Luxury specialist Crystal Cruises will showcase ten different theme cruise topics on more than half of its worldwide itineraries next year.
Naturalists from The Smithsonian Associates, experts from Sotheby´s Institute, PGA golf pros, celebrated chefs, jazz artists, fitness gurus and more, will present lectures on board with many hosting excursions ashore.
Norwegian Cruise Line´s Norwegian Spirit will join sister ship, the Norwegian Dawn, and add calls to Bermuda for the 2006 summer season from New York.
The Norwegian Spirit´s new eight-day itinerary will feature a daylong call in Bermuda, an overnight in St. Thomas, USVI, and a call at Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.
Star Cruises executives at World Travel Market confirmed that the company will base the Superstar Libra, the former Norwegian Sea, in Malta for seven-day cruises beginning June 6 next year.
The Malta cruises will be marketed in the U.S. by Norwegian Cruise Lines. The Star product also is sold by some tour operators in the U.S., including Asian Affairs and Gala Tours.
No-frills cruise operator EasyCruise has launched a Caribbean service that spans six islands for as little as 15 dollars per person daily, the company said on Wednesday.
The cut-price operator offers an itinerary that takes in the islands of Barbados, St Vincent, Martinique, Grenadines, Grenada and St Lucia over the space of one week, and is available until April 26 next year.
Royal Caribbean International, the cruise line known for active onboard amenities such as surfing simulators, rock-climbing walls, ice skating rinks and bungee trampolines, announced last week that more than 7,050 guests have received Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) Scuba Diver certification while on a Royal Caribbean cruise.
PADI Scuba Diver certification is available through the SeaTrek dive shops on all Voyager-class ships (Adventure of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas) and will be offered on Freedom of the Seas, which will debut in May 2006.
MSC Cruises pushed itself to the forefront of megaship cruise companies by confirming an order for two 3,300-passenger cruise ships for delivery in 2008 and 2009.
The ships, which will have a maximum capacity of 3,887 passengers and 1,300 crew, will be the second-largest cruise ships in terms of capacity, after Royal Caribbean International´s Freedom of the Seas.