Marella Cruises: 23 New Itineraries – Other Cruise News: Five Holland-America Ships In Europe In 2021 – Financial Offers From Crystal
by Kevin Griffin
We have an assortment of cruise news this week. Marella Cruises, the UK affiliate of TUI Cruises, adds new itineraries in Canada, Cuba and Asia. Holland America Line will have five ships in Europe next summer, and Crystal announces special booking incentives.
THIS WEEK’S STORY
Marella Cruises: 23 New Itineraries
Marella Cruises has revealed a 2021-22 program that includes twenty-three new itineraries and eighteen new ports of call.
Marella Discovery (Courtesy Marella Cruises)
The itineraries include new ports of call for the Marella Discovery at Charlotte Amalie and Frederiksted in the US Virgin Islands before continuing to Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Marella Discovery 2 will sail on two new itineraries around Asia from 2022. The Lights of the Orients itinerary will home port in Hong Kong and Eastern Experience will sail from Singapore. Both itineraries will visit new ports of call like Manila, Brunei and Da Nang,
Marella will restart its operation on November 16, on the Marella Explorer in the Canary Islands. Explorer will also operate Canary Island itineraries next year from Tenerife, visiting La Palma, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria with an overnight in Funchal.
Playa Blanca will be added to the program making it the first new port of call in the Canary Islands since winter 2016 and cruisers will be able to explore the town by night as it becomes an overnight call.
Marella Explorer 2 (Former SkySea Golden Era)
Other new itineraries include:
• East Coast Adventure on Marella Discovery, which includes calls in Saint John, Charlottetown, Quebec, Saguenay and Sept-Iles, as well as an overnight in Boston;
• Cuba at night with an overnight stay in Havana on Marella Explorer 2’s Flavour of the Caribbean itinerary.
Other new ports of call include Halong Bay in Vietnam; San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico and Manila, Philippines.
OTHER CRUISE NEWS
Five Holland-America Ships In Europe In 2021
Five Holland-America ships are now due to sail Europe in 2021 including the new flagship, Nieuw Rotterdam, which is expected to debut at the height of the summer.
Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam at Kiel, May 2019 (Courtesy Port of Kiel)
Joining the new flagship will be the Nieuw Amsterdam, Westerdam and Zuiderdam. The Zaandam also sails to Europe on a “Voyage of the Vikings” itinerary in July.
From April through November 2021, the five ships will offer itineraries or between 7 and 35 days, as well as Collectors’ Voyages of up to 29 days. In addition to Transatlantic crossings between Fort Lauderdale and Europe, ships will visit the Baltic, the British Isles, the Spanish and French Rivieras, the Mediterranean, Iberia and Northern Europe including Scandinavia, Greenland and Iceland.
Select cruises feature overnights at Istanbul, Piraeus, Reykjavik, Rhodes, Rotterdam, St Petersburg, Valletta and Venice.
Many of the trips can be extended into Collectors’ Vo and spend extra time in port.
MS Rotterdam sails a 7-day Premiere Voyage out of Venice to Rome on August 1, 2021, and then moves into the Northern European season of cruises round-trip from Amsterdam. Through October 2021, the vessel will offer three 7-day itineraries to Norway, a 14-day Baltic cruise, and a 14-day Norway, Iceland, and British Isles journey. A transatlantic crossing completes the inaugural Europe season of Rotterdam with a 14-day sailing from Amsterdam to Fort Lauderdale FL.
In addition to ms Rotterdam, ms Nieuw Statendam also heads to Northern Europe next year.
The liner will feature 7-day itineraries sailing round-trip from Amsterdam through August, as well as a 14-day Voyage of the Midnight Sun trip placing a couple of Pinnacle-class cruise ships in Northern Europe.
In addition to Norway, ms Nieuw Statendam will sail to the Northern Isles and Baltic, including Ireland, Iceland, and the UK on 14-day itineraries. Following her time in Northern Europe, ms Nieuw Statendam will move to the Med and sail round-trip from Civitavecchia on 10-day itineraries to the region’s western part. The vessel also offers singular 7-, 9- and 12-day sailings in the Mediterranean.
Holland America Line’s Westerdam (Courtesy HAL)
The “Voyage of the Vikings” that traces the ancient explorers’ route returns in 2021. The 35-day cruise, departing July 17, sails round trip from Boston on ms Zaandam. The itinerary calls at ports in the US, Canada, Northern Ireland and Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Greenland, and the Netherlands. A couple of shorter segments – 16-day from Boston to Rotterdam and 19-day from Rotterdam to Boston are offered.
Holland America is placing two ships in the Mediterranean for the full season. The 2021 program features Zuiderdam and Westerdam sailing a combination of 11- and 12-day trips from Athens, Rome, Venice, and Barcelona.
From April through October the Westerdam boasts an extensive season of 12-day Mediterranean sailings round-trip from Venice or between Venice and Athens.
The Zuiderdam’s Mediterranean season features round-trip sailings from Venice or between Venice and Athens. The vessel will explore the Adriatic, eastern and western Med and the Greek Isles on 12-day itineraries.
Financial Offers From Crystal
Crystal Cruises has announced a no-risk reduced deposit of 15% (normally 25%) that will be due 90 days from booking.
Available on all Crystal Experiences in 2021, 2022 and 2023, Easy Book grants a 100% refund if you need to cancel prior to standard cancellation schedules as admin fees are also waived.
Available on all 2021 voyages across all Crystal Experiences, the Early Full Payment Savings at 2.5% is now extended to 180 days prior to departure (previously 270 days).
(Kevin Griffin is managing director of The Cruise People Ltd in London, England. For further information concerning cruises mentioned in this article readers can visit his blog)
