Anchors Away Cruise Agency - Discount Cruises,Cruise Vacations

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Disney Wonder Calls on Hawaii for the First Time

On May 6, the Disney Wonder® called on Honolulu, Hawaii for the first-time, sailing past iconic Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach. The Disney Wonder is in the middle of a special 15-night Hawaiian cruise with stops in Hilo, Hawaii; Kahului, Maui; Honolulu, Oahu; Nawiliwili, Kauai and Ensenada, Mexico.

Hawaii

Disney Cruise Line® is offering a second 14-night Hawaiian voyage that will depart from the Port of Los Angeles on Oct. 14, 2012. Space is still available.

Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur Begins $48 Million Revitalization

Royal Caribbean International’s Grandeur of the Seas begins a five-week, $48 million dry-dock renovation at the Navantia shipyard in Cadiz, Spain. The ship is the third of six Vision-class vessels to undergo extensive revitalization, which adds features introduced on the Oasis-class ships. The work will be completed May 31, when the ship will sail an 11-night Mediterranean roundtrip from Barcelona, Spain. From there, it will spend the summer offering Mediterranean itineraries.

The two previous Vision-class ships to get the upgrades were Rhapsody of the Seas, now sailing in Alaska, and Splendour of the Seas, now operating in Brazil.

The bow-to-stern revitalization will add several new dining venues, technological upgrades and new entertainment offerings, as well as a refresh of all furniture, carpet, upholstery and staterooms.

New dining venues include Giovanni’s Table, an Italian trattoria with a cover charge of $15 per person for lunch and $20 for dinner; the pan-Asian Izumi, which features sushi and hot-rock cooking, and charges $3 per guest for lunch and $5 for dinner, plus a la carte menu pricing; Park Café, a complimentary market with salads, sandwiches and soups; the steakhouse Chops Grille, which charges $30 per guest for dinner; and the exclusive Chef’s Table, an event co-hosted by the executive chef and sommelier for a five-course, wine-pairing fine dining experience ($95 per guest).

In addition, the ship will receive a new Diamond Lounge for Crown & Anchor Society loyalty guests, a Concierge Lounge for suite and top-tier loyalty guests, as well as a transformed Viking Crown Lounge with a new menu of bite-size appetizers.

A new Royal Babies and Tots Nursery will care for children ages 6 to 36 months old. The nursery offers parents childcare drop-off options in the daytime and evening.

The Grandeur of the Seas also will get ship-wide Wi-Fi service, an outdoor video screen on the pool deck, and the digital way-finding system introduced on Oasis of the Seas.

The Centrum will be turned into a lively space that will feature daytime activities and nighttime entertainment, including new high-flying experience with aerialists. The original Champagne Bar will become R Bar, a retro bar.

Costa Implements Seven New Safety Initiatives

Costa Cruises has implemented seven new safety initiatives, including a real-time monitoring system that allows the company to control the position of all its ships. The move comes four months after the Costa Concordia, apparently veering off-course to sail near the Italian island of Giglio, struck rocks and capsized, killing 32 people. Costa announced the safety measures during the delivery of the new Costa Fascinosa.

The new “High Tech Safety Monitoring System” allows the company to manage and monitor fleet routes with the ability to control the position and course of its ships in real time. The system verifies the safety level of route plans, comparing the route planned by the captain with the safest paths. It enables Costa to quickly and automatically identify unexpected changes of direction and, through an automatic alert system, to promptly react to ensure guest safety.

· Strengthening guest emergency training procedures beyond regulatory requirements, to make sure each guest is trained on emergency procedures before the ship leaves the embarkation port. The measure exceeds the minimum requirements dictated by current national and international regulations that require emergency instructions be provided within 24 hours after departure. The new standard requires officers in uniform to be present during safety training. The use of cameras or video recorders is prohibited.

· Strengthening the invitation procedure for guests who miss emergency and safety onboard training. The new procedure relies on an electronic Emergency Drill Card that is placed in each guest cabin. The card is numbered and must be given to a crewmember during the training session and scanned. Costa has strengthened this procedure by introducing software that ensures absent guests are invited to participate in a new training session. The system automatically identifies guests who did not attend and issues a letter to their cabins to invite them to a new training session the following day. Should the guest not attend the second training session, a letter about safety procedures will be attached to their final statement of account.

· A new section “Noi per Voi” (“Us for You”) on Costa’s website highlights how the company monitors safety. The area details voluntary regulations followed during ship design and construction; ship maintenance plans conducted with greater frequency than required by regulations; records of safety inspections, mandatory and voluntary, undertaken every year (more than 100 in 2011); and information regarding crew safety training (more than 225,000 hours of training carried out in 2011). The safety introduction video broadcast on all Costa ships, which contains instructions on how to behave during emergencies, also is accessible through the website. In addition, soon it will be possible to see the profiles of all captains and executive officers, detailing their career paths, the training they have completed and the certifications they have obtained.

· In 2010, Costa started training its officers on a new advanced bridge-management model based on what it calls “a more collegial decision-making process.” According to the new model, the captain maintains intervention power as required by law, but is no longer the only person who issues orders. “The captain urges all team members to take part in any maneuver by thinking out loud, so that other members of the team can collaborate on decisions,” Costa said. The training is held at the C-Smart simulation center in Almere, Netherlands, established in 2009.

· Costa has decided to comply with a new policy promoted by the Cruise Lines International Association requiring “greater collegiality in the decision-making process” during the briefing before departure and during other maneuvers requiring special navigation supervision. Costa is already training its officers on this protocol. During training officers are encouraged to express their comments and suggestions regarding the navigation plan by following a detailed checklist of topics that all team members should discuss with the captain during the Voyage Overview. Topics discussed include all key aspects of navigation such as weather, sea conditions, routes, traffic situation and ship status. These meetings will be added to existing procedures, including the “Voyage Passage Plan” completion and validation by the captain, certifying all documents have been considered to determine route and speed for each route stage.

· Costa has implemented a new bridge-access policy promoted by CLIA to minimize distractions. During navigation phases requiring additional supervision—such as entering a port or navigating with low visibility—access to the bridge is restricted to those with operational (e.g., officers) or operationally related functions such as the cruise director and assistants to make announcements to guests. In addition to the captain, the company also must authorize access of any other person entering the bridge.

Costa Cruises Takes Delivery of Costa Fascinosa in Venice

Costa Cruises, nearly four months after the sinking of the Costa Concordia, took delivery of its new flagship, Costa Fascinosa, from Fincantieri shipyard in Venice. With its sister ship Costa Favolosa, Costa Fascinosa is the largest Italian-flagged cruise ship afloat.

The delivery ceremony was attended by Piero Gnudi, Italy’s minister of tourism, whose daughter Elsa served as godmother for the 114,500-ton, 3,800-guest flagship. At the ceremony, Costa and Fincantieri made a joint donation to the Papa Giovanni XXIII Community by Father Oreste Benzi for the “Rainbow Project,” which aids children in need worldwide and is supported by Elsa Gnudi.

“The delivery of Costa Fascinosa is an important stepping stone on our company's road to recovery," said Pier Luigi Foschi, chairman and CEO of Costa Crociere S.p.A., who earlier this month had announced his retirement. “It is confirmation that the long-term fundamentals of our business remain strong, and we will continue to work for our customers, offering them even better cruises on fantastic ships like Costa Fascinosa.”

Costa said it invested $668.8 million in Costa Fascinosa, which was constructed in Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard in Venice. “Costa Fascinosa is the living proof of the progress and the results achieved by two great Italian industries jointly contributing to spread a positive image of ‘Made in Italy’ around the world,” said Giuseppe Bono, chief executive officer of Fincantieri. “We are most pleased to have contributed to the success of Costa, an Italian company which proudly flies the Italian flag.”

Since 1990 Costa invested $7.6 billion to build ships at Italy’s Fincantieri, T. Mariotti and San Giorgio del Porto shipyards, with a total of 14 ships built or on order, in addition to the refurbishment of other ships already in service. The handover of Costa Fascinosa took place about two months after the delivery of Costa neoRomantica, a $118 million refurbishment of Costa Romantica. After Costa Fascinosa, the line’s fleet expansion program will continue at Fincantieri’s Marghera yard with the construction of a new 132,500-ton, 4,928-passenger ship, the largest ever Italian cruise ship, set for delivery in October 2014.

Costa Fascinosa sets sail from Venice on a preview cruise May 6, bound for Slovenia, Trieste, Italy, and Croatia. It also will host the 19th edition of the “Champions of the Sea,” an annual event celebrating Costa’s best travel agent partners from around the world. On May 11 the ship departs Venice on its inaugural cruise, a 10-day itinerary to Greece, Israel and Turkey. For the 2012 summer season until the end of November, Costa Fascinosa will operate seven-day cruises from Venice and Bari, Italy, to Greece and Croatia. For winter 2012-13, the ship will be in South America on cruises calling at Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. For summer 2013, it will return to the eastern Mediterranean, sailing weeklong vacations to Greece and Turkey with departures from Venice and Bari.

Costa Fascinosa features a number of innovative public spaces. The Amarcord Atrium, for instance, serves as “center stage” for the ship with its huge space and a series of diamond-shaped chandeliers. The Lido, a pool are deck dedicated to the classic movie “Gone With the Wind,” features 3,280 square feet devoted to relaxation and entertainment, with raised whirlpool tubs overlooking the sea, waterfalls and other attractions. The al fresco Blue Moon Lido has a sliding glass roof and a giant 60-square-foot movie screen showing films and videos.

In the Playground, the Nuovomondo 4D Cinema offers movie presentations for children and adults. There’s also a Grand Prix Simulator on the highest deck of the ship, modeled on an original Gran Prix car, as well as a professional golf simulator. Children can play in the open-air Acqua Park water park playground with a pirate galleon, castle and waterslide.

Costa Fascinosa has bow-to-stern broadband Wi-Fi, guaranteeing connectivity for laptops, tablets and mobile phones. The new Digi Mobile platform also will enable guests to use their smartphones and tablets to access the shipboard interactive TV system in their cabins to book programs and services.

For entertainment, Costa Fascinosa features the Bel Ami show lounge, 13 bars, the Babylon Disco, the Blue Velvet piano bar or the Millionaire Casino. The ship has five restaurants: the à la carte Club restaurant, the Samsara wellness eatery, the self-service buffet with dishes typical of the places visited during the cruise and traditional Mediterranean delicacies in the two main restaurants.

Costa Fascinosa’s Samsara Spa, one of the largest spas ever built on a cruise ship at 19,680 square feet, offers a range of exclusive services and treatments. The facility also includes special Samsara cabins and suites with direct spa access, including six veranda suites with their own Jacuzzi and spacious balconies, plus relaxation amenities. The gym on Costa Fascinosa is equipped with the latest Technogym machinery incorporating the “Visioweb” digital platform to provide access to the Internet, TV and iPods.

Royal Caribbean’s Explorer to Sail from N.J. in Winter 2013-14

Royal Caribbean International will offer 22 winter 2013-14 cruises on Explorer of the Seas from Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, N.J., to Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. The ship will operate 16 itineraries to eight tropical ports.

The season begins with an 11-night Southern Caribbean cruise, departing Nov. 3, 2013, to San Juan, St. Maarten, Antigua and St. Kitts. The ship also will operate nine- and 10-night Eastern Caribbean itineraries that visit Labadee, the company’s private beach destination on Haiti, as well as San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Kitts and Samana in the Dominican Republic.

Seven-night Bahamas cruises call at Nassau, Port Canaveral and private island CocoCay. The Dec. 22 and Dec. 29 departures will celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Day, respectively, at Nassau, while the March 21, 2014, sailing will offer an eighth night at sea.

In April 2014, Explorer of the Seas will offer a pair of five-night Bermuda and nine-night Bermuda and Caribbean itineraries. The shorter sailing features an overnight at Kings Wharf, while the longer itinerary calls at Kings Wharf, St. Maarten, San Juan and Labadee.

Princess to Base Ship Year-Round in San Francisco

Princess Cruises will base the 2,600-passenger Grand Princess in San Francisco year-round, beginning in May 2013, a first for the company. The renovated ship will offer Alaska cruises during the summer followed by Hawaii, Mexico and California coastal sailings during the fall 2013 to spring 2014 season. Last year, the Grand Princess underwent the largest dry-dock in Princess history, adding new features found on the line’s newer ships.

During the 2013-14 season, Grand Princess will offer 10-day Inside Passage sailings between May 10 and Sept. 7, 2013. Two 10-day cruises to Mexico will depart on Sept. 17, 2013, and March 5, 2014, visiting the new ports of Loreto and La Paz as well as Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta. California coastal cruises will visit Santa Barbara, Los Angeles (Long Beach), San Diego and Ensenada with departures scheduled for Sept. 27 and Oct. 19, 2013, and March 15 and April 6, 2014.

Princess will offer 12 departures of 15-day Hawaii cruises between Oct. 4, 2013, and April 28, 2014. The voyages will visit the Big Island (Hilo), Oahu (Honolulu), Kauai (Nawiliwili), Maui (Lahaina), and Ensenada.

Norwegian Breakaway to Debut Free-Fall Water Slides, Ropes Course

Norwegian Cruise Line’s new 4,000-passenger Norwegian Breakaway will feature a three-story sports and recreation center with five water slides, including two with free fall sections. The facility also will include a large ropes course -- with a plank extending over the side of the ship -- a nine-hole miniature golf course, a basketball court and a rock climbing wall. “It’s really extensive,” said Norwegian CEO Kevin Sheehan at press conference at CLIA’s cruise3sixty conference. “It’s like going to camp.”

The two free-fall slides start with guests standing up and then the floor drops from underneath, propelling them into a loop. Two additional side-by-side twister slides (called The Whip) plunge guests through a spiral. For a more relaxing ride, there is an open-flume slide. The five slides can accommodate 1,000 people per hour.

Norwegian Breakaway, which will launch in April 2013, also will feature a Nickelodeon-themed Aqua Park for kids with a kid-sized pool and slide, multiple water features, bungee trampoline and spider web, a 24-foot enclosed climbing cage with a spiral slide. A pool for parents is adjacent so they can keep an eye on their offspring.

The ropes course, billed as the largest at sea, will have more than 40 elements, including a zip track. The Plank will evoke memories of pirate ships with a platform that extends eight feet over the side of the ship. Those who brave it can have their photo taken. Of course, guests will be tethered to a safety harness.

Currently under construction at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenberg, Germany, Norwegian Breakaway will arrive in its year-round homeport of New York City in early May 2013. The ship will begin weekly summer seven-day cruises to Bermuda on May 12, 2013. From October 2013 through April 2014, the ship will offer sailings to the Bahamas and Florida and the Southern Caribbean.

Celebrity Reflection to Debut New Banquet Room, Glass Shower

Celebrity Cruises’ new Reflection, the fifth and final ship in the Solstice class due out in October, will feature a new ballroom that can be set up to seat 96 people banquet-style, believed to be a first at sea. The other new feature on the ship garnering attention is a glass-enclosed shower cantilevered over the side of the ship, located in a top-end suite. Both new features of the ship were unveiled at CLIA’s cruise3sixty conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The Reflection Conference Center is a flexible, 2,853-square-foot space on deck four that can accommodate 220 guests in a ballroom or conference layout, 96 guests in the banquet layout, or 64 guests each in three classroom layouts created by movable walls. The area will be equipped with four 70-inch LCD TVs.

“Our corporate clients expressed interest in a uniquely flexible space, and that’s exactly what this delivers,” said Dondra Ritzenthaler, Celebrity’s senior vice president of sales. The banquet space also could be used for wedding receptions.

The ballroom can be catered with beverages, small bites or full meals. Catering options also include special occasion cakes and kosher, no-sugar-added, gluten-free, lactose-free, sucrose-free, macrobiotic, and vegetarian foods.

In the space formerly occupied by the Sky Conference Center on Deck 14 will be six new suites -- five 441-square-foot Signature Suites that can sleep four each and the 1,636-square-foot Reflection Suite, which can sleep six. The entire area features card-key access exclusively for guests booked in the suites. The Reflection Suite will have a sea-view bathroom extending out over the edge of the ship with a glass-enclosed shower that will be covered in a reflective surface so that the bather can see out but others cannot see in. At night, when the reflection does not work, the glass can be fogged so it’s opaque. Celebrity Reflection is currently under construction at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenberg, Germany.

MSC Cruises to Base New Divina Ship in Miami for Winter 2013-14

MSC Cruises will base its newest ship, the 139,000-ton MSC Divina in the Port of Miami for the winter 2013-14 season. The Divina will be christened in Marseille, France, on May 26 by legendary actress Sophia Loren, who is the permanent godmother for all of MSC Cruises’ ships.

This coming winter season, MSC Cruises will operate the MSC Poesia from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, but will move its South Florida homeport to Miami in November 2013 because it was able to obtain weekend slots and appropriate berthing facilities, according to Richard Sasso, president and CEO of MSC Cruises USA. The move follows Carnival Cruise Lines’ recent decision to base its Carnival Conquest in Miami starting November 2013 as well.

At a press conference at CLIA’s cruise3sixty conference in Fort Lauderdale, Sasso also hinted that MSC Cruises will bring more ships to North America, perhaps to New York City. “We will continue growing our presence in North America with more than one ship for longer than six months,” he said, adding that a formal announcement might be made in the next couple of months.

MSC Cruises, which launched an eight billion euro newbuilding campaign eight years ago, now has 12 ships, making it the “fourth-largest cruise fleet and the fastest-growing cruise brand in the industry,” Sasso said. “We’re not stopping now.” The next step is increasing MSC Cruises’ presence in the U.S. “Now North America must become more of a homeport,” Sasso said.

The MSC Divina -- named in honor of the Italian diva Loren -- is part of the Fantasia class but will be different in several ways from sister ships MSC Fantasia and MSC Splendida. Divina will be the largest ship in the fleet, with 1,751 staterooms hosting 3,502 guests, double occupancy. Also new are an infinity pool and a “beach zone” aft.

Like its sister ships, MSC Divina will feature the MSC Yacht Club, a 69-suite luxury area described as a “ship-within-a-ship.” The Yacht Club has butler service, free wines and spirits in exclusive lounges and pool area, and other private venues such as Le Muse panoramic restaurant and Top Sail Lounge.

All MSC Divina guests will have access to three restaurants and a Tex-Mex alternative eatery; the Aqua Park with fountains and water jets; MSC Aurea Spa with Balinese-inspired treatments; children’s and teen areas; an interactive 4-D cinema; virtual Formula 1 auto racing simulator; and the 1,603-seat Pantheon Theatre.

Following the christening, MSC Divina sails May 27 on a six-night cruise to Venice, calling at Civitavecchia, Messina, Valetta and Dubrovnik. The ship will then begin a series of seven-night Eastern Mediterranean roundtrips from Venice and Bari, calling in Katakalon, Izmir, Istanbul and Dubrovnik, through October.

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