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A growing number of cruise holiday vacationers could soon be ranking Puerto Rico ahead of Jamaica and the Dominican Islands as the top port destination in the Caribbean.
That's according to Nicole Rodriguez, chief marketing officer at Puerto Rico Tourism Company, who revealed that Puerto Rico saw a four per cent rise in visitors this year.
This rise came despite the ongoing recession, which has seen many cut back on holiday spending, meaning a further rise could be on the cards once the financial markets begin to recover.
Speaking at London's World Travel Market earlier this month, Ms Rodriguez said: “Our main goal in the UK market is to let them know that we're not that far away, and second of all that Puerto Rico has a lot more to offer than great beaches."
"You can drive or walk around and enjoy a lot of good products," she said.
Chief among these is the famous music and fine cuisine that has been a popular fixture of Puerto Rico for the last twenty years.
With prices proving competitive, the emergence of Puerto Rico could signal major chances in the world of Caribbean cruises.
Would you consider visiting as part of a Caribbean cruise holiday?
MSC Cruises is looking to make the most of its Arabian Gulf sailing packages by offering a special Valentine's Day cruise this February.
The move will see the MSC Lirica transformed into a lover's paradise from February 12th to 19th as it embarks on its recently created Middle-East tours.
As part of the Valentine-focused cruise, MSC will be offering a special Rose Petal Package of luxury items for the romantically inclined.
This includes a bottle of Il Vino dell'Amore along with a Moscato Spumante and petit fours as part of the deluxe package.
The deal is MSC Cruises latest attempt at drumming up interest in its Abu Dhabi focused cruises.
It comes after the firm announced that its MSC Lirica vessel would be conducting cruise holidays along Oman and the United Arab Emirates through the winter months.
Back in October, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority chairman HH Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan welcomed the arrival of the MSC Lirica to the region.
"We hope she has set a course that many others will follow," he said at the event.
Former Britain's Got Talent competitor and ventriloquist Gareth Oliver is edging closer to the title of Princess Cruises' Entertainer of the Year.
Mr. Oliver previously featured as a contestant on the ITV reality show Britain's Got Talent back in 2009, when he made it through to the semi-finals of the show.
Since then he has been performing his ventriloquist act for cruise holiday makers across the world as a cruise line act for some of the most famous companies in the business.
He is now just one step away from a place in the final of the Princess Cruises competition, where he could perform to audiences aboard the Ruby Princess in April of this year.
According to the Halifax Courier, in order to do that though, he must compete with two other acts for the coveted fifth spot in the final
Speaking in an interview with the paper, Mr. Oliver said: "Britain’s Got Talent was great but a lot of people who entered that were amateur performers.
"This is out of 2,000 professional perfomers, so it’s a real honour."
Fans can vote for their favourite performance on the Princess Cruises' website, with finalists competing aboard the eastern Caribbean trip in two months time.
Norwegian Cruise Line has announced it is to revitalise its current youth program. The re-branded program will be introduced on Norwegian Gem in mid-February and will be rolled out to all of the line’s cruise ships subsequently.
“More and more families are choosing a cruise for their vacation since it represents such a good value and offers so much for the entire family. In fact, close to 150,000 children sailed on our ships in 2010 and that number continues to rise,” said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Line’s chief executive officer. “We’ve already taken family programming to the next level by offering Nickelodeon experiences on some ships. Now, we want to make sure that we are continuing to offer the best possible experience for families. To do this, we are investing millions of dollars in revamping our youth and family programming.”
The current program, Norwegian’s Kid’s Crew in place since 1999, will be renamed and the age groups are being redefined to better address the skills and interests of children. The new age groups will be: three to five years; six to eight years; nine to 12 years; along with two teen groups: 13 to 14 and 15 to 17 years. There will also be programming for babies and toddlers ages six months to two years.
The new fully developed and enhanced curriculum tailored to each age group is being produced in conjunction with The King’s Foundation and Camps, a United Kingdom-based organisation that provides high quality sport and activity programs designed to make a positive impact on children. More focus will be placed on sporting activities, arts and crafts, theater and technology. Activities will change every 30 to 60 minutes depending on the age group and will be set within blocks of programming time in the morning, afternoon and evening.
The new curriculum will also include creative themes, such as circus day, theater/technology/sports and port of call day. The company has engaged Cirque Du Jour, a New York-based company that specializes in teaching children real circus skills such as scarf juggling, ball juggling, plate spinning, clowning and acrobatics. Circus workshops and shows will also be offered for the entire family.
In addition, the youth programs will be expanded to utilise other areas of the ships, including the sports courts, rock walls, theaters, lounges and public spaces and will feature more family events such as parades and scavenger hunts.
“We want to ensure our youth and teens are engaged in the programs we offer and that they are having fun,” said Richard Ambrose, Norwegian Cruise Line’s vice president of entertainment. “We have designed this new youth program to cater to the specific interests and skill sets of children and teens to ensure that they are having the vacation of a lifetime.”
The company is also investing in its youth staff, by increasing the ratio of staff to children and establishing new criteria for the hiring of counselors, including the requirement of a college degree in recreation or child care (or the equivalent experience).
The line currently offers exclusive Nickelodeon family events, shows and activities on three ships: Norwegian Epic, Norwegian Jewel and Norwegian Gem (beginning mid-February). Activities include pool games, breakfast with the characters, where kids – and adults – can eat, sing and play with SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Patrick, Diego and more; Dora’s Dance Party, where kids can join Dora and the Nickelodeon cast to dance and sing along; meet and greets with popular Nickelodeon characters, including SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer and many more. In addition, there are also other family activities offered, including Nick Jr. story time, family trivia and special arts and crafts sessions.
Royal Caribbean today began selling cruise holidays to the Caribbean island of St. Vincent - a first for the 42-year-old company.
The line's 2,000-passenger Vision of the Seas will visit the destination as part of new 11-night Southern Caribbean voyages out of Fort Lauderdale scheduled to start December this year.
The trips are among 19 new Caribbean and Panama Canal sailings the line has announced for the ship for the coming winter of 2012-13. Also announced: A series of 10-night Eastern Caribbean voyages that include the line's first calls in Martinique in nearly four years; several other 11-night Southern Caribbean sailings that don't include a stop in St. Vincent; and four Panama Canal sailings that last 14 to 15 nights.
In addition to Martinique, the new Eastern Caribbean cruises include stops in Tortola, St. Maarten, Dominica, Antigua, St. Kitts and St. Croix. The Panama Canal sailings will be one-way between Fort Lauderdale and San Diego.
Based in Europe for the summer, Vision of the Seas will sail to Fort Lauderdale from Southampton, England on Sept. 21 in a 14-night, trans-Atlantic repositioning cruise that includes calls at Gijon and Vigo, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; and Ponta Delgada, Azores. It'll return to Europe in April, 2013 with a 13-night, trans-Atlantic cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Southampton that includes calls at Lisbon; Vigo, Spain; and Le Havre, France.
Exciting news for ‘Strictly’ fans, you can now join the stars of the show next summer on two P&O Cruises holidays.
P&O Cruises will have top names from the highly-rated BBC programme Strictly Come Dancing on two Oriana cruises – a 12 night Canary Islands cruise on May 28 and a 14 night Fjords cruise on July 14. Passengers can learn how to jive, foxtrot, rumba, quickstep and more from the professionals and join acerbic judge Craig Revel-Horwood for a night in the theatre.
As some of Strictly’s most loved professionals show off their award-winning routines, passengers will also be able to see a collection of the exquisitely intricate costumes worn by the celebrities and stars this series.
P&O Cruises’ managing director, Carol Marlow said: “We are so excited to bring the magic of the Strictly ballroom to Oriana this summer. Our passengers will be able to learn with the professional dancers, watch extraordinary show dances and hear some of the secrets of this global phenomenon.”
Richard Halliwell, Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with The Stars’ commercial brand director, said: “The Strictly brand is very well suited to an ocean cruise given the heady mixture of elegance, romance, high-class entertainment and exhilarating destinations. We’re very excited about this new adventure with P&O Cruises and I believe Craig Revel-Horwood has already packed his bags!”
Prices for Oriana’s X206 12 night Canary Islands cruise departing May 28 start at £1,349 per person. Departing from and returning to Southampton, ports of call are Ponta Delgada, Horta, Madeira, Gran Canaria, Lisbon and Vigo.
Prices for Oriana’s X212 14 night Fjords cruise departing July 14 start at £1,599 per person. Departing from and returning to Southampton, ports of call are Stavanger, Alesund, Trondheim, cruise in Trondheimsfjord, Ny Alesund, Tromso, Bergen, Eidfjord and cruise in Hardangerfjord.
The number of people embarking on cruise holidays to Dublin has risen in 2011 according to new results released this week.
According to the report, published in Afloat magazine, the Dublin cruise industry performed well in 2011, with an increase of 7.5 per cent in passenger levels over the past year.
These increases were spread across 87 different cruises scheduled during 2011 and came against a backdrop of financial difficulty for mainland Ireland.
In total, an impressive 135,000 passengers and crew came to the Irish capital, generating a total of €35 million - €55 million (£29 million – 46 million) to the local economy.
More significantly still, the number of high-spend cruise passengers visiting the capital since the start of the millennium has now reached 750,000 with a total revenue of €400m in that period.
The Dublin cruise season traditionally operates from April to October and recently received a boosted after MSC Cruises announced that the MSC Lirica will sail to ports in Dublin and Cork from next August.
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