Cruise West Buys Clipper's Nantucket Clipper andYorktown Clipper
It was a big week at small-ship rivals Clipper (tel. 800/325-0010; www.clippercruise.com) and Cruise West (tel. 800/426-7702; www.cruisewest.com). On January 17 came the expected announcement that INTRAV, Clipper's parent company, had been bought by UK-based First Choice Holidays, an adventure-travel operator with a presence in seventeen countries. On the same day, though, came a surprise: As part of the deal, Clipper sold its two longest-serving ships, the 102-passenger Nantucket Clipper and 138-passenger Yorktown Clipper, to Cruise West. That leaves its fleet with only two vessels, the 122- and 128-passenger ocean cruisers Clipper Adventurer and Clipper Odyssey. According to a company spokesperson, Clipper has no immediate plans to replace the departed vessels.
Nantucket and Yorktown Clipper will sail all 2006 East Coast, Great Lakes, Caribbean, Alaska, Mexico, and Central America itineraries previously published and sold by Clipper, but will be under Cruise West ownership and management -- and, presumably, will soon get a name change to reflect Cruise West's "Spirit of" naming tradition. Anyone like to take bets on Spirit of Nantucket and Spirit of Yorktown?
The acquisition opens up whole new regions to Cruise West, which in the past decade has begun expanding beyond its base in southeast and southcentral Alaska. In announcing the acquisition, Cruise West chairman and CEO Dick West said, "We are delighted to expand our operations to the East Coast and to offer our guests novel itineraries in the up-close, casual, and personal style of cruising that have branded our ships for over 60 years.¿Cruise West's fleet, now consisting of 10 diverse ships, will completely circle North and Central America and the entire Pacific Rim."
The purchase was a natural for Cruise West, whose 99-passenger Spirit of Endeavour previously sailed as Clipper's Newport Clipper and is a sister-ship to Yorktown. Like all but two of Cruise West's vessels, both Yorktown and Nantucket are U.S.-flagged coastal cruise ships with a comfortable, low-key feel.
Three Carnival Vessels to Get Makeover at End of FEMA Charter
In the immediate aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, Carnival Cruise Lines (tel. 800/327-9501; www.carnival.com) chartered the vessels Sensation, Ecstasy, and Holiday to the Military Sealift Command on behalf of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). That charter's set to expire ship-by-ship between late March and early April, and Carnival is making plans.
All three vessels will resume four- and five-day service this spring following extensive refurbishments. The 21-year-old Holiday, Carnival's oldest vessel, will get a totally redesigned lobby area with new seating, new carpeting, and new tilework; a new nine-hole miniature golf course will be added on the Verandah Deck; the Four Winds and Seven Seas main dining rooms will receive new ceilings and updated galley equipment; and the beauty salon/spa/gym will receive new exercise equipment, carpeting, and tiles. The 2,052-passenger Ecstasy and Sensation will also get miniature golf courses, as well as new 1,600-square-foot "Children's World" play areas; and new art galleries and1,200-square-foot conference rooms. Aft lounges on both ships will be reconfigured into new family recreation areas. Aboard Ecstasy, all 1,026 cabins (including 54 suites) will be completely refurbished, while new lighting, flooring, wall coverings and dessert stations will be added to the Panorama Bar & Grill poolside restaurant. The ship's gift shop will be renovated, as well. Sensation will get a new patisserie offering specialty coffees and sweets; a new photo gallery; a redesigned Internet café; and a renovated spa. Suites on the Sensation will be refurbished with all new decor and completely remodeled bathrooms.
Sensation will return to service March 23, launching a new schedule of 4- and 5-night cruises from Port Canaveral, FL. Four-night cruises visit Nassau and either Freeport or Half Moon Cay, while 5-night cruises call at Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau. On October 26 she'll relocate to New Orleans and begin offering 4- and 5-night western Caribbean voyages. Four-night cruises departing Thursdays visit Cozumel while 5-night cruises departing Mondays and Saturdays feature Cozumel and Calica/Playa del Carmen or Costa Maya.
Holiday will return to service in Mobile, AL, March 27, offering year-round 4- and 5-night Mexico cruises. Four-night cruises to Cozumel depart Thursdays and 5-night cruises depart Mondays and Saturdays, visiting Cozumel and either Calica/Playa del Carmen or Costa Maya.
Ecstasy returns to Galveston, TX, for year-round 4- and 5-night cruises April 8. Four-night cruises depart Thursdays and visit Calica; 5-night voyages depart Mondays and Saturdays and visit Progreso and Cozumel.
Crystal Programs New Active, Individual Excursions in Europe
This May, when Crystal Cruises' (tel. 888/799-4625; www.crystalcruises.com) 1,080-passenger Crystal Serenity and 940-passenger Crystal Symphony begin their European season, they'll be offering passengers 33 new active and/or educational " Mediterranean Crystal Adventure" excursions, including:
- The opportunity to drive a Formula 1 race car, with instruction both on and off the course (from Monte Carlo)
- Four-wheel-drive trips through the rugged trails of Corfu, Greece; Croatia's Konavle region (from Dubrovnik); and the Balkan Mountains (from Nesebur, Bulgaria)
- Kayaking along Dubrovnik's Adriatic coast, river-rafting in Split, and canoeing in Zadar for new perspectives of Croatia
- Helicopter tours above the Cote d'Azur (from Monte Carlo), the Amalfi Coast (from Sorrento), and the Dolomite Mountains (from Venice)
- Scuba diving in Punta Campanella, Italy (from Sorrento)
"The trend among our well-traveled guests is for more active experiences -- ones that cast a different view of a destination yet are still filled with enrichment and culture," says John Stoll, Crystal's director of land programs. Other tours on tap for summer include:
- An overnight in Siena, the best preserved medieval city in Italy (from Rome)
- An Angels & Demons tour in Rome showcasing the key symbols and landmarks in Dan Brown's best-seller
- A visit to the newly reopened Teatro Tasso for a production of music, drama, and dance that explores the history of Naples (from Sorrento)
- Evening concerts at Ephesus (from Kusadasi) and classical performances at the Odessa Philharmonic Society Concert Hall
- A private visit to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel (in Rome)
- Self-drive tours through the Riviera in a Ferrari or Lamborghini (from Monte Carlo) or along the Cote d'Azur in a convertible Mercedes, BMW, Fiat, or Peugeot
- An excursion with a personal shopper through boutiques on the French Riviera, plus lunch at the legendary Cafe de Paris.
- The opportunity to create a signature perfume at Galimard's Studio des Fragrances in Cannes
Excursions are available on 7-, 10-, 11-, and 12-night Mediterranean cruises May through November. Prices for seven-night cruises start at $1,995 per person, double occupancy.
Silversea, Deilmann Expand Golf Programs for '06
In old movies, you always see stars whacking golf balls off the backs of ships. You can't do that anymore -- the environment, you know -- but today's cruise lines are catering to golfers in other ways, and more than ever before. This week, two lines announced new golf programs for 2006, highlighting onboard instruction and play at some of the world's great courses.
Ultra-luxe Silversea Cruises (tel. 877/215-9986; www.silversea.com) is once again offering its "Silver Links 365" program, which offers daily onboard instruction by PGA-classed professionals plus play at acclaimed courses in the four corners of the globe, from the gently rolling fairways of the Fairmont Princess Golf Course on Acapulco's Revocadero Beach to the natural lakes and lush terrain of Shanghai's Silport Golf Club and the dunes and pine groves at Zeebrugge's Royal Zoute Golf Club. Golf excursions vary by course and include pro escort, all transfers, pull or power-drive carts, and greens fees and caddy fees. Aboard ship, golf pros offer complimentary clinics, demonstrations, and putting contests as well as private instruction in the ships' 22' x 10' golf cages. Golfers can also compare their strokes with those of the golf legends using V1 video-teaching technology ($55 for a half-hour session, $110 for a full hour).
In Europe, German line Peter Dielmann Cruises (tel. 800/348-8287; www.deilmann-cruises.com) is offering an expanded program of golf-themed cruises on its European river cruises as well as its ocean sailings in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, Baltic,¿and around the British Isles, April through September.
Six Deilmann river cruises feature golf in the Danube regions of Austria, Hungary, and Germany; the Normandy and Provence regions of France on the Seine and Rhône; and the Rhineland areas of Germany, France, and Switzerland.
- Golf and Rhône River cruises in Provence, May 9-20 and Sept. 5-16, begin with three days of play at the 240-acre Pont Royal Golf course and three or four nights at the Chateau Hotel Le Moulin de Vernegues, 10 minutes away. The¿package includes six rounds of golf¿and a seven-night sailing on the Princesse de Provence from Arles to Avignon, Tournon, Vienne, Macon and Lyon. Rates start at $2,580 per person for an outside twin cabin and include transfers, green fees,¿pull cart, travel to and from the courses, and guides.
- The Normandy Golf tournament players cruise sails the Seine from Paris to Rouen, May 13-24 and Sept. 2-13, aboard the river ship Cezanne. The six courses on the itinerary include the 27-hole Omaha Beach Golf Club at Bayeux, the Etretat golf course situated high atop white cliffs, and the Deauville Golf Club. The 12-day cruise and golf package ends with four¿nights at the Hostellerie de Tourgeville or Hotel du Golf Barrier and is priced from $3,045 per person outside twin.
- A, 11-day Rhine golf cruise aboard the river vessel Heidelberg sails July 8-18, with six days of play at three courses in Strasbourg, France; one in Switzerland; and two in Germany. Following the seven-night Rhine cruise from Amsterdam to Basel, participants stay three nights at¿Le Kempferhof Hotel in the Alsace region of France. The all-inclusive package price starts at $3,000 per person for an outside twin cabin.
At sea, Deilmann has seven golf and sailing holidays on the luxury liner Deutschland to Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, Monaco, the British Isles and Scandinavia, all including free air from 16 U.S. cities.
- The first ocean golfing cruise is the Italian Golf Cup 2006, April 12-24, a 12-night sailing on the Mediterranean with play at six courses in Venice, Ravenna, Syracusa, Olbia (Sardinia), Genoa, and Pisa.
- The Mediterranean Golf Cup 2006, April 24 to May 6, allows golfers to play courses in Rome, Ajaccio (Corsica), Monte Carlo, St. Tropez, and the Spanish cities of Puerto Banus, Sotogrande, and Seville.
- The Atlantic Golf Cup, May 3-18, combines a 12-night sailing with nine rounds of golf at Lisbon, Santander, La Pallice and St. Malo, with three nights at Hotel Duques de Medinaceli, near Cadiz, Spain.
- The Britannia Golf Cup, May 26 to June 9, is a 14-night sailing with seven rounds of golf in England, Ireland, and Scotland, including the Nick Faldo course in London and the famous 36-hole Gleneagles course near Edinburgh.
- The 13-night Ireland Golf Cup 2006 cruise, Aug. 12-25, features play at Glenngarriff, Dublin, and Cobh (Ireland), Belfast (Northern Ireland), and London and Plymouth (England).
- A late-summer 13-night Atlantic cruise, sailing Sept. 21 to Oct. 4 from Hamburg to Malaga, features play at Deauville and St. Nazaire (France) as well as other courses in France, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal.
Air/sea golfing holidays on ocean voyages aboard the MS Deutschland start at $4,788 per person for an 11-night cruise, and include air transportation from 16 U.S. cities, cruise and golf program,¿free transfers to and from the ship, greens fees, pull cart, use of driving range if available, golf escort, and tips. Non-golfing companions may deduct $700 to $1,100 from the cruise prices.
Atlantis Celebrates 15th Anniversary with Four New All-Gay Cruise Charters
L.A.-based Atlantis Events (tel. 800/628-5268; www.atlantisevents.com), the world's largest gay and lesbian tour operator, has kicked off its fifteenth-anniversary year by announcing four new all-gay cruises, making a total of seven the company will be offering in 2006.
Like some other gay and lesbian tour operators, Atlantis charters entire vessels for its cruises, transforming the onboard experience to suit its customer base. "By chartering a whole ship we can create a community that simply doesn't exist on land," says Atlantis president Rich Campbell. "Our specialty is reinventing the cruise experience for our customers, editing it down until it's virtually unrecognizable," with more active shore excursions, open-seating meals to encourage socializing, overnights in ports with large gay communities, and tons of entertainment, including DJs, production shows, and celebrity guests.
The company's four new 2006 cruises include:
- A Summer in Alaska cruise on Celebrity's 1,950-passenger Infinity, departing Vancouver on June 4, 2006 (rates from $999 per person, double-occupancy)
- Two back-to-back Mediterranean cruises between Barcelona and Athens on Royal Caribbean's 2,100-passenger Brilliance of the Seas -- a seven-night cruise sailing Aug. 27 and a 9-night cruise sailing Sept. 3. Prices start at $1,399 and $1,599, respectively.
- A new 8-night San Diego-to-Acapulco cruise on Brilliance's sister ship Serenade of the Seas, sailing Oct. 21. Prices start at $899.
Prices do not include port charges.
The four new cruises complement the company's existing winter 2006 cruises to the Western Caribbean, South America, and the Eastern Caribbean, all of which are already sold out.
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