Costa Cruises has significantly lowered its single supplement as the Italian cruise line looks to move closer to different market segments.

Previously starting at 80 per cent, the supplement now begins at 30 per cent, which applies to cruises in the company’s 2010 brochure. The price can increase from 30 per cent based on occupancy levels and availability of single cabins.

The move is part of Costa’s Pronto Pricing policy, whereby it seeks to give better conditions to people who book their cruises earlier. The company has introduced several new packages for families as it seeks to cater more for this market and provide value for money.

Director of sales Pacific Asia, Dario Rustico, said the cruise line was seeking to move closer to each of its segments. “Every single category and segment is important for us – whether it’s families, honeymooners and couples, singles or whether it’s MICE customers,” he told Travel Today at a recent trade seminar in Sydney.

Also new in 2010 are eco excursions – special tours that visit parks and nature reserves, with a low environmental impact, as well as food and wine excursions.

Source - Travel Today

The swine flu scare has passed, and the suspected passengers have tested negative to type A influenza.
Click the comments link below the story, or scroll down to read the follow up story from Australian media, and the press releases from NSW Health.



Cruise ship quarantined amid swine flu scare

A CRUISE ship was quarantined for several hours on arrival in Sydney amid a swine flu scare.
Almost 2000 passengers, and another 900 crew, were kept on the ship for more than five hours while another 2000 passengers waiting to board were left to wait on the dock.

The Dawn Princess arrived at Darling Harbour at about 12pm (AEST) today, hours late due to poor weather conditions which have lashed Australia's east coast for the past week.

To make matters worse, health officials were called out and the ship was locked down before its 2000 passengers could disembark and before the same number of people could board the ship for their ocean holiday.

Four passengers with mild influenza-like symptoms have been tested for swine flu.

All passengers and crew have been allowed to leave the ship but have been told to remain in isolation in Sydney until the test results are known.

The body of one passenger was removed from the ship in Sydney but authorities quickly scuttled rumours that the person died from swine flu.

Princess Cruises spokeswoman Sandy Olsen said the death was cardiac-related but could not confirm at what point during the ship's journey the person died.

A second passenger was taken by ambulance to a Sydney hospital but both Ms Olsen and NSW Health said they were not suffering from any respiratory illness.

The ship had just returned from a 35-night cruise in the Pacific Ocean and had stopped in the Hawaiian islands for three days in early May.

Two passengers who tested positive for influenza-A during the trip had recovered 10 days ago, Ms Olsen said, but the ship authorities were required to report the cases.

Health officials boarded the ship upon its arrival and an announcement was made, asking any passengers suffering from flu-like symptoms to come forward and be swabbed.

But it took until almost 6pm for authorities to announce that passengers onboard would be allowed to disembark and those waiting could board.

"It's very imminent - they've got the gangway down," Ms Olsen said.

NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said four people were swabbed for swine flu and were allowed to disembark without quarantine.

But they were asked to stay in Sydney overnight and avoid other people until their test results came back late tonight or early tomorrow.

"Passengers and crew have now disembarked the ship, have been provided with fact sheets and instructed to stay in isolation until tests results are known," Dr Chant said in a statement.

The ship was due to depart about 4pm today but weather delays and the temporary quarantine would mean the ship will not leave Sydney until late in the evening.

Thanks to OzCC member Trumples for the heads up on this press release.
The story has also been widely reported in the electronic media in Australia this evening.

Last update: 25th May 10:40pm - Princess press release added

Source - news.com.au

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The expansion of the European cruise industry is exceeding expectations in terms of its impact on employment, wealth creation and inbound tourism in Italy and across the continent.

This was the message coming from the 2008 European Cruise Council (ECC) cruise industry figures which were revealed in Rome this week.

ECC chairman and CEO of Carnival UK, David Dingle released the fourth “European Cruise Contribution” report, which shows that the direct expenditure by cruise companies, shipyards and passengers was up 10% to 14.2 billion euros last year.

A key driver behind this growth is the increasing number of passengers embarking on cruises from European ports, up 10% at 4.7 million in 2008.

The busiest ports in Europe were in Italy with 1.7 million departing passengers, while the continent’s transit passengers numbered 21.7 million in 2008 (+14%).

Italy remains Europe’s favorite cruise destination with 23% of transit passenger movements, followed closely by Greece (20%), Spain (17%) and France (8%).

The ECC report also estimates that the global cruise industry spent around 5.2 billion euros on cruise ship construction and maintenance in Europe last year, with 1.5 billion spent in Italy alone.

Last year also saw a rise in the number of Europeans taking cruise holidays, up 10% to 4.4 million.

In addition, there was an increase in the number of people employed in the European cruise industry, with approximately 311,000 jobs last year, 15% more than in 2007.

In this context of rapid expansion, Costa Cruises has confirmed its position as the largest Italian travel group and Europe’s number one cruise line, with 14 ships currently in service, 3 new ships to be delivered by 2012, 1,200,000 total guests in 2008 and 1,500,000 forecast for 2010.
According to the initial findings of the survey, the Costa Cruises brand alone produced total business output in Italy worth at least 1.1 billion euros.

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