The CLIA Dublin Cruise Showcase hit the town running as it kicked off with a trade breakfast, sponsored by MSC Cruises, in The Spencer Hotel. This was followed by a cruise marketplace for the agents in attendance.
Then the agents were transferred to berth 33 in Dublin Port where they boarded Crown Princess where the cruise line hosted lunch followed by conference sessions in the Princess Theatre.
Andy Harmer, in his review of the Irish cruise market, said that 48,300 people had taken a cruise in 2018, that the Mediterranean was still the most popular destination, and the average age is now 51. This year Q1 was already up 21% on the same quarter of last year. The average cruise is now 8.1 days.
Tony Roberts, Vice President UK and Europe, Prince Cruises, said that the power of the destination is 70% of the factor in cruise selection by the cruise passenger, and that there really is a cruise to suit everybody. The company has five new ships on order.
Princess Cruises has accomplished another major milestone in preparation for the launch of its newest ship, Sky Princess, by completing the vessel’s sea trials.The 3,660-guest cruise ship set out to sea from a construction dock at Fincantieri Shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, and was put through its paces with a series of manoeuvres to test the propulsion, steering and navigational equipment. After a successful six days of trials, Sky Princess is now back in the shipyard where she will undergo further exterior and interior finishing in preparation for her seven-day Mediterranean and Adriatic maiden voyage on 20 October 2019. The ship will sail a short season in the Mediterranean before heading to the Caribbean.
– Expedited arrival – Guests who arrive at the terminal with travel documents (i.e. passports) uploaded to their profile enjoy a streamlined and expedited check-in process that gets their holiday started even sooner
– Touchless stateroom entry – No need to touch, swipe or insert cards or devices into the door handle to unlock the stateroom. As a guest ap.proaches their stateroom the door automatically unlocks
– On-demand services – Using smart devices, guests have the ability to order drinks, food and retail items such as suntan lotion and have them delivered directly anywhere onboard, including to their stateroom
– Interactive game play – Available on portals throughout the ship, PlayOcean allows guests to take part in digital scavenger hunts, interactive games and create their own avatars, as well as turning their smart device into a game controller for interactive gaming on the Movies Under The Stars top-deck screen
– Family and friends locator – Accessible on portals throughout the ships and via guests’ smart devices, OceanCompass leverages the OceanMedallion to easily locate and chat with friends and family onboard. OceanCompass guides guests throughout their journey, providing directional information so they can seamlessly navigate to their next point of interest
– Interactive voyage timeline – Available on ship portals and via guests’ smart devices, JourneyView is an interactive timeline that lets guests scroll through all of the events available on board during their voyage and bookmark activities they’re interested in to their own personalised itinerary. Voyage itineraries are available as many as 60 days in advance, allowing guests to start planning before they leave homeThe Princess Cruises fleet will continue to expand with the launch of Enchanted Princess and three additional ships arriving in 2021, 2023 and 2025. Princess Cruises is offering a seven-day Eastern Caribbean voyage on Sky Princess, departing February 22, 2020. Sailing roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ports of call are Princess Cays (Bahamas), St Thomas and St Maarten. Special offer currently available with prices from €1,099 per person for a mini-suite
