New cruise ships to sail this season
The Greek cruise industry recently took delivery of two newly built vessels ahead of this year’s holiday season: European Stars, of Festival Cruises and delivered by France’s Chantiers de l’Atlantique, and Olympia Explorer, of Royal Olympic Cruises, built by Hamburg’s Blohm+Voss. The delivery comes at a time of crisis for the global cruise industry in the wake of the September 11 attacks, and as the big American operators, aided by the US administration, are reported to be on an acquisition spree. Olympia Explorer and its earlier sister ship Olympic Voyager, are 25,000-ton vessels on the megayacht model, 161.5 meters long and 25 meters wide and they can carry 800 passengers each at a speed of 27 miles. Andreas Potamianos, 50-percent owner of Royal Olympic Cruises and chairman of the Coastal Shipowners’ Association, who took delivery of the ship on Thursday, says the new vessel has attracted new demand and bookings are 60 percent up from last year. The Explorer will set sail from Venice on a seven-day cruise to Dubrovnik, Sicily, the Greek islands and Istanbul. European Stars, delivered on April 19, is a sister ship to European Vision, which rose to fame in July last year when it hosted the G8 leaders in Genoa harbor. Festival Cruises is based in both Piraeus and Genoa and has offices in 16 European countries. The latest addition to its fleet brings the company’s capacity to 7,200 beds in seven ships. Festival has obtained exclusive rights for cruises to Cuba, where its ship, Mistral, sails weekly. With another recent addition to its fleet, Caribe, Festival will be able to operate in Cuba all the year round. The company’s chairman and managing director, Giorgos Poulidis, says that Brussels must help European companies and face the hard – and often unfair – competition in these difficult times. In the first phase, the focus of activities will be on Athens and Thessaloniki which cover 80 percent of businesses, 50 percent of the population and 80 percent of fixed lines.
