MARITIME HISTORY:

• John asked Chris how the growth of Aviation impacted the cruise industry.

CRUISE NEWS:

• Virgin Voyages announce name of lady ship 3 to be Resilient lady, sailing 7nts itineraries from Athens to both the Greek isles and Croatia, with late night departures in Croatia and overnights in Mykonos.
• Happy 49ths Birthday to Carnival Cruise Lines.
• UK Government, Maritime Minister Robert Courts’ confirmed that cruise lines will be able to restart domestic voyages from England on the 17th of May
  • The disclosure came at a virtual meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Maritime and Ports Group held Monday and is the earliest date for the lifting of travel restrictions for holidaymakers in the government’s roadmap for easing England out of lockdown. P&O, Princess & Saga have already welcomed the news.
• Cunard has revealed Queen Elizabeth will undertake her first circumnavigation of Australia as part of a newly unveiled homeport season scheduled for 2022/23.
  • The record local deployment will span from Nov 2022 to Mar 2023, and visit 15 Australian ports, including Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart, Burnie, Fremantle, Cairns, and Darwin, offering sailings ranging between two and 31 nights.
  • Queen Elizabeth’s circumnavigations include calls to Port Douglas, Airlie Beach, Esperance, Eden and Kangaroo Island, with the 25-day voyage departing Fremantle on 07 Nov 2022, a 28-day round-Australia sailing departing Sydney on 15 Nov 2022
• Oceania Breaks Sales record – Oceania Cruises, the world’s leading culinary- and destination-focused cruise line, announced that the launch of its latest collection of exotic itineraries for winter 2022-2023 on March 3rd resulted in an all-time record, with the most bookings taken in a single day in the company’s 18-year history
• Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has today unveiled a brand new programme of cruising for 2022/23 as the line gears up for a return to sailing, with 126 new voyages taking in 82 countries, with NEW regional departures from Belfast and London Tilbury.
  • The programme includes closer to home excursions around the British Isles and shorter, five-night breaks, with departures from eight UK ports – London Tilbury, Belfast, Portsmouth, Southampton, Dover, Liverpool, Newcastle and Edinburgh (Rosyth) – with a number of ex-UK sailings and fly-cruise options for those looking to venture further afield.
  • The Fred. Olsen fleet will sail into a number of maiden ports in 2022/23, including Hakata and Nagoya in Japan; Crotone, Gallipoli and Monopoli in Italy; Lyngdal in Norway and Louisbourg in Canada, to name a few.
  • There will also be another opportunity to relive history when Braemar returns to the narrow Corinth Canal in Greece in spring 2023.
• Crystal River Cruises today announced an expansion of its 2022 offerings with the reintroduction of Crystal Mozart, the company’s grand, double-wide inaugural river ship, increasing the luxury options available to travellers on Europe’s rivers. Affectionately known as the Queen of the Danube, Crystal Mozart will offer weekly seven-night voyages Danube Dreams & Discoveries conveniently sailing round-trip from Vienna beginning March 28, 2022. With Crystal Mozart’s return, Crystal Mahler will reposition to the Rhine, Main and Moselle rivers with a variety of new itineraries.
  • In an industry first, Crystal Mozart will offer 38 deluxe window suites dedicated to solo travellers with no single supplement on all voyages, reducing her capacity to just 120 guests and making her the most spacious river ship, with the highest crew-to-guest ratio, in the European river industry. Crystal Mahler and her Rhine Class sister ships – Crystal Bach, Crystal Debussy and Crystal Ravel – accommodate just 106 guests, also boasting superior space ratios for all on board.
• Ponant increases Kimberley luxury expeditions to an unprecedented 26 departures in 2022, a significant expansion of PONANT’s small ship luxury expeditions program in the Kimberley in 2022.
  • Le Soléal provides 95% balcony accommodation, while on Le Lapérouse all accommodation includes a balcony or private deck area. Both offer a selection of world-class dining options and bars, plus the must-have inclusion of a swimming pool – the only ships in the Kimberley to do so – and essential in a region where saltwater crocodiles are the apex predator!

NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE:

• Damian Borg, Sales Director, joins the show to chat about the activity behind the scenes around the safe resumption of cruises. Peace of mind booking policy, Norwegian Spirits major enhancements and more. remember to look for a CLIA accredited cruise specialist when booking your next cruise.
• Peace of Mind, Safety and Flexibility: https://bit.ly/2POJVRh
• Norwegian Spirit: http://bit.ly/3loAOTn
• Promotions (AU/NZ): http://bit.ly/2Ow6Nol
• CLIA Cruise Agents: https://bit.ly/38nOZTk

Ethical Cruise T-Shirts

• Now available branded podcast t-shirts, cruise-tees and Christmas gifts or design your own in the studio. All using organic cotton, printed using green energy and plastic-free packaging! https://bit.ly/32G7Rdh

Join the show:

• If you have a cruise tip, burning question or want to record a cruise review get in touch with us via the website https://thebigcruisepodcast.com/join-the-show/  

Guests:

• Chris Frame: https://bit.ly/3a4aBCg    
• Chris’s Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ChrisCunard  
• Peter Kollar: https://www.cruising.org.au/Home  

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