|
Carnival to go cellular (phones, that is)
Carnival Cruise Lines, in a joint venture with
Wireless Maritime Services, will outfit its fleet of 22 ships with
technology that will enable guests with any cell phone service to
make or receive calls as they normally do on land, no matter how far
out to sea they are.
The Carnival Triumph already has the service
installed, and Carnival’s remaining 21 vessels will be fitted
with the technology by the first quarter of 2007.
“Consumers view cell phones as a necessity
in today’s world,” said Carnival CEO Bob Dickinson.
“We’ve been exploring cellular phone service for some time.”
Calls will be charged at international roaming
rates as determined by the carrier, and will be billed directly to
the passenger’s normal cell phone bill. The technology also will
enable people to send and receive text messages on their phone and
hand-held wireless devices like Blackberry’s.
The technology already is available fleet wide
all of Norwegian Cruise Line, on most of the ships for both Royal
Caribbean Cruises brands (Royal Caribbean International and
Celebrity) and three of Regent Seven Seas’ ships.
Costa taps supermodel as godmother of Costa Concordia
Costa Cruises named Eva Herzigova, a Czech-born
supermodel, godmother of the Costa Concordia, the newest and largest
ship in the Costa fleet.
Herzigova will christen the 112,000-ton ship on
July 7 in Rome. Costa said that the supermodel was chosen in part for
her association with the fashion industry.
The inaugural ceremony, “Made in Italy,”
will be a tribute to products made in Italy and the nation’s
symbols, one of which is fashion, “something that has always
been associated with Italian style” said Costa spokeswoman Dana Dominici.
Classic liners: Some old ships get new
lease on life
Ocean liners and cruise ships of the past
generate a fond nostalgia that quickly translates into outrage when a
beloved vessel is sent to the scrap yard.
Yet a confluence of events in the past few years
has led to a increased level of historic ship-breaking that is only
likely to accelerate: The deadline to comply with amendments to the
fire safety standards outlined in the International Convention for
the Safety of Life at Sea (Solas) is less than five years away,
prices for scrap metal are at a 20-year high and with an influx of
innovative new ships being built, much of the commercial appeal in
the old vessels has subsided.
For the rest of this article CLICK
HERE
Free is good!
MSC Cruises USA is offering a "Kids Sail
Free" promotion for an upcoming Christmas cruise on MSC Lirica,
sailing December 18 out of Fort Lauderdale. This 11-day cruise goes
to Western Caribbean ports including Santa Marta, Cartagena,
Cristóbal, Puerto Limón, Roatán Island and Grand
Cayman. To qualify, children must 12 or under and be sailing in the
same cabin as two fare-paying adults.
Like they wanted to go to Bermuda in a hurricane!
Last July 24, Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the
Seas was re-routed to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick rather than to
Bermuda in order to avoid sailing directly into tropical Storm
Franklin, forecast the previous day to become a hurricane. As a
result, New Jersey's attorney general and the Division of Consumer
Affairs have filed a lawsuit on behalf of some 53 passengers (out of
a total of 3,600) who feel they are entitled to some compensation for
the change in itinerary, despite the fact that the company advised
passengers in a letter prior to boarding about the decision to change
course. Royal Caribbean spokesman Michael Sheehan said passengers
received a 25% discount on a future cruise, but the attorney general
said Royal Caribbean only issued shipboard credits of $45.20, the
difference in port fees and taxes between the destinations. Sheehan
also said Royal Caribbean decided against sailing south to warmer
weather because of rough seas.
According to the suit, which was filed last week,
the cruise line violated New Jersey's Consumer Fraud Act because,
among other things, a Canada cruise is cheaper than a Bermuda cruise
and guests could not enjoy the outdoors in the cool Canada clime. In
its statement, Royal Caribbean said that Bermuda's stormy weather
would not have been conducive to outdoor play either and that "a
cruise to Bermuda is not inherently more expensive than a cruise to Canada."
Crown Princess christened
Martha Stewart christened the 113,000-ton Crown
Princess on June 14 at its Brooklyn, N.Y., homeport. The ship began
sailing from Brooklyn last week; its inaugural 2006 summer season
will feature nine-day sailings to both the eastern and western
Caribbean and will include the line's first regular calls to Grand
Turk, Turks and Caicos, as well as a return to Bermuda. The Crown
Princess will reposition to San Juan for winter Caribbean sailings,
Princess said.
Seabourn theme sailing adds Bermuda overnight
Seabourn Pride will host its fourth annual Great
American Food & Wine Festival this autumn as the ship sails from
New England to the Caribbean. New this year is an overnight stay in Bermuda.
The 12-day cruise sails Oct. 29 from Gloucester,
Mass., with calls at Bermuda, Norfolk, Charleston, Amelia Island and
Port Canaveral before arriving at Nassau.
Tastings, cooking demonstrations and signature
dishes by chef and cookbook author Paulette Mitchell are planned,
along with culinary excursions, wine tastings and culinary events.
Professional photographer Nancy Bundt will present images of foods
traditional to the U.S. Atlantic Seaboard and give tips on digital photography.
In Bermuda, chef Judith Wadson (an alumna of
Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse) will demonstrate local delicacies
and ingredients in an optional class at her restaurant.
Royal Caribbean gets to the point of well-being
Acupuncture is being offered on a number of Royal
Caribbean International (RCI) ships for the treatment of sea
sickness, migraine, insomnia, pain management, weight loss and a host
of other conditions, as part of the Steiner-operated spa menu.
The traditional Chinese treatment, which costs
$125 for 60 minutes, was introduced on board some of the Voyager- and
Radiance-class ships in January and is being rolled out across the
majority of the fleet, Tracy Quan, RCI director of brand
communications tells Seatrade Insider. Only three or four ships will
not have it, she adds.
Korean report: now is the time for nation
to target cruise
A research report published by Korea Institute
for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET) implies it is time for
Korean shipbuilders to prepare for cruise ship construction. The
report says that the next four to five years is the 'optimum window
for interested yards to locate equipment and materials and acquire
technology exclusive to cruise ship construction, such as cabins'.
By accumulating know-how in currently weak areas
of ship cabin design and interiors says KIET, the nation can likely
reduce licensing fees of related technologies and imported equipment
and materials.
In 2005, the world's leading shipbuilding nation
received orders for 349 new ships totalling 11.97m cgt, of which
almost 90% were containerships, tankers and LNG carriers.
Crystal sets fuel surcharge for '07 cruises
Crystal Cruises will institute a fuel surcharge
of $5 per person, per day for all 2007 voyages, effective with
bookings made from July 17, 2006.
Bookings made prior to July 17 will be at the
current fare, with no fuel add-on.
Crystal said there will be no change to its
current fuel surcharge of $4 per person, per day that is in effect
for all 2006 voyages.
|
