Cruise News You Can Use

Fun Ships to remain in the Big Easy
Carnival Cruise Lines and the Port of New Orleans announced a two-year contract with an option to renew the deal for an additional two-year period, the cruise line said today.

The current contract is retroactive to October 2006, and if the two-year extension is renewed, Carnival would sail regularly in the Crescent City through 2010, the line said.

Under the terms of the contract, Carnival said, the 2,056-passenger Carnival Fantasy would make at least 70 annual calls at New Orleans' Erato Street Cruise Terminal, sailing four- and five-day cruises to the western Caribbean year-round, visiting Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico.

Carnival also said that it plans to hold its quarterly meeting of national sales managers on Sept. 24 and 25 in New Orleans in order to highlight the city's rebounding tourism industry to its leading sales personnel.


Get an early start on 2008 River Cruises and save
Uniworld, one of the most popular river cruise operators has announced a special discount program for early bookers that covers a variety of 2008 departures. By booking and depositing on your river cruise before November 30, 2007 you can save up to $600 per couple.

The $600 savings program is available on these itineraries:
Eastern European Explorer (2008) European Jewels (2008) European Serenade (2008) Grand Christmas and New Years Cruise (2008) Grand European Discovery (2008) Grand European Explorer (2008) Grand European Serenade (2008) Grand France (2008) Legendary Rhine & Moselle (2008)

Call your cruise specialist for all the details.


Clink, then Drink
Celebrity Cruises has announced a new partnership with Riedel, a manufacturer of finely-tuned crystal glasses, to ensure cruise holiday passengers the highest level of elegance while tasting wine on board its vessels.Starting in mid August, guests on Celebrity ships will be able to take part in an official Riedel comparative wine workshop during their cruise. Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, vice president of entertainment at Celebrity Cruises, said: "We constantly strive to deliver a comfortably sophisticated vacation to our guests and becoming the first cruise line to offer the unforgettable Riedel tastings onboard is a tremendous opportunity for us."She added that wine tasting has become an increasingly popular excursion for its passengers, with the partnership with Riedel offering a new level of graceful style on their cruise holiday.Earlier this month, Celebrity Cruises reported that its guests would be able to enjoy a number of valuable works of contemporary art as part of its recently-launched self-guided art tours.

Alaska Cruise Boom to continue in 2008
Alaska’s biggest cruise and tour operator, Princess Cruises, is giving travellers even more reasons to visit the land of ice with the launch in 2008 of new longer ‘Connoisseur’ sailings.
The boutique 670-passenger Tahitian Princess – the ‘baby’ of Princess’ Alaskan fleet - will swap palms and blue lagoons for spruce trees and ice-blue glaciers when she debuts in the region next year to offer the line’s first two-week, eight-port sojourns in Alaska. She is one of eight Princess cruise ships to sail on Alaskan voyages in 2008, offering more passenger capacity than any other line.
Designed to attract nature lovers seeking a complete Alaskan experience as well as past visitors keen to see more of America’s largest and wildest State, the new ‘Connoisseur Voyages’ will sail round-trip from Vancouver and showcase hidden gems not featured on shorter Alaskan cruises.
New ports featured include Kodiak with its famous brown bears, the breathtaking Kenai Fjords of Seward and Alaska’s ‘Little Switzerland’ at Valdez in addition to the popular ports of Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and Victoria and a day in Alaska’s number one attraction, Glacier Bay.
In total, the 2008 Alaska line-up for Princess Cruises will feature 135 sailings through Alaska.