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| PHOTO: Pacific Aria will be deployed under the German TransOcean Kreuzfahrten brand. (photo courtesy of Cruise & Maritime Voyages) |
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year, Cruise and Maritime Voyages (CMV) announced the acquisition of two more cruise ships to join their expanding ocean fleet, increasing to eight cruise ships in 2021.
CMV will take delivery of P&O Australia’s Pacific Dawn (tbr) and Pacific Aria (tbr) in Singapore on the March 2nd and May 2nd of 2021 respectively, increasing lower bed fleet capacity to 9000 berths and passenger capacity by 30 percent in 2021.
“The introduction of two more ships to the global ocean fleet is the next exciting chapter of our strategic growth objectives," said Christian Verhounig, CEO of Cruise and Maritime Voyages. "This will enable us to service increasing market demand for our traditional brand of cruising generated by our expanding international network of in-house sales offices and developing source markets. We have now acquired five cruise ships in just five years and are firmly on course in carrying 200,000 passengers in 2021.”
The duo will be officially renamed in summer 2021 following dry docking to complete some minor upgrade and re-livery works in Singapore before embarking on CMV’s maiden positioning voyages via the Suez Canal to Northern Europe.
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| The Pacific Dawn in CMV's livery |
"We are thrilled with the expansion of our fleet as we announce the addition of these two superb vessels. urther, with so many excellent flight options from North America to the UK, we anticipate that adding Pacific Dawn in particular will usher in the increase of even more travelers from the United States to experience our time-honored cruises that sail from London, Tilbury as we continue to boost awareness about CMV and its distinctive cruise programs throughout this key market," said John Dennis, Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Pacific Dawn (tbr) at 70,285grt, with 798 passenger cabins and carrying about 1400 passengers will be deployed in late May 2021, bolstering much needed capacity and cruising year-round alongside Columbus from London, Tilbury.
Pacific Aria (tbr) at 55,819grt, with 630 passenger cabins and carrying about 1100 passengers will be deployed under the German TransOcean Kreuzfahrten brand with a much-needed increase in capacity cruising alongside Vasco da Gama and replacing the 580 passenger Astor.
The new ship names will be unveiled later in December 2019 under CMV’s explorer theme providing a more traditional scenic cruise experience.
Chris Coates, Group Commercial Director added, “As the CMV brand continues to evolve, the growing popularity of our traditional product, classic ships and destination focused cruise programs has encouraged us to accelerate plans to add capacity to the two top European cruise markets in the UK and Germany, which represent 85% of our business. These two fine cruise ships perfectly complement our existing fleet providing trade partners and consumers alike with much needed extra capacity. For 2020, we expect close to 70% of capacity to be sold by the year end, in line with expectations. This provides an ideal platform for the early introduction of new tonnage and opportunities for summer 2021 with the focus very much on higher yield business.”
The 2021 summer programs will go on sale via the travel trade and CMV’s international sales offices and websites during Q1-2020 with special 2021 launch edition brochures being released offering some enticing early booking incentives and great new opportunities.
