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| The MS Nordlys is currently under repair from a fire that killed two crew members and wounded four more last Thursday. // (c) 2011 Boston Globe. |
The Global Voyages Group recently gained five new clients in the form of Scenic Tours, Scenic Cruises, Compagnie du Ponant, Sea Voyager Expeditions and Hurtigruten. The goal of CVC is to provide their services to niche tour operators that have experienced trouble reaching out to North American travel professionals and consumers. This is a large consolidation of services, with five large operators now receiving direct lines to North America all through the same source.
One of these operators experienced some turbulence last Thursday, Sept. 15 when a fire was detected aboard Hurtigruten’s MS Nordlys. None of the 207 guests aboard the vessel were harmed, but the fire claimed the lives of two crew members while hospitalizing four others. The remaining 51 crew members were unharmed by the fire. This is a difficult time for Hurtigruten, as the line must deal with a damaged ship, a halted itinerary and the loss of two crewmembers.
The newly re-flagged Steamboat American Queen will be launching in April 2012, working under the Great American Steamboat Company. Christopher Kyte, president; Jeffrey Krida, CEO; and Tim Rubacky, senior vice president of sales, marketing and product development were all available to comment on the ship’s re-launch.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s Project Breakaway contest came to an end Sept. 13, announcing the Norwegian Breakaway and the Norwegian Getaway as the line’s two new ships to be launched April 2013 and 2014. The contest, which decides the names of future ships based on input from vacationers, offers the winning entrants free access to the maiden voyages aboard the ships they had named.