Carnival Cruise Lines launched the cruise industry’s first interactive social learning game designed to help travel agents learn more about the company and the tools available to them. Available here, “Carnival Adventures Learning Games” includes a “Carnival Cruise-Ader” avatar, which guides agents through three levels of training. Training including first-time cruiser acquisition, Carnival booking tools and policies and information on Carnival’s fleet of ships. Advancing through each level earns travel agents “Fun Points” that can be redeemed for points in the line's Travel Agent Reward Program. Additionally, the game will highlight the top 100 players' Fun Points scores in real-time on a leader board.
Compagnie du Ponant is offering 11-day Antarctica voyages aboard L'Austral and Le Boreal, with seven departures currently starting at $6,279 per person, double, while the 16-day option, with four sailings, starts at $11,141. One of the 16-day sailings finishes in Uruguay and has a current Ponant Bonus starting fare of $7,266, a savings of 23 percent off the regular fare. Special programs offered include a new 5 percent discount on family-and-friends groups of five or more; a new 50 percent discount for guests ages 12 to 18 traveling with their families and sharing a stateroom with another teen or adult; a 10 percent discount on back-to-back cruises; increased savings on wedding and anniversary packages; single supplements from 15 percent; and discounts for referring other guests to Compagnie du Ponant.
Silversea Cruises is the first cruise line to sign on to call at Banana Coast, the newest western Caribbean cruise destination at Trujillo, Honduras. The 296-passenger Silver Cloud is scheduled to call Dec. 17, 2014. construction at Banana Coast, which began in August 2011, is now 80 percent complete, and the facility is expected to have a soft opening in January 2013. The port will be open to host ships throughout 2013 and beyond. Plans for Banana Coast Landing call for construction of a 50,000-square-foot shopping facility and transportation hub on 10 acres of beachfront land. Themed "Where the Rainforest Meets the Sea," the $20-million Banana Coast project currently employs 150 construction workers, engineers and architects. A future phase will see construction of a two-berth, post-Panamax pier.