Jetsettersblog

Bo Larsen, director of Cruise Baltic, announced new two new members at Cruise Shipping Miami this week — the Port of Klaipeda, Lithuania, and the Port of Sassnitz, Germany. New strategies for this year include focusing on attracting smaller cruise lines to the region. For example, SeaDream Yacht Club is sailing in Northern Europe for the first time this year and is already committed to returning in 2012. In addition, Happy Cruises of Spain has repositioned The Gemini to the Baltic in May, sailing week-long cruises out of Copenhagen and Tallinn on traditional Baltic routes. The Gemini will also sail six week-long Norwegian fjord itineraries out of Copenhagen.

The number of passengers to the Baltic Sea region in 2011 is expected to grow at a rate of about 12 percent — an estimated increase of 380,000 passengers to almost 3.5 million in 2011, due in part to an extended season, which will begin early April and finish in October, plus the Christmas season. In addition, port calls in 2011 are expected to increase by 10 percent over 2010, to 2,210 calls. And a larger increase in turnarounds is expected, growing from 242 in 2010 to an estimated 262 in 2011. To view the Cruise Baltic market review 2011, visit www.cruisebaltic.com/composite-682.htm . For general information, email contact@cruisebaltic.com or visit www.cruisebaltic.com

• Hot Destinations
• More Ex-UK Sailings
• Good News for Solos
• More European River Opportunities

London February 22, 2010: Despite the new year’s hike in taxes it seems that the boom in cruise holidays is set to continued unabated as the prime booking time for cruises, known as Wave season, continues until March.

Cruise Critic® (http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk), the cruise reviews and news site, is certainly expecting a busy year. The site is reporting that more than a dozen new ships are scheduled to launch in 2011, including the first new ship from Disney Cruise Lines in more than 10 years. And, as the popularity of cruising continues to grow, 2011 is also expected to be a busy year for bookings.

“We were really excited to see new Disney Dream, and based on everything we’ve seen so far, it’s incredible,” says Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor in chief of Cruise Critic. “We’ll also see a number of new river cruise ships, which is great for the industry and will help to shake off the musty image of European river cruising and attract a younger, more active traveller.”

Cruise Critic features professional reviews of more than 350 cruise ships — including sneak previews of the new ships due to debut this year — and more than 50,000 member-submitted cruise reviews. Here, Cruise Critic editors take a look at the year ahead and what’s in store for 2011:

Hot Destinations
Look beyond the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Scandinavia this year as cruise lines ramp up itineraries to more exotic destinations, including Australia, New Zealand, Dubai and West Africa. Visiting these countries by sea offers a new perspective on the region and is a great way to experience a destination that might be too daunting or adventurous to visit independently.

New River Experiences
Continental Europe’s geography lends itself perfectly to sightseeing by river, as most of the historic cities and sites are located on the banks of major waterways. Only recently, however, have river cruise lines finally started to realize that by modernizing their fleets, adding roomier cabins and updating their shore excursions, many more people will want to enjoy this type of vacation. Several lines have introduced new ships in recent years, and Uniworld, Avalon, Viking and AMAWaterways will have new ships launching in 2011.

Ex-UK Cruises
Every cloud has a silver lining and last year’s air travel problems — including the ash cloud that closed much of European airspace for weeks, snowstorms that crippled airports, and BA cabin crew strikes have made cruises departing from Dover, Harwich and Southampton (the most popular homeports) particularly appealing.

In Southampton alone, there will be a 16 percent increase in ship visits this year, and most are embarking passengers. The port’s popularity is not just limited to warm-weather seasons. Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas is pioneering year-round cruising from England’s southern tip, and it’ll be joined by P&O’s Oceana in March. And this is the year that Portsmouth becomes a contender. Its new terminal is aimed at smaller-ship niche lines like Swan Hellenic, Voyages of Discovery, Hebridean and Compagnie du Ponant.

Good News for Solo Sailors
One of the most spectacular innovations in cruising this decade has been the introduction of NCL’s Studio compound debut on Norwegian Epic — 128 cabins designed for singles are clustered around a social gathering spot. Solo passengers who opt for a Studio won’t need to pay the dreaded single surcharge but, this development is also special for the community component that NCL’s introduced with its Living Room lounge. As cruise ships get larger and often feel more like cities than small villages, offering solos an easy chance to meet those travelling similarly is a huge boon. P&O Cruises has also incorporated a handful of solo staterooms into the design of its recently launched Azura and there are rumours that other lines may be following suit.

Hot Deals for Caribbean Cruises
Royal Caribbean’s second mega-ship, Allure of the Seas, will head to the Caribbean this year, joining the largest ships from Carnival, NCL and Celebrity, as well as a number of smaller vessels. This will mean more crowds in port but also more cabins to fill, and although the new ships are likely to retain their premium pricing, older vessels may have to cut prices to compete. Cruisers should look out for Caribbean cruises deals for winter and shoulder-season cruises (late April to May and September to early January, excluding holiday weeks) when competition for their cruise dollars heats up.

Disney’s Debut in Alaska
In April 2011, Disney Cruise Line will commence its first sailings to Alaska. Seven-night cruises on Disney Wonder will depart from Vancouver and include stops at Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway. The family-friendly cruise line is known for its unique shore excursions — which won the Cruise Critic Editors’ Picks Awards for Best Shore Excursions in 2010.

New Ships in 2011
- Disney’s New Dream
According to Cruise Critic, the most anticipated new ship, Disney Dream, which saw its debut in January as the first new Disney ship since the line launched in 1999. Disney Dream will homeport in Florida’s Port Canaveral and offer three-, four- and five-night cruises to the Bahamas and Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay. Innovative features include a “watercoaster” on the ship’s deck, virtual portholes with digital underwater images and delightful, interactive kids’ areas.

- The New, “Affordable Luxe” Cruise Niche
Less expensive than high-end luxury cruising but offering a more upscale atmosphere and smaller ships than mainstream cruising, a new style is coming to the forefront. “Luxe-value” or “luxe-lite” — it has yet to settle comfortably into a name — will truly take off in 2011 with the debut of Oceania’s 1,252-passenger cruise ship Marina in February. It will be the first ship built specifically to fulfill the demand for a smaller-ship experience coupled with extensive onboard facilities that focus on exceptional dining and service — all without costing a fortune.

- Seeing Double
Twins (triplets and quads) are all the rage in 2011. In May, Carnival Dream’s sister ship, Carnival Magic, will make its appearance; 264-passenger L’Austral will become the counterpart to French line Compagnie du Ponant’s Le Boreal; and Seabourn Quest will join the Seabourn family alongside Odyssey and Sojourn.

Other sibling ships launching in 2011 include: German cruise line AIDA’s 2,050-passenger AIDAsol; 3,000-passenger Costa Favolosa, the fourth ship in Costa’s Concordia class; and 2,884-passenger Celebrity Silhouette, the fourth Solstice-class ship.

- New River Ships
River cruise lines introducing new ships include: Uniworld (River Antionette, sister-ship to River Beatrice), AMAWaterways (Amaverde, twin to Amacello), Viking River Cruises (Viking Emerald) and Avalon Waterways (Avalon Panorama, which, as the name suggests, features suites with wall-to-wall panoramic windows).

About Cruise Critic:

Cruise Critic is an online cruise guide, offering a comprehensive resource for cruise travellers, from first time cruisers to avid cruisers. The site features professional reviews and member reviews of more than 350 ships and hosts an active community where travellers share experiences and opinions with fellow cruisers.

Princess Cruises named its next newbuild Royal Princess. The 141,000-ton, 3,600-passenger ship, due out in spring 2013, will feature a glass-bottomed walkway extending 28 feet from the ship’s hull, 128 feet above the sea, on the starboard side. On the port side, there will be a bar also extending over the sea, with a glass bottom

Princess executives announced the name and features at Cruise Shipping Miami in Miami Beach on March 15, the day construction officially began on the newbuild with the steel-cutting at Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy.

This will be the third time the name Royal Princess has been given to a Princess ship. The fleet has a Royal Princess now, but it will be transferred to the sister P&O fleet in April.

The Royal Princess is the first of two new-generation Princess ships. The prototype design is an evolution of the line’s classic style of ships, while including some new features and expanded signature spaces.

Royal Princess will feature a new adults-only pool surrounded by seven private cabanas that will require a fee to rent. Two additional pools will flank a tropical island that will offer pool seating by day and by night will become an outdoor dance club, complete with a water and light show. Princess’ signature adults-only area, The Sanctuary, will be expanded both in size and amenities.

Also, the ship will get an even larger outdoor movie screen for poolside Movies Under the Stars. The new high-definition screen will be about 15 by 30 feet in size.

Inside the ship, one of the line’s hallmark venues, the Piazza atrium, will be significantly expanded. This area will be the multi-faceted social hub of the vessel, offering quick bites and light meals, beverages, entertainment, shopping and guest services.

All outside staterooms on Royal Princess will have balconies, which means that 80 percent of the ship’s staterooms will have balconies.

Royal Princess will include 260,000 square feet of inside public space with multiple dining and entertainment venues, as well as other special features and amenities which will be revealed over the coming months. A video preview of Royal Princess is available at www.princess.com/royalprincess. A sister ship to Royal Princess will be launched in spring 2014.

Seabourn has opened reservations for its 2012 European cruise season. Following its maiden World Cruise in early 2012, the 450-guest Seabourn Quest will offer an extended April-to-November season of voyages exploring the expanse of the Mediterranean Sea. Seven-day cruises to and from Venice, Athens, Istanbul, Rome and Barcelona are combinable into longer voyages with different ports and extra savings. A trio of longer Holy Land cruises in May, September and November will combine ports in Israel with the antiquities of the Turkish Aegean coast, Cyprus, Crete, Rhodes and other destinations.

Also concentrating on the Mediterranean, the Seabourn Odyssey’s seven-day voyages will sail east from Venice to Athens and Istanbul, calling on the Greek Isles, the coast of Turkey and, on a couple of occasions, into the Black Sea. The Odyssey’s week-long voyages are also combinable. The Seabourn Legend will sail the French and Italian Rivieras, islands and yacht harbors of the Western Mediterranean with two 10-day itineraries between Rome (Civitavecchia) and Monte Carlo that include overnight stays in Barcelona and Valletta, Malta.

The Seabourn Spirit, the Legend’s sister-ship, is offering a new, 10-day itinerary roundtrip from Venice to the Adriatic Coast, including Kotor in Montenegro, the rustic Puglia region of Italy, the Dalmatian towns of Dubrovnik and Split in Croatia, and Rovinj on Croatia’s northern Istria peninsula. The cruise also includes a Marina waters sports day in Triluke Bay in high season and an overnight in Venice.

The Seabourn Sojourn and the Seabourn Pride are offering summer cruises in Scandinavia, the Baltic and the Norwegian Fjords. The Sojourn will sail between Copenhagen and Stockholm in seven days, including three full days to explore St. Petersburg. The Pride is offering 12- to 16-day cruises, adding Hanseatic ports, such as Riga, Klaipeda and Gdansk along the Baltic’s Amber Coast, as well as Warnemuende for Berlin and Scandinavian summer resorts Ronne on Bornholm and Mariehamn in the Aaland Islands. Cruises of the Norwegian fjords on both ships vary from 10 to 16 days, with some including the Arctic Circle and the North Cape. With early booking savings of up to 50 percent, 2012 cruises in Europe start from $2,599 per person, double.

The European Tour Operators Association says that its inbound U.K. business has declined 50 percent during the Olympic year. In a statement, ETOA said that in nearly all Olympic destinations, demand is suppressed during the year of the event, and Britain is holding true to the pattern. Regular bookings are drying up and the volume of enquiries is down. According to a survey of BIM attendees, demand for 2012 is 20 percent more than for 2011. Demand is reduced, but the industry is unable to meet even reduced levels of demand as there is a dramatic reduction in availability.

London hotels remain confident that 2012 is going to be a bonanza. This is founded on high rate demand in 2009 and 2010, with solid demand in the summer months. For the Olympics in particular, they see 55,000 room reservations placed by LOCOG, additional requests for accommodation from foreign Olympic operators, estimates of foreign visitor numbers of 200,000 per night and expectations of massive domestic demand. In response to this, additional capacity is being added. There are new hotels, home-stay program and additional cruise capacity. As LOCOG have secured 40 percent of the rooms at below-market rates, hotels are seeking to recoup their losses by increasing rates and tightening terms for the balance of the rooms. Nearly all non-Olympic business is being declined.

Outside the immediate Olympic period, there is an assumption that whatever demand that would have normally come during the first three weeks of August will be displaced into the surrounding weeks, making an already crowded time (Farnborough, the Paralympics) even more densely packed. This is reflected in higher prices throughout the summer. Thus the main long-haul origin markets (U.S. and Japan) are finding it impossible to secure hotel space at viable rates and terms during the Games period. Even outside the Games period, operators are facing inflated rates.

As London is the gateway town for Britain and for Europe, clients need two slots to be accommodated — at the start and at the end of the trip. The closure of three weeks creates a “crater” of demand in the surrounding period. So the best product established operators can brochure is nothing during three weeks of the peak season, reduced availability and increased prices for the balance.

According to a survey of the attendees at the British and Ireland Marketplace, forward placements of business for London 2012 is currently running at 50 percent below 2011 levels. This also means that London will cease to be a default gateway for Europe in 2012. For many markets this was happening anyway, as the U.K.’s position outside Schengen made it a marginal proposition. But it accentuates a trend, according to ETOA, of inviting regular clients to invest their business elsewhere. There is no guarantee that they will return quickly. The irony of this situation is acute. The assumptions, both in the market and in the supplier community are wrong. The last two times the Olympic Games were held in Europe, they were accommodated in Barcelona (12,000 hotel rooms) and in Athens (15,000 hotel rooms). Neither cities burst. London has 125,000 hotel rooms, plus all the additional capacity added for August 2012.

According to Tom Jenkins, executive director of ETOA, “Much of this long-haul business is lost, amounting to over 1 million clients. That this loss has occurred because of a misperception is obviously regrettable. What matters now is to gain an understanding of exactly how the demand for the Games is manifesting itself. The people who can most help this process are the organizers who are selling tickets to the games. How many tickets are actually being sold to foreign visitors? If we have this figure, then demand can be assessed. At present an industry stands in jeopardy through over-hyped fantasies of bonanza.” For information, visit www.etoa.org

Wyndham Hotel Group announced the first Wyndham Grand property in the Middle East — the 246-room Wyndham Grand Regency Doha, centrally located in the Qatari capital’s Al Sadd area. The hotel, expected to open under the Wyndham Grand flag in spring 2011, is owned by Regency Group Holding.

Currently operating as the Grand Regency Doha, the relaunched hotel will be managed by Wyndham Hotel Management, Inc., adding to the company’s managed hotel portfolio in Europe and the Middle East which includes the flagship Wyndham Grand London Chelsea Harbour in the United Kingdom and the recently opened Ramada Encore Doha, which also is owned by Regency Group Holding.

Located 15 kilometers from Doha International Airport, the Wyndham Grand Regency Doha provides convenient access to the Exhibition Centre and Corniche waterfront promenade. Guest accommodations include 10 suites and penthouses, all featuring high-speed Internet access, a safe and complimentary mineral water, as well as an additional bed, sitting room and complimentary breakfast. The Al Asmakh Royal Suite, which commands impressive views across the city, boasts a bedroom, living room, dining-board room accommodating up to 10 people, two televisions and two bathrooms, each with separate shower and Jacuzzi.

The food and beverage offering comprises three restaurants and café — Chopsticks, which serves Far Eastern fusion; Tangia, which offers a Moroccan menu; and Grand Gourmet, which features an international à la carte menu. The hotel’s leisure facilities include Angsana Spa, gym, a swimming pool and “fat-burning studio” with a chamber designed to speed up the body’s metabolism. Hotel features include a business center, wireless Internet throughout and meeting facilities including five 50-square-meter rooms that each can accommodate up to 42 people in a theater-style setting. Three of the rooms can be combined to accommodate up to 120. The 600-square-meter Al Qasr Ballroom can host up to 900 at a cocktail party or 650 theater-style. Meetings and events spaces feature the latest technology, including LCD projectors, wireless microphones, flat-screen televisions and built-in sound systems. For more information, visit www.thewyndhamgrandcollection.com

The Registry Collection program announced a new multi-year relationship with Fairmont Heritage Place, the private residence club division of the global luxury hotel company Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. Fairmont Heritage Place owners will now be able to enjoy vacations at a select collection of The Registry Collection program affiliated destinations worldwide and have access to a broad range of luxury resort experiences.

Similarly, members of The Registry Collection program will now also enjoy access to the Fairmont Heritage Place destinations. Fairmont Heritage Place is an operator of private residence clubs and features luxury home developments in a number of destinations from San Francisco’s Ghirardelli Square, to the KwaZulu-Natal coast of South Africa. For more information, visit www.theregistrycollection.com or www.fairmontheritageplace.com.

The Aqua Waikiki Wave and the Aqua Waikiki Pearl are offering an Aqua Aloha Girl package for families, which includes the recently released Kanani, American Girl’s 2011 Girl of the Year doll and the “Aloha Kanani” book. The package includes a Kanani doll by Mattel and the paperback book authored by Lisa Yee. Both items are presented to families who book a minimum three-night stay at either of the two properties. Nightly room rates start at $189 at the Aqua Waikiki Wave and $149 at the Aqua Waikiki Pearl. The package is valid through Dec. 31 and must be booked 14 days prior to arrival with full prepayment. It is non-refundable and valid on new bookings only. The Aqua Aloha Girl special is not endorsed by, sponsored by, or affiliated with American Girl Brands, LLC. For more information, call 866-406-2782 or visit www.aquaresorts.com

The Palmyra, a Solís Resort & Spa in Montego Bay, Jamaica, is offering vacationers who book a “Spring Retreat” stay by April 15, 2011, and travel by July 31, 2011, a rate of $279 per room, per night. The offer applies to one-bedroom suites featuring private terraces with Caribbean Sea views plus full kitchen. For more information, call 855-589-5899 or visit www.thepalmyrasolis.com  and use booking code SPRT.

Carlson, a privately held, global hospitality and travel company, announced the further expansion of Country Inns & Suites By Carlson in New York. The opening of Country Inn & Suites By Carlson in Cooperstown, N.Y. marks the brand’s growth in the region as part of its Ambition 2015 strategy.

The brand offers an expanded complimentary hot breakfast, free high-speed Internet access and weekday newspaper — features especially attractive to business travelers. The hotel is located four miles from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and offers an indoor pool, whirlpool and fitness center. Extensive meeting space is available for up to 200 people. The 60-room hotel also features one-bedroom suites, studio suites and guest rooms with microwave, refrigerator and flat-panel televisions. For reservations or more information, call 800-456-4000 or visit www.countryinns.com . For more information on Carlson, visit www.carlson.com