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Princess cancels
sailings of Star Princess for repairs
Princess
Cruises canceled the Caribbean cruises that had been scheduled April
9, 16 and 23 and a transatlantic cruise scheduled April 30 on the
Star Princess, which has been taken out of service after a fire
damaged 100 cabins and left one passenger dead (heart attack) and 11 injured.
The cruise
line already had canceled the March 26 and April 3 departures of the
Star Princess.
The Star Princess
will be repaired at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany.
Princess
expects the ship to be back in service on May 15, in time to depart
from Copenhagen, Denmark, for a Europe cruise.
American
West Steamboat vessel free from sandbar
American West
Steamboat Co.’s Empress of the North floated free March
26 from a sandbar on the Columbia River five miles east of Portland,
Ore., that had held it since early morning on March 24, according to
a statement from the company.
Saint
John boosts cruise calls
New
Brunswick’s Saint John Port Authority added more cruise
calls for the upcoming season. ‘We are pleased to confirm five
additional cruise calls to the port for this year,’ said Capt.
Al Soppitt, port president and ceo.
Carnival Victory
will visit on Sept. 13, 20, 27 and Oct. 4, extending Carnival Cruise
Lines’ Bay of Fundy season by a month. Also, Celebrity
Cruises’ Constellation will call on Oct. 3.
The new
business brings the total of confirmed calls to 33 and the total
passenger and crew counts to 87,300 and 35,000, respectively. That
translates into an economic impact of $9m on the region, Soppitt said.
2007: An
historic year for Cunard
Cunard is
facing a busy year in 2007 with the arrival of a new liner, a special
anniversary for QE2 and an extended transatlantic program for Queen
Mary 2.
The highlight
of QE2's year will be the 40th anniversary of her launch by the Queen
on September 20, 1967. To commemorate this historic event the ship is
undertaking a special round-Britain voyage - a 'lap of honour' -
between September 15 and 23 which will include a maiden overnight
call to the Tyne, a public 'anniversary party' at The Pierhead in
Liverpool, and a return to her birthplace, the Clyde, exactly 40
years to the day. Demand for this unique voyage is expected to be high.
Cunard's new
liner, Queen Victoria, will enter service on December 11,
2007. While the maiden voyage is sold out, there is still some space
on the 16-night maiden Christmas voyage which leaves Southampton for
the Canaries on December 23 calling at Vigo, Lisbon, Malaga, Funchal,
Las Palmas, Arrecife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Casablanca and Gibraltar.
Queen Mary 2
will sail more transatlantics next year, fulfilling the role for
which she was built - crossing the Atlantic between Southampton and
New York. In 2007 there is an expanded transatlantic programme which
offers 22 six-day crossings, together with a seven-day crossing
between Southampton and Fort Lauderdale.
Holiday
resumes service from Mobile
Carnival
Cruise Lines’ Holiday resumed service from Mobile on Monday
following its charter to the U.S. government for post-Hurricane
Katrina relief housing.
The Holiday
has just completed a 20-day, multimillion-dollar refurbishment at
Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport.
The resumption
of year-round four- and five-day cruises from Mobile was celebrated
with a party Carnival hosted for 125 local dignitaries and travel agents.
The Holiday
will operate 75 voyages a year from Mobile, carrying an estimated
120,000 passengers annually. Four-day cruises depart Thursdays and
visit Cozumel while five-day voyages depart Mondays and Saturdays and
visit Cozumel and Calica or Costa Maya.
New Half
Moon Cay bike tour
Holland
America Line added a new bicycle tour to the activities it offers
on Half Moon Cay. The guided tour lets passengers explore the
historic and natural highlights of the line's private Bahamian island
while pedaling on newly resurfaced roads. The 11/4-hour excursion
covers approximately three miles and is priced at $19.
MSC
Postpones US Expansion
Last week, MSC
Cruises announced that basically all the big news they've had for the
US over the last few months won't be happening, at least for another year.
Their plans to
launch programs from New York in the summer of 2007 have been put on
hold, and the 90,000-ton MSC Musica which will launch in the
Mediterranean this summer will stay there for the winter instead of
repositioning to the Caribbean.
Brooklyn
readies for QM2 turn-around
New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a host of other officials will be on hand
to welcome Queen Mary 2 to the new Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on April
15.
The $52m
facility at Pier 12 in Red Hook will become home to Cunard Line and
Princess Cruises. QM2’s call will be the first cruise
turn-around operation.
In its first
year, the 182,000-square-foot Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is expected to
handle approximately 40 ships, including the new Crown Princess,
launching in June. The terminal adds 330 new, permanent jobs to the
Brooklyn waterfront. |
