Top Headlines

Silver Cloud to join Silverseas's expedition fleet

Details

Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 18 September 2015 18 September 2015

Silversea Cruises today announced it will move Silver Cloud to its luxury expedition fleet in November 2017. Destined mostly for polar waters, the elite 296-guest ship that launched the ultra-luxury cruise line will be converted into an ice-class ship during an extensive refurbishment scheduled to start in August 2017.

As an expedition ship, the all-suite Silver Cloud will accommodate 260 guests and also sail on itineraries to non-polar regions. When sailing Arctic and Antarctic itineraries, the guest complement will be restricted to 200. Silversea is a member of the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO) and the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO), and adheres to each organization's guidelines to ensure sustainable tourism. These include such measures as limiting the number of guests going ashore in certain areas of the Arctic and allowing for a broader range of Antarctic landing sites for expedition ships with no more than 200 guests.

"Silver Explorer's polar expedition cruises have proven hugely popular with our guests," said Enzo Visone, Silversea's CEO. "By converting Silver Cloud into an ice-class ship for our expedition fleet, we will be better positioned to meet the increasing demand for comfortable adventure travel, particularly to the Arctic and Antarctica, places that are best explored by small ships specially equipped with ice-strengthened hulls."

Silver Cloud will be the only luxury ice-class expedition ship offering five dining options: The Dining Room, the Relais & Châteaux® restaurant, La Terrazza, The Grill, and in-suite dining. The ship will have the highest space ratio and highest staff-to-guest ratio (nearly one to one) among luxury ice-class expedition ships. For the expedition team alone, there will be on average one team member guiding no more than twelve guests each. Plus the ship will be augmented by a fleet of 18 Zodiac crafts for up-close explorations.

The luxury expedition line currently has three all-suite expedition ships, Silver Explorer, Silver Discoverer, and Silver Galapagos. Collectively, they explore over 500 far-flung destinations, from Africa, Australia's Kimberley Coast, and the Russian Far East, to the Galápagos Islands, the British Isles, and the polar realms.

Guests are enriched by an onboard program of destination lectures, photo presentations, and daily recaps. Exploratory excursions are complimentary, and led by a team of experts, including marine biologists, ornithologists, geologists, botanists, historians, and anthropologists.

These expedition cruises offer a comfortable, intimate and convivial onboard lifestyle where guests can feel at home as they explore secluded lands. Guests enjoy ocean-view suites, gourmet cuisine, the personalized service of a butler, and a generous selection of all-inclusive shipboard amenities, including complimentary beverages, wines and spirits, a stocked in-suite beverage cabinet, and complimentary Wi-Fi for each guest.

Silversea's 2017 schedule will be announced in the coming days.

Genting Hong Kong takes control of Lloyd Werft

Details

Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 17 September 2015 17 September 2015

Genting Hong Kong, the listed leisure industry company that owns Crystal Cruises and Star cruises, has acquired controlling stake in Lloyd Werft the German cruise ship refurbishment specialist that Genting has chosen to build Crystal’s new ships.

Getting will pay a total of €17.5 million for a 50% stake in Lloyd Werft Investitions- und Wervaltungs GmbH that owns the shipyard’s facilities and site and a 70% stake in Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven AG that operates the shipyard.The sellers are BLG Logistics and the Ehlerding family.

Crystal Cruises will build three 100,000 gross ton top end of the market deep sea cruise vessels and two river yachts at the Bremerhaven based shipyard. The berths at the yard, which currently employs 350 staff and 50 trainees, will be rebuilt at a cost of at €45 million that will be carried out by the State of Bremen.

Cunard appoints SMC Design for Queen Mary 2 refit

Details

Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 15 September 2015 15 September 2015

Cunard has appointed SMC Design to lead the development of Queen Mary 2's interior spaces in preparation for her forthcoming major refit in 2016. The Cunard flagship will undergo a multi-million 25-day (27 May – 21 June) extensive refurbishment that will see new interior designs and new guest experiences introduced on the most iconic ship in the world as she begins the next chapter in what has already been an illustrious career.

This announcement follows on from the recent well-received news that Queen Mary 2 will gain 15 new single cabins and an additional 30 Britannia Club cabins during the refit and that the very popular kennels will be expanded to cater for the high demand this unique facility already attracts. Today’s announcement about the appointment of SMC Design will be the first of several unveilings the company has planned underlining the importance of the work to be undertaken on Queen Mary 2. SMC Design was founded in 1994 and is a London-based design consultancy that specializes in the maritime sector.

The design team has worked on many ships from small luxury yachts to some of the largest ships ever built. The company also has a history of working with Cunard ships past and present, leading previous refit projects of QE2, Cunard Countess and Cunard Princess while also being involved in the designs for its current fleet: Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth. SMC’s Managing Director Andy Collier was in fact part of Queen Mary 2’s launch design team at the beginning of the Century when she was the first Atlantic liner to be built for over 35 years.

The new Queen Mary 2 designs will focus on updating iconic art deco lines and subtly introducing classic Deco touches inspired by Cunard's rich heritage. The original Art Deco masterpiece Queen Mary has been one of the sources of this inspiration with the new interior designs bringing Cunard’s decorative and glamorous past into the 21st Century.

The new designs aim to give the interior spaces clear identity and character with some strong traditional Cunard colours introduced as features and off-set against more neutral Queen Mary 2 tones. With new signature colour schemes, new carpets, new furniture as well as more decorative fixtures and fittings installed throughout the largest ocean liner in the world, the design approach is set to ensure the flagship retains her leading position.

“Cunard has a unique rich heritage in both the nautical and design fields and we have researched into these and looked to incorporate aspects of pattern and design into our plans,” said Andrew Collier, SMC Managing Director. “Particular attention has been paid to taking inspiration from the original Queen Mary and our aim is to enhance existing designs as well as implement a decorative overhaul, looking to emphasize the feeling of understated elegance. Clean lines and simple designs will instill as sense of glamour and relaxation. We are very excited to be part of the project to bring a new look and style for the world’s most famous ship,” Collier added.

And it's not just design experts who are helping to shape the future of Queen Mary 2. Over the last eighteen months Cunard has been consulting and testing different ideas with thousands of past and future guests across the world. These ongoing consultations are an important element of the work being undertaken in preparation for refit and the valuable opinions from the people who know Cunard and Queen Mary 2 better than anyone is actively being incorporated into the exciting and extensive development plans that will be revealed over the coming months.

“Queen Mary 2 is the pride of the Cunard fleet. With SMC’s proven maritime design expertise, invaluable input from thousands of Cunard’s discerning, international guests, and 175 years of history as our foundation, we look forward to even more exciting design innovations on the already legendary Queen Mary 2,” said Richard Meadows, president, Cunard North America.

Celestyal Cruises in charter deal with Clipper Group

Details

Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 15 September 2015 15 September 2015

Celestyal Cruises, part of the Cyprus based Louis group, has chartered the 1992 built cruise ship Gemini for three years from Clipper Group, the Bahamas based shipping group, and plans to introduce it in the eastern Mediterranean as Celestyal Nefeli next year, the company said in a statement.

The ship, which has gross tonnage of about 19,000, will be refurbished before it will take up an as yet unspecified cruise programme in the eastern Mediterranean. Celestyal, which has two other ships, plans to focus on smaller ports of call in the region. It will operate from Turkey and replace another charred ship.

Celestyal Cruises was known as Louis Cruises until the company was renamed last year. Celestyal Nefeli started life as Crown Jewel of the now defunct Crown Cruise Line, while the Celestyal Olympia of 1982 and of some 38,000 gross tons first sailed as Song of America of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL). Celestyal  Cristal, which is about 26,000 gross tons, was originally Sally Albatross that was built in 1992.

Clipper Group, which is a major dry bulk carrier operator, has been shedding non-core activities, which include ownership of cruise vessels to be operated by third parties.