United Kingdom
USACruise news this week is heavily focused on new ships and 2024 itineraries – so there’s lots to look forward to in the coming months and years!
Cruise news this week is heavily focused on new ships and 2024 itineraries – so there’s lots to look forward to in the coming months and years!
Princess Cruises has unveiled the first look at the most contemporary and state-of-the-art designs imaged yet onboard newest upcoming ship Sun Princess.
Scheduled to debut in early 2024 with an inaugural season cruising the Mediterranean, it’s the line’s newest, largest and most innovative ship ever built.
A huge highlight of the vessel – and a first for Princess – is the Horizons Dining Room, a stunning three-story dining venue.
This newly envisioned space (pictured) is open and flexible, boasting wake views and natural light. A decorative sculpture stretches from deck 6 to deck 8, with all three decks featuring their own personalities and offering different dining experiences and range in levels of formality.
A second venue to get excited about is the Princess Arena, the most technologically advanced Princess Theatre design. It houses a radical ceiling, moveable seats and a capacity of a little more than 1,000 people while three configurations will maximise sight lines.
Additional signature favourites with new designs and décor are also scheduled to debut onboard Sun Princess, for instance, Alfredo’s Pizzeria will include a professional, open-mouth oven that reaches 968 degrees.
Part of Carnival Corporation’s green cruising focus, Sun Princess will be the first Princess ship and one of 11 new vessels in the corporate fleet powered by Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), the world’s cleanest fossil fuel.
In further Princess Cruises news, the line has announced its 2023 Alaska season. Seven ships are scheduled to depart from four home ports – San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and Anchorage (Whittier).
In addition, guests can experience more of Alaska by combining the line’s signature “Voyage of the Glaciers” cruise itinerary with various land tour options, staying at exclusive Princess Wilderness Lodges.
Emerald Cruises is also looking ahead to next year and has revealed the line’s new 2024 Europe river cruising brochure, featuring a range of extended itineraries and city stay extensions.
The 2024 collection of Epic Voyages includes the 15-day ‘Discover the Rhine and Rhône Rivers’ sailing and the 23-day Discover the Rhine, Main & Danube voyage capitalising on a growing trend for extended, feature-packed itineraries which has become clear since the 2024 programme went on sale in November 2023.
Emerald Cruises is offering four Epic Voyages in its 2024 programme, ranging in duration from 15 to 23 days. These are a combination of its best-selling river cruise itineraries placed back-to-back to create a longer trip, either on the same ship or with a flight or coach trip to pick up a new vessel halfway through.
Further highlights of the new 2024 European River Cruises brochure include two new itineraries. The Danube Explorer & Highlights of Budapest river cruise features an all-new extended two-night stay in the Hungarian capital.
Meanwhile, on the new 11-day Rhine Castles & Moselle Vineyards river cruise, guests can experience the new ports of call of Utrecht and Nijmegen.
Scenic has announced a celebrity will be sailing with the line in October! Acclaimed Michelin Star Chef Raymond Blanc will be joining a cruise along the historic Dordogne River through France’s adored wine country.
Guests sailing onboard this special itinerary will join Raymond for an interactive cookery demonstration and tasting, before learning his kitchen secrets during an exclusive Q&A session.
This will be followed by a complimentary book signing and an exquisite dinner selected by Raymond himself.
The special eight-day Flavours of Bordeaux with Raymond Blanc OBE river cruise sails on a round trip from Bordeaux, calling at Saint-Émilion, Libourne, Blaye, Médoc, and Cadillac. Departing on 10 October 2023, prices start at £2,995 per person on board Scenic Diamond.
Scenic also unveiled new details about new ultra-luxury yacht Scenic Eclipse II – the ship will launch in the Mediterranean this summer.
The vessel (pictured) will dock right into the heart of some of Europe’s most luxurious coastal towns and ancient cities allowing guests to immerse themselves in all the region has to offer. As for excursions, an exclusive flamenco show, a private concert in a Croatian Baroque church, and kayaking around the coast of the Algarve are all on offer.
Holidaymakers booking before February 28 can take advantage of generous Super Earlybird savings of up to £2,000 per person (or £4,000 per couple) and enjoy the added luxury of business class flights to enhance the trip. Including these savings, prices for sailings in the Mediterranean start at £5,790 per person.
Riviera Travel has launched a ‘Travel Concierge’ service on all its European river cruises and UK escorted tours.
The service will provide guests with optional extras including the choice of more regional airports and alternative airlines, door-to-door UK drop off and pre- or post-cruise hotel stays.
Travel Concierge applies to a total of 342 cruises and 66 tours in 2023. It is also available on all like-for-like 2024 departures.
The service offers guests on European river cruises the following benefits: up to two nights stay in pre-sailing and post-sailing destinations, flexible airport departure options wherever possible, airport hotel stays at preferable rates, door-to-door transfer services to departure airport or airport hotel and luggage delivery.
Those on UK escorted tours will enjoy: pre- and post-hotel stays, domestic flights and rail travel, door-to-door private car service and airport parking and hotels at preferable rates.
New luxury lifestyle brand Explora Journeys announced that its first ship EXPLORA I will celebrate its naming ceremony on July 8, 2023, in Civitavecchia near Rome, Italy.
The ship will then transfer to Southampton, UK for her inaugural journey on 17 July for a 15-night sailing in Northern Europe to Copenhagen, Denmark.
Meanwhile, the coin ceremony of EXPLORA II, the second of up to six ships planned by Explora Journeys, took place this week at Fincantieri’s Sestri Ponente shipyard near Genoa in Italy.
The time-honoured maritime ceremony today saw commemorative coins placed inside the ship as a sign of blessing during construction and good fortune in the future by the newbuilds’ Godmothers.
Between August 2024 and April 2025, EXPLORA II will sail in the Mediterranean Sea, the Middle East, the Indian Ocean and Africa and feature 82 ports in 26 countries.
The ship will be fitted with 461 oceanfront suites, penthouses and residences and feature six restaurants, 12 indoor and outdoor bars and lounges, four swimming pools, extensive outdoor decks with private cabanas, nearly 1,000 square metres of wellness and fitness facilities, plus refined entertainment and enrichment.
EXPLORA III will join Explora Journeys’ fleet in 2026, and EXPLORA IV in 2027. If the options are confirmed, EXPLORA V and EXPLORA VI will join Explora Journeys’ fleet in 2027 and 2028, respectively.
Amadeus River Cruises has launched its 2024 European programme featuring 19 itineraries in 13 countries on ten luxury river ships. The 2024 itineraries, which are on sale now, range from eight to 16 days.
Amadeus River Cruises’ newest itinerary, the eight-day Saar & Moselle Fairytales cruise, starts and ends in Cologne and travels up the Rhine to its largest tributary, the Moselle River, and along the winding course of the Saar River, a tributary of the Moselle.
There’s also a 1,200-mile cruise on the beautiful Blue Danube visiting seven countries – Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania – and five world-famous capital cities – Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, Belgrade and Bucharest.
Another highlight is Amadeus River Cruises’ latest ship, Amadeus Riva, which sails on the Rhine, the Danube and the Dutch and Belgian waterways and sets new standards for luxury river cruising with five-star travel comfort combined with cutting-edge technology.
To celebrate the launch of the new programme, Amadeus River Cruises is offering a 15 percent early booking discount on all 2024 itineraries booked before November 30, 2023.
Also looking ahead is tailor-made specialist, Imagine Cruising, which has unveiled its 2024 cruise and rail programme. The launch follows the success of Imagine’s 2023 programme, which has already sold out.
Six exclusive, one-off itineraries are on sale now, departing between January and July 2024.
They combine sailings from a range of cruise lines, which are matched with a selection of bucket list train journeys including the Rocky Mountaineer, the Andean Explorer, the Blue Train, the Indian Pacific, Maharajas’ Express Rail and the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.
