January 9, 2004 -- Read on for another installment in the continuing saga of Royal Olympia's bankruptcy and its effects on ticketed passengers; plus we announce a new South Pacific sailing on Windjammer and report on Holland America's cabin renovations.
Royal Olympia Bankruptcy Update
Royal Olympia's vessels Olympia Voyager and Olympia Explorer continue their stay in limbo this week, following two ROC subsidiaries' Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings. Latest word has the Hawaiian bankruptcy court postponing all further hearings on the case until at least February 9, leaving representatives for the cruise line and its German creditors, Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau bank (KfW), to try and work out a solution. The bank is seeking to repossess both vessels, claiming ROC (800/872-6400, www.royalolympiacruises.com) has failed to make payments on the loans that financed their construction.
A court order currently prevents the vessels from sailing to foreign ports, which effectively scuttles their schedules unless a solution is reached. Olympia Voyager is docked in Port Everglades, FL, and Olympia Explorer is docked in Los Angeles. The cruise line cancelled the ships' Jan. 2 and 5 cruises, and each upcoming cruise is being dealt with on a case-by-case basis. At present, the ships' Jan. 19th sailings are officially on, but this hinges entirely on ROC and KfW reaching an agreement on terms.
"We'd like to tell people a solution's right around the corner," says spokesman Jim Lawrence, "but it's all just moving at a snail's pace."
According to a Federal Maritime Commission statement, "In the event that Royal Olympia Cruises cancels or fails to perform its scheduled voyages, a mechanism to reimburse passengers has been established as required by law and FMC regulation. We have been informed that refunds will be made to passengers for all voyages that are canceled or aborted." Passengers booked on upcoming sailings should be advised that until the line officially cancels a sailing, cancellation penalties enumerated in the ticket contract may apply. Watch this space for further news.
The bankruptcy proceedings do not apply to Royal Olympia's other subsidiaries and vessels, which continue to operate as usual.
Holland America Puts Guests to Sleep...but in a Good Way
In November, Holland America (877/724-5425, www.hollandamerica.com) announced a $225 million "Signature of Excellence" initiative intended to improve its accommodations, dining, service, activities, and destinations. This week, the line provided a few more details, with a big emphasis on luxurious stateroom amenities.
Call it the New Comfy, a concept that -- between Oceania Cruises "Tranquility Beds," the four different comfy pillows in Celebrity's Concierge Class suites, and the flotilla of Frette linens on the ultra-luxe lines -- seems to be making the rounds these days.
Beginning almost immediately, HAL will begin installing triple-sheeted Sealy Posturepedic Premium Plush Euro-Top mattresses in every stateroom in its fleet, along with cotton bedsheets, waffle and terry-cloth bathrobes, premium massage showerheads, 5x magnifying makeup mirrors, and salon-quality hair dryers.
"These enhancements demonstrate our continued commitment to providing the best accommodations in the premium cruise category," says HAL's president and COO Stein Kruse. "And all of our guests, not just a few, benefit from these premium amenities." That said, the rollout of the new mattresses is a bit like trickle-down economics: Suites get them first (by the end of March 2004) with replacement not scheduled in some lesser cabins until January 2006.
Other new amenities announced this week also target suite passengers: All Penthouse and Deluxe Verandah suites will be fitted out with new duvets, VCRs or DVD players (and access to a video/DVD library), and personalized stationery. All suite guests will also have access to a new one-touch 24-hour concierge service and exclusive concierge lounge.
Barefoot in Bora Bora: Windjammer's Amazing Grace Heads to the South Pacific
Windjammer Barefoot Cruises (800/327-2601, www.windjammer.com)typically offers slow weeklong treks among the Caribbean's most beautiful and lesser-visited islands. People go for a good time. Hell, sometimes they don't even know what islands they're visiting. It's the laid-back experience and camaraderie they're after, not a new stamp on their passport.
In late 2002, though, the line tried something different, sending its only sail-less ship, the classic Amazing Grace, off through the Panama Canal and across the Pacific, all the way to Tahiti. Like most things Windjammer does, it was a quirky move -- maybe the most quirky the line has made in a half-century of calculated quirkiness.
And so, of course, they're going to do it again.
From late September through early December 2004, the Grace will offer 10-night cruises of the Society Islands, including Rangiroa, Fakarava, Tahiti, Tahaa, Bora Bora, Huahine, Makatea, and Moorea. Rates run from $1,975 for the lowest-priced cabin up to $3,475 for "Burke's Berth," the top-end suite with its sitting room, kitchenette, double bed with skylight, marble and teak bath, hot tub, and private deck. If you've got a whole lot of time on your hands, you can also make the trip halfway around the world, sailing from Tahiti back to the Caribbean, either getting off in Chile (31 days, Nov. 27-Dec. 27, 2004) or staying on all the way to Trinidad (60 days, Nov. 27-Jan. 27). Prices for these trips were not available at press time.
Grace's South Seas sailings follow a summer of 13-night Costa Ric/Panama/Ecuador cruises (June 4 to Aug. 29), visiting Panama City, Las Perlas, Isla Coiba, Isla Ladrones, Isla del Cano, Golfo Dulce, Isla Ballenas, Manuel Antonio, Isla del Coco, and Manta.
If any ship currently afloat is both more and less appropriate for this kind of adventure, I don't know about it. Built as the Pharos in Dundee, Scotland, in 1955, the 94-passenger Grace is the closest thing to a banana boat in the cruise industry, usually sailing long itineraries through the Caribbean as a combo passenger ship and freighter, meeting up with the line's sailing ships to transfer provisions. In her early years, she supplied isolated lighthouses and North Sea oil rigs, and she still has the feel of a rough-and-ready tramp steamer, with a deep draught (good for ocean sailing), a huge hold, and accommodations that scream "passenger cabin on a freighter." For oddball nostalgic types and fans of all those post-World War II, perfect blue Pacific Ocean movie comedies (think John Wayne and Lee Marvin in Donovan's Reef), this could be the trip of a lifetime.
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