Cruise Holidays Irish Cruise Blog

Regent's $20 million refurb

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

Regent Seven Seas Cruises has announced its luxury fleet will be receiving another substantial nip & tuck to the tune of $20 million per ship.

IPads will be available in penthouse and higher categories, the Compass Rose and La Veranda restaurants will be expanded significantly and passengers in concierge-level suites and higher will have priority for shore excursion and restaurant reservations booked online starting next summer.

“We are pleased to continue enriching guests’ experiences with the third phase of our Seven Seas Signature initiative,” said Mark Conroy, president of Regent Seven Sea Cruises. “This is an ongoing plan to elevate our ultra-luxury brand and long-term value proposition. More updates and enhancements will be announced in 2012.”

The first and second phases of the initiative were completed last year: $100-million enhancements, plus a Coffee Connection café was added to all ships; exclusive Suite Slumber Beds were added to all suites, in addition to L’Occitane bath amenities; and Hermès amenities were added to Penthouse and higher suite categories.

Regent Seven Seas announces luminaries

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

Regent Seven Seas Cruises has announced its line-up of luminaries to be featured on the line’s 2011 World Cruise aboard the 700-guest Seven Seas Voyager.

The 162-night World Cruise departs Fort Lauderdale on December 27, 2010, and will complete its global adventure on June 7, 2011, in London. Per-person pricing for the voyage starts at $84,999. The featured luminaries will present lectures, classes and workshops to offer guests fresh perspective and insights.

“We are honored to have intriguing and talented professionals from many different fields to enlighten and entertain our guests,” said Mark Conroy, president of Regent Seven Seas Cruises. “I am confident that our 2011 World Cruise roster will be one of our best yet.”

Among the world-renowned experts and award-winning luminaries are:

Jack Hanna – May 14-24: Recognised as America’s favorite zookeeper and author of 10 books. He will be available to share his “hands on” approach to wildlife conservation and his lifetime of travel experiences.

Rita Moreno – February 23-March 12: One of only 10 performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award; she will entertain with a special musical performance and speak about her amazing life and career.

Morton Dean – March 29-April 13: Emmy Award-winning correspondent; one of the best known, most highly regarded and widely travelled newsmen in his profession. During his 14 years with ABC News and 20 years with CBS News, he covered many historic, headline-making stories around the world including presidential campaigns, Papal visits and the civil rights struggle.

Jim Nantz – February 23 - 29: Emmy award-winning sports personality and five-time National U.S. Sportscaster of the Year. He will be available to discuss some of his favorite play-by-plays throughout his career of over 25 years in sportscasting.

Alan Thicke – April 28-May 4: Known best as psychiatrist and father, Jason Seaver, from ABC’s “Growing Pains.” Thicke has earned a “Best Actor” Golden Globe nomination and seven Emmy Award nominations (five for writing and two for acting). On stage, he received rave reviews acting in the Neil Simon/Burt Bacharach musical “Promises, Promises,” as well as for his Broadway debut as Billy Flynn in “Chicago.”

Charles Cook – May 4-24: Widely regarded as one of the United States’ leading authorities on U.S. elections and political trends, Charlie has appeared on the ABC, CBS and NBC evening news programs, as well as on “Good Morning America,” the “Today Show,” “Nightline,” “Meet the Press with Tim Russert,” and “This Week….” He has also appeared many times on CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN and National Public Radio.

Jeff Greenberg – May 4-24: Emmy-Award winning casting director for the hit comedy Modern Family after having guided the casting chores for such other iconic shows such as Frasier and Cheers. Other television credits include Ugly Betty, Wings, My So-Called Life, NewsRadio and dozens of others. His feature credits include A Night at the Roxbury, Father of the Bride 2, Look Who’s Talking and Die Mommie Die!

Dr. Michael Leeden – May 4-24: the Freedom Scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Leeden is also a contributing editor at National Review Online. Previously, he served as a consultant to the National Security Council, the State Department, and the Defense Department and has taught at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Rome.

Jacki Lyden – May 4-24: Acclaimed journalist, author and radio host, Jacki Lyden can currently be heard on the weekend broadcasts of National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. Formerly NPR’s London correspondent, Lyden has covered the Gulf War from Baghdad, Iraq and has reported from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Iran, and other countries.

Ari Shapiro – May 4-24: NPR’s award-winning White House correspondent, Shapiro reports for all of NPR’ s newsmagazines, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Based in Washington, D.C. He has received the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award, the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize and a “laurel” for excellent reporting from the Columbia Journalism Review.

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.

Cruise boost for Belfast

Posted by Susan O'Driscoll

Belfast welcomed the first of three luxury cruise ships into port yesterday as part of a wave of 62,000 visitors expected to generate £15m in tourism.

Passengers from the Seven Seas Voyager — travelling from Fort Lauderdale in Florida to London — were offered excursions to Belfast, the Giant’s Causeway and Ards Peninsula in the afternoon before a pub tour of Belfast in the evening. Deutschland, the second ship, is due to arrive today, and the Vistimar should be in Belfast by 11am tomorrow morning.

Joe O’Neill, commercial director at Belfast Harbour, said: “We are very pleased to provide a gateway to Belfast and Northern Ireland to the 62,000 tourists who will make a significant financial contribution to the local tourist economy despite the fact that they will only have a short one day stay in Belfast.”

The Seven Seas Voyager, operated by parent company Regent Seven Seas, is just one of the 37 ships carrying the visitors to Belfast this year. Two of the biggest cruise ships due in the summer each hold 4,400 passengers and crew.

The Cruise Belfast marketing initiative between Belfast Harbour and the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau has been key in attracting the ships.

Michael McCormick, director of marketing at the bureau, said: “It is estimated that this is worth £15m to the tourism economy and the continued growth of the cruise sector will be critical to achieving long term economic growth within the tourism sector.”