Maiden Calls

As more people discover the pleasures of cruising, cruise companies are adding new and intriguing ports of call to their itineraries.

With more than 1800 ports to choose from, cruise passengers will never run out of new places to visit. What's more, the list is continuously growing. For example, Silversea Cruises alone plans to call at 23 new ports in 2006; Crystal Cruises has 14 maiden calls scheduled this year and another 14 for next.

Maiden calls make the cruise world bigger and truly achieve the highest goal of intrepid travellers: to expand their horizons. Many of these maiden calls are in countries rarely seen by cruise passengers, such as Bulgaria, Libya, Russia, Lebanon, Iceland, Northern Ireland and South Korea. It's a phenomenon that's global in scope, with new ports of call emerging from the north Pacific to the Caribbean and Mediterranean.

Keeping things fresh helps satisfy the interests of both new and returning cruise passengers. And as cruising continues to grow at a rapid rate, the pool of alumni keeps getting larger. In addition, visiting new and remote ports of call confers a certain status on neophyte and experienced travellers alike.

"There's always that element of bragging rights," said Jim Burnside, Vice President of Revenue Performance and Passenger Services for Silversea Cruises. "The fact you're going to a place most have never been to, will never go to, and probably can't go to."

For example, he said, "In Iran, we're going to Queshm (pronounced Keeshum). Our guests can say they've been to Iran and most other people can't say that."

New and undiscovered ports provide an element of diversity to any itinerary on which they may be found.

"The maiden calls add variety," said Mimi Weisband, Vice President of Public Relations for Crystal Cruises. "There are veteran cruisers who 'port collect'. I have heard people say, 'This is my 100th port', who have scrapbooks illustrating their travels."

Weisband explained there were two reasons why a maiden port may suddenly be found on the cruise lines' schedules.

"Sometimes there are destinations that open up, like Libya, and we certainly want to offer them to our guests. Sometimes it's the port that has expanded with new facilities. We look at whether there are enough things to do for our guests. For example, Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos (islands in the Caribbean)."

Weisband said safety, of course, was always paramount when considering a maiden call.

"We always look to ensure that they're safe and that there is infrastructure in place to accommodate guests. And it doesn't necessarily mean that there has to be a multitude of tour options. Sometimes there can be a charming shopping opportunity." And not every maiden call lies in a remote corner of the world. "One that is kind of fun, because it's in Canada/New England, is La baie des Ha! Ha! in Quebec - that's actually the name of the place," Weisband said with a laugh. "It's the way the name of the town is written out. So that's literally an amusing new stop on what for many is a familiar destination."

Certainly one of the hottest up-and-coming cruise destinations is Libya, which burst onto the cruise scene in 2004-2005. Silversea Cruises was one of the first major lines to call in Tripoli, making its maiden visit in the summer of 2005 during the Silver Whisper's Mediterranean season. This visit followed in the wake of the line's inaugural call to Beirut in 2004.

"It got one of the highest ratings of any of the port calls we did that summer," reported Brad Ball, Silversea's Director of Corporate Communications. "Beirut has the most incredible archaeological ruins," Ball explained, "but people haven"t had the opportunity to see them for years. The same is true for Libya. It has some of the best preserved Roman ruins, because people haven't been traipsing over them."

As a result, no fewer than seven cruise lines have scheduled port calls in Libya, mainly in Tripoli but in other Libyan ports as well. The list of lines visiting Libya in 2006 reads like a who's who in cruising. In addition to Silversea, cruise lines making landfall in this northern African country now include Crystal Cruises, Clipper Cruise Line, Holland America Line, MSC Cruises, Oceania Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line and Radisson Seven Seas Cruises.

South Korea and the Russian Far East also are popping up on cruise line itineraries. Maiden calls include the city of Petropavlovsk on the historic Kamchatka Peninsula. Jutting out into the North Pacific, the city was founded by the Czars and served as the launching point for famous explorers like Vitus Bering, who set out on his voyages of discovery to Alaska in 1722 and 1741. Two big-ship operators, Princess P&O Cruises and Holland America, make their maiden calls here in 2005 aboard the Diamond Princess or Statendam, respectively, while Radisson Seven Seas represents the luxury, small-ship contingent aboard the Seven Seas Mariner.

Further south along the coastline of eastern Asia, the Korean Peninsula has at least two ports of call. Princess and Holland America make landfall in Pusan, South Korea's second-largest city and main seaport. Silversea calls in Pusan as well, while Oceania Cruises ties up in Inchon, the port city for transfers to the Korean capital of Seoul, about 30 kilometres away. The company visits Seoul twice during the inaugural season of the Nautica, when each and every one of the ship's port stops are maiden calls for the line. Both Pusan and Seoul are rich in culture and history for visiting cruise passengers. On the other side of the globe, meanwhile, even the well-travelled Caribbean can offer new and undiscovered destinations. The latest to emerge is the island of Grand Turk, where Carnival Corporation is spending US$35 million to develop its own cruise facility. Renowned as a mecca for scuba divers due to its world-class coral reefs, the island of Grand Turk is located on the northern side of the Greater Antilles - a convenient position along the main cruise route between southern Florida and the eastern Caribbean. Once ashore, passengers will find an island only seven miles long but full of wonders for those looking for an undisturbed corner of the Caribbean.

"It offers an old city that fell asleep in the '60s and is slowly waking up and interesting elements of water and ocean that are incomparable," said Giora Israel, Vice President of Strategic Planning for Carnival Corporation. Planned shore excursions include a variety of activities such as diving, whale-watching and historical tours.

Grand Turk's first cruise passengers are scheduled to arrive on February 25, 2006, aboard Holland America Line's Noordam. Others will follow in June aboard the Crown Princess, and sometime after that with an undetermined ship from Carnival. Independent cruise lines are welcome as well. Other brands with Grand Turk on their 2006 calendar include Silversea, Crystal and Radisson Seven Seas.

For more information on these and other maiden calls, log-on to the various cruise line web sites, including www.cunard.com, www.crystalcruises.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.princess.com or www.pocruises.com.au, www.oceaniacruises.com, www.rssc.com (for Radisson Seven Seas), www.seabourn.com, or www.silversea.com.

More general information can be found on the web site for New York-based Cruise Lines International Association. Log on to www.cruising.org.

Written by MT Schwartzman, Issue 21 Spring 2005