Courtesy Costa Cruises
Costa Cruises’ grand new flagship, Costa Favolosa, was delivered to the line June 30 in Venice. The largest cruise ship ever to fly the Italian flag, this 114,500-ton, 3,800-passenger vessel will be operating seven-night Eastern Mediterranean cruises from Venice to Bari, Italy; Katakolon, Greece; Izmir and Istanbul, Turkey; and Dubrovnik, Croatia. Costa Favolosa is the eighth of nine new ships the line ordered from the Fincantieri shipyards. Its sister ship, Costa Fascinosa, is slated to be delivered next spring.
Counting on continued growth from the Chinese market, Royal Caribbean International (RCI) has announced that its 137,276-ton, 3,114-passenger Voyager of the Seas will be joining its smaller sibling, the 1,804-passenger Legend of the Seas, in the Orient next June. Sailings of from four to 10 days will be offered from Shanghai, Tianjin and Hong Kong, China, to ports in Japan, South Korea and occasionally Russia.
China’s cruising season runs from March to October. Reportedly, RCI has made special efforts to ensure that about 60 percent of its crews aboard both vessels speak either Mandarin or Cantonese.
Princess Cruises’ commitment to the electronic social media has taken another step forward. With the addition of a new Princess Roll Call section to its Facebook page for each sailing, passengers will now be able to connect with each other both before and after their cruises. According to Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises’ executive vice president, “this Roll Call section has been widely requested and makes great use of the functionality of Facebook to give passengers a place to ‘meet’ each other on a platform they already use.”
On the rivers and inland waterways
The Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection will expand its Asia programs for 2012 with the new River Saigon, a 60-passenger vessel scheduled to debut in January. Fifteen-day cruise-tours from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi will feature the sights of Vietnam, Cambodia and the Mekong River.
Viking River Cruises’ new 188-passenger Viking Prestige was christened in Amsterdam on June 30. After an inaugural 15-day Grand European trip, the 443-foot vessel will operate eight-day Romantic Danube sailings between Budapest, Hungary, and Nuremburg, Germany.
And here at home, American Cruise Lines’ fleet of small ships will be expanding substantially in 2012 with the introduction of the 142-passenger Mississippi Riverboat on “Ol’ Man River” and a vessel to be named later in Alaska’s Inside Passage, which will offer roundtrips from Juneau and one-way sailings between Juneau and Seattle. The line is justly proud of having recently been awarded a contract to operate in magnificent Glacier Bay National Park.
Luxury cruise happenings
In the first annual Cruise Critic Cruisers’ Choice Awards, Sea Dream Yacht Club placed first for service in the small-ship category. Awards are reportedly based entirely on reviews and ratings submitted by cruisers to the Cruise Critic online guide to cruises.
Windstar Cruises has added a bicycle rental program aboard its three sailing yachts for guests who enjoy exploring exotic destinations on their own by bike.
Silversea Cruises has designated five 12- to 17-day sailings during 2012, for which solo travelers will pay a single supplement of just 10 percent above the per-person, double-occupancy fare.
