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Cruise Hive brings you the entire high information tales from the cruise trade daily, and as regular, we now have this week’s massive headlines lined, with articles about Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, the Caribbean island of Grand Turk, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Line.
Cruise Information Replace
It’s been one other busy week for cruise information at Cruise Hive, so let’s get going with this week’s information replace, the place we now have protection on Carnival Cruise Line itineraries that may name at Celebration Key, Princess Cruises detailing the eating venues aboard the new-build Solar Princess, Grand Turk taking steps to spice up its cruise customer expertise, Royal Caribbean elevating the minimal age for an adult-only space, Norwegian Cruise Line alerting visitors to a brand new tax from Spain, and a Caribbean vacation spot including a brand new passenger tax on Royal Caribbean visitors.
Itineraries to Celebration Key are Revealed
Carnival Cruise Line’s new non-public vacation spot on Grand Bahama Island, referred to as Celebration Key, might be a port name for a dozen of its ships crusing from a number of residence ports, with the primary visits beginning in July 2025.
The cruise line has revealed some itineraries that may name on the unique vacation spot in 2025 and 2026. They vary from 3- to 14-night cruises crusing from eight residence ports. All instructed, some 400 cruises could be booked now, by visitors desirous to see the brand new cruise line retreat.
Friends crusing from Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia, and Alabama ports have alternatives to e-book a cruise that calls at Celebration Key, described as a tropical paradise with genuine Bahamian influences.
Pattern cruises that characteristic a go to to the vacation spot embody 3-night sailings from PortMiami aboard Carnival Conquest in 2025, 5-night cruises from Jacksonville, Florida, on Carnival Elation, additionally in 2025, and a 14-night Panama Canal voyage from Baltimore, Maryland, aboard Carnival Satisfaction in 2026.
Celebration Key additionally might be a port name on two transatlantic voyages aboard Mardi Gras in 2025, an eastbound voyage from Port Canaveral to Barcelona on September 13 and the return westbound crusing from the Spanish metropolis again to Florida on October 16.
Carnival Cruise Line will reveal many extra Celebration Key itineraries on extra ships within the coming months.
Eating Decisions Detailed on Solar Princess
Princess Cruises revealed the numerous eating choices visitors aboard the new-build Solar Princess will take pleasure in when the ship debuts in February 2024.
The ship, first of the road’s Sphere Class and the biggest within the Princess Cruises’ fleet, will provide 29 eating and lounge choices. New venues embody Umai Teppanyaki, serving Japanese delicacies, and the Reserve Assortment Restaurant, for suite visitors, providing distinctive companies comparable to desk facet service from the Prime Rib Carving Trolley.
The ship’s Horizons Eating Room might be a three-deck-high house, with various ranges of ritual based mostly on deck degree. The venue is the ship’s major eating room and can serve three meals every day.
A number of Princess Cruises favorites might be included on the 4,300-guest Solar Princess, comparable to O’Malley’s Irish Pub, The Catch by Rudy, a seafood venue, the Crown Grill steakhouse, and Sabatini’s, that includes Italian specialties.
Burgers, tacos, pizza, and extra might be supplied on the Lido Deck, and within the ship’s central Piazza, visitors can take pleasure in cocktails at Good Spirits at Sea and at Bellini’s Cocktail Bar.
Solar Princess will debut in Europe, crusing a sequence of Western Mediterranean cruises between Rome and Barcelona, and roundtrip from Rome.
Island’s Customer Expertise Score Falls
Authorities officers and residents of Grand Turk, the capital island of the Turks and Caicos archipelago, sat down with representatives of Carnival Cruise Line to handle a decline within the vacation spot’s customer expertise rankings and income decreases on the port’s Grand Turk Cruise Middle and at native companies.
Carnival Cruise Line delivers the lion’s share of cruise arrivals to the island, and estimates it’s going to deliver 1.1 million visitors to Grand Turk in 2024. In 2023, 10 of the road’s ships will make 45 port calls at Grand Turk.
The decline in customer expertise and port income, reported by a neighborhood media outlet, is basically attributed to a scarcity of onshore actions and excursions, in addition to drug-related incidents and bodily altercations.
Among the many speaking factors have been infrastructure enhancements, including native distributors to the island’s Downtown Carnival Middle, a recycling program to handle tourism waste, and sure investments by the cruise line.
Safety options included the prospect of sniffer canine to assist with drug incidents. Carnival Cruise Line executives pledged to work with the local people on enhancements.
Whereas Carnival Cruise Line is the highest cruise trade participant on Grand Turk, different strains go to the island, together with sister manufacturers Princess Cruises and Holland America Line. Different non-Carnival Company manufacturers that decision at Grand Turk embody Virgin Voyages and Marella Cruises. In all, the island will obtain 68 cruise ship calls this 12 months.
Cruise Line Raises Minimal Age For Retreat Space
Royal Caribbean raised the minimal age requirement at its adult-only Solarium retreat space from 16 to 18. Supplied on all of its ships, the Solarium has a pool, sizzling tubs, and lounge areas, and both a glass or retractable roof.
On ships crusing from China ports, the road has no age restriction for utilizing the Solarium, nevertheless, the house is reserved for suite and loyalty standing visitors. It’s unknown whether or not that coverage is altering for China cruises.
In all different locations, youngsters have been allowed into the realm at 16 years outdated. Royal Caribbean stated the change is supposed to deliver the minimal age requirement consistent with different adult-only areas aboard its ships. The brand new coverage was revealed in a communication despatched to journey brokers, and was attributed to visitor suggestions.
The change prompted combined reactions from cruisers. Some welcomed the upper age requirement, whereas others predicted it might be a problem to implement. The truth is, some visitors identified that enforcement was inconsistent on previous cruises.
The Solarium sometimes has a bar or cafe, which isn’t at all times an age-restricted venue, that means that youthful visitors are allowed to entry the realm. Royal Caribbean is altering the age restriction throughout all ships in its fleet.
Friends Alerted to Spain’s Tax Expenses
Norwegian Cruise Line despatched a notification to visitors and journey brokers explaining how worth added tax (VAT) impacts cruisers crusing in Spain’s territorial waters or calling at a Spanish port.
All retail purchases made onboard incur a 21% VAT, and eating and beverage purchases incur 10% — even when visitors had pre-paid for a specialty eating or all-inclusive drinks package deal.
It signifies that even those that booked a Free at Sea drinks plan might be charged a ten% tax on any drinks ordered whereas the ship is in a Spanish port or crusing in Spanish waters. Ditto for meals ordered at a specialty restaurant.
The VAT guidelines stem from the Spanish authorities’s try to make sure that vacationers on cruise ships pay the identical tax as these on land-based holidays. Friends who pre-pay for a eating or beverage package deal will see Spain’s tax expenses listed on their onboard accounts earlier than debarkation.
Whereas Barcelona is the biggest Spanish cruise port by far, with an estimated 2.3 million cruise visitors in 2022, a number of different ports within the nation continuously appeal to cruise ships, together with Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Cadiz, and Valencia.
USVI Approves a New Per-Passenger Price
The US Virgin Islands accepted a Capital Value Restoration Cost that’s anticipated to be handed alongside to cruise visitors within the type of a $5 per passenger charge.
The cost is slated to be utilized beginning January 1, 2024, to cruisers crusing aboard the manufacturers of Royal Caribbean Group. That’s as a result of the investments in port infrastructure enchancment and dredging tasks are largely aimed toward supporting visits by Royal Caribbean’s bigger ships.
Nevertheless, all Royal Caribbean Group manufacturers are topic to the charge, together with Movie star Cruises and Silversea Cruises, plus TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, each 50% owned by the group, and Pullmantur Cruises, 49% owned by the group.
Ships that dock on the Austin “Babe” Monsanto Marine Terminal in Crown Bay, St. Thomas, and the Ann E. Abramson Marine Facility in Frederiksted, St. Croix, might be topic to the charge. One of many main tasks, for instance, is dredging the St. Croix harbor to permit Royal Caribbean’s larger Freedom-class ships to name.
Different cruise strains name at each ports, together with Carnival Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, and Norwegian Cruise Line, and it’s attainable that the restoration charge could possibly be prolonged to these strains sooner or later.
Extra Cruise Headlines
Now that you just’re caught up on the highest cruise tales from this week, Cruise Hive has much more information that you just received’t need to miss, comparable to Holland America Line finishing its shore energy refits, Boston welcoming the largest cruise ship to go to this season, a 155-night world cruise from Azamara, an MSC Cruises’ ship altering ports attributable to climate considerations, and the Port of Galveston anticipating to interrupt cruise data in 2023.
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