Cruise Holidays Irish Cruise Blog

It's here! The Cruise Holidays & Tour America Red Cow Annual Holiday Sale Day.

Tour America & Cruise Holidays, Ireland's leading tour operator to the USA and Cruise Holidays, are this week launching our Annual Sale Day at The Red Cow Moran Hotel to take place on Sunday 7th October.

 

This is the 12th year Tour America & Cruise Holidays have run this holiday show, and we have organised for suppliers from all over the USA to join us on the day. From cruise companies such as Norwegian Cruise Line with a host of special offers and top tips for our cruise clients. Some of the key tourist boards from the USA will also be there including Florida Beaches, Las Vegas, Massachusetts, California, Deep South and much more.

There will be at least 30 exhibitors, with lots of gifts for you and your family; there will be a children's area, and all the Tour America experts there to bring you all the exclusive offers of the day. In addition, we will have key guest speakers to keep you up to date with all that is travel, and to provide you with additional information on all the destinations available to book in the USA wih tips, advice and special offers on the day.

And if you're a technology savvy person, you'll be able to connect with us on the day through Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Foresquare. We'll be taking pictures and videos so you can tag yourself, we'll be tweeting event information (Q times, deals on the day etc.) and much more. And we'll have a competition on the day to give one lucky person a €100 One4All gift voucher just for checking in on their mobile phone either through Facebook or Foresquare. If you have been before, you will know how busy it is, so arrive early. If you have not been before, now is your chance to take advantage of the best holiday prices for the USA and cruising. Doors open at 10am (admission is free) and the fun continues till 6pm.

Splendour of the Seas Video Reveal

Royal Caribbean Cruises have launched a new video showcasing their brand new cruise holiday features on Splendour of the Seas including;

• New Dining Venues- Chops Grille, Izumi, the Boardwalk Dog House, Chef's Table and the Park Cafe
• Royal Babies and Tots Nursery
• A Diamond Lounge for Crown and Anchor Loyalty guests.
• A Concierge Lounge for suite guests
• 124 new balcony staterooms and all staterooms now include a flat screen television, new bathrooms & and from February every staterooms will feature iPads.
• Other features added - ship-wide WiFi, a digital way-finding system, electronic mustering and an outdoor cinema screen.
• The Centrum has been transformed into a chic and sophistacted venue, which will feature a range of new daytime activities, nightly entertainment and aerial performers.

Has the $35 million makeover paid off? Are you tempted to take a cruise holiday on Splendour of the Seas?

 

Royal Caribbean tops Travel Weekly awards

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

Is Royal Caribbean the world's No. 1 cruise line? It is according to the readers of Travel Weekly.

The Reader’s Choice Awards were held last night at the Plaza Hotel in New York and the Miami-based cruise line swept half a dozen categories in the awards, including the top spot for "cruise line, overall" as well as "cruise line, domestic" and "cruise line, Caribbean."

The line’s newest addition, Oasis of the Seas, also won "cruise ship, rookie" and "cruise ship, overall."

Celebrity Cruises won in the categories of "cruise line, premium" and "cruise line, Europe" and Celebrity's groundbreaking two-year-old Celebrity Solstice took home the award for "cruise ship, premium."

Princess Cruises won the award in the "cruise line, Alaska" category while Crystal Cruises won in the luxury category. Viking River Cruises won for top river line, and Avalon Waterways' Avalon Scenery won for top river ship.

"The professionals who read and rely on Travel Weekly have the expertise to select those businesses, destinations and hotels that provide a higher level of service to their clients," editor in chief Arnie Weissmann said at the event. "Our readers can be confident that these winners represent the best this industry has to offer."

Travel Weekly also presented Lifetime Achievement Awards at the event to two cruise industry leaders: Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (the parent company of both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises); and Jimmy Murphy, chairman of river cruise line AmaWaterways.

A world cruise is a top ‘dream experience’

 

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

 

In the first ever Lonely Planet Awards the majority of respondents said their dream experience would be to take a year out and cruise around the world in a luxury yacht.

 

The travel guide publisher asked more than 3,500 people about their thoughts and aspirations and when asked what they would do if they won the lottery, a cruise holiday was top of most people’s agenda.

The survey also highlighted the appeal of a number of events and activities that can be combined with a cruise, with the Monaco Grand Prix voted the greatest sporting experience.

Guatemala's Mayan temples at Tikal emerged as the most popular historical attraction ahead of the Taj Mahal in India and the pyramids in Egypt.

Lonely Planet travel editor Tom Hall said: "The results of the Lonely Planet Awards include some surprising winners, such as the Mayan temples at Tikal.

"The success of these lesser-known attractions really highlights how worthwhile it is to venture away from some of the world's best-known places and sights and discover what else the world has to offer."

 

Crystal Cruises voted world's best large-ship cruiser

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

 

Crystal Cruises is the world's best large-ship cruise line according to a survey carried out by Travel and Leisure magazine.

For 15 years now the magazine has been asking its readers to reveal their favourite travel companies, hotels and destinations for its World's Best Awards. This year Crystal Cruises won the category covering large-ship operators with a satisfaction rating of 90.47 out of 100, while Regent Seven Seas and Oceania Cruises completed the top three.

Cunard, Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line and Royal Caribbean International all featured in the top ten with scores of 81 or above.

The favourite cities category saw Bangkok and Chiang Mai in Thailand taking the top two spots, followed by Florence, San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and Rome.

The Galapagos emerged as readers' favourite island destination, while Kauai, the Cyclades, Bali and Hvar also featured in the top five.

Azamara experience just got better

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

Azamara Club Cruises is reporting its highest ever levels of guest satisfaction over the last 100 days since enhancements to life onboard were made.

The newly trained butlers onboard topped the score charts, achieving the maximum possible ratings from all guests. Since the New Year, all butlers onboard the two 694-guest Azamara Club Cruises ships have undergone traditional English butler school training.

Larry Pimentel, president and CEO, Azamara Club Cruises remarked;

“I have spent decades working in the upmarket cruise sector, and these are the finest guest satisfaction scores I have ever seen. The only area of guest comments where there are any negatives is that they simply wish they had known about Azamara Club Cruises earlier!”

Azamara Club Cruises announced its rebrand in December 2009 and changes implemented from April include bottled water, specialty coffees and teas, all meals and room service, house wines with lunch and dinner, housekeeping and dining gratuities, shuttlebus service to/from port communities and self-service laundry all offered with no additional charge.

Azamara Club Cruises has crusie holiday itineraries covering Asia, the Caribbean, Bermuda, Europe, the Panama Canal and South America/Antarctica.

 

Princess Cruises gets a ‘green’ thumbs up

 

 

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

Sapphire Princess, Sea Princess and Star Princess are new gold-level winners of the Port of San Francisco 2009 Cruise Ship Environmental Award.

The awards honour the ships’ “outstanding record in safeguarding the environment and protecting the air and water quality of San Francisco Bay during their port calls.”

The awards are determined by San Francisco’s Cruise Terminal Environmental Advisory Committee (CTEAC), which operates a program to recognise cruise lines that are committed to environmentally responsible operations.

This is the fifth year Princess’ vessels have earned this prestigious distinction and the company has also been recognised with awards from other ports, including the Venice Blue Flag, recognizing the line’s commitment to reducing polluting emissions by burning cleaner fuels, and the Port of Los Angeles Vessel Speed Reduction Recognition Flag for actions to reduce air emissions.

Royal Caribbean offers consumer and trade initiatives

Royal Caribbean has launched several new cruise initiatives to attract bookings including a child discount for consumers and for agents an opportunity to win a place at the launch event of Allure of the Seas next year.

 

Associate vice-president Jo Rzymowska said “Royal Caribbean International continues to receive great support from our travel partners. 

 

“We are confident that our consumer and trade incentives will help drive sales during the key early peak booking months.”

 

A choice of consumer cruise offers made until February 28 include; a child discount offer for children to sail from as little as £79.00 on selected sailings, savings of up to £400 per cabin booking and up to $200 per stateroom onboard credit to spend as the customer wishes on board including casino, spa treatment and shopping.

The Yachts of Seabourn wins Best Luxury Cruise at WTA

 
The Yachts of Seabourn has won the title of World’s Best Luxury Cruise Line at the 2009 World Travel Awards held at London’s Grosvenor House. Voted on by over 160,000 travel and tourism professionals from around the world, the Director EMEA Andrew Magowan was delighted with the news.

 

“It is a great honour to be awarded such a prestigious accolade, and particularly to garner the praise of the trade professionals whose standards are so high.  The competition was strong, but we are thrilled that our new ship, Seabourn Odyssey has met with those standards and we look forward to building on that success when we launch her sister ship, Seabourn Sojourn, in Greenwich next June.”

 

The Yachts of Seabourn is an ultra-luxury cruise line and is renowned for its relaxed atmosphere and intimacy. For bookings contact Tour America on (01) 817 3535

 

Cruisecritic announces award winners

Every year independent UK cruise review website Cruisecritic.co.uk congratulates the best in cruising with their Editors' Picks Awards.  The awards span 16 categories showing the diversity within the cruise sector.  See this year's winners below.

The 2009 Cruise Critic Awards:

Best for First Timers     

  Thomson Cruises

Best for Romantics

  Princess Cruises - Grand Princess

Best for Stag and Hen Parties    

  P&O

Best for Foodies    

  P&O's Ventura 

Best for Keeping in Shape

  Royal Caribbean   

Best for Cruising with Kids      

  Ocean Village

Best for Celebrity Spotting      

  Cunard

Best for Royalty     

  Hebridean   

Best for Seeing the World 

  Fred. Olsen

Best Refurbished Ship  

Fred. Olsen's Braemar  

Best for Non-Stop Fun     

  NCL    

Best for Luxury  

  Crystal Cruises  

Best for River Cruising     

  Uniworld

Best New Ship        

  Celebrity Equinox    

Best UK Port of Call  

  Edinburgh   

Best UK Departure Port    

  Southampton