Top Headlines

Royal Caribbean Group reinvents cruise industry’s safety drill

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 24 July 2020 24 July 2020

Royal Caribbean Group is replacing one of the least-loved but most important parts of a cruise vacation – the safety drill – with Muster 2.0, an entirely new approach to delivering safety information to guests. The innovative program, the first of its kind, reimagines a process originally designed for large groups of people into a faster, more personal approach that encourages higher levels of safety.

With Muster 2.0, the key elements of the safety drill – including reviewing what to expect and where to go in case of an emergency, and instructions on how to properly use a life jacket – will be accessible to guests on an individual basis instead of a group approach that has been followed historically. New technology, eMuster, will be used to help provide the information to guests via their mobile devices and interactive stateroom TVs. Travelers will be able to review the information at their own time prior to setting sail, eliminating the need for the traditional large group assemblies. The new approach also enables everyone on board to maintain better spacing as guests move about the ship, and it allows guests to enjoy more of their vacation with no interruption.

After reviewing safety information individually, guests will complete the drill by visiting their assigned assembly station, where a crew member will verify that all steps have been completed and answer questions. Each of the steps will need to be completed prior to the ship’s departure, as required by international maritime law.

“The health and safety of our guests and crew are our number one priority, and the development of this new muster process is an elegant solution to an outdated, unpopular process,” said Richard Fain, chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Group. “The fact that this will also save guests time and allow the ship to operate without pause means that we can increase health, safety and guest satisfaction simultaneously.”

“Muster 2.0 represents a natural extension of our mission to improve our guests’ vacation experiences by removing points of friction,” said Jay Schneider, Royal Caribbean Group’s senior vice president of digital. “In this instance, what’s most convenient for our guests is also the safest option in light of needing to reimagine social spaces in the wake of COVID-19.”

This marks the first dramatic change to the safety drill process in a decade, since Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas moved the life jackets from guest staterooms to the muster stations, which improved the evacuation process and has been widely followed throughout the industry. More than a year in the making, Muster 2.0 is also an initiative that will be part of the comprehensive set of protocols and procedures Royal Caribbean Group is developing along with the Healthy Sail Panel that was recently assembled in collaboration with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.

“This new process represents the kind of innovation that the Healthy Sail Panel is focusing on as part of its mission to enhance the health and safety of cruising,” said former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, co-chair of the Healthy Sail Panel. “It shows that we can accomplish a lot if we try to think outside the box on safety.”

“I'd like to extend my congratulations to Royal Caribbean Group on this innovative milestone. It's exactly what our industry needs during these unprecedented times and we appreciate the generous offer to participate in this innovation,” said Frank Del Rio, President and CEO, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. “In this industry, we all work cooperatively to enhance health and safety, and this is an example of that.”

The distributed muster for ocean-going vessels concept is patented in the United States and is patent-pending in major markets around the world, including the various cruise industry flag states. The company has also worked with international regulators, the U.S. Coast Guard and other maritime and government authorities to ensure it meets all safety requirements.

In addition to introducing the new process on the ships of its own cruise lines – Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara – Royal Caribbean Group is offering to license the patented technology to interested cruise operators and will waive patent license fees during the time the world and industry battle the global pandemic. Patent licenses have already been granted to the company’s joint venture, TUI Cruises GmbH, as well as Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., the parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Muster 2.0 was first tested on Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas in January 2020. Guests who took part in the mock process indicated a strong preference for the new approach and also reported better comprehension and retention of the safety information.

Carnival Cruise Line provide updated fleet plan – Fantasy and Inspiration sold

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 23 July 2020 23 July 2020

Carnival Cruise Line today announced new plans for its fleet that will generate tremendous guest excitement once it resumes sailing, with a confirmed date for an additional Excel-class, LNG-powered ship arriving in November 2022, four ships either sold or put on long term lay-up status, and other ships redeployed to new homeports, as it seeks to leverage its strong network of year-round and seasonal homeports in the U.S. with upgraded offerings. The highlights of the plan include:

– As part of Carnival’s 50th birthday in 2022, a November 2022 delivery date for the unnamed, second Excel-class ship has been confirmed from the Meyer Turku shipyard. The sister ship to Mardi Gras will showcase many of her features, including BOLT, the first roller coaster at sea, and sail out of PortMiami as previously announced. Carnival said it will open the ship for sale this fall and guests can register to be the “first to know” about the ship’s itineraries and special open for sale promotions at carnival.com/ship2022.
– As part of Carnival Corporation’s recent announcement to reduce its overall capacity and focus on ships with upgraded features, Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Inspiration have been sold. Carnival Fascination and Carnival Imagination will move to a long term lay-up status, with no specific timeline identified for a return to operation.
– Carnival Sensation will move from Miami to Mobile and take up itineraries previously assigned to Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Fascination, with guests on those two ships being re-accommodated on Carnival Sensation.
– Carnival Sunrise will move from Port Everglades to PortMiami and assume the itineraries previously operated by Carnival Sensation, providing a larger, upgraded ship for short itineraries with the many new features installed during Carnival Sunrise’s $200 million transformation completed in 2019. Guests booked on the Sunrise 4- and 5-day itineraries from Port Everglades will be automatically moved to sailings from PortMiami.
– Carnival Sunrise is part of Carnival’s 50th birthday celebration and there will be no changes to her birthday sailing, which is scheduled for March 5, 2022. These special sailings have been in high demand and will feature special entertainment, at-sea ship rendezvous and onboard activities and offerings. For more information on this special group of itineraries in March 2022, please visit carnival.com/sailabration.
– Carnival Fascination itineraries from San Juan and Barbados have been cancelled for 2020-2021 as the cruise line focuses its return to operations on mainland drive markets in the U.S.
– Itineraries for Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration from Long Beach have been cancelled through Apr. 19, 2021. Carnival Panorama will continue to operate 7-day cruises from Long Beach while Carnival Miracle will operate shorter itineraries from San Diego to Baja Mexico.
– Carnival Radiance will now move directly from Europe after its $200 million transformation and homeport in Long Beach in April of 2021, where it will assume the short Baja Mexico itineraries previously served by Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration. Guests booked on Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration after April 22, 2021 will be re-accommodated on Carnival Radiance, where they will experience the host of upgrades and new features including Shaq’s Big Chicken Restaurant and an expanded waterpark popular with families sailing with children.
– Separately, Carnival also notified its Australian guests that it has extended its pause of operations in that country, and has cancelled six cruises scheduled to operate between Sept. 25 and Oct. 29, 2020.

“We have used this pause in operations to think carefully about our fleet and to build a plan that gives our guests new choices and upgrades to current ship offerings,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “We have a great variety of ships across the Carnival Cruise Line fleet and we are thrilled to have been able to confirm a delivery date ahead of what we had anticipated for our second Excel ship, which is exciting news for guests interested in sailing from PortMiami on the sister ship to Mardi Gras! At the same time, we will continue to invest in the four remaining Fantasy class ships that we are keeping in the fleet. We have many guests who prefer our Fantasy class ships which work so well for shorter itineraries from smaller ports that cannot accommodate our larger ships. With a fleet that gives guests lots of choices in ships, homeports, destinations and features including a multitude of dining, entertainment and accommodation choices, we are very excited about the future for Carnival Cruise Line.”

Guests and travel agents are being notified directly about impacted sailings, guest re-accommodations and cancellations. Duffy thanked guests and travel agent partners alike for their continued patience, loyalty and support during this unprecedented time for the cruise industry. “With our future fleet plan resolved, we are focused on ensuring we are ready to return to operations once it is determined that the time is right to resume cruising in the U.S.,” she said.

MAN Energy Solutions seeks €450 million savings in transformation drive

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 22 July 2020 22 July 2020

The executive board of MAN Energy Solutions, the German engineering and technology group, is launching a comprehensive programme to ensure the future viability of the company that aims to turn it into a solutions provider, the company said in a statement.

“Extensive cost-cutting and restructuring measures are the necessary next steps on the way to the company’s transformation into a solutions provider for sustainable energy supply. In addition, the company is preparing for a prolonged period of stagnant sales as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic,” MAN Energy Solutions said.

To achieve this, the company plans to cut its costs by €450 million and increase its operational flexibility, among other objectives. “The aim is to achieve an operating margin of 9% and improve the company’s cash and liquidity position by 2023, even taking the global economic impact of COVID-19 into account,” it stated.

Adapting and optimising the production network with a focus on core value creation and greater flexibility is a key component of the program. In this context, the company intends to halt steam turbine production in Hamburg and is also considering closing the production facility in Berlin and relocating production currently conducted there to another site.

The programme will also focus on reducing the cost of materials and equipment, optimising the service network, streamlining the product range, cutting costs within the group functions, and focusing research and development on next-generation technologies, the company said.

Swan Hellenic reborn with two newbuilds from Helsinki Shipyard

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 22 July 2020 22 July 2020

Seventy years on from Swan Hellenic’s discovery cruise beginnings, the British born expedition cruise line is back. Its core values remain unchanged, as does the brand’s passion for exploratory cruising. Keen again to enrich inquisitive minds who want to discover incredible destinations, reconnect with nature and locals all the while sharing unique experiences.

Two state-of-the-art expedition ships are being built in Helsinki Shipyard Oy, Finland aimed at providing 152 guests an elegant, intimate and personal onboard experience delivered by 120 staff. The first ship will set sail for Antarctica in November 2021, the second will be gracing the water in April 2022.

Andrea Zito, Swan Hellenic’s CEO says: “I am proud to announce the rebirth of Swan Hellenic a pioneering iconic travel brand with the mission to be the leader in cultural expedition cruising” The new Swan Hellenic, retains its British heritage whilst being international in outlook. Aimed at the traveller, who wishes to explore, experience and enrich whilst the infinite beauty of the world and its inhabitants in a safe and sustainable way”.

Swan Hellenic is looking forward to building relationships with the trade. With Zito adding, “Swan Hellenic was always a family brand and we want to continue along the same line by inviting all cruise industry partners to become part of the new Swan Hellenic community”. All interested agents can register their interest at www.swanhellenic.com/partners

The company will launch with offices in Monaco, the UK and Germany to start with. The senior management team has more than 100 years of cruise industry experience led in the UK by John Warner (GAdventures/Trailfinders) and Mario Bounas (Royal Caribbean/The Langham), Alfredo Spadon in Germany (Silversea/MSC) and Andrea Zito in the Monaco Headquarters (Silversea/Vships).

For now, the website is live, and Andrea Zito added: “over the course of the next few weeks and months we’ll be releasing more information about a number of exciting developments from Swan Hellenic. We are back and we’re bigger and bolder than ever”.

The UK office for Swan Hellenic is near Buckingham Palace in Central London

Updated: First American river cruise line opens European cruising

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 21 July 2020 21 July 2020

AmaWaterways has announced it has resumed operations in Europe. The first U.S.-based river cruise operator to begin cruising Europe's rivers, it's trialed the effort on AmaKristina in Germany with German, Dutch and Swiss passengers, offering custom-designed five night Rhine River itineraries roundtrip from Cologne.

AmaWaterways has its sights set on a second ship and itinerary to operate on the Danube, in the moderately immediate future.

“Although many countries continue to have travel restrictions in place," says Kristin Karst, executive vice president and co-founder of AmaWaterways, "we have begun operating a series of sailings for European guests, in collaboration with an established German tour operator, e-hoi. With these sailings, we have been able to put into practice and perfect our enhanced health and safety protocols while demonstrating that travelers can enjoy our unforgettable river cruise vacations with peace of mind.”

Europe's new normal?

New protocol developed to resume sailing was created to reflect in-depth recommendations from the EU Healthy Gateways guidelines, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), IG RiverCruise and other official authorities. River vessels, such as the 150-passenger AmaKristina, are limited to a maximum of 100 travelers. Crew members are required to wear face masks at all time. Passengers must wear face coverings when moving around the ship's public areas.

The new capacity controls mean that AmaKristina's restaurants -- The Main and the Chef's Table -- easily can accommodate healthy spacing. New room service options, typically somewhat limited on river cruise vessels, have been added. AmaWaterways’ ships have been designed with fan coil individual air cooling and heating units, which eliminate any recirculation of air in staterooms or in public areas and nearly all staterooms include balconies, letting guests relax there or on the ships’ spacious Sun Decks.

On land, several innovations introduced by AmaWaterways years before the pandemic include Quietvox systems that allow travelers to spread out and still hear guides' commentary and its well-established series of tours that offer outdoor activities such as hiking and cycling.

Steady effort in Europe

AmaWaterways may be the first U.S.-based river line to operate in Europe but the region is still off-limits for Americans. However, other European-based companies, such as Nicko Cruises, A'Rosa and CroisiEurope are all taking similarly cautious approaches as they have also restarted operations in a limited capacity.

Additional detail on the river line's health protocols can be found here: https://www.amawaterways.com/protocols. AmaWaterways plans to provide a further update on the status of its operations and of the future of river cruising on Tuesday, August 4.

We'll keep you posted.