Carnival Cruise Line cancels Miami and Port Canaveral cruises for November 2020

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 12 October 2020 12 October 2020

Carnival Cruise Line has notified guests and travel agents that it is cancelling the remaining cruises for the six total ships operating from PortMiami and Port Canaveral for November 2020.

It has also cancelled five cruises scheduled to operate from Sydney, Australia from Jan. 16 – Feb. 8, 2021.

Following the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) decision to extend its no-sail order for cruise operations until Oct. 31, Carnival cancelled all but PortMiami and Port Canaveral cruises for the rest of the year. It has now determined that November 2020 operations will not be feasible.

Carnival continues to work on protocols and procedures that would allow for the resumption of cruise operations, with a gradual, phased-in approach, designating Miami and Port Canaveral as the first two homeports for embarkations. Cruises currently scheduled for December from those two homeports remain in place for the time being while Carnival evaluates options. However, guests booked on cruises in December out of Miami and Port Canaveral still have the ability to voluntarily cancel their reservation and receive the same offer that all other impacted guests are receiving, which includes a combination future cruise credit (FCC) and onboard credit (OBC), or a full refund.

In Australia, Carnival is notifying guests and travel agents that five cruises on Carnival Splendor from Jan. 16 – Feb. 8, 2021 have been cancelled. Those guests will receive the same offer of the combination FCC/OBC, or a full refund.

P&O Cruises takes delivery of Iona

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 12 October 2020 12 October 2020

P&O Cruises, the UK focused contemporary market unit in Carnival Corporation & plc group, has taken delivery of Iona from Meyer Werft in Germany, the shipbuilder said in a statement.

The ship had originally been planned to be delivered early summer.

The ship is the first one of two 185,000 gross ton LNG powered ships for the company and the delivery of the second one has been already confirmed to take place at the end of 2022, a few months later than originally envisaged.

Last week, Carnival said it only expects to take delivery of two newbuildings this financial year that runs to 30 November, against the four that had been scheduled prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 crisis.

Fincantieri in Italy delivered Enchanted Princess to Carnival’s Princess Cruises recently, which means that no further deliveries of newbuildings will take place for the group in the course of this financial year.

Oldest ship leaves fleet of Phoenix Seereisen

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 12 October 2020 12 October 2020

The German cruise operator Phoenix Seereisen has decided to axe the oldest ship in its fleet and cancelled all cruises scheduled for the vessel.

Albatros, which built in 1973 as Royal Viking Sea, has been sold to be used as a floating resort in the Red Sea by Pick Albatros Group, the Bonn based cruise company said on its website. Some media reports say the buyer company is based in Egypt.

Albatros is the last unit of the now defunct Royal Viking Line’s original trio to leave the ownership of a cruise company. Boudicca and Black Watch, the other two vessels, left the fleet of Fred. Olsen Cruise Line in the UK earlier this autumn. The company said they would be used as accommodation ships in Turkey.

When new, the trio were regarded as among the finest cruise liners in service. They have large cabins, which may have contributed to their longevity. All three were later lengthened and re-engined.

Phoenix Seereisen has three second hand ocean cruise ships after the exit of Albatros in its fleet on full time employment. Amadea was built in 1991, Amera in 1988 and Artania in 1984. It also uses the 1998 built Deutschland for part of each year.

Costa Smeralda to restart service on October 10

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 08 October 2020 08 October 2020

After the Costa Deliziosa and the Costa Diadema, from October 10th, Costa Smeralda will also return to sail on a cruise. For the restart of its flagship, the first LNG-powered of its fleet, Costa Crociere has designed a new one-week itinerary dedicated to the rediscovery, with enhanced safety protocols, the best of Italy. A total of five cruises scheduled, from October 10th to November 7th, will allow guests to visit beautiful Italian cities of art, but also to enjoy areas and natural parks of rare beauty, as well as taste traditional local cusine and products of the local gastronomic tradition.

The first call on the itinerary is Savona, from where guests can visit other nearby destinations, such as Genoa or Finalborgo. The second is La Spezia, with excursions to the Cinque Terre, Lerici, Florence or Pisa. The next call is Cagliari, followed by Naples, with the possibility to visit Sorrento, Pompei and the Royal Palace of Caserta. The last two destinations of the itinerary are Messina, with excursions to Etna volcano and Taormina, and Civitavecchia, that offers the discover of Rome and Tarquinia.

As for the other two Costa ships already returned to service, on board Costa Smeralda the Costa Safety Protocol will be applied. The protocol, developed by the company together with a panel of scientific experts, includes new operational measures tailored to the needs of the COVID-19 situation, fully compliant with the relevant provisions defined by the Italian and European authorities. The Costa Safety Protocol considers every aspect of the cruise experience, from booking to returning home. The key measures include antigen swab test for all guests and crew before embarkation, temperature check while disembarking and returning to the ship, visits to destinations only with protected excursions, physical distancing onboard and at the terminals, also thanks to the reduction in the number of passengers, new ways of using the on-board services, improved sanitization and medical services, use of protective facial-masks when necessary.

Costa Smeralda, which was christened in Savona on last February 22nd, is a tribute to Italy, the result of an extraordinary creative project designed to exalt and bring the best of Italy to life into a single location. Italian design is also the main feature of the CoDe - Costa Design Museum, the first museum built on a cruise ship. The onboard offer fits perfectly into this extraordinary context: from the Solemio Spa to the areas dedicated to entertainment; from thematic bars, in collaboration with major Italian brands, to the 16 restaurants and areas dedicated to the "food experience", including the new restaurant dedicated to families with children.

Costa Smeralda is also a real travelling "smart city", where sustainable technologies and circular economy concepts are applied to reduce the environmental impact. Thanks to the use of LNG, currently the most advanced propulsion technology used to reduce emissions, the Costa Smeralda is able to almost completely eliminate emissions of sulfur oxides (zero emissions) and particulate matter (reduction of 95-100%), significantly reducing nitrogen oxide emissions (direct reduction of 85%) and CO2 (reduction of up to 20%). The ship's entire daily water requirement are met by the direct transformation of sea water through the use of desalinations plants; energy consumption is also reduced to the minimum thanks to an intelligent energy efficiency system; 100% separate waste collection and recycling of materials such as plastic, paper, glass and aluminum is carried out on board.

Starting from November 14th 2020, Costa Smeralda is scheduled to resume her one-week itinerary in Italy, France and Spain, again departing from Savona. Costa is working with the national and local authorities of the countries included in this itinerary, with the aim of offering its guests a safe and enjoyable holiday experience, through the implementation of the Costa Safety Protocol in all destinations included in the new 2021 program.