New Southeast Asia /Australia Cargo-Passenger Service Opened With Four Former Round The World Container Ships

CMA CGM subsidiary Australian National Line has opened a new Southeast Asia / Australia passenger service using four 5,100 TEU container ships transferred in from the Pacific Express 3 round-the-world service to join the AAX service.

The CMA CGM White Shark (above) opened the new service, with a first sailing from Singapore on April 14, followed by the CMA CGM Alcazar on April 21 and CMA CGM Blue Whale on April 29. The CMA CGM Tarpon follow,ed with her first sailing from Singapore on May 12.

The AAX service offers weekly sailings from Singapore and Port Kelang, and in the opposite direction from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle, with most being able to accept passengers for the full 35-day round voyage. One-way passages can also be booked and fast connections made at Singapore for the UK and Europe.

The Panamanian-flag CMA CGM Alcazar carries three passengers in an Owners and a Single cabin, while the British-flag trio each carry six passengers in three Double cabins. The British-flag trio have swimming pools, while the CMA CGM Alcazar offers a sauna instead.

Typical fares are Singapore-Fremantle or vice versa in 9 days for €990 (about £870) per person double or €1,080 (£950) single, Singapore to Sydney in 15 days for €1,650 pp (£1,450) double or €1,800 (£1,580) single and Sydney to Singapore in 20 days for €2,200 pp (£1,930) double or €2,400 (£2,105) single. Please call or email for fares between other piorts.

For further details on this new Australian connection by CMA CGM please call Miri Lopusna at The Cruise People Ltd in London on +44 (0)20 7723 2450 or email PassageEnquiry@aol.com.

January And Off Season Sailings To Australia – New Yachts On The Dalmatian Coast – Princess Cruises To Trim China Plans

The Cruise Examiner for 24th April 2017

The 1,750-berth 820-foot Canberra was built for P&O’s Australian trade in 1961 and served the company until 1997

Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ latest addition, the 1,400-berth 810-foot long Columbus, will sail to Australia in 2018

Years ago there used to be year-round passenger sailings between Europe and Australia, serving every type of passenger from First Class travellers to emigrants going Down Under to make a new home. Fifty years later, as we see,it is still possible to sail to Australia but one must choose among just a few sailings each year, most of them part world cruises, or container ships that sail once or twice a month with just a few passengers. This week we also have a look at three new yachts that are now cruising the Dalmatian Coast for Riviera Travel. And Princess Cruises has announced that it will send its new China-dedicated ship Majestic Princess to Australia and New Zealand for the Austral summer of 2018-19.

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FOR THIS WEEK’S STORY                                                                                    (See previous columns)

Riviera Travel Introduces Three Dalmatian Coast Yacht Itineraries With The 38-berth Admiral, Aquamarin And Corona

The 141-foot 38-berth Admiral sails from Split to Dubrovnik and back in 7 nights

Riviera Travel brings us three interesting small ships this summer on the Dalmatian Coast in the 38-berth Corona, Admiral (above) and Aquamarin, the first two built in 2015 and the latter this year.

With a dedicated Riviera brochure, “The Dalmatian Coast by Yacht,” these 141-foot yachts offer 7-night cruises from Dubrovnik to Split return (Corona, £1,399 per person), Split to Dubrovnik return (Admiral, £1,499 per person) and Split to Zadar return (Aquamarin, £1,599 per person), including flights from London.

The yachts are operated by the Katarina Line, which operates about sixty small cruise vessels of differing types and grades from yacht to gulet along the Croatian coastline. Katarina is based in Opatija, Croatia.

For further details please call The Cruise People Ltd in London on +44 (0)20 7723 2450 or email PassageEnquiry@aol.com.

Silversea May Build Three New Ships – Other Cruise News: – Norwegian’s Premium All Inclusive Fares – Queen Mary Village

The Cruise Examiner for 10th April 2017

Silversea’s latest vessel, the 596-berth Silver Muse, will be christened on April 16 at Monaco

Silversea chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio has once again made reference to Silversea soon ordering three new ships for delivery in 2020, 2021 and 2023, but no further information has been announced. The company has been talking about three new ships since 2015. Elsewhere, Norwegian Cruise Line has stolen a march on its mass market competition by moving to Premium All Inclusive pricing in the UK and other European markets, but this pricing is not available in North America. And finally, a new operator has plans to expand the Queen Mary tourist attraction in Long Beach into a village called Queen Mary Island, with a second hotel, cafés, amphitheatre and other attractions, which will include the exisiting cruise terminal.

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FOR THIS WEEK’S STORY                                                                                                     (See previous columns)

Canada’s 150th Anniversary and Montreal’s 375th – Other Cruise News: – Oceania Chooses New York – Azamara Adds Alaska In 2019

The Cruise Examiner for 3rd April 2017

Queen Mary 2 at Quebec. The numbers cruising the St Lawrence are expected to exceed 350,000 this year.

This year sees the 150^th Anniversary of Canada’s founding as a nation, so on this event we also look back fifty years to the special 100th Anniverary sailings that were offered in connection with Expo ’67 in 1967 that included stays on board. Ships such as the Shalom, Maasdam, Franconia,  Argentina, Brasil and South American all offered stays at Montreal, as did the s.s. France and Michelangelo at Quebec.This year will also see a boom for cruising the St Lawrence, with traffic up more than a third on last year. Elsewhere, Oceania Cruises will be basing its Insignia at New York for the late summer this year as well as the summer of 2018. Finally, in a first for the line, Azamara Club Cruises has announced a series of eleven Alaska cruises based on Vancouver for its Azamara Quest in 2019.

FOR THIS WEEK’S STORY                                                                                                    (See previous columns)