NCL CORP. increased its fuel surcharge to $9 per person, per day, up from $7, citing the continued rise in oil prices. The new surcharge applies to the first and second guests in a cabin; a surcharge of $4 per person, per day will apply to additional guests in a cabin. Colin Veitch, NCL's president and CEO, said, "With crude oil and refined product prices at record highs, our fuel bill stands at a level that was unimaginable two years ago." NCL said the increased fuel surcharge applies only to new, individual reservations made on or after May 1.
EASYCRUISE blamed labor strikes in Greece for a delay of the maiden cruise of the EasyCruise Life, which was set to depart April 19 from Athens. General labor strikes "have meant that finishing touches to the ship will not be completed in time for the first sailing," the cruise line said in a statement. The 12,711-ton EasyCruise Life was built in 1981 and has operated as a ferry in Egypt. It has been undergoing an extensive refurbishment in order to enter the EasyCruise fleet.
OCEANIA CRUISES introduced the Travel Agent Dashboard, a system that provides agents with resources and management tools to help make reservations online 24 hours a day. The online system enables agents to reserve a cruise, make payments, add shore excursions, request and confirm air deviations and complete guest registration forms, among other tasks. "Building upon our current online booking engine, agents may now accomplish virtually any task that they would with one of our reservation agents over the phone," James Rodriguez, senior vice president of marketing for Oceania, said in a statement.
ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL named a British woman who launched a fund for youth with physical or learning disabilities as godmother of the Independence of the Seas. Elizabeth Hill was selected from four finalists in a Royal Caribbean contest to find "an ordinary British woman who has done extraordinary things," specifically a woman who has "dedicated incredible time and effort to improve the well-being and future of young people under 18 years old in her community." She is slated to name the Independence on April 30 in Southampton, U.K.
OASIS OF THE SEAS and Utopia of the Seas was the sixth and final pair of names chosen as finalists in the contest to name Royal Caribbean International's upcoming megaships, currently called the Genesis-class vessels. The two ships will be given either those two names or one of the pairs from the previous weeks: Mosaic of the Seas and Coronation of the Seas; Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas; Utopia of the Seas and Allure of the Seas; Amazement of the Seas and Epic of the Seas; or Mystique of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. The winning pair of names will be announced before June 1.
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