Celebrity Cruises has made a giant leap toward transforming a century into a millennium in just five weeks. The line has signed with Fincantieri in Palermo, Italy, to handle the significant revitalization of its 77,713-ton Century cruise ship in 2006.
The approximately $55-million makeover designed to incorporate on Century a variety of Celebrity´s most popular Millennium-class attributes marks the line´s most extensive refurbishment to-date, and the first time the company has worked directly with Fincantieri.
Norwegian Coastal Voyage (NCV) tweaked its 2006 Antarctica itinerary by adding extra days on the ice, a stop in Puerto Natales and more time in the Beagle Channel, the Strait of Magellan and Ushuaia.
The line also will introduce themed programs with guest lecturers on its Coastal Odyssey voyages, focusing on Norwegian heritage, maritime traditions or the life of composer Edvard Grieg.
Carnival is to build four more ships at a total cost of £1.2 billion. The cruise giant has reached agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri to construct four vessels for Holland America, Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises and Costa Crociere.
There is also the option to add two more vessels, one for Carnival Cruise Line and another for Holland America. The ships will add a combined 11,756 berths to the operator´s fleet.
All Costa cruise programs are now available through the Sabre system, with Sabre Cruise Director, travel agents in the U.S. will now be able to book cruises aboard Costa´s fleet of ten ships.
“Teaming the fifth largest cruise line in the world with the umber one global distribution system is an unbeatable combination,” said Lynn Torrent, President and CEO, Costa Cruise Lines N.V.
Travelocity has added three additional lines to its current cruise offering –Orient Lines, Oceania Cruises and MSC Cruises.
The study, conducted by Keynote, the leading provider of customer experience research services, also noted that “one of the biggest advances over the past year was improvement in Travelocity´s online booking process.”
Residential Cruise Line, the company launching the $650-million-dollar Magellan, is now offering private ownership on the luxury liner with fractional buying opportunities.
Designed exclusively for buyers who only want to own specific months each year, fractional ownership provides a unique opportunity to purchase a unit on the ship in one-month increments.