Hop on board this week’s cruise news extravaganza! And by hop on board, we mean quietly read this post, preferably in the comfort of your home office.

Dubrovnik receives tick for sustainable tourism measures

The City of Dubrovnik has received a positive ranking for its sustainable tourism efforts from the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), providing a welcome endorsement for initiatives that have been supported by the international cruise industry.

In its report on the Croatian city released yesterday, the GSTC gave Dubrovnik a high ranking of 70 per cent after examining four pillars of destination sustainability: destination policy and planning, community involvement and benefits, management of cultural and natural assets, and management of environmental and natural resources. 

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has supported the city’s sustainability initiatives and last year signed a partnership agreement aimed at protecting Dubrovnik’s cultural heritage while also establishing the destination as a model of sustainable tourism management. The long-term partnership is designed to ensure the city continues to enjoy the important economic benefits of tourism, while at the same time managing visitation to protect its culture, history, and the way-of-life of its citizens.

Princess Cruises extends global pause on select sailings 

Due to extension of the closure of cruise ports in regions around the world and other factors impacting international travel, Princess Cruises is extending its pause in cruise operations with respect to the following voyages:

• All cruises sailing in and out of Australia through mid-September on Sea Princess, Majestic Princess, Sun Princess and Sapphire Princess
• All cruises in and out of Vancouver and Seattle in September and October on Coral Princess, Emerald Princess, Grand Princess, Royal Princess, Ruby Princess and Star Princess
• Pacific and California Coast 7-day roundtrip cruises from San Francisco departing in September and October 2020 on Star Princess
• All roundtrip cruises from Keelung, Taiwan, departing August 2020 on Majestic Princess

Oceania Cruises webinar 

Oceania Cruises will be hosting its fourth webinar topic as part of its educational series for travel partners.

Taking place on Thursday 11 June, from 1pm to 1:30pm AEST, The Finest Cuisine at Sea webinar will provide an in-depth overview of Oceania Cruises’ unique culinary offering for travel partners in Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

During the session, host Annabelle Brown, Business Development Manager, VIC, SA and TAS at Oceania Cruises, will showcase a behind-the-scenes look at the cruise line’s renowned range of speciality restaurants, its highly reputable and carefully selected chefs, and The Culinary Center™ – the world’s first hands-on cooking school at sea.

Brown will also highlight some of Oceania’s unique 2021 itineraries, currently part of The Ultimate Sale, as well as the onshore Culinary Discovery Tours available in the gastronomic meccas like Barcelona, Tuscany, and Provence.

To register for The Finest Cuisine at Sea webinar, please click HERE. Travel partners are encouraged to submit questions ahead of each session to insidesalesanz@oceaniacruises.com.

To access The Ultimate Sale toolkit please click HERE.

A-ROSA makes training debut on new CLIA Members Hub

A-ROSA River Cruises has partnered with CLIA Australasia to offer a new training module for the region’s travel agents, taking advantage of CLIA’s all-new Members Hub to provide practical online education.

The new course has been designed specifically for Australian and New Zealand travel agents, providing detailed insight into CLIA’s newest River Marketing Affiliate and its positioning within the European river cruise market. 

A-ROSA operates European river cruises with a fleet of 12 vessels, exploring waterways including the Rhine, Danube, Rhône, Seine and Douro, and offering city and nature tours as well as curated themed itineraries. The line joined CLIA Australasia at the start of this year as part of an expansion into Australian and New Zealand markets.

To access the A-ROSA course, log in to the Members Hub at HERE. 

PONANT’s Le Lapérouse commissioned for the repatriation of Wallis & Futuna residents

During the Covid-19 pandemic, PONANT was entrusted by the official authorities of Wallis and Futuna with the repatriation of several of its residents stranded in New Caledonia. The first repatriation trip was completed on Sunday the 24 May, allowing more than a hundred residents of Wallis and Futuna to return home.

The French islands of Wallis and Futuna closed their borders on 16 March, and have not been subject to any Covid-19 contamination. The health situation is identical for the PONANT fleet, which has ceased all its cruise activities since 15 March. There have been no cases of contamination on board any of its 11 ships. In this strict sanitary context, an unprecedented operation was launched on the 8 May to repatriate the population of Wallis and Futuna stranded in Noumea.

It was on board the ship Le Lapérouse, chartered by the State Services in Wallis and Futuna, that 112 residents were able to return to their homes under the strictest medical conditions possible undertaken according to a precise protocol. After 5 days of sailing from Noumea to Mata Utu, the ship remained at anchor for 9 days to complete their quarantine in compliance with the instructions imposed by the health authorities and PONANT procedures.

Disembarkation, which took place in several stages between Friday the 22 May and Sunday the 24 May, was carried out deck by deck according to the results of medical checks and PCR tests carried out on all passengers, all of which were negative.

Viking’s new agent image library 

Viking has launched a new and improved image library for agents, a valuable resource for agents to utilise when developing their Viking marketing activity.

The easy-to-navigate library is accessible from today via the line’s marketing centre and features an extensive range of over 350 images.

The library covers the entire Viking fleet of river, ocean and expedition ships, providing easy access to both interior and exterior photographs – including renders of new ships: Viking Mississippi and the line’s two expedition ships, Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris, currently under construction and launching in 2022.

Agents will also find a range of destination and on-shore imagery that relate to each of Viking’s different itineraries and experiences on the ground – from the Arctic to the Antarctic, Mississippi, Scandinavia, Europe and Australia & New Zealand, as well as Viking logos in a range of formats.

In addition, there are Viking video assets available to download at the marketing centre to support social media marketing.

For more information, log in to Viking’s agent portal to visit the marketing centre.

MSC Cruises extends halt in cruising operations

MSC Cruises has announced that it will further extend the temporary fleet-wide halt of its cruise operation through to 31 July 2020. 

Guests affected by the cancelled cruises up to 31 July 2020, will receive a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) for 125 per cent of the value of their cancelled cruise to a future cruise of their choice – on any ship, for any itinerary, through to the end of 2021.

The Swiss-based cruise line has reconfirmed its full summer programme for 2021, starting in March 2021, which will include two new ships currently under construction and a series of new or enriched itineraries and homeports.

Norwegian’s ‘peace of mind’ bookings

Norwegian Cruise Lines has launched a series of enhanced health and safety protocols to give your clients peace of mind.

Working closely with the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) the line is adding new protocols fleetwide including all-new air filtration, enhanced screening protocols, increased sanitation measures, social distancing, enhanced medical resources and extended ship to shore safety.

On top of this, the line is adding more flexibility to its bookings, allowing cancellations up to 48 hours before, 100 per cent future cruise credits and risk-free booking. For more information, go HERE.