Seven Seas Voyager's Dramatic Refurbishment

Regent Seven Seas Cruises has announced that Seven Seas Voyager has emerged from her scheduled dry-dock with a dramatic, breathtaking new interior decor and refreshed exterior decks. The all-balcony, all-suite 700-guest capacity vessel unveiled her new look on October 23 when she set sail on a 10-night cruise from Rome to Venice. 

As part of the ship’s refurbishment, all Penthouse Suites (above) received stunning new décor with custom-crafted elegant furnishings, plush carpeting, curtains, wall coverings, furniture, lighting, original artwork and outdoor furniture. 

Horizons, the ship’s nightclub and bar, and the Observation Lounge each underwent a complete, radical transformation. The venues now sport distinctive new bars, chic new furnishings, tony carpeting, lustrous wall coverings, and new lighting throughout. 

The Constellation Theatre, the ship’s two-deck high, state-of-the-art show theatre was rejuvenated with new carpeting, all new upholstery, wall coverings, cocktail tables, wall sconces, banquettes and chair. 

Guests can still choose from up to four, open-seating gourmet restaurants, including Compass Rose, serving an exceptional variety of European-inspired Continental cuisine; Prime 7, a contemporary American steakhouse; Signatures, a classic French dining experience that rivals the finest Parisian restaurants; and Sette Mari at La Veranda, which offers an extensive menu of authentic Italian specialties. 

With some of the highest space-per-guest ratios in the cruise industry, accommodations include such requisite amenities as down comforters, Egyptian cotton linens, flat-screen television, DVD players and Wi-Fi access. Penthouse and higher-category suites aboard all three ships are equipped with iPads.

More info: call 02380 682280 or visit www.rssc.com.

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Poll Reveals Top 5 Annoyances For Cruisers

Travelling on a cruise is expected to be one of the most relaxing holidays you can take. Everything is included for you, so there’s no hassle trying to arrange trips, meals and accommodation. But not everything will always go to plan if your fellow cruisers don’t stick to proper cruising etiquette.

A study has been carried out by Bon Voyage into what passengers on cruises find to be the most annoying tendencies that other cruisers might have. Some 1,738 individuals who had been on at least one cruise holiday gave their accounts of their voyages and the opinions they had of them. One thing they were asked to comment on was what annoyed them most about the people they were cruising with.

Topping the list was the mindless chatter of other guests, with 38% of people saying this got

on their nerves the most. Following closely behind, with 27% of people noting this, was having other cruisers invading their personal space. We all know that being on board a cruise means you’re confined to a smaller space than usual and often exposed to the same people, so these top two were not at all surprising! The other top answers to the survey were as follows:
 

1. Empty chatter from other cruisers (38%)
2. Having their personal space invaded by other passengers (27%)
3. The behaviour of people who’d had a little too much to drink (22%)
4. Long wait times for food at the buffet or at activities because other guests were taking too long to decide (14%)
5. Young children being annoying or loud during the cruise (11%)

There were also a number of other, more unusual, responses that were gathered as part of the research. One complaint came in, rather understandably, that the couple in the next door cabin to a man on a three-week cruise around the Med had interrupted his sleep every night with their loud night-time activities! And even more obscure was the response from an elderly couple who had not enjoyed their cruise as much as they would have done had their cabin on a Caribbean cruise not been haunted by a ghost.

Although cruisers responded with these complaints about fellow passengers, they were

quick to follow up with the fact that they did still enjoy their trips. In fact, 94% of people who gave their answers in the poll said the overall experience of a cruise was fantastic, and these were just minor problems.

The benefits of this research have been great for Bon Voyage overall, though. As the Cruise Development Manager Steph Curtin stated: “It is important for cruise companies to be made aware of the certain factors of the holidays that customers did not enjoy, or felt could be improved. A sign of a great cruise company is one that would take these annoyances on board and actively try to improve conditions for all future passengers, and this is why the majority of cruise lines ask customers to complete a survey at the end of their cruise to highlight any areas for improvement.”

For more info on

and their cruise options, visit their website at www.bonvoyage.co.uk, or call 0845 5480 557.

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Saga's South America

Saga Holidays has revealed a stunning South American adventure that promises to hit all the high points of Chile, Argentina and Brazil on a spectacular 16-night tour.

The Andean lakes, Iguazu Falls and bays of Rio de Janiero will reveal the natural wonders of the continent starting with a flight to Santiago de Chile to explore the vibrant city and San Cristolbel Hill, the forest-carpeted mountain which dominates the skyline. 

 

Guests will spend a day in the port of Valparaiso which has a bohemian vibe, lovely vistas and colonial architecture before cruising to the alpine town of Barlioche in Argentina.

Then they will spend three nights in elegant Buenos Aires, watching or joining in with the experts as they dance the tango, and then touring the Parana River Delta before flying to the stunning Iguazu Falls.

Rio de Janeiro awaits, offering plenty of time to explore the bustling city and its world-famous beaches. Saga guests can take a scenic train ride to the top of Corcovado Mountain to get a close-up view of the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue, while there will also be time to visit Sugar Loaf Mountain at the entrance to Guanabara Bay.

The grand South American Adventure is priced from £3,799 per person for 16 nights, departing Heathrow from January to April and September to November 2014.

The price includes VIP door-to-door chauffeur service, return flights, airport taxes, accommodation, most meals, porterage, tour manager, travel insurance and cancellation cover. 

 

More info: call free on 0800 414 8986 or visit www.saga.co.uk/holidays.

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More Disney Magic - Pt 4, The Big Picture

Concluding our look at the "newly re-imagined" Disney Magic of Disney Cruise Line...

By Editor Simon Veness

So, just how much of a ship CAN you see in 2 days? That was the challenge for us when embarking the newly-refurbished Disney Magic in Miami last Friday, spending two nights at sea (OK, one-and-a-half, as we we were back in port by 6am on Sunday!) and trying to cover as much of the ship as possible.

As we reported in the first three parts of this special report, we did manage to take in the wealth of new designs, additional elements and makeovers that have constituted the massive amount of work Disney have undertaken on their original ship, which dates back to 1998.

This was by far the biggest dry-dock process they had ever undertaken, and the five weeks it was in the shipyard in Spain were barely enough to complete a process that actually began at the design stage two YEARS ago.

Just for example, the parts for the amazing AquaDunk water-slide (above) and the

AquaLab (left) were built a year ago and shipped to Cadiz ready for assembly in that 5-week window. Other components were also pre-constructed and then just taken aboard in a frenzy of 24-hour activity to finish the job.

In reality, the job was only finished back in Disney's home port of Port Canaveral just prior to this short sailing. A previous 5-day cruise had to be cancelled as the plan to lay all the new carpets and other final touches on the transatlantic crossing was thwarted by bad weather, and those days needed to be used for the fitting out instead.

There were even a few small-scale last-minute details being attended to on our cruise (in Cabanas, for example and with some of the fittings on the doors to the new Carioca's restaurant). There were also a few  snafus in some of the cabins, where cleaners had not been completely scrupulous in coming in after the new cabinetry had been fitted, and there were some plumbing and electrical issues that were attended to on the first day.

But reports of wide-scale building going on during the voyage, of mass breakdowns of toilets and air-conditioning and (in one online story) of builders' tools and debris being strewn "everywhere", were a complete exaggeration. Maintenance work of some kind is carried out on every cruise ship in the world on just about every voyage. and there was nothing we saw that amounted to more than this level of inconvenience.

The bottom line is that Disney have pulled off a huge accomplishment in a very short space of time and done it, by and large, with great aplomb.

The enhancements to the likes of Animator's Palate, Cabanas and the kids clubs are

immensely impressive, while the wholescale rebuilding of the adults'-only district from Beat Street to After Hours is a singular triumph, in my opinion. 

The large-scale addition of the AquaDunk slide and AquaLab water-play area is nothing short of jaw-dropping, especially given that five-week window.

So what else did we manage to see in our two days?

Not a lot else, it has to be said! We were able to dine in each of Cabanas and Lumiere's (for lunch) and Animator's Palate and Carioca's (for dinner), and the food on offer in each one was definitely above average and better than I remember the main restaurant fare being 15 or even 10 years ago.

We did take in two of the main shows at the Walt Disney Theater, where the performances of the signature productions Twice Charmed and Disney Dreams drew huge audience applause and continue to be in the very best traditions of the company's live entertainment offerings. Indeed, the originality of Twice Charmed would not be out of place on Broadway, while Disney Dreams (which debuted with the ship itself) remains an absolute tour de force

of classic favourites, Disney's 'Greatest Hits,' if you like (pictured, right).

We managed to stop for coffee in The Cove Cafe in the adults-only section of the upper decks, and would have tried out the Rainforest Room in the Senses Spa if it hadn't been packed out on the Saturday afternoon! So, instead, we sat on the balcony of our wonderfully roomy stateroom and watched the Bahamian waters drift by for a soporific hour.

Finally, there was another highlight for us, pre-dinner drinks in Keys piano bar (below, left), with a female pianist enhancing the ambience with a few well-chosen tunes and a gorgeous cocktail provided by Indonesian barman Andy.

It set the seal on a hectic-but-enjoyable jaunt to see just what "newly re-imagined" really

means, and we can definitely say - it means VERY happy Disney cruising in future.

More info: Look up Disney Cruise line at http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ or, in the UK, see Virgin Holidays Cruises on www.virginholidayscruises.co.uk, or 0844 573 4398.

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Holland America Offers More In 2014

Holland America Line recently launched its new On Location programme, which gives guests a more in-depth destination experience, with insider tips and local insights about the ports of call, including special onboard activities, themed entertainment, and even local food and products.

 

Here are more highlights from their new 2014 programme:

More UK departures

MS Ryndam’s European season will see more round-trip cruises from Dover. The ex-UK programme runs from May 3-August 23 and will now boast 11 cruises, including seven week-long Norwegian Fjords itineraries, two 14-night Baltic cruises, and two ‘Midnight Sun’ itineraries.

D-Day 70th Anniversary cruise

New for the European 2014 season, Holland America will be commemorating the 70th anniversary of D-Day with this unique 12-day cruise. Departing on April 29 from Rome, MS Eurodam will visit Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and the UK before journeying on to Normandy, where the most famous World War II battle took place on June 6, 1944. The 70th anniversary cruise starts from £1,349pp.

Increased Arctic cruises
MS Prinsendam, the fleet's smallest ship, will now be sailing its Northern European itineraries out of Ijmuiden (Amsterdam), giving UK travellers a greater choice of flight options. In 2014, she will also embark on more Arctic cruises, with one 14-night itinerary and a 20-night North Cape and Spitsbergen cruise that journeys beyond the Arctic Circle to Ny, Ålesund, Longyearbyen, Tromsø and Honningsvåg. The 14-night North Cape Explorer, with the chance to see Polar Bears in their natural habitat (picture, above) starts from £2,449pp, departing August 10.

New Asian adventures to Burma
New for 2014, MS Volendam will cruise three 14-night Asian Adventure cruises that include a special two-day overnight call in Rangoon, Burma, from where guests can travel to see the stunning pagodas of Bagan, the floating villages of Inle, and experience Mandalay. Other ports include Malacca, Penang, Phuket, Port Blair, Porto Malai, Port Kelang, plus an overnight stop in Singapore. The 14-night Asian Adventure starts from £1,399pp, departing February 17. Holland America also boasts a range of other Asia cruise itineraries, which include calls in Japan, China, Vietnam and Cambodia.

New Africa explorer cruises
September 28 will see the start of a fantastic new 83-night circumnavigation of Africa voyage. A round-trip cruise from Southampton, on MS Rotterdam, this cruise will take in the Seychelles, Mauritius, South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Ghana, The Gambia, Senegal, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Oman and the UAE as well as Israel and the Canaries. Shorter itineraries as sectors of this cruise are also available. The 83-night Africa Explorer starts from £7,649pp.

South America cruises have also seen an increase in popularity in the last few years and Holland America offers a robust line-up of great itineraries to choose from. These cruises provide guests with a fantastic range of destination experiences as they visit the Amazon, experience Carnaval in Brazil and even journey to Antarctica.

All prices are cruise-only and are based on double occupancy of an Inside Stateroom.

More info: visit www.hollandamerica.co.uk or call 0843 374 2300.

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Costa Introduces The neoCollection

Costa Cruises has announced the beginning of a new style of cruising on board its ships with the advent of the all-new Costa neoCollection.

The Costa neoCollection is an invitation to make the most of every minute and holiday in a more leisurely way. This new type of cruise experience is tailored to suit individual tastes and let each person go at their own pace, both on board and ashore, making it ideal for couples and groups of friends.

Newly-revamped duo Costa neoRiviera (624 cabins) and Costa neoRomantica (789 cabins) will be sailing to new destinations which are off the beaten path and inaccessible to bigger ships. The itineraries are designed with longer stopovers in each port, often overnight and part of the next day to allow maximum time on shore and the chance to thoroughly explore each place en route. 

As cruising is not one-size-fits-all, Costa has introduced a range of made-to-measure options, notably a series of specially devised shoreside excursions for small groups as well as fine gastronomic products based on the authentic taste sensations of the places visited, thanks to a new collaboration between Costa and the Università delle Scienze Gastronomiche in Pollenzo.

The Costa neoCollection debuts on February 9 from Dubai with a special cruise on Costa neoRiviera, the latest addition to the Costa fleet. This one-off 62-day voyage of discovery, the Grand African Tour, is a totally innovative circumnavigation of the great continent offering a unique opportunity to combine the sea and the most beautiful Indian Ocean beaches with all the adventure of a safari in South Africa.  

Costa neoRiviera will also add a new dimension to cruising in spring and summer, sailing on 12-day itineraries to the most attractive destinations in the Mediterranean, away from the hustle and bustle of mass tourism. Starting June 1 and operating throughout the summer, the neoCollection style will also be present on Costa neoRomantica, with 13 and 15-day premium cruises in Northern Europe, beyond the North Cape and to the finest Baltic cities.

More info: visit www.costacruises.co.uk.

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More Disney Magic - Pt 3, Adults Only

Continuing our look at the "newly re-imagined" (that's heavily refurbished) Disney Magic of Disney Cruise Line...

Having looked at the extensive children's facilities aboard the 84,000 Disney Magic, fresh from its 5-week dry-dock process at the Navantia Shipyard in Cadiz, it is only fair to focus on all the wide-ranging alternatives for the grown-ups.

Just to start with, the former adults-only nightclub district of Beat Street has been converted to a slightly more sophisticated vibe as After Hours, with all three venues being given a complete makeover.

The live entertainment bar/lounge of Diversions has become O'Gills pub, imported directly

as a popular choice from the new Disney Fantasy, and offering a touch of Ireland as well as the obligatory sports bar.

Then the out-and-out nightclub of Rockin' Bar D has become the trendier and more atmospheric Fathoms, with a sea-going ambience that really comes to life at night.

And the piano lounge of Sessions has been given a polish and been converted to the even-more-glamorous Keys (below), with a fabulous bar and wonderful cocktails, all in a 1920s art deco style. This is now comfortably the most 'grown-up' space on board, and we can see this being the place for pre-dinner or late-night drinks, with great live music and a wonderful couples' romantic hang-out.

The Senses Spa has been given a bit of a facelift (ho, ho), and the adults-only restaurant, Palo, has all new furniture and few extra decor touches that underscore the elegant Italian theming.

Finally, the main restaurant choices - open to all the family - have all been freshened up or, in several cases, completely revamped.

As mentioned in Part One, the new Cabanas buffet restaurant (formerly Topsiders) has

undergone a total rebuild and is now much larger and more user-friendly than its previous cramped and badly laid-out incarnation. There is more space and the buffet lines are better ordered so people can actually get at them rather than get stuck in a big bottleneck.
 

Lumiere's, the most distinguished of the three 'rotational dining' system restaurants has new carpeting (as there is throughout) and furniture, while the Brazilian-style of Carioca's (part two of the rotation) replaces the former rather two-dimensional Parrot Cay.

The Latin theming is not overwhelming and is quite subtle, hence it may not be obvious to everyone who walks through the door, while the huge curtain that cordons off the breakfast buffet area looks rather odd instead of adding to the overall festival feeling. But the new-look menu here is quite superb and definitely one of the culinary highlights now.

The third part of the rotational dining is still provided by the spectacular Animator's Palate, which has long been one of Disney Cruise Line's true original gems. A wow when the ship first launched in 1998 as a black-and-white vista that turns into vivid colour during the course of the meal, Animator's has actually been rebuilt from the ground up.

What has happened is that a new ultra-high-tech package of lighting and LED screens has been built in, mostly behind the walls and in the ceiling, and it may not seem obvious at first

(although the extra sharpness of the look should be a giveaway). But, once the visuals begin on the series of screens right around the room, there is no doubt that this is now a major triumph of new technology.

There are two shows here (we only got to see the first, but the Animation Magic from the Disney Dream and Fantasy will be incorporated in all voyages of more than 3 days), and the one we saw, Drawn to Magic, was simply a feast for the eyes. This vibrant, heart-tugging extravaganza of Disney's greatest film hits is so utterly sharp and iconic it feels like 3-D even though it is only two-dimensional. It is aided by a dynamic lighting package throughout the room that is equally startling and it all adds up to a must-see experience aboard the new-look Disney Magic.

Tomorrow...even more Magic!

More info: Look up Disney Cruise line at http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ or, in the UK, see Virgin Holidays Cruises on www.virginholidayscruises.co.uk, or 0844 573 4398.

Have you subscribed to World of Cruising magazine yet? We have a fabulous offer for all new subscribers this year - 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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