Porthole Cruise News Briefs – June 2, 2017

Porthole Cruise News Briefs – June 2, 2017

• Ponant is launching the world’s first underwater multi-sensory lounge, called Blue Eye, located beneath the water line on the new Ponant Explorers series of ships. The space will feature two glass portholes shaped like the eye of a whale looking out to the marine world. Digital screens will adorn the walls projecting images filmed live by three underwater cameras strategically placed to capture spectacles. The launch of the first two Explorer ships will be in summer 2018, Le Lapérouse and Le Champlain, and two more to follow in summer 2019, Le Bougainville and Le Dumont-d’Urville, each with just 92 cabins.
• Following the successful launch of its exclusive partnership with acclaimed English musical theater lyricist of Broadway, Sir Tim Rice, Seabourn has announced that his successful production, “An Evening with Tim Rice,” is now playing on all of its ships. “An Evening with Tim Rice” is a concert-style presentation narrated via video by Rice to highlight some of his most loved work, from Jesus Christ Superstar to Aladdin and The Lion King. The show also includes a number from Chess called “One Night in Bangkok,” and a broad “Circle of Life” finale. The show first debuted in January 2017 on the inaugural voyage of Seabourn Encore and is now part of the evening entertainment repertoire aboard Seabourn Odyssey, Seabourn Sojourn, and Seabourn Quest. It will also debut on Seabourn Ovation when the ship is launched in 2018.
• Guests can learn how to capture their cruise moments like a professional aboard Aqua Expeditions’ Aqua Mekong. Hosted by award-winning photographer, Francisco Marin, a new photography departure will be launched on December 8-12, 2017. During this exclusive departure, guests will travel alongside Marin as he shares his tips and techniques to creating visual stories of the Buddhist temples, floating Khmer villages, and fragrant riverside markets encountered on the 4-night sailing departing from Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
• Holland America Line and O, The Oprah Magazine’s Share the Adventure Cruise is adding Pulitzer Prize–winning author Elizabeth Strout and comedian Rita Rudner to the list of visionaries and authorities who will be aboard the July 15, 2017, O Magazine-inspired 7-day sailing to Alaska aboard Eurodam. In addition, more than 300 Holland America Line cruises sailing in North America from August 2017 through 2018 will offer a variety of engaging activities developed with the magazine’s editors including meditation, exercise, healthy eating, an onboard book reading room, and more.
• Iveta Apkalna, head organist of the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, launched TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 6 in a celebration of light and sound on behalf of the spectacular new concert hall. The program featured various groups of instruments to highlight the Elbphilharmonie’s extraordinary musical diversity and its role as ambassador. The performing artists aboard the ship included an opera singer, a DJ, a rock guitar player, a laser harp player, and a string quartet. Mein Schiff 6 is the fourth new addition to the Hamburg-based TUI Cruises.

^{Photos: Ponant, TUI Cruises}