Porthole Cruise News Briefs – June 26, 2015

Porthole Cruise News Briefs

June 26, 2015

  • Cunard Line has announced that Grammy® Award-winning vocalist Natalie Cole will headline the first Blue Note Jazz at Sea trans-Atlantic crossing on Queen Mary 2, on October 29, 2015. Cole will join a roster of jazz greats including Grammy® Award–winning jazz pianist and record producer Robert Glasper, acclaimed trumpet player Keyon Harrold, tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland, guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist Derrick Hodge, and drummer Kendrick Scott. Other performers on the voyage include piano prodigy Fredrico Peña and bassist and singer Alan Hampton.

 

  • Royal Caribbean International’s Quantum of the Seas arrived in Shanghai (Baoshan), China, ready to sail on 3- to 8-night roundtrip Asian itineraries, year-round. To reach her new homeport, Royal Caribbean International’s first Quantum-class ship sailed a 53-night world-spanning journey from New York via the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean. Cruise line executives and Chinese government officials joined a welcome ceremony at Wusong International Cruise Terminal, greeting the largest group of international cruise vacationers ever — up to 4,000 guests — to Shanghai.

 

  • Fincantieri shipbuilders celebrated a double launching this week: Carnival Vista at the yard in Monfalcone, with godmothers Heidi and Kye Heald (wife and daughter of John Heald), and Viking Sea in Ancona, with godmother Karine Hagen (daughter of Viking Cruises founder Torstein Hagen). Interior fittings will now begin on both ships, with delivery scheduled in spring 2016.

 

  • The Walking Dead are coming to sea. Cruise organizers Sixthman has teamed up with Walker Stalker Con, and the stars and creators of the fan-favorite TV and comic book series, to produce the Walker Stalker Cruise, sailing from Miami to Nassau, January 15 to 18, 2016, aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Pearl. The first 1,000 guests who book during the pre-sale will receive a limited-edition lithograph signed by Norman Reedus, the show’s crossbow-wielding survivor Daryl.

 

  • Bookings are now open for Holland America Line’s newest ship, ms Koningsdam. Launching in April 2016, the state-of-the-art ship will homeport in Fort Lauderdale, sailing 7- to 11-day Caribbean voyages from November 2016 through March 2017.

 

 


Photo: Cunard Line


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