legally take a conventional cruise to Cuba where the point is just dining well, being entertained, going to the beach and doing some shopping and sightseeing. US law says if you aren’t in some special category like vising your Cuban relatives or a journalist on assignment, you have to be on some kind of educational or humanitarian mission - and learning something about the country and its culture qualifies as “educational.” So for the moment, if you want to cruise to Cuba, Fathom is your ticket.

Other lines have expressed their desire to cruise there, but for their type of cruise, they know they are going to have to wait until US law changes. Royal Caribbean executives talked about their interest in eventually cruising to Cuban ports during their conference call this morning to discuss their quarterly earnings. But after the call, they revealed they have some other plans in process.

The complete article appeared in the April 29 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Nothing Can Stop Them Now

Carnival Corp said this morning that the Cuban government has agreed to allow their Fathom brand to carry all passengers to Cuba regardless of their country of birth, including Cuban-born American citizens.

Actually, Cuba’s decision was much more broad than that. They’ve actually changed their law which prohibited Cuban citizens from entering or leaving the country by sea. They haven’t completely repealed the law, but they have modified it to allow Cuban citizens (which they still consider naturalized American citizens to be) to enter and exit the country as passengers or crew members on cruise ships and other commercial vessels.

The complete story appeared in the April 22 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Adonia's inaugural trip to the Dominican Republic this week. Shown are Fathom President Tara Russell, Carnival Australia Executive Chairman Ann Sherry and Carnival Corp CEO Arnold Donald.

Photo courtesy of Carnival Australia. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Fathom Receives Cuban Approval to Bring All Passengers to Cuba

Carnival Corp said this morning the Cuban government has agreed to allow their Fathom brand to carry all passengers to Cuba regardless of their country of birth.

Cuban law had previously prohibited persons born in Cuba to enter or leave the country by sea.

Fathom's May 1 inaugural cruise to Cuba will now move ahead as originally scheduled.

Details will be in today's edition of Cruise News Daily.

Fathom Changes Policy on Cuba Bookings

Carnival Corp says that due to ongoing talks with Cuba they expect the Cuban government to change their policy and allow Cuban-Americans to arrive by sea before Fathom's first cruise from the US to Cuba on May 1.

As a result, their Fathom brand has begun to accept bookings from everyone regardless of their country of origin. A lawsuit had been filed against the line by two Cuban-born American citizens for whom Fathom had declined to make a reservation in accordance with Cuban law.

Fathom said that should the Cuban government's decision on the matter be delayed beyond May 1, the line will delay the start of their voyages to Cuba.

The complete story appeared in the April 18 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Adonia Receives Approval

Adonia getting its Fathom livery in dry dock

Fathom reports that the repair work on the malfunctioning fire screens aboard Adonia has been completed. The US Coast Guard has inspected it and certified the ship to sail.

Therefore, on Sunday, Carnival's social impact brand, Fathom, will enter service with their inaugural voyage from Miami to the Dominican Republic.

Photo courtesy of Fathom Travel. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.