October 2014

Cruise Planners franchisees leverage month-long campaign to help drive cruise sales.

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The annual Travel Weekly Magellan Awards recognize the best in the travel industry, and the publication has revealed that Celebrity Cruises won more honors than any other cruise line, once again, with 26 awards. The 2014 Magellan Awards results mark the fourth consecutive year that the modern luxury brand has won the highest number of honors.

Celebrity won 11 Gold Magellan Awards in 2014, including top honors for new enticing onboard entertainment, Indulgence; and respective design awards for the one-of-a-kind Reflection Suite, the newly introduced Canyon Ranch SpaClub and the ‘uniquely unordinary’ Qsine – the specialty restaurant's third consecutive award. The brand also was recognized in the "Cruise Marketing" category for its website and promotional videos.

The cruise vacation company received 15 Silver Magellan Awards. Among the honors include two of Celebrity's modern, luxurious ships - Celebrity Reflection (Premium Cruise Ship and Large Cruise Ship) and Celebrity Equinox  (Eco-friendly "Green" Cruise Ship); mobile apps, CruiseLingo and Destinations: Galapagos; engaging travel partner website – The Celebrity Commitment, and LGBT-dedicated print advertising.

For more information about the awards, visit www.travelweeklyawards.com.

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Holland America Line is planning special promotions for CLIA Cruise Week which runs Oct. 6-13, 2014. Organized by Cruise Lines International Association, the weeklong event features promotions and online opportunities to give consumers a perfect opportunity to book a cruise vacation while taking advantage of special savings.

“Each year CLIA Cruise Week highlights cruising as a vacation choice, and we are celebrating by offering special promotions to entice travelers to book their dream vacation,” said Richard Meadows, executive vice president, marketing, sales and guest programs for Holland America Line. “By combining the Explore4 offer and an onboard spending credit, guests can get an exceptional rate this week on a Holland America Line cruise.”

Throughout the week, Holland America Line will be featuring the exclusive Explore4 promotion on select 2015 and 2016 sailings that provides four added-value extras — a free Signature Beverage Package and free Pinnacle Grill dinner for guests booking an ocean-view and higher category stateroom, free or reduced cruise fares for third and fourth guests in the same stateroom and 50 percent reduced deposits. Suite bookings also receive a $300 on-board spending credit per stateroom ($150 per person) and a free Canaletto dinner in addition to the other four offers.

Guests looking to take advantage of the Explore4 program can choose select itineraries to nearly all of Holland America Line’s global destinations, including Alaska and Alaska/Yukon Land+Sea Journeys, Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Bermuda, Canada/New England, Caribbean, Europe, Mexico/Hawaii, Panama Canal and South America.

Travelers making a booking on select 2014 through 2016 cruises during the week also receive a special CLIA Cruise Week onboard spending credit, depending on the length of the cruise and type of cabin booked. Guests can receive up to a $400 per stateroom ($200 per person) onboard spending credit in addition to all four Explore4 offers, when applicable. For example, guests who book a suite on 10- to 14-day cruises receive a $300 per stateroom ($150 per person) onboard spending credit.

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Holland America Group CEO Stein Kruse presented a check for $25,000 to Seattle Children’s Hospital’s Uncompensated Care Fund Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, at the Seattle Mariners home game at Safeco Field. The company made the donation as part of its partnership with the Seattle Mariners Major League Baseball team and their “K’s for Kids” program that debuted during the 2014 baseball season.

With “K’s for Kids,” each strikeout (represented as a “K” on the score card) recorded by a Mariners pitcher at Safeco Field throughout the season earned a cash donation from the cruise line to Seattle Children’s. Kruse was joined on the field during the check presentation by 14-year-old Seattle Children’s patient Jake Finkbonner and his family and the Seattle Mariners Major League Baseball All Star and Cy Young award-winning pitcher Félix Hernández.

“It is rewarding to partner with the Seattle Mariners, who prioritize giving back to the community as we do, and we’ve eagerly been following the season in anticipation of today’s presentation,” said Kruse. “The Seattle Mariners earned this donation for Seattle Children’s with 667 strikeouts at home this season, and it was an honor to share the field with a young man as courageous and inspirational as Jake.”

For the past three years, Holland America Line and the Mariners have maintained a partnership that, in addition to a corporate sponsorship, includes community-based programs. The cruise line sponsors “Get Well Tours” to area hospitals and donated two cruises for raffle at the annual Fan Appreciation Night, on Friday, Sept. 26.

“Holland America Line has been a tremendous supporter over the past three years, and their “K’s for Kids” donation is a very special and meaningful piece of the partnership,” said Bob Aylward, executive vice president of corporate business for the Seattle Mariners. “We know that Seattle Children’s will greatly benefit from the generous donation made during Saturday’s game.”

Holland America Line Get Well Tours Holland America Line is the presenting sponsor of the Seattle Mariners Get Well Tours, visits to area hospitals by Mariners players and the Mariner Moose where children receive photos and autographs. They also get a Holland America Line–branded sports bag filled with Mariners and baseball-related items such as replica baseballs and a Mariner Moose toy.

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Dynamic New Culinary Concepts, Broadway Show and Exciting Retail Offerings, to Debut on Oasis-Class

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Sharna Burgess and Artem Chigvintsev are scheduled to perform onboard

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Ultimate itineraries deeply explore both Mexico and Hawaii

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TAKE THE SHOPPING CRUISE WITH MSC SPLENDIDA AND COME HOME WITH BAGS FULL OF GREAT MEMORIES

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Princess Cruises will ring in the new year and its 50^th anniversary in an unprecedented way – with its first-ever float in the world-famous Rose Parade on January 1 in Pasadena, Calif. As a special feature the six original cast members of The Love Boattelevision show will ride on the ship’s bow and “cruise” down the five-and-a-half mile parade route.

In addition to paying tribute to the television show that made Princess Cruises one of the most famous names in cruising, the Rose Parade float will depict the line’s newest ship Regal Princess symbolically sailing through the world’s fascinating destinations and iconic landmarks that guests have experienced with Princess for the past 50 years.

“Since the theme of this year’s Rose Parade is ‘Inspiring Stories,’ we can think of no more perfect opportunity to launch our 50^th anniversary year celebrations,” said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises. “For the last five decades of our guests sailing with us to amazing places, they’ve returned with inspiring memories that have lasted a lifetime, and we want to celebrate this on the very first day of 2015.”

She added that because The Love Boat played such a distinctive part in the company’s history, including the cast members on the Rose Parade float was fun opportunity to pay tribute to the television show that introduced Princess Cruises and modern-day cruising to millions of Americans for ten years from 1977 to 1986.

The Love Boat cast, including Gavin MacLeod (Captain Stubing), Fred Grandy (Chief Purser Gopher), Ted Lange (Bartender Isaac), Bernie Kopell (Doc), Lauren Tewes (Cruise Director Julie) and Jill Whelan (Captain’s daughter Vicki), will have just officially named Regal Princess, having served as the ship’s godparents prior to their appearance in the New Year’s Day parade.

Famous for being held under sunny skies when much of the country is experiencing winter weather, the Rose Parade is viewed by some 700,000 spectators lining the parade route, and by approximately 80 million viewers on television around the globe. It is part of “America’s New Year Celebration®” and includes numerous floral floats, spirited marching bands and high-stepping equestrian units.

The Princess Cruises float, being designed and built by Phoenix Decorating Company, will be 60 feet long and 24 feet high, and will be covered by more than 24,000 thousand flowers and natural materials.

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New Princess@Sea Cruise App Allows Guests to Connect Onboard

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“We are proud of our partnership with American Express Travel and honored to have been awarded with this prestigious classification,”

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Silversea's intimate, all-suite Silver Galapagosis currently sailing on her first expedition voyage following completion of a second phase of renovations undertaken in September, during a month-long dry dock in Panama.

All of the ship's suites, corridors and the Explorer Lounge have been completely refurbished. An elegant blue and beige colour palette was utilised to create an interior décor echoing that of the recently refurbished Silver Discoverer.

These further enhancements have achieved a consistency of interior design within the expedition fleet. The 100-guest Silver Galapagos underwent an initial partial refurbishment last year, highlighted by the installation of new in-suite bathrooms featuring rich marble detailing, plus a new fitness centre, massage room, beauty salon, outdoor Jacuzzi, and Silversea's signature outdoor dining venue, The Grill.

Silver Galapagos sails Saturday to Saturday on seven-day voyages through the Galápagos Islands, following either a western or north central route. These expedition cruises offer adventurous travellers the life-enriching chance to discover a wild, pristine paradise that has long been regarded as a natural laboratory of evolution. On complimentary expeditions ashore guided by an experienced expedition team (certified by the Galápagos National Park Service), Silversea's guests may experience up-close encounters with an abundance of wildlife that includes sun-basking land iguanas, giant tortoises, blue- and red-footed boobies, colourful marine iguanas, sea lions, penguins and Darwin's famous finches.

For more information contact a Cruise Travel Agent.

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St. Thomas, Bonaire, Aruba, Caribbean cruise,

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P&O Cruises is offering a rare opportunity to witness two natural phenomenons in one unique holiday; to see a total solar eclipse and, with luck, spot the elusive aurora borealis.


Exclusively for adults, join Oriana’s 14-night cruise departing from Southampton on March 17, 2015 on its scenic quest to the remote Faroe Islands and northern Norway before returning back to Southampton.


With a full solar eclipse taking place on March 20, 2015, Oriana will be berthed in Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands and the best place to view the last total solar eclipse for over a decade in Europe.


Oriana will then cruise to and stay overnight in both Tromsø and Alta, known as ‘the town of the Northern Lights’ where a huge choice of excursions are on offer including a husky adventure, reindeer sledging, snow mobile rides, a visit to an ice hotel and dedicated trips in search of the Northern Lights with an expert guide.


Select Prices for the 14-night solar eclipse & Northern Lights cruise on Oriana (X506N) start from £1,799 per person based on two sharing with £140 free on board spending money per cabin. To book, contact your local travel agent.


Book before November 30, 2014 and Early Saver prices are available from £1,349 per person.

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2014 Score is Highest of All Small, Midsize, and Large-Ship Cruise Lines

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Global Cruise Line Debuts The World's First Smartship

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2014 Score is Highest of All Small, Midsize, and Large-Ship Cruise Lines

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Holland America Line’s ms Eurodam achieved a perfect score of 100 on a recent routine United States Public Health inspection conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This achievement marks the seventh consecutive perfect score for the ship.

The unannounced inspection of ms Eurodam was held Oct. 22, 2014, during a call at Boston, Mass. The ship recently repositioned cruise to Fort. Lauderdale, Fla., for its Caribbean season.

“To earn a score of 100 on any given public health inspection is fantastic, but to earn seven consecutive perfect scores is beyond extraordinary,” said Richard Meadows, Holland America Line’s executive vice president, sales, marketing and guest programs. “The perfect scores reflect the dedication by all involved, and congratulations go out to all of the hard-working team members both onboard and ashore who contributed to this incredible achievement.”

During U.S.P.H. inspections earlier this year, ms Westerdam and ms Statendam also earned scores of 100. Along with ms Eurodam, ms Zaandam achieved a 100 on its inspection in 2013.

CDC inspections are part of the Vessel Sanitation Program, which was introduced in the early 1970s and is required for all passenger ships that call at a U.S. port. The inspections are unannounced and are carried out by officials from the United States Public Health Service twice a year for every cruise ship. The score, on a scale from one to 100, is assigned on the basis of a checklist involving dozens of areas of assessment, encompassing hygiene and sanitation of food (from storage to preparation), overall galley cleanliness, water, shipboard personnel and the ship as a whole.

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