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.

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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.....!

Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

If you haven't already, subscribe to the World of Cruising magazine today.