Norwegian Cruise Line Freestyle Resolution Sale

Norwegian Cruise Line has just started their “Freestyle Resolution” Sales event. Book your Norwegian Cruise now and receive up to $600.00 in onboard credits + more. This is one of Norwegian Cruise Line’s BIGGEST sales ever. Click Here for Details!

Royal Caribbean & Celebrity Cruises Dominate The 2008 Travel Weekly Awards

The 2008 Travel Weekly Readers Choice Awards took place on December 11 at the famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. These awards recognize and honor companies in the travel industry (including airlines, car rental companies, hotel chains and cruise lines) who represent “the best of the best”. Because the winners are selected by travel industry professionals (who vote based on their vast personal experience as well as feedback collectively provided from tens of thousands of their clients), the Travel Weekly Readers Choice Awards are among the most coveted awards in the industry and winning just one such award would make any company extremely proud.

The awards presentation was attended by approximately 400 top travel industry executives and their guests. Greg Coiro (CEO of Direct Line Cruises, Inc.) was honored to attend as a guest and key travel partner of Royal Caribbean International. Tom Coiro (VP of Direct Line Cruises, Inc.) had the privilege of attending as a guest and key travel partner of Celebrity Cruises and its deluxe brand, Azamara Cruises.

When the presentations were completed, it was clear that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises had dominated the cruise awards. Celebrity Cruises won “Best Premium Cruise Line” (beating out nominees Holland America, Oceania and Princess) and the Azamara Journey was voted “Best Premium Cruise Ship” (beating out 5 other ships that were in contention for that title). Accepting the awards for Celebrity / Azamara was Dondra Ritzenthaler, Senior Vice President of Sales.

Royal Caribbean walked away with an amazing four awards: “Best Cruise Line: Caribbean”, “Best Cruise Ship Overall” (for Freedom of the Seas), “Best Cruise Line Overall” (beating out nominees Carnival, Holland America, NCL and Princess) and “Best Sales and Service” (a category that recognizes a cruise line for how well it works with the travel agent community and its clients). Accepting the awards for Royal Caribbean were Vicki Freed, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing and Ken Muskat, Vice President of Sales.

The entire staff of Direct Line Cruises congratulates our travel partners at Royal Caribbean and Celebrity / Azamara Cruises and we sincerely thank them for inviting us to join them as their guests at the 2008 Travel Weekly Readers Choice Awards.

Fuel Surcharge Removed for Royal Caribbean, Azamara & Celebrity Cruises

In my last blog posting, I had reported that Carnival Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line announced the removal of the fuel surcharge. However, at that time Royal Caribbean, Azamara & Celebrity Cruises had not made any official announcement regarding a change in their policy.

I am now happy to report that Royal Caribbean, Azamara & Celebrity Cruises have now removed the fuel surcharge for all cruises sailing in 2009 and beyond. For guests with existing bookings that are sailing on or after January 1, 2009 and have already paid their balance, they will receive a refund via an onboard credit. For guests that have not paid their balance yet, the fuel surcharge will be removed off of their booking confirmation.

Norwegian Cruise Line & Carnival Cruise Line Remove Fuel Surcharge

Great News! Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival Cruises have just announced the removal of the fuel surcharge. In case you were not aware, due to the rising fuel costs over the last year, pretty much all of the cruise lines added a fuel surcharge to every cruise purchase. This fuel surcharge could cost up to $140.00 per person. Ouch!

Well, now it is time to celebrate! For all 2009 sailings and beyond, consumers booking a Norwegian or Carnival Cruise will no longer be required to pay a costly fuel surcharge. What does this mean for all of you considering purchasing a cruise? Now is the best time to book because cruise prices have dropped dramatically due to the removal of the fuel surcharge.
For clients that have already booked a Norwegian Cruise that is sailing in 2009 or later, they will receive a refund via an onboard credit if their balance has already been paid. If their balance has not been paid yet, Norwegian Cruise Line will remove the fuel surcharge from their booking confirmation.

For clients that have already booked a Carnival Cruise that is sailing between 12/17/08 and 02/04/09, they will receive a refund via an onboard credit. For clients that have already booked that are sailing on or after 02/05/09, Carnival will remove the fuel surcharge from their booking confirmation.

All is quiet on the Royal Caribbean, Azamara & Celebrity Cruises front. We will keep you posted.