Kreuzfahrten-Treff.de - Forum

Carnival Corporation & Plc's Costa Cruises Brand Charters Ship to Thomson Cruises

In April 2010, Costa Europa Will Join Thomson Cruises' Fleet Under a 10-Year Charter

MIAMI, July 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) today announced that the 1,488-passenger Costa Europa, currently operated by its Costa Cruises brand, Europe's number one cruise line, will join British travel company Thomson Cruises under a 10-year bareboat charter beginning in April 2010. Under the agreement, Thomson has an option to purchase the ship any time after five years.

Costa Europa, which joined the Costa fleet in 2002, was one of the first ships to operate on regular cruises in the Arabian Gulf, with departures from Dubai, and the Indian Ocean out of Mauritius.

Although the Costa Europa will be leaving, Costa is continuing to expand its fleet of 14 ships currently in service. The Italian company's fleet expansion program is in fact presently the biggest of its kind in the world with five new ships entering service between 2009 and 2012 representing a total investment of 2.4 billion euros. The Costa Luminosa and Costa Pacifica were named together on June 5, 2009 in Genoa, Italy. In late January 2010, the Costa Deliziosa, sister ship to the Costa Luminosa, will be introduced. Two sister ships to the Costa Pacifica are scheduled to debut in 2011 and 2012.

Over the next three years, Carnival Corporation & plc will launch 13 vessels for seven different brands.

"While we continue to grow our business with new and exciting vessels, we are also divesting of older tonnage which allows us to offer one of the most modern, technologically advanced fleets in the cruise industry," said Micky Arison, Carnival Corporation & plc chairman and CEO.

Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in the world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe and Australia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, The Yachts of Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Ibero Cruises, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises and P&O Cruises Australia.

Together, these brands operate 92 ships totaling approximately 177,000 lower berths with 13 new ships scheduled to be delivered between September 2009 and June 2012. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Tours and Princess Tours, the leading tour companies in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.

Garfield hat geschrieben: weiß man schon, welchen Namen die Costa Europa bei Thomson erhalten wird?

patrick hat geschrieben:Die Costa Europa wird zur "Thomson Dream", dies ist aus der Pressemitteilung von Thomson Cruises ersichtlich.

Gruss

A new ship to be added in summer 2010

Thomson Dream to set sail summer 2010

Thomson Cruises, one of the UK’s biggest cruise lines, today announces the addition of Thomson Dream to its fleet. Joining Thomson Celebration, Thomson Spirit and Thomson Destiny, the ship will begin sailing under the Thomson Cruises brand as of April 2010.

David Selby, Director of Cruising enthused “Whilst the recent independent survey of passenger reviews published by Cruise.co.uk illustrates that Thomson Cruises is already among the highest rated cruise lines in the business, the addition of Thomson Dream will allow us to satisfy an even wider audience, attracting new customers as well as introducing a new option for our many loyal followers who return year after year.”

Currently sailing as the Costa Europa, the ship has capacity for 1,506 passengers and at 54,000 gross tonnes, will be Thomson’s biggest and most luxurious ship yet.

The interior décor is stylish, the public areas of the ship are spacious and tastefully designed, with several bars for watching the day’s port sail away, a large fitness area and sports deck, a cosy library and adults-only area for relaxation.

The Broadway show-lounge with its large revolving stage will allow Thomson to continue to feature its highly popular entertainment programme, for which it is renowned. The ship will also offer a choice of several smaller areas for daytime entertainment and cabaret.

As with Thomson’s other ships, the atmosphere onboard will be relaxed and friendly with emphasis on service, entertainment and dining. The ship’s dining options will be of a very high standard and features five restaurants including a main dining room, an a la carte Grill restaurant and a 24hr buffet restaurant, where friendly waiters are on hand to take care of everything from surf ‘n’ turf to a midnight sandwich.

All cabins onboard, from the super luxury Grand Suites with balconies to the comfortable standard cabins, have been recently renovated. The spacious standard inside and outside cabins have a stylish neutral décor, with a splash of accent colour, while the high end Grand Suites and Suites offer a separate living area, queen size bed and large en-suite bathroom with bath and shower. The Grand Suites also have large balconies for an idyllic sail-away cocktail.

Out on deck there are two swimming pools, one of which has a retractable roof allowing for year-round swimming whatever the weather. Plus, there is plenty of space to sunbathe and relax during the day and then enjoy the entertainment when the sun goes down.

Thomson Dream adds to the highly successful cruise operation out of Palma, joining Thomson Destiny which is currently sailing itineraries during the summer months. Thomson Dream will sail three, seven night itineraries taking in some of the most picturesque areas of the Mediterranean including Rome, Florence and Barcelona. There is also the addition of a new port, La Goulette in Tunisia, a traditional fishing town just 20 minutes from Tunis.

David Selby concludes; “Palma is ideal as a home port. Passengers have a short flight from 22 different UK airports and once there, it is ideally situated to reach a whole host of fantastically varied destinations during a seven night cruise. This latest addition to the fleet reinforces the importance of the cruise market to Thomson and our commitment to its growth.”

A standalone ‘Thomson Dream’ brochure covering itineraries for Summer 2010 will go on sale on 16 July 2009 with prices from just £729 per person based on two adults sharing, including return flights and accommodation on a full-board basis. Plans for the Winter 2010/2011 season will be revealed soon.