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Riverside Luxury Cruises acquires former Crystal Cruises river ships

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 11 January 2023 11 January 2023

Riverside Luxury Cruises announces yesterday the expansion of its fleet with the acquisition of MS Bach, MS Ravel, MS Mahler and MS Debussy. The additional ships will join the Riverside Mozart, widely hailed as the most luxurious ship on the rivers, and start sailings beginning April 2023 on the Danube.

The Riverside Ravel will include sailings on both the Rhône and Saône, providing guests a chance to indulge in all that Southern France has to offer sailing from Burgundy to Provence. Riverside Debussy will enchant guests as they sail along the Rhine and pass sheer cliffs, fairy-tale castles, ancient princedoms and shining cities from Amsterdam to Switzerland. Itineraries for the Riverside Bach and Riverside Mahler are slated for 2024 and will be announced later this year for booking. These ships were originally designed and operated by Crystal Cruises and represent the pinnacle of luxury on Europe’s rivers.

"We are thrilled by the expansion of our fleet to include these storied vessels," says Gregor Gerlach, who founded Riverside Luxury Cruises. Gerlach continued, "This acquisition allows us to expand our itinerary offerings, showcasing a level of space, personalized service and elegance not found with any other river cruise line."

Riverside Luxury Cruises will be defined not only by its crew-to-guest ratio but by its service culture, which is authentically personal in nature. Nowhere will this be better exemplified than by its butlers, who will go above and beyond to assist guests with any and all needs from reservations and excursions to special requests and one-of-a-kind experiences. Each excursion is organized and designed by a best-in-class- shoreside team, with the goal of providing guests an open door to a world of exclusive experiences. On shore and on board, wellness experiences will be curated to encourage guests to enjoy the river and surrounding countryside with all their senses. From a culinary perspective, Riverside aims to provide the best cuisine and wine cellar on the water and will place an emphasis on the freshness and quality of all ingredients on board. Each ship will have a crew of trained sommeliers and bartenders will have access to special regional and global wines as well as some of the best spirits available, with a wine cellar that is unparalleled even among the best restaurants on land.

Viking's newest ocean ship named in Los Angeles

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 10 January 2023 10 January 2023

Viking named its newest ocean ship, the Viking Neptune, with a celebration on Sunday in Los Angeles. As part of the event, the ship’s ceremonial godmother, Nicole Stott, retired NASA astronaut, aquanaut and artist, offered a blessing of good fortune and safe sailing for the ship – a maritime tradition that dates back thousands of years. The Viking Neptune arrived in Los Angeles early in the morning on January 8 and departed for Honolulu following the naming ceremony. The ship is currently sailing the 2022-2023 Viking World Cruise, an epic voyage from Fort Lauderdale to London that spans 138-days, 28 countries and 57 ports, with overnight stays in 11 cities. The naming of the Viking Neptune also comes at a time of record sales for Viking, with the launch of Viking’s new 25th Anniversary Sale on January 1 resulting in the highest number of bookings in one week in the company’s history.

“Today is a proud day for the entire Viking family as we name our newest ocean ship in Los Angeles, the home of Viking’s U.S. office for more than 20 years,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking. “The Viking Neptune is a ship named for both the furthest planet in our solar system and the god of the sea – and our newest Viking godmother, Nicole Stott, as a NASA astronaut and aquanaut, also has connections to space and the sea. We are grateful for her many contributions to the scientific community and are proud to have her as part of the Viking family.”

“It is an honor and privilege to be the godmother of the new Viking Neptune. As someone who has been blessed to explore space, the ocean, and some of the otherworldly places on our planet, I understand the importance of broadening one’s horizons through travel. I am very excited for all those who journey around the world on this elegant vessel,” said Nicole Stott.

In keeping with the naming tradition, during the ceremony Nicole used a historic Viking broad axe to cut a ribbon that
allowed a bottle of Norwegian aquavit to break on the ship’s hull. Prior to the ribbon cutting, the axe was presented to Nicole by Sissel Kyrkjebø, one of the world’s leading crossover sopranos and godmother of the Viking Jupiter®, who used it when naming her ship in January 2020. Event guests also enjoyed performances from Sissel and Norwegian violinist Tor Jaran Apold.

Nicole Stott, Godmother of the Viking Neptune

A veteran NASA astronaut, Nicole Stott’s experience includes two spaceflights and 104 days spent living and working in space on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS). She has performed one space walk and was the first person to fly the robotic arm to capture the free-flying HTV cargo vehicle, the last crew member to fly to and from their ISS mission on a Space Shuttle, and a member of the final flight crew of Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-133. Nicole is also a NASA aquanaut who lived and worked on the Aquarius Undersea Habitat for 18 days.

She is the author of Back to Earth: What Life In Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet – And Our Mission To Protect
It. Also an artist, Nicole painted the first watercolor painting in space—and is a co-founder of the Space for Art Foundation, which unites a planetary community of children through the awe and wonder of space exploration and the healing power of art. Through her work, Nicole inspires everyone’s appreciation of our role as crewmates here on “spaceship” Earth.

Did Costa sell the Costa Magica?

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 06 January 2023 06 January 2023

Carnival Corporation & plc announced recently it would sell three more ships from the Costa Group fleet, including AIDA and Costa. Indeed, yesterday AIDA announced the farewell season for the 2004-built AIDAaura. The 42,289 gross ton vessel will leave the fleet in September this year.

Is Costa Magica next? The ship, located today in Brindisi, where it has been laid up, has, according to MarineTraffic.com, changed its flag from the customary Italian to Portuguese. This could indicate that the ship has changed ownership.

Which company operating under Portuguese flag is likely to have acquired the 2004-built, 102,784 gross ton Costa Magica? We're looking at Mystic, SunStone and Bahamas Paradise as cruise operators using the Portuguese flag. And we'll keep you posted.

Photo: Costa Magica's sister ship pictured in Iceland last year. Photo credit: Teijo Niemelä

AIDAaura to exit AIDA fleet in September 2023

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 05 January 2023 05 January 2023

Around one million guests associate the cruise ship AIDAaura with holiday memories since 2003. AIDA Cruises thanks them and offers all cruise fans the opportunity to say goodbye to AIDAaura with extraordinary travel offers. After more than 20 years in service, the ship will leave the AIDA fleet in September 2023.

The AIDAaura farewell season will start on January 9, 2023, in Cape Town with the first of a total of four 14-day voyages to South Africa & Namibia.

On March 6, 2023, the 27-day cruise from South Africa to Hamburg (Germany), via Namibia, the Cap Verde Islands and Canary Islands, as well as Portugal and Spain, will depart from the metropolis on the Cape of Good Hope.

In April 2023 further highlight cruises include the "Great Norway Round Trip" to the North Cape over Easter, or the two new 7-day voyages with AIDAaura from/to Hamburg to Norway's fjords and to Scotland. These can also be booked as a 14-day cruise.

From mid-May to early July 2023, AIDA guests are invited to visit historic cities, legendary places or impressive landscapes on various voyages from/to Hamburg to Western Europe's rivers, Great Britain, France or Ireland. Among other highlight destinations, AIDAaura will call at Saint Malo in France, Edinburgh and Loch Ness near Invergordon in Scotland, Falmouth in southern England or the Orkney Islands, the Isle of Skye and the Outer Hebrides.

In July and August 2023, it's time to sail from Hamburg and Bremerhaven on 21-day cruises to Iceland and Greenland with passages along the glaciers and icebergs in Prins-Christian-Sund or Disko Bay.

AIDAaura’s last voyage for AIDA Cruises leads on well-known European rivers such as the Thames to Tilbury on the outskirts of the British capital London, the Seine in France to Rouen or the Scheldt in Belgium to Antwerp.

Since its naming ceremony on April 12, 2003, in Rostock-Warnemünde (Germany), the cruise ship built in Wismar (Germany) has visited the most beautiful destinations around the globe on more than 800 voyages. In its premiere season 2003/2004, AIDAaura was the official German Olympic ship during the Summer Games in Athens (Greece) and headed for destinations in the Mediterranean as well as the Caribbean and Central America. Further highlights were the exclusive AIDAselection voyages to Mauritius and the Seychelles, to the Orient, to India and Greenland, to Iceland or as far as the Arctic Circle to Spitsbergen. As part of the world cruise in winter 2018/2019, AIDAaura guests visited 41 destinations on four continents in 117 days.

Management changes at SunStone Ships group

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 03 January 2023 03 January 2023

A number of changes has taken place in the top management f SunStone Ships group, which provides vessels ontime charter basis for expedition cruise operators.

President of SunStone Ships Inc., Miami, Ulrik Hegelund has, for family reasons, decided to move back to Denmark. As of January 1, he took the position as CFO of SunStone Maritime Group.

“Ulrik will have the overall responsibility for the Group’s Accounting, Budgeting, Cash Flow, Reporting, Legal, and IT matters. Our Finance colleagues in the Miami and Madeira Offices will report to Ulrik,” the company said in a statement.

Christian Lund took over the position as President of SunStone Ships Inc., Miami from the beginning of 2023.” Christian has been working within our group companies in Miami for the past 14 years. Christian has been at ISP, FleetPro, CMI, and now SunStone, where he will be responsible for Group Strategy and Long-Term Planning. He will be instrumental in the further development of our ‘Shipboard Management Strategy,’ focused on maximizing the skills, involvement, and empowerment of our onboard teams to ensure the best possible Expedition Fleet,” SunStone Ships said.