EASYCRUISE signed a letter of intent with
Neorion Holdings to build two cruise ships at Neorions two
shipyards in Greece. Each ship would hold 500 passengers and would
introduce the EasyCruise concept to the Greek islands and other
parts of the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, Florida, the Bahamas and
Dubai. The deal includes an option for two additional ships. The
line also named a CEO. EasyCruise Chairman Stelios Haji-Ioannou
gave the nod to Gwyn Hughes, a former executive director of P&O
Cruises who now runs his own strategy and communications
consultancy firm.
THE
CARNIVAL DESTINY will operate a new five-port, seven-day
southern Caribbean itinerary beginning in January. The ship, which
is homeported in San Juan, will stop in St. Lucia, Antigua,
Dominica, Barbados and St. Thomas. Its current itinerary calls at
St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados and Aruba. Carnival spokesman Vance
Gulliksen said the decision to eliminate Aruba from the itinerary
is part of a fuel-saving initiative as well as a way to freshen up
the ships itinerary, which has remained the same for five years.
New itinerary options that enable Carnival to operate our ships
more fuel-efficiently has become an increasingly important focus,
Gulliksen said.
ITALIAN
SHIPYARD FINCANTIERI will acquire 21% of share capital in
German shipyard Lloyd Werft and an option to purchase a majority
stake by the end of 2008, the company said last week. Bremer
Investitions-Gesellschaft, a German state-owned business
development company, will take a 13.16% stake in Lloyd Werft.
Fincantieri said the agreement would advance its strategy to
increase its presence in ship refitting and refurbishment services.
Fincantieri also said that the strategic locations of shipyards in
the North Sea and the Mediterranean will strengthen its position in
an area where a significant part of the cruise and ferry fleets is
operating.
PRINCESS
AND CUNARD said theyre the first cruise lines to enable
travel agents to create online group reservations. The system
creates a group booking in three steps and displays pricing and
group details. Jan Swartz, Princess senior vice president of
customer service and sales, said that because group space fills
quickly on popular sailings, agents have been telling the cruise
line they would like to be able to handle group bookings online.
The new system allows agents to work directly through the group
department during office hours and directly through POLAR online
whenever they wish, Schwartz said.
Cruise
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