NEWS ROUND-UP L CRUISE


MSC’s Ocean Cay island offers ‘ticket to paradise’


Lucy Huxley lucy.huxley@travelweekly.co.uk


MSC Cruises’ new private island Ocean Cay will offer eight beaches, water sports and movies under the stars. Chief executive Gianni Onorato


said the Caribbean island, 20 miles off the coast of the Bahamas and 65 miles from Miami, would give guests a “ticket to paradise”. It is due to open in October 2019. The main beach will host water


sports, including snorkelling and scuba diving to a shallow sunken shipwreck, and other activities. There will also be a sunset


beach and a lagoon beach. Lectures on the island’s coral


life and what MSC has done to preserve it will be offered, and guests will be able to watch ϐilms under the stars. Food will include a family buffet


and a food cart that travels around the island, but many guests are expected to return to the ship to eat. The farthest point of the island is a 17-minute walk from the ship. Every Caribbean itinerary from Miami, whether sailing to the


Celebrity restructures sales team and seeks to fill two new roles


Celebrity Cruises is to expand and restructure its sales team. The cruise line is recruiting


for two new regional sales manager roles as it eyes growth following the launch of Celebrity Edge in November and ahead of the launch of Celebrity Apex in Southampton in 2020. One of the new sales roles will


OCEAN CAY: Artist’s impression of the MSC island, opening in October


“It’s so close to Miami, we can stay there until 1am and be back in Miami for 6am”


eastern or western Caribbean, will call at Ocean Cay. Onorato said: “It’s so close to Miami, we can stay there until 1am so people can experience it at night and be back in Miami for 6am the following morning.” Deckchairs and some activities


cover the southeast, the other Scotland and Ireland. The line has promoted


regional sales managers Mandy Burrie and Jonny Peat to strategic manager retail north and business development manager respectively. Strategic account manager


Zoe Edwards takes on a new role as strategic account manager retail south region. Burrie will look after The


Travel Network Group and Advantage Travel Partnership, and Edwards will look after


10travelweekly.co.uk17 January 2019


will be included in the cruise price, but cabanas, cocktails, island Wi-Fi and certain sports, such as scuba diving, will be extra. All will be bookable through package upgrades via the MSC app. Onorato also revealed there


would be a second private island, for groups of 30-40 people, that could be booked out exclusively for a day. This, he said, would be a “perfect upsell for travel agents”, and prices would be added to the website at the end of January.


Royal’s Oasis cruise cut short after virus hits 400-plus people


More than 400 people fell ill from a norovirus outbreak on a Royal Caribbean International ship last week. Passengers on Oasis of the Seas


were kept on board for hours after the ship docked at Falmouth port in Jamaica on January 9. Passengers on the seven-night Caribbean cruise were told they would receive full refunds. The ship returned to Port


Canaveral, Florida, a day early and was sanitised before its next sailing. A spokesperson said on Tuesday


that 402 passengers had been affected, about 4.8% of people on board the shipǡ up from a ϐigure of 277 the line reported last week, adding: “Our guests sail with us to have great holidays; we are sorry this cruise fell short.” It came days after the US-based


Centers For Disease Control said 11 onboard outbreaks of gastrointestinal illnesses including norovirus and E. coli, had been recorded in the last year – the joint lowest number since 2014, when nine were recorded. Silversea’s Silver Shadow was


one of the ships hit in 2018, when 8.6% of the passengers reported being ill during the cruise. This was the highest percentage recorded on any one ship in 2018.


Thomas Cook as part of the restructure. Peat will focus on identifying and nurturing new partners. The new sales team structure


NEW ROLES: From top left: Zoe Edwards, Mandy Burrie and Jonny Peat


comes into effect on March 1. Former strategic account manager, Bhavneeta Taylor, who oversaw luxury, consortium and new opportunities, left Celebrity in November. Sales director Claire Stirrup


said: “We have got a massive opportunity for our business


following the launch of Edge.” i Destinations, pages 64-100


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