31 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Seatrade Cruise Global 7-10 April 2025 Miami, Florida www.seatradecruiseevents.com Coastlink 2025 29-30 April 2025 Bilbao, Spain www.portstrategy.com/coastlink Nor-shipping 2025 2-6 June 2025 Oslo and Lillestrøm, Norway www.nor-shipping.com CSI Design Expo Americas 3-4 June 2025 Miami, Florida www.cruiseshipinteriors-expo.com MedCruise 10-13 June 2025 Cartagena, Spain www.medcruise.com Almaco completes Aroya Cruises refurbishment Aroya Cruises debuted its first ship Aroya in December 2024 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia following a seven-month refurbishment by Almaco Group, in collaboration with MJM Marine. The ship, which was formerly known as World Dream, spent months at shipyards in Bremerhaven in Germany and Rotterdam in the Netherlands undergoing refurbishment, which included the installation of two new galleys and the creation of a childrens’ cooking school. “The fantastic end result is a testament to the hard work and collaboration between MJM Marine, the owner and our team,” said Esko Ryyppö, project manager at Almaco. “The teamwork has truly transformed Aroya into a state-of-the-art cruise vessel.” Read more about the refurbishment onboard Aroya on page 109 Cruise trends for 2025 Improving entertainment is the big trend overall for 2025, consequently cruise lines are working on more exclusive, high-scale and live entertainment options. They are also considering holding sports events onboard as another popular form of live entertainment. Themed cruise ships, designed around a luxury destination or experience, are also trending. A leading example is the recently launched Aroya Cruises vessel Aroya, which evokes the Arabian experience including culture, art, interior design and food. COLUMBIA blue is deeply involved with Aroya Cruises, with the cruise ship management team at COLUMBIA Cruise Services providing project management for the ship alongside the hospitality experts from COLUMBIA signature. Norman Schmiedl is CEO at COLUMBIA blue Commentary: Norman Schmiedl MARKETWATCH From left: Simon Fotakis of SmartSea, Andreas Hadjipetrou of Columbia Group, Julia Siebert and Norman Schmiedl of COLUMBIA blue, and Andreas Hey of COLUMBIA signature
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