Canadian World Traveller Winter 2019-20 Issue

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The Port of Rotterdam has recently welcomed
the first call of MSC Grandiosa, one of the
most environmentally-advanced ships at sea
yet.
MSC Grandiosa was delivered on 31 October
at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in
Saint-Nazaire, France and is heavily equipped
with a comprehensive range of leading-edge
environmental technologies and other solutions
as with this ship MSC Cruises marks
another significant step in its journey towards
zero-emissions operations.
The newest flagship features a state-of-the-art
selective catalytic reduction system which
helps reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 80
Viking has recently announced its seventh ocean ship,
Viking Venus®, will join its award-winning fleet in
early 2021, further solidifying the company’s standing
as the largest and world’s best small-ship ocean
cruise line. The newest 930-guest sister ship will
spend her maiden season sailing popular itineraries
in Scandinavia and Northern Europe, including British
Isles Explorer, In Search of the Northern Lights, Viking
Homelands and Into the Midnight Sun.
Viking will also expand its offerings in the
Mediterranean and today announced five new itineraries
that include stops in Istanbul, marking the company’s
return to the iconic city. The new 8-day Ancient
Mediterranean Treasures will sail between Athens and
Istanbul, with overnight stays in both cities. Guests
MSC Grandiosa Makes First Call to Rotterdam
per cent through advanced active emissions control technology. Nitrogen oxide from the
engine operations is conducted through a catalyst – a high-density device made from
noble metals – and converts them into nitrogen and water, both harmless compounds.
MSC Grandiosa will also be fitted with shore-to-ship power which connects cruise ships
while at berth to a port’s local power grid to further reduce the ship’s air emissions while
in port to zero. This is a feature that has come as standard across all MSC Cruises new
builds since 2017.
These new features add to other effective environmental technologies deployed on the
ship and across the Company’s fleet to minimise and continuously reduce environmental
impact, including: cutting-edge hybrid Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS) that
remove up to 97 per cent of sulphur oxide from ship emissions; advanced waste management
and wastewater treatment systems; ballast water treatment systems; latest-technology
systems for the prevention of oil discharges from machinery spaces and various
state-of-the-art energy-efficiency improvements – from heat recovery systems to LED
lighting.
Currently, MSC Grandiosa and 10 other ships in MSC Cruises’ fleet of 17 ships are
equipped for cleaner emissions with hybrid (closed-loop) EGCS. The line’s six other
ships will be retrofitted with the technology by the end of 2023.
MSC Grandiosa will be deployed in the Western Mediterranean for the next 12 months
before MSC Grandiosa is deployed to South America for winter 2020.
www.msccruises.com
Viking Announces New Ocean Offerings for 2021:
Viking Venus and Additional Mediterranean Itineraries
looking for an extended experience in the region can choose a longer versions of
the itinerary, including the 15-day Ancient Adriatic Treasures, which sails between
Venice and Istanbul; the 15-day Ancient Mediterranean Antiquities, which sails
between Rome and Istanbul; the 22-day Iconic Mediterranean Treasures, which
sails between Barcelona and Istanbul; or the 29-day Mediterranean’s Iconic
Shores, which also sails between Barcelona and Istanbul and includes stops in
Montenegro and Croatia.
Beginning in April 2021 and sailing on Viking’s award-winning 930-guest allveranda
Viking Sky®, guests embarking on the new Ancient Mediterranean
Treasures itinerary or its longer combination cruise options will witness the origin
of civilization while cruising the fabled Aegean Sea. Highlights of the new itinerary
include: Istanbul, Troy (Çanakkale), Ephesus (Kuşadasi), Turkey and Rhodes,
Heraklion and Athens, Greece.
This announcement comes on the heels of several recent accolades for Viking. For
the fourth consecutive year, Travel + Leisure readers voted Viking® to the top of
its categories in the 2019 World’s Best Awards. In 2019, the company’s first five
930-guest sister ships dominated the Cruise Critic® 9th Annual Cruisers’ Choice
Awards, receiving 11 First Place honors. Viking was again named the #1 River
Cruise Line by Condé Nast Traveler in the publication’s 2018 Readers’ Choice
Awards – and has also been honored as “Best Cruise Line for Luxury Ocean
Cruises” and “Best Luxury River Cruise Company” in Luxury Travel Advisor magazine’s
2018 “Awards of Excellence” for a second consecutive year.
www.vikingcruises.com
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Hurtigruten MSC Norwegian Oceania Ponant Princess Regent
versea Star-Clippers Uniworld Viking Windstar