far east cruise News

Victoria Cruises has re-introduced two of its five-star ships for the 2012 cruise season on China’s Yangtze River. The Victoria Grace and the Victoria Sophia – previously known as Victoria Empress and Victoria Prince, respectively – departed for the first time under their new names earlier in April with entirely remodelled interiors boasting an upgraded look that Victoria Cruises’ management have named “modern elegance.”

After a one-month, $54 million stint in the dry dock, Royal Caribbean International’s Rhapsody of the Seas has re-appeared from the Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore (a part of Sembcorp Marine Ltd) as a practically new ship.

In response to the growing interest in Japanese cruises, Carnival Corporation has introduced the biggest deployment ever by an international cruise line in Japanese waters by launching Sun Princess to the Japanese market for a spring and summer season of cruising from April next year.

Many of us who used to fly to Hong Kong regularly still remember the scary approach to the old Hong Kong airport, Kai Tak. For those who have fond memories after surviving this airport, we have good news. Construction work is underway on a brand new cruise terminal building on the site where the Kai Tak airport used to be.

Royal Caribbean has announced that Rhapsody of the Seas has entered the Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore to undergo a major revamp that will cost $54 million and take 30 days to complete. The ship will get a long list of new features during the refurbishment project.

After spending a day in the Japanese city of Nagasaki, Diamond Princess ventured onwards to the Chinese city of Shanghai for an opportunity to experience something totally different.

Princess’ Cruises’ Diamond Princess recently visited Nagasaki – an important industrial port city in Japan. The ship no doubt felt at home there – this is where she was “born” at the local shipyard a few years ago.

A few days earlier we wrote about Diamond Princess’ arrival in Dalian, China and its subsequent departure for the Chinese city of Tianjin.

On the 26th February 2012 Princess Cruises’ luxury cruise ship Diamond Princess arrived in the port of Dalian in the northeast of China. The ship was carrying more than 2,000 passengers.

This May Master Chef Nobu Matsuhisa will be on board Crystal Serenity to act as onsite Executive Chef in the Sushi Bar and Silk Road, the two specialty restaurants that he runs in partnership with Crystal Cruises.

Windstar Cruises has announced major upgrades to its luxury cruising yachts Wind Spirit, Wind Surf and Wind Star.

Holland America Line’s ms Volendam will head for Asian waters in 2013. In total she will offer guests a choice of nine two-week cruises featuring Hong Kong, Singapore and Kobe, Japan.

Well-heeled cruisers can leave their worries onshore and relax on board one of the intimate cruise ships of Azamara Club Cruises for a 2012 cruise holiday never to be forgotten. Passengers booking selected cruises will even receive $500 credit per stateroom to spend on shore excursions, at the ship’s spa or in the onboard boutique.

If you have been watching the popular daytime talk show Live with Regis and Kelly on television regularly, Sunday must have been a sad day for you. It was the last day Regis Philbin would be seen on the show. Where he is off to next has been the subject of rampant speculation in the press.

MSC Lirica has become the first cruise ship to make Abu Dhabi its home port. The ship has already arrived in the city from where it will embark on a range of cruises during the upcoming winter months.

More information about the 2012 itinerary of Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas has become available. It is now easier than ever to explore the best that Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and China have to offer from the comfort of a cruise ship with the array of both shorter and longer trips that will be on offer from this cruise liner.

In the first cooperation agreement of this kind, China has chartered Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas for a period of four months next year. It will embark on a total of 21 cruises during this period.

In support of the revitalisation of the Japanese tourism industry Costa Cruises will not only be resuming its Japanese itineraries in the near future, but will also introduce new destinations.

During 2012 the two purpose-built ships belonging to Orion Expedition Cruises will undertake no less than 67 journeys. This will take them to 174 destinations in 17 countries, stretching from the Tropics to the Polar Icecaps.

Interest in holidays in South Korea has reached an all-time high and is predicted to keep on growing. The fact that 45,000 UK holidaymakers flocked to the country so far this year bears testimony to this fact.

Cruise Lines apparently did not expect the tsunami in Japan and the “Arab Spring” uprisings to have a significant effect on their bookings. As the situation becomes clearer, it now seems the impact of these two unforeseen events was bigger than anticipated.

After a couple of seasons where cruise lines shunned Thailand as a turnaround destination because of political instability, the majority of them will resume turnaround cruises to that country next year.

Hardly a day goes by nowadays without China being in the news in some way or the other. The country’s economy is growing in leaps and bounds, despite the economic turmoil most Western countries are going through.

Those cruise lovers who also happen to get excited about visiting historical sites will no doubt love the fact that the Orion II will visit no less than four UNESCO World Heritage sites on her nine-night Vietnam Explorer cruises during 2011 and 2012. These are Hoi An, My Son, Hue and Ha Long Bay.

U Magazine is the most prestigious travel magazine in Hong Kong. Costa Cruises is the biggest Italian travel company and also the number one cruise company in Europe. Recently the two companies’ paths crossed once again when Costa Cruises was recognised for its leadership role in protecting the environment. This is the second year in a row that Costa receives the “U Green Award” for its commitment to environmental protection.

If you are a big Celebrity Cruises fan and have always wanted to visit Asia, now is your chance. The company announced this week that they will offer a range of Asian cruises during the winter of 2012-13.

At least two cruise lines have decided to avoid Japanese ports after the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit this country recently. All Japanese ports are currently closed for traffic.

Azamara Club Cruises cruise ship Azamara Journey brought a maiden visit to Charlestown, Nevis on Monday. This visit forms part of its inaugural 12-day cruise.

The super luxurious cruise ship Queen Elizabeth docked at the Malaysian port of Kota Kinabalu for the first time in history on Monday. The ship had 1 899 guests and 996 crew members on board. The passengers consisted of 800 Australians, 300 Americans and 899 Britons.

The port authority of Guam announced that the largest and most luxurious cruise ship ever to visit the port of Apra docked there for a couple of hours on Monday 7th March 2011. The Queen Mary 2 arrived on Monday morning and departed again in the late afternoon.

With their new Stateroom Direct Service program Holland America Cruise Line will make life much easier for cruisers. No longer will they have to check in their luggage and then wait in a public area for their staterooms to become available. In future they will be able to access their cabins as early as 11h30 in the morning.

Next year cruise lovers will be able to experience two New Years within the course of less than a month. The first one will of course be on the 1st of January 2012. The other one will be the Chinese Year of the Dragon, which will kick off with a lot of festivities in China on the 23rd of January next year.