MSC CRUISES LAUNCHES ONLINE CHECK-IN

MSC Cruises, the world’s fastest growing cruise line, has launched MSC Express, a new and innovative check-in service, available at all major ports in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.

This new system will allow passengers to significantly reduce the time it takes to get on board the ship by utilising a simple, fast track system.

The first port of call for passengers is the new www.mscexpress.net website, which for extra convenience is also accessible via the www.msccruises.co.uk website. Once logged on, passengers simply enter their booking information - reservation number, passenger name and surname, together with the ship name and departure date.

After inputting these brief details, a second screen is displayed where passengers’ personal details need to be entered in order to complete online check-in. This then produces a printout which allows passengers to be fast tracked through check-in at the port, thanks to the new addition of dedicated MSC Express desks. Passengers simply present their printout and tickets at the desk on the day of embarkation, vastly reducing waiting times and queues.

“MSC Cruises has a commitment to providing innovative solutions that help our passengers have the most enjoyable trip possible. The addition of online check-in and dedicated MSC Express desks is an extra convenience that cuts queues and waiting times at the port, meeting the growing demands of busy clients.

“We hope that this new service will help our passengers to start their trip sooner and ultimately get their holiday off to the most relaxing start possible,” said Guilio Libutti, MD, MSC Cruises UK and Ireland.

The MSC Express service is currently available to passengers departing from the ports of Genoa, Civitavecchia.

P&O CRUISES TO BAN SMOKING ON SHIPS

P&O Cruises is to ban smoking from all inside areas on three ships in its fleet.

The operator will not allow smoking on Oceana, Ventura, and the adult-only Artemis from this October. From that date smoking will be limited to designated outside areas and on outside cabin balconies.

P&O Cruises managing director, Nigel Esdale, said: “Since Britain went smoke free in July 2007 the British public has become accustomed to being in a smoke free environment with 76% of the general public supporting the ban.

“We hope that becoming smoke free will give all our passengers, especially children, a cleaner and more pleasant environment in which at enjoy their holiday on board.

“Cruise ships already provide so many ways to have a fun and healthy holiday, such as spas and fitness centres, and this is another step towards an even healthier holiday experience for all.

“Ventura and Oceana are both child friendly, and between them could have over 1,000 children on board at any one time, therefore we want to ensure they are breathing clean air on board as well as clean ocean air out on open deck.”

FRED. OLSEN MUSICAL CRUISES

Music has always been a very big part of any Fred. Olsen cruise; evening entertainment, daytime classical recitals, live piano-playing in bars, steel bands on deck in the Caribbean – all add to the very special atmosphere on board.

Now the cruises that feature music as a key theme have been brought together in one specialist brochure, making them easier for music-lovers to select.

The Music at Sea brochure features every kind of musical entertainment – Classical, Big Bands, Rock and Roll, Jazz, Latin and Opera are all represented.

Balmoral’s cruise round the British Isles, BL025, departs Dover on 7th October 2008 for 12 nights and features the Big Band Sound in the form of Bill Tole’s Jimmy Dorsey 8, with comedy from Al “George Burns” Long and leading vocalist Lorri Hafer, who has toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. They will entertain guests with the unmistakable sounds of swing during the cruise, which is priced from £875 per person.

Black Watch’s Iberia cruise of eight nights departing Dover on 24th October 2008 (BW866) visits La Rochelle, Bilbao, El Ferrol (Spain), Oporto and Cherbourg. This cruise has a theme of Jazz and Popular Classics with entertainment provided by the Phoenix Dixieland Jazz band and prices for the cruise start from £498 per person.

Black Watch’s next Iberia cruise, BW868 departs Dover on 23rd November for eight nights with prices from £495 per person. This cruise has the same itinerary but a very different musical style is featured, with classical music provided by Classical Connections with a programme covering a wide range of musical styles from grand opera and operetta to songs from the musicals.

The tempo speeds up on Balmoral’s 13-night cruise to the Canaries from Dover leaving 30th November. This cruise features Rock and Roll, with the music provided by the Steve Lowe Band and the sixties theme is guaranteed to have the Baby Boomers on board rocking in the aisles! The cruise calls at Lisbon, then the islands of Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera and Madeira, with prices from £896 per person.

Braemar is based in the Caribbean over the winter offering a season of fly/cruises. Her 5th February 2009 departure, BM221, is a fly/cruise of 15 nights with flights from Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted to Miami and visits the islands of Dominican Republic, Curacao, Isla Margarita, The Grenadines, Barbados, Dominica, Antigua and Tortola and the very appropriate musical theme is Hot Latin. Prices are from £1,195 per person.

Prices are per person, based on two sharing an inside twin cabin and include all meals and entertainment on board, as well as the special musical themes, port taxes and, in the case of fly/cruises, return flights and airport taxes.

Expanded Cruise Programme for 2009 from P&O Cruises

P&O Cruises, newly published, 2009 brochure features holidays to 182 destinations in 60 countries. It has also had a full redesign in response to customer research and is now destination led as opposed to ship led, therefore making it easier for customers to use when looking for a cruise holiday.

P&O Cruises managing director, Nigel Esdale, said: “Cruise holidays paid for in sterling have always offered excellent value for money but, with the current exchange rate, cruises are now one of the most cost effective ways to visit Europe. Real savings can be made by families, and couples, as all the little extras, which turn out to be not so little, in hotels and resorts, like entertainment, supervised children's clubs and night nursery are all included in the cost of a cruise.“Our 2009 programme is our biggest yet, with the first full year of operation for Ventura. We have more ships, more ports and an even greater breadth of appeal.”

The fleet of six ships will be sailing to all of the classic cruise ports across the Mediterranean, Baltic, Norwegian fjords, Canary Islands and the Caribbean, as well as calls into the USA, Mexico and South America.

New ports of call include Antwerp in Belgium, the island of Hvar in Croatia and La Spezia in Italy. Ventura, the largest and newest superliner built exclusively for the British market, will sail her first full year programme, with 19 departures from Southampton and 10 fly-cruise holidays from Barbados within the 2009 brochure.

Early booking incentives are available for bookings made before 31 August 2008, including up to 45 per cent Pricebreakers discount.

Costa weighs up new Destinations

Further destinations are under consideration by Costa Cruises as the company seeks to build on its success in developing new markets. Details are due to emerge in September as the Italian line plans for deployment of an expanded fleet for 2O1O. Costa has been instrumental in introducing mass appeal cruises to regions such as Dubai, the Indian Ocean and Asia. UK managing director Marco Rosa declined to disclose new locations under consideration but confirmed: "We are looking to some new destinations and should know by September."

Costa plans a double naming ceremony of the 3,78O-passenger Costa Pacifica and the 2,826-passenger Costa Luminosa in Genoa on June 5 next year.The larger ship will then enter service in the western Mediterranean while Luminosa will sail to its summer homeport of Amsterdam where it will offer voyages to the North Cape. The line plans to add five new ships by 2012, bringing the fleet size up to 17 vessels

MSC SPLENDIDA’S FLOATING OUT CEREMONY

A momentous floating out ceremony took place on 20 July at the Aker Yards in St. Nazaire, France. Accompanied by a fleet of eight tugboats in line with tradition, MSC Splendida, the newest addition to the MSC Cruises fleet, was floated out. At the end of the floating out ceremony (which lasted about 1 hour), this giant of the sea reached the dock approximately half a mile away, where she will remain until her construction has been completed.

MSC Splendida and sister ship MSC Fantasia are the two largest ships to be built by a European ship owner. Both will be 133,500 tonnes, six times as tall as the Tower of Pisa and equivalent to a 23 floor building. Each will have 1.637 cabins able to accommodate 3,274 passengers (on double basis) and 27,000 square metres of public areas including a theatre with seating for 1,649 plus the wellbeing centre - AUREA SPA, measuring 1,615 square metres. Additionally these ships will have four restaurants and two buffet areas, four pools, 12 hydro massage pools, Sports Bar, Jazz Bar, shops, casino, disco, FORMULA 1 simulator, 4D interactive cinema, Squash Court and a Children and Teenager’s Area of 400 square metres with a pool, waterslide and dedicated disco.

These two ships will herald a new era for cruises by introducing MSC Yacht Club, a VIP area with 99 elegant suites, dedicated butlers and communal spaces furnished to the highest standards. Whilst the countdown to MSC Fantasia’s launch has already started (christening in Naples, December 18th, 2008), MSC Splendida will be christened in Barcelona during the summer of 2009.