On the new itinerary front, Holland America Line unveiled new European itineraries for 2024, while Royal Caribbean International announced new Caribbean cruises for 2024-2025.
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises also announced its second annual "Rivers of the World" cruise for 2024. The 55-day itinerary departs on October 3, 2024, from Lima, Peru, and will take 68 guests on a journey spanning rivers in South America, Europe and Asia, covering 10 countries and four river vessels.
It's also the week for many World Cruise departures. For instance, Travel Agent attended the 2023 World Cruise Gala Dinner onboard Regent Seven Seas Cruises' Mariner, which was docked at PortMiami on Saturday night. The ship is now sailing a 143-night, around-the-world voyage to South America, the South Pacific, Asia and Africa. The World Cruise will end in Barcelona, Spain.
In other news, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) unveiled a new brand called "Experiences at Sea." It partners Sixthman Festivals at Sea, well-known for its "music cruise" ship charters, with NCLH's charters, meetings and incentives division. Experiences at Sea will start off by hosting 13 different, consecutive affinity events, spanning 66 nights. Experiences at Sea will also collaborate with Infinity Sports & Events for Rugby World Cup game cruises that include official tickets to the matches.
The Antarctica cruise season is also in full swing. Luxury Travel Advisor, our sister publication, sailed to the "White Continent" as part of one of Silversea Cruises' "Antarctica Bridge" experiences in late December. Heading to Antarctica isn’t akin to an overnight trip to Europe or South America, however, where eager explorers get off their international flight, clear immigration and within an hour or two begin exploring their destination. To prep adventurous travelers, we detailed what it's like getting there.
Trade Sales News
Cruise Planners introduced a new amenity tracking tool. It's designed to help streamline and organize travel perks by enabling advisors to add amenities such as onboard credits, prepaid gratuities, beverage packages, specialty dining, Wi-Fi and more to a reservation in Cruise Planners’ booking engine CP Maxx.
Celebrity Cruises appointed Katina Athanasiou as vice president of sales, the Americas. Most recently, she served as senior vice president, sales, Silversea. Prior to that, she served as chief sales officer for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, besides various other sales management roles for the line’s brands.
Greek operator Celestyal Cruises doubled its North American sales team and debuted an online training program. Separately, Virgin Voyages hired its first Canada sales manager.
At American Queen Voyages, several new executives were appointed. Among them is Angela Composto as vice president of marketing.
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