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METH AT SEA: The part-owner and skipper of Kimberley Quest II Jeff Ralston has been charged with intending to deal methylamphetamine on board the vessel, according to reports by ABC News.
Police raided the luxury ship in Wyndham on Monday, alleging that 23 grams of the drug and five smoking implements were found. |
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Avalon Waterways is kicking off a new category of European river cruising next year with Active Discovery cruises to debut in company’s 2017 brochure.
The active itineraries include biking, hiking and canoeing along the Danube, with eight departures set to operate between Jul and Oct 2017. |
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Gold Coast-based Ignite Travel Group – well known for its My Holiday Centre portfolio with brands such as MyFiji, MyBali and My Queensland Holiday, has launched a new MyCruises brand with hand-picked ocean, river and specialty cruises.
MyCruises offers complete holiday packages, including pre & post stay, flights, ground transfers, upgrades, extra room nights, credits and tours. |
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Holland America Line celebrated the delivery of MS Koningsdam over the weekend with an official handover ceremony at Fincantieri’s Shipyard in Marghera, Italy.
The ship sailed from the yard on Sunday to make its way to Civitavecchia in Rome for its premier voyage this week. |
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Four extra departures have been added to Ovation of the seas’ maiden Australian itinerary for its 2016/17 season.
Interest in the newbuild surpassed expectations with more than 90% of summer sailings booked out. Final deployment details for the new itineraries will be released in the coming weeks. |
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Viking River Cruises has altered two itineraries heading to Brussels in light of this week’s terror attack.
The 27 and 30 Mar ‘Rhineland Discovery’ sailings aboard Viking Kara and Viking Kvasir will now travel to the Netherlands for a two-night stay at the Grand Hotel, instead. |
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Dream Cruises has unveiled the artwork set to debut on its new-build ship, Genting Dream. |
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Crystal Cruises has announced the acquisition of a 200-passenger polar-class “megayacht”.
The new megayacht will be named Crystal Endeavour, in honour of Captain James Cook’s HMS Endeavour. The newbuild is due for delivery in August 2018. |
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Royal Caribbean International will expand its global fleet, overnight announcing the acquisition of Galapagos-based tour operator, Ocean Adventures.
The purchase will be made through Royal Caribbean’s Celebrity Cruises brand. |
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BREAKING NEWS: Royal Caribbean has axed a second Bali port call due to heightened security concerns.
According to a trade update obtained by Cruise Weekly, Radiance of the Seas will now spend an extra day at sea instead of making its scheduled 17 March stop. This follows Monday’s bypass of Benoa by sister company, Celebrity Cruises’ megaliner, Celebrity Solstice. More details in today’s Cruise Weekly. |
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Happy 30th birthday Scenic! |
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Disney Cruise Line has announced two new vessels will join its fleet, slated to be completed by 2021 and 2023.
Ship names, itineraries and design plans will be revealed at a later date. |
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Captain Cook Cruises delivered much needed supplies to Fiji’s Lau Islands last week aboard the MV Reef Endeavour, following the devastating category five cyclone which tore through the island nation last month. |
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Say hello to the new Managing Director of Uniworld River Cruise Collection Australia, Fiona Dalton!
Dalton will take the reigns from early May. |
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P&O Pacific Pearl has found a new home with British-based operator Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV), where she will be renamed Columbus and commence operations from 09 Jun. |
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Viking River Cruises christened six of its new Viking Longships at a waterfront celebration in Amsterdam this week, naming prominent travel trade partners as the ships’ “Viking Godmothers”.
Photo credit: Peter Knego |
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Vivid Sydney is coming to town! Captain Cook Cruises is offering early bird savings of up to 35% off its cruises during the anticipated festival of lights. Vivid runs 27 May – 18 Jun |
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P&O Pacific Pearl Cruise Ship has launched an all-new party concept for kiwis on its five-month New Zealand deployment!
Cruisers have been advised to pack black for the Nero All Black Party, with All Blacks gear expected to be a popular outfit choice for the deck soiree. |
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Did you know that provisions for a week long voyage on the MS Oasis of the Seas includes 10,272 new rolls of toilet paper, 3,355kg of cheese, 330 cases of pineapples, 861kg of coffee and 46,800 eggs! And to keep the party going there’s 31,900 bottles and 900 cans of beer, 820 bottles of vodka, 765 bottles of rum and 3,360 bottles of white wine. Royal Caribbean International |
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The team at Royal Caribbean International Australia welcomed Explorer of the Seas to the Aussie fleet and celebrated her maiden season by presenting the captain and crew with a specially commissioned painting of the ship in Sydney Harbour. |
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Something tells me this little guy would rather be on board… |
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Have you completed our travel agent cruise survey? Share your experiences and you’ll be in the running to win GoPro cameras and HOYTS cinema vouchers. Enter here: http://v9.smpsurveys.com/survey.jsp?KEY_SURVEY=c957e3ab-b22c-4dbe-894a-ebc66fcbd1fa&locale=en&UID= |
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Azamara Club Cruises vp of marketing and sales hinted that the cruise line is looking to bring a new learning and incentive platform over from the US to Australia called The World Academy, which will allow agents to sail for free after they use the portal and sell three cruises. |
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#VirtualReality has entered the retailing space with Cruiseabout Australia announcing a collaboration with Royal Caribbean International and Carnival Cruise Line Australia to showcase to customers in store what life is like on board a ship via Samsung virtual reality headsets. |
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Take our cruise industry survey for travel agents and there’s the opportunity to win GoPro cameras and HOYTS movie vouchers. Enter via the link below http://v9.smpsurveys.com/survey.jsp?KEY_SURVEY=c957e3ab-b22c-4dbe-894a-ebc66fcbd1fa&locale=en&UID= |
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Delish! Chicken Marsala |
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All aboard! |
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World surfing champ Layne Beachley challenged guests to “Beat the Beachley” at a FUNdraiser for The Layne Beachley Foundation on board Carnival Legend recently. Guests set out to beat Beachley’s times for basketball, putt-putt golf and sliding down water slides. This was followed by a special Dr Seuss at Sea lunch where the competition winners were announced. Carnival Legend Carnival Cruise Line Australia |
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CHEF CURTIS STONE has debuted his first restaurant, dubbed SHARE by Curtis Stone aboard Princess Cruises’ Ruby Princess. #RubyPrincess |
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Agents who join Carnival Cruise Line’s new Facebook group, Carnival Fun Zone, and enter the online competition will be eligible to win a twin cabin on Carnival Vista’s 10-night Mediterranean cruise departing 21 Jun. |
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MSC Cruises has confirmed it will go ahead with construction of two additional Meraviglia class vessels at the STX shipyards in Saint-Nazaire, France. |
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Aussie actress and comedian Jean Kittson will be godmother of Scenic Azure, which is being christened in Porto, Portugal in Apr this year. |
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#BREAKING: Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises will join the Norwegian Cruise Line Holding office in Sydney by 31 Mar, transitioning from Wiltrans & The Cruise Office. More in tomorrow’s Cruise Weekly. |
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A fire has broken out on Evergreen Tours’ newest ship, Emerald Belle, significantly damaging the vessel. Although Emerald Belle was due to launch in April, the firefighting system on board was not yet operational. Agents with client bookings will be notified to discuss options over the next 48 hours. |
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Coral Expeditions is going to Asia! The Aussie-founded expedition cruise line has launched seven expedition itineraries in South East Asia charting the coastlines of Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. |
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Crystal Cruises’ “Crystal Getaways” now include five shortened segments of Crystal Serenity’s “Southern Celebración” World Cruise. |
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MSC Cruises has suspended calls in Turkey until further notice “amid growing concerns by guests as a result of the recent tragic events in Istanbul”. |
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If the thought of going back to work tomorrow makes you want to book a holiday, MSC Cruises’ annual 96-Hour sale is on until midnight 29th January with savings of up to 50% |
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Crystal Serenity leave the Mediterranean in mid-2017 to sail throughout North America. She will be replaced by Crystal Yacht Cruises and Crystal River Cruises, which will bring Crystal Esprit and five luxury river yachts to the Mediterranean region nearly year-round. |
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What is this? A cruise ship for ants? A non-buoyant Pacific Aria was showcased at the Museum of Sydney on Wed in anticipation of the cruise line’s Australia Day event – where LEGO certified professional Ryan McNaught, will build a model of Pacific Eden in the forecourt of the museum. |
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Congrats to Roger Chen, who has taken up the role of chairman for Carnival Cruise Line in China. |
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We’re about to jump on board to tour Azamara Quest! |
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A 300-litre barrel filled with a specially created cocktail will be brought on board the Queen Mary 2 Age of Discovery World Voyage. The cocktail will be aged on board on open decks and unloaded at the end of the cruise and join The Savoy Collection. Guests will be able to sample a non-aged version of the cocktail. |
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A reader sent in this snap from Stockton as Azamara Quest cruised into Newcastle earlier this week. |
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The staterooms and suites on Oceania Cruises’ Sirena will feature custom-designed, mattresses – The Ultra Tranquility Bed – when the ship launches in Apr 2016. |
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P&O Cruises Australia’s newest ship Pacific Eden completed a trifecta of maiden visits this week. Pacific Eden stopped in for the first time at Eden (Sun), Mornington Peninsula (Tue) and Portland (Wed). |
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TravelManagers Australia is investing in the cruise market with the appointment of a cruise strategy executive, Lisa Humphries. |
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Ponant – Yacht Cruises & Expeditions will venture to the Kimberley for the first time in 2017 with L’Austral. |
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Kogan.com has announced an expansion into the cruise sector. The company emailed its more than 2.3 million customers with a range of initial offers, with the portfolio comprising 4,000 cruises on “more than 20 of the world’s best cruise lines”. |
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Wendy Wu Tours has introduced a dedicated Asia River Cruise brochure for 2016/17. The program stretches across China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and India. Luxury vessel Sanctuary Yangzi Explorer in China has been introduced for 2016, along with the Oberoi MV Vrinda in India. |
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Check out the winning entry of Lindblad Expeditions’ latest incentive! United Travel at the Mount, from Mount Maunganui, New Zealand won AU$1,000 for their entry, captioned “On a stormy night deep in the heart of Mount Galapagos…A beautiful red/yellow breasted penguin Lindy I believe…was discovered by Julia and Amanda surrounded by some rather interesting wildlife.” |
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Active Travel is offering a buy-one-get-one-free deal on Indian River Cruises in Apr, for bookings by 26 Feb. Alternatively, solo pax can cruise without paying a supplement. |
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Would you like an upgrade with that? P&O Cruises Australia’s “Biggest Ever Offer” is back, with the cruise line offering up to five inclusions on cruises booked by 25 Feb. Itineraries include a 10-night Papua New Guinea cruise roundtrip from Brisbane on 31 Oct, 2016 from $899 per person quad share |
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P&O Pacific Eden visited Eden, her namesake port for the first time over the weekend. The visit was the first cruise call of the year for the town, with Pacific Eden on an eight-night roundtrip Sydney itinerary which visits only regional towns. |
