SOMEWHERE ON THE DANUBE — I’m on board the Viking Kvasir, en route from Budapest to Amsterdam.
On the weekend, you can read about my journey in this space as the newspaper column is repeated here tomorrow, follow up on some great cruise deals on Sunday and then I’ll be back bringing you all the details of this Viking cruise on Monday.
Now it’s time to take a break and catch up on other cruise and related news…
One of the big costs of cruising in Europe is the air fare, and when an airline steps up and is exploring the addition of Europe to its service, that’s good news in giving the consumer a break.
WestJet said it was considering — sometime in the next couple of years — expanding the fleet to include larger aircraft to take on a rivalry with Air Canada. It’s only at the consideration point but what is even closer is the possibility of charging for that first checked bag. The President of WestJet said the airline would be looking into it after Porter Airlines announced its decision to charge. My bet is you will be paying for that bag on WestJet by this time next year or earlier.
WestJet goes into the European market by launching service next month to Dublin from St. John’s, using its current 737s.
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With Viking Cruises, this time in the ocean category, names have been given to all three 930-passenger ocean-going cruise ships. We have known for sometime that the first one, due next April, will be named Viking Star. The next two will be Viking Sky and Viking Sea.
New for Viking in 2016 will be a Midnight Sun itinerary between Bergen and London, or Harwich, my favourite British port mainly for the convenience of being able to double up with a Baltic Jewels cruise between there and Stockholm.
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Windstar has taken off the sails.
The popular upscale line, new logo and all, christened its newest ship, the Star Pride — formerly the Seabourn Pride. Two other ships that will be joining Windstar in 2015 are the Star Breeze and Star Legend.
Each ship will carry 206 passengers.
Hans Birkholz, the company’s president, acknowledged that Windstar would be covering more of the world with the expanded fleet. This includes a resumption of French Polynesia cruises, and a significant presence in Southeast Asia, Arabia, and Iceland.
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Un-Cruise Adventures, the small-ship line, is ramping up the number of cruises on the Columbia, Snake and Willamette rivers from April to November 2015.
In the books next summer will be 34 departures from Portland, Oregon.
At the same time Un-Cruise announced a $400 per couple offer for bookings made by June 20 this year. The savings is applicable for river cruises departing from August and November 2014.
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Finally, AmaWaterways has two new ships on the river this year. AmaReina was launched in April and AmaSonata will be launched in July…I’ll be there to cover that for you.
There is a Canadian connection to the next christening. Like the AmaReina, Godmother Brenda Kyllo, Vice-President of Travel for the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA), will christen the AmaSonata in Vilshofen on July 22.
Both 164-passenger ships feature spacious staterooms of up to 300 square feet, open lounges with panoramic riverside views, multiple dining venues including an intimate Chef’s Table restaurant, a heated pool on the sun deck, a fitness room, and onboard salon and massage services. The line also includes complimentary bicycles.
Two more ships are scheduled for launch in 2015.
Today at cruisingdoneright.com: Balconies…balconies…everywhere on today’s ships