AMBASSADORS
INTERNATIONAL subsidiary Ambassadors Cruise Group will buy
the Delta Queen Steamboat Co. from Delaware North Cos. Ambassadors
will acquire Delta Queens three vessels, the Delta Queen, the
American Queen and the Mississippi Queen, and its operating assets,
for $3 million in cash, about $9 million in customer deposits and
$35 million in debt.
AMBASSADORS acquired another U.S.-based
river cruise line, American West Steamboat Co., in January when it
set up the Ambassadors Cruise Group and named former Holland
America Line executive David Giersdorf president of that division.
Ambassadors President and CEO Joe Ueberroth said in a statement
last week that the Delta Queen deal, expected to close by the end
of this month, creates a national, American cruise
company.
ROYAL
CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL hosted a three-day party in
Springfield, Ore., to celebrate the opening of its first West Coast
call center. About 250 employees currently work in the $60 million,
160,000 square-foot space -- which is designed to look like a
cruise ship. Royal Caribbean expects to have 1,000 employees there
by 2009.
PRINCESS
CRUISES will make its largest-ever deployment in Europe by
sending five ships to Europe and the Mediterranean in 2007. The
line will offer 81 departures and 31 itineraries out of 110 ports,
a 33% increase over last year. The increase is spearheaded by the
transfer of the Minerva II from Swan Hellenic to Princess and the
2007 delivery of the Emerald Princess, which currently is under
construction at Italys Fincantieri shipyard. Both ships will
operate in the Mediterranean, and the Minerva II, renamed the Royal
Princess, will add new ports to Princess itineraries, including
Ravenna, Italy; Split, Croatia; Kotor, Montenegro; and Canakkale,
Turkey. The ship also will cruise to Israel and Egypt.
COSTA
CROCIERE has booked almost all of its cabin availability
between April to June, a 30% improvement over last year, the line
said. The company attributed the increase in bookings to its
ProntoPrice policy launched in September 2005, which gives
travelers discounts for booking in advance.
Cruise
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