Disney Coming to Vancouver in 2011

Disney Cruise Line has announced that it will make Vancouver its home port for 18 Alaska cruises starting in 2011. This comes as welcome news to the Port of Vancouver which has seen several cruise lines discontinue or divert their Vancouver-based Alaska departures for 2010. Disney will make 18 seven-night sailings between May 3 and August 30, 2011. The Disney Wonder will visit Tracy Arm, Skagway adn Ketchikan. Disney will also operate five and six-night cruises from Vancouver to Los Angeles (and back) with stops in San Francisco and Victoria. Jeff James, vice-president of sales for Disney Cruise Lines, said their decision came as a result of demand from passengers wanting sailings to Alaska with Vancouver as a home port. "Our guests said Vancouver will provide them with the experience they are asking for," James said.

Cruise the Beautiful Wine Country of France

French wine lovers are about to get a treat.....seven new cruise-tours offered by Peter Deilmann Cruises that visit the French wine regions of Burgundy, Beaujolais, Maconnaise, and Provence. The trips will be operated by the 140-guest "Princesse de Provence" round-trip from Lyon. The 9-day itinerary includes seven shore excursions to family vineyards including Burgundy's Veuve Ambal vineyard for tastings and Avignon's Chateauneuf-du-Pap to taste red and white vintages. Departures run from May to October, and exclude August.

Award-winning Peter Deilmann Cruises has been offering deluxe river cruises for over 25 years. Besides wine, they also offer other special interest cruises such as music, golfing, cycling and walking, and health & wellness.

http://www.deilmann-cruises.com/theme/index.html

Celebrity Rolls out Anytime Dining

Celebrity Cruises introduced "Celebrity Select Dining" on August 31st, giving passengers greater flexibility in when they choose to dine. Passengers will still enjoy the same menu and service they would receive with traditional seating. Guests will have access to "anytime dining" starting with the September 26th sailing of the Celebrity Equinox. A full roll out fleetwide of select dining will occur during the first quarter of 2010. To see initial applicable sail dates for each ship, log onto www.celebritycruises.com

Vancouver Becomes World's Third Port to Offer Shore Power to Cruise Ships

Cruise ships docking at Vancouver Port can now significantly reduce marine diesel emissions by plugging into the city's electricity grid which uses mostly hydroelectric-generated power that is 90 percent nonpolluting. The port is only the third in the world to install shore power for ships (the other two are Seattle and Juneau). The $9 million project has been in the works since 2005, and is a collaboration between the Government of Canada, the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, BC Hydro and Port Metro Vancouver.

Princess Cruises and Holland America Line have pioneered this technology within the industry and have invested heavily in outfitting their fleet with shore power equipment. Currently nine Princess Cruises ships and six Holland America Line ships have this capability. Port Metro Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and is the home base for the popular Vancouver-Alaska cruise.