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Cruise lines to Alaska: Most ships can't meet proposed
pollution limits
The cruise industry is balking at new pollution limits for ships that
could go in effect in Alaska later this year.
The Juneau Empire today reports an industry representative told a
public hearing that more than half of the cruise vessels operating in
the state would not be able to meet new limits for the pollutant
ammonia that are part of proposed wastewater rules for 2010.
The news outlet says Alaska Cruise Association consultant Mike
Tibbles argued the limits are too strict in general and there's not
enough time for the industry to comply before the start of the Alaska
season in a few months.
Tibbles said upcoming ship deployments in Alaska could be altered and
port times in Alaska ports may be reduced if the limits go into
effect, the Empire reports.
Princess to pull another cruise ship from Alaska in 2011
And then there were six.
Princess Cruises disclosed in December that it plans to pull another
cruise ship from Alaska in 2011, leaving the line with just six
vessels in the state.
Princess is the biggest cruise operator in Alaska and has had eight
ships in the region in recent years. But the line already had
announced plans earlier this year to reduce its Alaska footprint to
seven ships for the summer of 2010.
Princess revealed the latest reduction as it announced that one of
its smallest vessels, the 710-passenger Royal Princess, will be
leaving the fleet in early 2011. Princess' parent company, Carnival
Corp., has decided to transfer the eight-year-old ship to Princess'
sister line in the U.K., P&O Cruises.
"With the transfer of Royal Princess there will be one less
Princess ship in Alaska for the 2011 season, though full details are
not yet available," Princess says in a statement.
The move comes less than three months after the head of Princess'
parent company, Carnival Corp. Chairman and CEO Micky Arison, told
Wall Street analysts that it was likely to pull more ships out of
Alaska over the coming year due to the rising cost of doing business
in the state.
The parent company of Carnival, Princess and Holland America already
is reducing capacity in Alaska significantly for 2010, as is Royal
Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line.
Norwegian Cruise Line to base ship in Tampa for first time
Norwegian Cruise Line today announced it would base a ship in Tampa
starting in late 2011 -- a first for the line.
Norwegian says the 2,240-passenger Norwegian Star will sail seven-day
Western Caribbean voyages out of the city on a seasonal basis
starting on Oct. 16, 2011 through April 8, 2012.
The Star will edge out the 2,124-passenger Carnival Legend as the
biggest cruise ship sailing out of Tampa.
Norwegian's new Tampa-based voyages will begin on Sundays and include
stops in Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras; Belize City, Belize; Costa
Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; along with two days at sea.
Norwegian today also announced the Norwegian Sun will return to Port
Canaveral for the winter of 2011/2012, offering alternating seven-day
Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises.
Ships stay the course in Chile post-earthquake
Monday, 01 March 2010
Cruise lines aim to go ahead with scheduled port calls and
turn-arounds in Chile as they continue to closely monitor the
situation following Saturday’s 8.8-magnitude earthquake that
killed more than 700 people.
Star Princess is scheduled to turn around in Valparaíso on
Tuesday, and Princess Cruises has advised passengers joining the ship
for the next sailing to still plan to arrive for a Tuesday departure.
Santiago’s international airport continued to re-establish
service today, though half the usual number of flights are operating.
Holland America Line’s Veendam was in protected waters in Chile
when the quake hit and the line has not changed any itineraries since
Saturday when its vessels in the Pacific Ocean stayed at sea for
safety during the tsunami alert.
Norwegian Sun is on course. ‘We are closely monitoring the
situation in Chile and will keep guests updated as to any changes to
the current scheduled itinerary,’ a Norwegian Cruise Line
spokeswoman said.
STX France, MSC sign loi for 140,000gt newbuild
Monday, 01 March 2010
It’s official: STX France and MSC Cruises signed a letter of
intent, subject to financing, for the construction of a 140,000gt
ship to be delivered in mid-2012.
To be called MSC Favolosa, the newbuild is a slightly larger sister
of MSC Fantasia and MSC Splendida, delivered in December 2008 and
July 2009, respectively. It will have 1,751 cabins, 100 more than the
earlier vessels. Its length is 330mtrs.
Editorial: Battle of the Giants
Both Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International
introduced new ships this past fall. Carnival introduced the newest
generation of what started as its Destiny class, built by Fincantieri
in 1996, going from 101,000 to 102,000, 110,000 and now 130,000 tons
and raising the passenger capacity along the way from 2,600 to 3,650.
Royal Caribbean, meanwhile, has taken a quantum leap out of the box
with the 225,000-ton, 5,600-passenger Oasis of the Seas built by STX
Finland. While the ship shares many features with the previous
Freedom class, which was an evolution of the 1999-introduced Voyager
class, the Oasis is much larger and amazing in all its creativity and
all it has to offer. It is closer to being a floating resort
than any other ship we have sailed on.
Both Carnival and Royal Caribbean are very successful cruise brands.
Yet their strategies are very different.
Carnival, which has been known for its creative and sometimes
eclectic interior designs, suddenly seems almost conservative,
careful and measured, not taking any chances on what may be new and
unknown.
Royal Caribbean is letting creativity rule, and not only in the
visible design, but also in the arrangement of the vessel, in the
activities and in the services, going far beyond appearances. While
we found the Dream comfortable, familiar and almost a little dull, we
found the Oasis exciting, but also a little overwhelming, and do not
like to plan our vacation as much as the Oasis seems to require for
dining and entertainment.
Of course, we also had reservations before sailing on the other big
Royal Caribbean ships and on Carnival, but found that we enjoyed them
all. So both formulas are likely to work. Carnival is targeting
Middle America, while Royal Caribbean expects half of its passengers
to come from foreign markets. Carnival’s investment in hardware
is less. Royal Caribbean has higher capital costs, along with
higher operating costs and most likely higher sales and marketing
costs as well, as it depends more on foreign markets. So Royal
Caribbean has to charge more for its cruises.
Carnival executives tell us that once you are charging more, you are
also reducing your market accordingly. Royal Caribbean executives
tell us that by offering more, people are willing to pay more.
Clearly there are very smart people at both companies who have
figured all this out. Regardless, the proof will come in future
earnings calls.
We are also waiting to see how the Norwegian Epic will compare to the
Dream and the Oasis. The Epic, which will enter service in the
summer, is intended to take Norwegian Cruise Line’s Freestyle
concept to the next level.
We look forward to watching and commenting as the industry continues
to evolve, and more new ship concepts and designs will undoubtedly be
introduced, taking the industry to the next level, and then to the
next level after that – surprising us all.
-- Angela Reale Mathisen & Oivind Mathsien
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