Ultra-luxury Silversea Cruises is rolling out an expanded collection of 15 Culinary Arts Cruises and 12 Wine Series Voyages in 2006. It´s the biggest program the line has ever offered and will feature, for the first time, award-winning authors in addition to a stellar lineup of international wine experts, winemakers, and acclaimed chefs from the world´s top restaurants.
Among the talented food and wine writers set to join the program is the culinary power couple of Jill Van Cleave and William Rice, scheduled to jointly host Silver Wind´s Voyage 2610, sailing April 8 from Lisbon to Barcelona. Van Cleave is a renowned author, food stylist and chef and Rice is the food and wine columnist for the "Chicago Tribune," former editor-in-chief of "Food and Wine," and winner of the Who´s Who award for "Best Food Journalism."
Silversea Cruises is installing WiFi hotspots around its four ships and revamping its Internet centers with 17-inch flat-screen monitors and new computers.
The “enhanced cyber technology”, as Silversea called it, was installed on the Silver Shadow in August and will be installed onboard Silversea´s three other ships by the end of the year. Maritime Telecommunications Network is providing the satellite technology.
Delta Queen Steamboat Co. canceled cruises on its American Queen vessel between Sept. 16 and March 6. The ship was scheduled to operate three- and four-day cruises from New Orleans coupled with overnight stays in the city. The line said that due to the damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina, it will be “impossible” to operate the American Queen in the area.
Refunds will be automatically generated within the next 60 days and will go through the line´s agent partners, it said. Delta Queen said it is working with various government authorities to make the American Queen available in the overall relief efforts for the Gulf Coast region.
Cypriot line Louis Cruises will consult EasyCruise for low-cost start-up and advise the maritime company on the acquisition and building of new ships.
Louis Cruises will equally assist EasyCruise with “further expansion of its activities,” according to a statement from EasyCruise.
Royal Caribbean International, the cruise line that introduced the first onboard rock-climbing walls, ice skating rinks and in-line skating tracks, now will offer guests the chance to “hang ten” a hundred miles out to sea with the first-ever shipboard surf park aboard Freedom of the Seas.
The company unveiled plans for the onboard surf park at a special event at Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, N.J., which will be the first U.S. stop in Freedom of the Seas´ preview schedule when she debuts as the world´s largest cruise ship in May 2006.
A Chilean based cruise company is incorporating a second vessel for this coming season´s tours of Antarctica, beginning in Puerto Montt and concluding in Ushuaia, Argentina, with a call in Punta Arenas.
Diego Hurtado, C & O Tours CEO who visited Punta Arenas over the weekend with foreign tourist operators said the company for the last three years has been successfully operating Antarctic cruises with the Norwegian flagged “Nordnorge” which has a 350 passenger capacity and a crew of 70.