Travel Agent was on site last week at Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami Beach, where the mood was clearly upbeat. Thousands of cruise industry executives, ports, destinations, suppliers, travel advisors and media attended. Here's a potpourri of news, notes and tidbits from the conference.
Azamara Sails Onward
Many cruise lines talked about their new ships, among them Azamara. The line's 684-passenger Azamara Onward (shown in the photo above), a sister to Azamara’s other three ships, was christened today in Monte Carlo. The newly revitalized ship will sail an 11-night inaugural voyage through the Mediterranean to Ravenna, Italy
What’s new? Azamara Onward will offer refreshed accommodations, additions to onboard venues and luxury retail spaces, as well as new entertainment options. For example, the ship’s new Atlas Bar will concoct new artisanal cocktails using the latest techniques. Guests can expect “smoking domes” and “nitro-infusions.” Four new signature shows also will debut – “Club Crooner,” “Amped Up,” “Wanderlust” and “Groove Tonight.”
During an inaugural Mediterranean season, Azamara Onward’s retail offerings, in partnership with Starboard Cruise Services, will include a stand-alone destination shop with goods from Spain, Italy, Greece, France and Portugal.
Longer Portugal River Season
As river cruising soars in popularity among American travelers, repeat travelers who’ve “been there, done that” on central Europe’s rivers are seeking new options. That’s fueled the popularity of Douro River cruises in Portugal. At Seatrade, AmaWaterways unveiled plans to lengthen its Douro sailing season through the end of December in both 2022 and 2023.
In total, AmaWaterways will add 14 additional sailings roundtrip from Porto, Portugal on AmaDouro. Stay tuned here in a few days for more about that and other insight from Janet Bava, the river line's chief marketing officer.
New Murals for Windstar Cruises
Small-ship Windstar Cruises has partnered with Fountainhead Arts, a Miami-based arts organization to commission local South Florida artists to paint murals on its three Star Plus Class yachts – Star Pride, Star Legend and Star Breeze – as well as within Windstar’s new Miami office, opening in June 2022.
Fountainhead will assist Windstar in selecting the artists who will paint the murals over the next 15 months. Cruisers will find the new murals adorning the Star Grill’s top-deck aft wall.
Addition of Bio-Digesters
Carnival Cruise Line announced that it’s become the first major cruise line to employ bio-digesters across its entire fleet. In fact, more than 200 bio-digesters have been installed. These are enclosed containers that convert food waste into liquid at an accelerated rate and break down 99 percent of the food put into them.
The bio-digesters are already allowing Carnival's ships to discharge only processed food waste, which is more environmentally friendly than past processes. Without the bio-digesters, millions of pounds of unprocessed food waste would otherwise be discharged into the ocean. While that's lawfully allowed under international maritime law, the bio-digesters are a positive step forward in sustainability.
Margaritaville at Sea's New Entertainment
At Seatrade, Margaritaville at Sea's executives unveiled entertainment details for the line's Margaritaville at Sea Paradise. That refurbished, reimagined ship – the former Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line’s Grand Classica -- will begin sailing on May 14. It will operate short voyages roundtrip from the Port of Palm Beach, FL, to Grand Bahama Island.
Upon embarkation, guests will be greeted by island-inspired music, “Fins Up Crew” team members and Margaritaville stilt walkers. Within the ship’s Oasis Room and other onboard spaces, the line will offer musical entertainment, themed parties, streaming concerts, kids programming and late night comedy hours (on select departures).
The main entertainment attraction, “Tales from Margaritaville: Jimmy’s Ship Show” is an island musical odyssey. Written and produced by Jimmy Buffett and Frank Marshall, the show will offer stories and songs inspired by Buffett’s bestselling book, “Tales from Margaritaville.”
Atlas' New Insurance Perk & ELi Code
Luxe-adventure Atlas Ocean Voyages announced a new perk -- COVID-19 trip interruption and isolation insurance for all guests on all future voyages. That’s in addition to Atlas Assurance perks already included for guests within the cruise fare, such as emergency medical evacuation insurance, repatriation insurance and emergency medical and travel assistance.
Separately, Atlas and ELi Technology will introduce the new ELi Code, which the partners describe as the next generation of QR codes. With ELi Code, travelers can virtually immerse themselves in the line’s experience with a single scan. While QR codes send the user to one linked webpage, ELi Codes connect consumers to a mobile-optimized ELi page, which lives outside a social media platform and offers multimedia, multiple link options and information.
Emerald Luna Debuts
Robert Castro, senior director of marketing, Scenic Group, attended Seatrade to network with industry partners, advisors, media and suppliers about what’s new with both the Scenic and Emerald Cruises brands.Highlights discussed included the 2022 debut of the new 180-passenger Emerald Luna. Godmother Vanessa McGovern, travel industry advocate, educator and co-founder of Gifted Travel Network, will christen that vessel on July 21 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
In addition, Scenic Eclipse II is set to launch in second quarter 2023, sail the Mediterranean and then join sister Scenic Eclipse for the Antarctica season. Scenic also will introduce new Fly/Cruise options so guests can bypass the Drake Passage with flights to King George Island.
Uniworld's New Leanplan Program
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises announced a new partnership with Certified B Corporation to cut food waste throughout its fleet. In just three months, the partners' new science-backed Leanplan program has already reduced Uniworld’s food waste by 15 percent. Notably, that's only for deployment on just half the line's fleet, so more progress is expected as more river vessels are added to the program.
Bottom line? Look for the entire Uniworld fleet to have the Leanplan program on board by 2023. Uniworld’s goal is to cut total food waste in half by 2025. Parent company, The Travel Corporation, has a strong focus on sustainability efforts throughout its brands.
Nevis' "Around the Garden " Tour
Devon Liburd, CEO of the Nevis Tourism Authority (NTA), attended Seatrade to talk about the island’s elevated tourism product and the recent introduction of new activities as international travelers return to the island. Nevis recently launched a new Web site, sustainability project and an "Around the Garden Tour." That new tour unfolds in 40-minute or 60-minute sessions at a Cades Bay fruit farm.
New Seward, AK, Dock Project
As cruise visitors return after two years to southeastern Alaska, many will start/end their cruise in Seward. For 2022, passengers will disembark at the current Alaska Railroad dock in Seward, but the Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC) is pursuing a mega-project to replace that passenger dock and terminal. Royal Caribbean Group, which is finalizing a multi-year berthing agreement with AARC, supports the project.
This is tourism-positive as cruisers often travel directly from Seward to other Alaska interior destinations by train, so officials say that benefits many businesses throughout the state. If the Alaska State Legislature approves ARRC’s $60 million bond funding initiative this session, officials say that the new passenger dock can be up and running by the start of the 2024 summer season.
Paris’ Cluny Museum Reopens
For river cruisers sailing on Seine River cruises from Paris, and ocean cruisers whose ship calls at Le Havre, France, it’s good to know that the Cluny Museum (the country’s National Museum of the Middle Ages) on Boulevard Saint-Michel in Paris will reopen on May 12, 2022. After 20 months of restoration and modernization by the French Ministry of Culture, the museum will offer improved accessibility, a redesigned tour route and more.
New “Thor” Offers Zero Emission Potential
Sustainability efforts were a big part of this year’s Seatrade. A cutting-edge announcement was made by Ulstein, Norwegian ship design and ship building company. It's developed Ulstein Thor, a vessel that could make the vision of zero emissions for cruise operations a reality.
The innovative ship design uses a Thorium Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) to generate significant amounts of clean, safe electricity. Essentially, the vessel will operate as a mobile power/charging station for a new breed of battery-driven cruise ships.
The concept may be the missing piece of the zero emissions puzzle for maritime use, according to Cathrine Kristiseter Marti, Ulstein’s CEO, who said: “’Thor’ is essentially a floating, multi-purpose ‘power station’ that will enable a new battery revolution,”
Holland America Shifts Westerdam "Down Under"
Given uncertainty about access to Asian ports, Holland America Line plans to reposition Westerdam to Australia and New Zealand in fall 2022 and cancel its previously planned Asia voyages during that timeframe. The change impacts 11 sailings scheduled between Sept. 25, 2022, through Feb. 27, 2023.
When the ship returns to service on June 12 in Seattle, Washington, all Holland America ships will be back in service. Following the Alaska season, Westerdam will redeploy to Australia and New Zealand, add Southeast Asia ports in the winter and then resume full Asia cruises in February 2023.
ACL Outlines Fleet Additions, New Programs
Charles B. Robertson, president of American Cruise Lines, talked to media during a Seatrade press briefing about developments for the small-ship line, which now operates 15 coastal and river vessels that visit 34 states. He also spoke about the company's Chesapeake Shipbuilding operation in Salisbury, MD, which designs and builds all the small ships.
Chesapeake has the capability of building three small ships a year. That's important because on the fleet side, ACL will introduce two additional modern riverboats in the U.S. this year. Plus, the line's first two, hybrid-catamaran Project Blue ships are set to debut in 2023; in total, the line plans 12 of those Project Blue go-anywhere ships.
Robertson also outlined ACL’s new 2022 Domestic Flat Rate Airfare program and provided details about ACL's new three- and seven-night 2022 National Parks Post-Cruise Packages. Those take guests to Glacier National Park, Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park.
Shore Power at Port Everglades, FL
Engineering and design studies are underway to bring shore power – allowing ships to plug into the land-side electric grid and not run their engines in port – to all eight cruise ship berths at Port Everglades. That South Florida port is the world's third largest cruise home port. In March, Broward County and its Port Everglades Department reached a $495,000 agreement with Florida Power & Light (FPL) to explore providing electrical shore power (also called cold ironing) to those berths.
In a three-month preliminary design phase, FPL is now proceeding with designs for a new electrical sub-station and power distribution facilities at Port Everglades, as well as assessing the capability and capacity of the electrical grid and any potential infrastructure upgrades that may be needed. Port Everglades says many major cruise lines are supportive of the shore power project.
More Cruise-Focused Developments
For 2022, Valencia, Spain, has been designated as the World Design Capital and the European Capital of Smart Tourism. Cruise ship tourism has returned to Valencia and the destination has expanded its excursion offerings for cruise guests. The destination has added more outdoor alternatives including sports activities and trekking. Cruisers also have such sustainable options as bike or skateboard tours.
Other suppliers and destinations also announced new programs or expected higher cruise visitation numbers at Seatrade. For example, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Royal Caribbean officials spoke about expected increases in cruise passenger volumes. Cruise visitation to St. Croix, which welcomed 50,000 cruise passengers in 2019, could reach 140,000 passengers in 2023
In addition, St. Thomas' totals could soar from 500,000 in 2019 to 750,000 cruise visitors in 2023, officials said. A ferry directly from St. Thomas' Crown Bay to St. John also will carry up to 400 cruise passengers taking shore excursions.
So, as top cruise line and tourism executives pronounced at the conference's opening session: "We're Back."