New ports of call for Thomson Cruises and a return to Cuba

From winter 2015, Thomson Dream will showcase Cuba with its new Cuban Revolution itinerary. Cuban Revolution has  two new ports, Santiago de Cuba and Holguin. Beginning its journey in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Thomson Dream will go on to explore the two new Cuban destinations and continue its journey to spend the night in the country’s capital, Havana, before going onto Grand Cayman, and finally making its return journey back to Montego Bay.

For winter 2015 Thomson Celebration will be adding Bequia in St Vincent and the Grenadines as a port of call for its Caribbean Cocktail and Oceans Eleven itineraries. 

Customers on Thomson Dream will for the first time experience the delights of Mindelo in Cape Verde, known for its colourful and animated carnival celebrations as it joins the Beyond the Sunset itinerary. Travelling back towards Palma in April, two new destinations will be included in the Atlantic Adventure itinerary, also on Thomson Dream, with stops in Santiago de Cuba, and an overnight stay in King’s Wharf, Bermuda, a town rich in naval history.

Sailing the shimmering blue seas of the Canary Islands in winter, Thomson Majesty is introducing two new destinations on its Island Explorer itinerary. The itinerary will now stop at Valle Gran Rey in La Gomera and Puerto de la Estaca in El Hierro. 

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Canary Islands and Caribbean offers from Thomson Cruises

Caribbean – Under £850

ThomsonCruises offers a seven night Caribbean Treasures cruise on Thomson Celebration from £848 per person (saving £360 per couple). This cruise departs from Bridgetown, and visits St Barths, Philipsburg, Basseterre, St John’s and Roseau.

Based on two adults sharing a deck 1 or 2 outside cabin on a full-board basis, departing 30 November from Gatwick airport. Price includes return flights, transfers, port taxes, tips and service charges.

Canary Islands, Caribbean & Jamaica – Under £1,050

Thomson Cruises offers an 18 night Transatlantic Sunrise cruise on Thomson Dream from £1,015 per person (saving £1,500 per couple). This cruise departs from Santa Cruz, Tenerife and visits Las Palmas, San Sebastian, St John’s, Castries, Bridgetown, St George’s, Kralendijk, Willemstad, Oranjestad, and Montego Bay. Based on two adults sharing a deck 7 outside cabin on a full-board basis, departing  5 December from Gatwick airport. Price includes return flights, transfers, port taxes, tips and service charges. 

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Late offers from Thomson Cruises

Western Mediterranean – Under £450

ThomsonCruises offers a seven night Spanish Sensations cruise on Thomson Dream from £434 per person (saving £690 per couple).This cruise departs from Malaga and visits Barcelona, Toulon, Palma (above), Valencia and Cartagena. Based on two adults sharing a deck 6 or 7 inside cabin on a full-board basis, this cruise departs 13 November from Gatwick and Luton airports. Price includes return flights, transfers, port taxes, tips and service charges. 

Canary Islands & Morocco – Under £600

Thomson Cruises offers a seven night Canarian Flavours cruise on Thomson Majesty from £554 per person (saving £730 per couple).This cruise departs from Santa Cruz, and visits Las Palmas, Valle Gran Rey, Funchal, Arrecife, and Puerto del Rosario. Based on two adults sharing a deck 3 or 4 inside plus cabin on a full-board basis, this cruise departs 14 November  from Gatwick airport. Price includes return flights, transfers, port taxes, tips and service charges. 

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Istanbul and Skagway - two of CLIA captain's favourite ports

Day two of CLIA's  Cruise Captains and their favourite ports. 

Istanbul, Turkey – Captain John Westgarth-Pratt, Thomson Cruises

“My current favourite has to be a sunrise arrival in Istanbul, Turkey.  As this huge city split between two continents awakes, the morning layers of mist lift from the surface of the Bosphorous.  The sunrise over the Asiatic side also illuminates the minarets and grand domes of the Haghia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

“The ship’s course then alters slightly to place the towering Bosphorous suspension bridge straight ahead, leaving the Maiden’s Tower close to starboard – then the ship swings 180° to port through the strong strait currents and morning ferry traffic. A slow approach is then made to enter the Golden Horn estuary and berth starboard side alongside the Salipazari terminal in the very heart of the city. There really is no better way to enjoy and appreciate the dramatic skyline and architecture of Istanbul than arriving by sea at dawn.”

 Skagway, Alaska – Captain Daniel Green, Regent Seven Seas Cruises

“What I really enjoy is nature and one time, so my favourite port has got to be Skagway, Alaska.  The last time I visited, we were accompanied by some killer whales on the approach. I slowed the ship and we cruised alongside each other for a long time.  The sight was breath-taking and forms some of my best memories at sea". 

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Colombia Reels In Thomson

By Editor Simon Veness

The tourism board of Colombia has joined the growing band of Caribbean cruise organisations to stage a big push for more ship visits, with the announcement of a return to the country by Thomson Cruises.

Following the recent promotion of the port of Santo Domingo by the tourism ministry of the Dominican Republic (see our recent blog on this link), Colombia is now firmly in the spotlight for a cruise boost in 2014 and beyond.

Proexport Colombia - the country's tourism agency - and Thomson Holidays got together in London this week to reveal that, after a three-year hiatus, the Thomson Dream will start calls in Cartagena once more, adding still further to the country's cruise business revival.

The 1,506-passenger ship will sail from Montego Bay, Jamaica, on regular seven-night cruises to the Southern Caribbean from January-March 2015, with a full itinerary to Panama and Costa Rica as well as Cartagena. 

President of Proexport Colombia, Maria Claudia Lacouture, explained: "According to estimates by Thomson Cruises, 99% of passengers will come from Europe. This is a market that we have been exploring for the promotion of the cruises sector and on which we will place special emphasis in 2014 to increase the number of international travelers to the country."

Historic Cartagena is one of the Caribbean's oldest cities, and visitors will be able to experience the cobblestone streets; follow in the footsteps of Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Gabriel Garcia Marquez; or just enjoy the great variety of local restaurants and cafes.

During the 2012/13 season, 275,662 cruise passengers arrived at Colombian ports, representing an increase of 5.9% over 2011/12, and other recent developments include the announcement of MSC Cruises bringing its new mega-ship MSC Divina to the Cartagena in 2014. In addition, Spanish line Pullmantur expanded its ship capacity in Colombia with the Monarch, which arrived for the first time earlier this year.

More info: visit www.colombia.travel/en/; for Thomson Cruises, call 0871 231 4691 or visit www.thomson.co.uk/cruise.html.

Have you subscribed to World of Cruising magazine yet? We have a fabulous offer for all new subscribers this month ONLY - 50 per cent OFF the regular rate AND the chance to win a cruise in our free prize draw offer. See this link!

 

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British Travel Awards? Baseless Travel Awards, More Like

The British Travel Awards were announced this week, with the usual cruise section being among the many categories to be honoured.

Great, I thought, another chance for the cruise industry to spread its message and for some worthy winners to be acknowledged. And, sure enough, there were FOUR wins for P&O Cruises, one for Cunard (as Cruise Line of the Year), and one each for Voyages of Discovery, Viking River Cruises and Thomson Cruises (the latter for Best Cruise Holiday Retailer; but, er, Thomson Cruises only sell Thomson Cruises).

Having started off fairly enthusiastic about the whole idea, I started to look a bit closer. And then the whole premise totally fell apart. The British Travel Awards? The Baseless Travel Awards would be a better title.

Irrespective of the fact that all the winners were mostly just the BIGGEST operator in their category (while Voyages of Discovery, as good as they are as a 'niche' Cruise Line, were actually one of the sponsors of the awards. Like, they weren't going to get an award?).

You can almost make out an argument for Cunard as Cruise Line of the Year; after all, they have all of three ships, so they just about constitute a fleet. They also sail to large parts of the world. Almost 50% of their passengers are British, so they just about qualify there, too. But when the likes of Disney, Seabourn, Oceania, Carnival, Costa and Celebrity have all debuted brand new ships (whole new designs for Disney and Oceania in particular), and Celebrity have been universally lauded for the continued development of their Solstice-class vessels, you have to think Cunard might struggle realistically to figure in the top three. Heck, I doubt if they would be in the top 10 for most cruise aficianados.

I could almost be happy with P&O as Mainstream Cruise Line of the Year, if the likes of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and NCL hadn't offered newer and more innovative ships and onboard features this year. Oh wait; Royal Caribbean did actually place second in this category. But then Thomson Cruises (another mass-market operator) came in third. Ahead of NCL and Celebrity; and Holland America, Costa, MSC Cruises, Princess, Oceania and Fred Olsen, too, all of whom would have a greater claim here.

P&O also claimed Best Family Line, which is a worthy award as they do provide great kids' facilities and activity programmes. But Disney are pretty darn spectacular, as are NCL, Carnival, Celebrity and Princess, but none of them even merited a mention (although Thomson - again - did get third place. Thomson - for a family cruise line? Give me a break. Oh, hang on - they were another one of the sponsors, too).

But it was P&O as 'Best Luxury Cruise Line' that really set me off. Luxury cruise line? What, better than Seabourn or Silversea; or Regent or Crystal? Better than Oceania or SeaDream, Azamara or Windstar? I would consider all of Celebrity, Holland America, Princess, NCL, Cunard AND Star Clippers in in any debate about 'luxury line.' Hell's teeth, P&O might struggle to make the top 20!

Does anyone at the British Travel Awards even know what 'luxury' actually means? But then when Titan Travel gets third place in the Best River Cruise Line, you know these awards truly are utterly pointless, an exercise only in acknowledging the big players (and, presumably, getting a lot of money out of them for attending and promotion).

Memo to British Travel Awards: Titan Travel, while they are an excellent tour operator, are not a 'line' of any kind. They have zero ships and only a small river-cruise portfolio (compared to any one of 20 genuine river-cruise lines). It really boggles the mind that anyone swallows this preposterous tosh.

And, if I can debunk the Cruise awards this easily, what credibility do ANY of the BTA's highly-touted honours have? They have 11 different sections and multiple winners in most of them.

So, if anyone actually points out these awards to you and says "They must be good, they are Best Small Niche Tour Operator Mainstream Cruise Line Provider Of The year," you can yawn and say, "Yes, and I'm up for a Nobel Peace prize, too."

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Cruise and snooze, anyone?

Cruise-and-stay holidays are becoming big business. I know, because Thomson Holidays told me so this week in their latest press release:

Cruise and Stay – The Best of Both Worlds

Thomson Celebration’s New Home Port Increases Cruise and Stay Options

In the past decade. the number of British cruisers has increased by over one million per year, and cruise holidays now account for one in 10 package holiday bookings, according to the 2009 PSA review. When comfort and experiences compete with value for money in the holiday decision making process, Brits are searching for ever more ways to make the most of the holiday budget. That’s why the UK ’s second largest cruise line, Thomson Cruises, has introduced Turkey into its ‘cruise and stay’ programme.

This combination of time at sea with time at a beach resort sees Thomson Cruises not only offer great value on their cruise ships, but to go one better. Teaming a week of cruising around the Med, the Aegean or even the Caribbean on a Thomson cruise ship with a week in a stunning beach resort, quite often on an all-inclusive basis, allows customers to budget for a two-week holiday and get so much more.

For the first time, Thomson Cruises has positioned Thomson Celebration in Marmaris, Turkey. Itineraries sail around the Aegean towards the islands of Mykonos and Santorini as well as the historical ports of Canakkale and Istanbul . The ship being based in Turkey means passengers are able to opt to extend the holiday to two weeks and stay at a selection of 3T to 5T hotels in the beautiful resorts of Olu Deniz, Marmaris or Sarigerme from just £1,171 per person*.

With the rise in people seeking experiences above and beyond traditional ‘bucket and spade’ holidays, Thomson Cruises on board offering of West End-style entertainment, fantastic service from attentive and friendly crew (at no extra charge) and great dining options combine with a fabulous array of destinations to create the very best of both worlds.

OK, I'm definitely prepared to buy into the good-value nature of the cruise-and-stay idea (especially with Thomson's patent charter holiday approach), but unless you do the week's 'stay' part of the holiday first, do you see this being anything other than a 'cruise-and-snooze' on the sybaritic beaches of the Med (or Caribbean)?

To be honest, if I'm going to go away for a full 2-week spell (which, admittedly, is highly unlikely these days; where 'highly' translates to about a 150% chance!), I would much rather opt for a full 2-week cruise which includes some relaxing sea days (and only one set of transfers, packing and unpacking) but still affords the ever-changing scenario that cruising provides par excellence.

But maybe I'm wrong. Is cruise-and-stay the wave of the future; am I in the minority; or am I just wrong? Answers on a postcard, please.....!

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