Welcome the Chinese New Year with Fuss-free holidays for the Family

 

(Left to right: Diving above the Noonu Atoll, ROBY CLUB Childcare, Beach Volleyball at ROBINSON Club Maldives)

Chinese New Year has become another golden week to go on holiday, with 6.5 million Chinese tourists travelling overseas during this time in 2018. 2019’s Year of the Pig is set to be a prime time for families across China and Hong Kong to celebrate with extraordinary overseas trips with loved ones.

With multi-generational travel set to be a strong trend for the Chinese New Year period in 2019, this year ROBINSON unveils inspiring signature intergenerational experiences, throughout Southern East Asia tailored for Chinese New Year travellers.

ROBINSON Club Resorts offer an extensive range of activities to fit every family’s travelling needs, from the young and adventurous to those looking for a more relaxed private trip, all whilst providing beautiful exotic holiday experiences. With all-inclusive or full board food and sport packages available in 23 club resorts all over the world, ROBINSON offers the solution to hassle-free Chinese New Year holidays, with feasts from a variety of cuisines, alongside fun activities for all the family.

Throughout Chinese New Year, guests at ROBINSON Club Noonu are invited to experience a special celebratory New Year’s dinner, serving traditional Chinese cuisine to begin the Year of the Pig with good fortune. A selection of luxury prizes are also available to win throughout the holiday season, by entering the New Year tombola. With prizes including luxury champagne, specialty restaurant vouchers and a beautiful candlelit beach dining experience.

ROBINSON Club Maldives will prepare a scrumptious Chinese-style feast, presented in the main restaurant Das Edel on February 4. Offering traditional dishes such as Crispy Hoisin Duck, Yangzhou Style Fried Rice with Chicken and Baby Shrimp along with Festive Moon Cakes to finish, the restaurant will adapt the Asian style shared dining, serving all dishes to large tables. With customary Chinese New Year decorations brightening the mood around the restaurant, diners will enjoy fortune cookies and small New Year gifts, followed by an entertaining dance act to end the evening. An additional Asian-style barbeque buffet is available in the main restaurant for guests who prefer something a little more relaxed.

While ringing in the Chinese New Year in Thailand at ROBINSON Club Khao Lak, guests will be treated to a traditional sunset Chinese Lion Dance in the Beach Bamboo, showering good luck and prosperity on guests. Lifting spirits in the lobby, a tasteful Chinese sakura tree will be on display and guests will be encouraged to hang their paper wishes for 2019 on each branch of the tree. All taking place on 5^th February, a Chinese-style array of buffet dishes will be served in the main restaurant followed by a pulsating Chinese dance performance at the Main Bar.

Best for Families with Kids – ROBINSON Club Khao Lak (Thailand)

This ultimate family destination spans across 280,000m² of beautiful white, sandy beaches in the South of Thailand - one of the most popular destinations for Chinese tourists in 2018. With families in mind, the club resort provides all inclusive, highly personalised care for children and teenagers, along with fun facilities and activities. ROBY CLUB Classic offers daily childcare, a children’s playroom and an outdoor play area for ‘minis’ (aged 3-6), ‘maxis’ (aged 7-9) and kids (aged 10-12) to play under the care of professional staff. There is a host of child-friendly facilities including ROBS, the parent-free youth club for young adults and the ‘Babyset package’ with young baby facilities added to your room and childcare included.

With varied sports and games available throughout the resort, most of which are already included in each holiday package, fun is always at the forefront. Guests of all ages can choose from football, beach volleyball, water polo and archery, or water sports such as stand-up paddle-boarding or kayaking.

With Full Board Made by ROBINSON available in the outdoor terrace restaurant, along with three additional gourmet options, this relaxing beachside resort offers the ultimate choice for a family Chinese New Year meal.

Best for Intergenerational Families – ROBINSON Club Noonu (Maldives)

ROBINSON Club Noonu offers a Maldives experience like no other. The perfect island getaway this February, the family-friendly beach resort provides a variety of holiday experiences perfect for relatives of all ages. Family rooms have been carefully designed for the biggest, or smallest of groups. Situated directly on the beach, with outdoor lounge areas and beautiful sea view rooms, the double villas are suitable for up to six adults. Complete with connecting doors and two large bathrooms with a bathtub and outdoor shower, the spacious rooms offer luxury like no other.

Sure to get every family member moving, ROBINSON’s signature ‘Sportstainment’ program combines sports, games and all things fun. Whether guests choose to dive over the impressive Noonu Atoll, play volleyball on the spectacular white sandy beach, or participate in a game of urban golf through the resort, ROBINSON Club Noonu offers something for everyone this Chinese New Year.

Oceania Cruises acquires two new Allura Ships

Oceania Cruises, the upper-premium subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., today announced an order for two new ships from Fincantieri S.p.A. The ships will be delivered in 2022 and 2025.

“This new class of ships will represent an evolution of the Oceania Cruises experience with all the elements our guests treasure – a warm, intimate, residential style; the most spacious standard staterooms afloat; amazing suites, and of course, the finest cuisine at sea,” stated Bob Binder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Oceania Cruises.

The two 67,000 gross ton Allura-Class ships will each accommodate approximately 1,200 guests. This new class of mid-size cruise vessels will retain all the warmth, popular design elements, and signature amenities of the line’s award-winning Marina and Riviera while affording guests an additional level of comfort, convenience and many new luxury amenities.

“We are excited to expand the Oceania Cruises fleet with our new Allura-Class ships to meet the strong demand for upscale culinary- and destination-focused cruise vacations around the globe,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. “This new class of ships will further elevate the already best-in-class guest experience at Oceania Cruises and meaningfully strengthen demand from both new and loyal returning guests, which will ultimately drive further returns for shareholders.”

“This new successful project for Oceania Cruises is yet another demonstration of our ability to capitalize on product innovation and diversification to meet the needs of every type of customer, a capability that distinguishes us in the world” said Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri. “The order we are announcing today, indeed, reiterates not only our first place in the luxury sector, but at the same time it further strengthens an unprecedented leadership in the cruise sector, with a backlog of 55 vessels to be built for most of the brands operating on this market, and deliveries extending all the way to 2027”.

The contract price for each of the two vessels is approximately €575 million per ship. The Company has obtained export credit financing with favorable terms to fund 80 percent of the contract price of each ship, subject to certain Italian government approvals.

About Oceania Cruises

Oceania Cruises is the world’s leading culinary- and destination-focused cruise line. The line’s six intimate and luxurious ships which carry only 684 or 1,250 guests offer an unrivaled vacation experience featuring the finest cuisine at sea and destination-rich itineraries that span the globe. Expertly crafted voyages aboard designer-inspired, intimate ships call on more than 450 ports across Europe, Alaska, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, New England-Canada, Bermuda, the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Tahiti and the South Pacific and epic 180-day Around the World Voyages. For more information click to visit OceaniaCruises.com, contact your travel advisor or call  Singapore 800-616 -7096 / India 0008-0004-01054 / Hong Kong and Rest of Asia +852 2165 6010.

Late father continues to inspire Filipino hard-hitter Jeremy Miado

Fathers play many roles in parenting responsibilities to their children. Some are involved in every aspect of their children’s lives, while others work on only selective facets.

Regardless of which areas a father chooses, this relationship begins the journey towards an inevitable bond between parent and offspring.

Jeremy “The Jaguar” Miado, a professional mixed martial artist who hails from the province of Albay in the Philippines, looked up to his father all throughout his life and considered him as his personal hero.

“The most important influence in my childhood was my father. My dad was my hero because he's someone I looked up to every single day,” he shared.

Miado’s father supported him in the early stages of his martial arts journey as he trained boxing at a local training facility in his hometown.

Growing up, his idol was Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao, and it was not unusual for him and his friends to mimic boxing’s only eight-division world champion during their free time.

“Manny Pacquiao was my idol. I wanted to be just like him when I was a teenager. He was so amazing during his prime as a boxer,” Miado said.

Although it was just a few buddies playing around back then, Miado’s commitment to boxing took a serious turn at the age of 20 when he had to drop out from his Criminology course at Bicol College to help augment the family income.

“I knew I had to do something to help out, anything,” he recalled. “I could not watch my family go through hardship, so I knew it was up to me to change our situation.”

According to Miado, his father was a bit hesitant about his decision to leave school and become a pugilist.

“I guess it’s normal for parents to be worried because what we do is so physical. But I thank him for respecting my decision to drop out and put my focus on martial arts,” he stated.

“Even though he didn’t agree with me, my father knew that I was doing it for the family.”

Like many other rural areas in the Philippines, poverty is widespread, including one of the communities in Albay where Miado was raised as his own family lived a hand-to-mouth existence.

As his parents barely made enough money to provide for the family, strapping on gloves was his only choice, hoping to emulate how Pacquiao fought his way out of bleak circumstances with his fists.

Miado showed lots of promise, garnering a solid record of 32 wins and two losses as an amateur boxer.

He dedicated time and effort to his training, but replicating what the Filipino boxing icon has accomplished was a monumental task.

With no promoters in the region to take young prospects on a route towards money and success, Miado needed a different angle, leaving home to relocate to Metro Manila.

“When I decided to move to Manila because there were a lot more opportunities, I discovered mixed martial arts. It enticed me to try it and make a career out of it,” he disclosed.

When a college friend introduced Miado to Muay Thai, he quickly fell in love with it, adding “The Art of Eight Limbs” to his repertoire.

As he progressed deeper into martial arts, Miado dabbled into different combat disciplines such as wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

With his passion for martial arts growing as the day goes by, Miado eventually won the commendation of his loving father.

“He understood where I was coming from. He started to notice the values that I learned from martial arts. After seeing the beauty of it, he ended up as my biggest fan,” he revealed.

After mastering different forms of martial arts, Miado made his cage debut in January 2016, winning his first six assignments.

His success on the mixed martial arts stage gained him the attention of ONE Championship.

Under the organization’s banner, “The Jaguar” owns two astonishing knockout victories, including the shocking first-round finish of former ONE Strawweight World Champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke at ONE: IRON WILL in March 2018.

This past November, Miado pushed through tremendous adversity to claim the most emotionally-charged win of his young career.

The 26-year-old Filipino striker defeated China’s Peng Xue Wen via second-round stoppage at ONE: CONQUEST OF CHAMPIONS, which took place in front of his countrymen at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines.

While the partisan crowd cheered over his spectacular triumph, Miado closed his eyes, raised his hands in celebration, and dedicated the impressive showing to his father, who passed away merely five days prior to his bout against Peng.

"I drew strength from him for that fight. He supported me in this journey. The only thing that I could do at that moment was to repay his support with a victory,” he stressed.

“I was ready to throw in the towel, but my family and team gave me the motivation and the drive to enter the cage.

“Even though my father is gone, I still have them. My friends and family are now the source of my strength.”

Miado was tenacious from the opening bell and displayed marked improvements after he successfully defended against the Chinese wrestler’s takedown attempts.

He threw all of his punches and kicks with authority, and never showed any signs of losing steam.

The finish came at the 35-second mark of round two. Miado dropped Peng with a right uppercut, and then threw follow-up punches until referee Yuji Shimada stopped the contest. .

Miado takes great pleasure in knowing he served his father's memory well as ONE: CONQUEST OF CHAMPIONS.

"I knew that if I won, he would be happy,” he expressed. “The moment I won, I knew he was happy from up there. I know he was with me. I know he was watching, so I did my best to win."

Knowing that life will never be a straightforward pathway, Miado remains optimistic and believes that he has to hold onto his persistence more than ever.

“Life can get hard and things can go wrong, but no matter what happens, I’ve got to stay strong for my family,” he stated. “I know deep in my heart that difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.”

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