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NEARLY THREE MILLION PEOPLE CRUISED in the second quarter of
2006, an 11.67% increase over the same period in 2005, according to
the Cruise Lines International Association. Of the 2.97 million
passengers to cruise in the quarter, about 2.5 million passengers
were sourced from North America, CLIA said. Member cruise lines also
posted an average 103.2% occupancy rate during the second quarter, a
four-point improvement over second-quarter 2005, CLIA said.
Carnival updates the Triumph's eastern Caribbean itinerary
The Carnival Triumph will operate a new seven-day itinerary from
Miami to the eastern Caribbean, visiting four ports of call starting
in April 2007.
During the cruise, Carnival Cruise Lines' 2,758-passenger ship will
visit its private Bahamian island Half Moon Cay; San Juan; St.
Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; and Carnival's own port in Grand Turk,
Turks and Caicos. The Triumph's previous itinerary on its eastern
route was to San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.
This program will run from Miami every other Saturday from April 21
through Aug. 11. In the fall, the Triumph shifts to New Orleans.
Oceania Cruises takes ownership of its three vessels
Oceania Cruises is taking ownership of the three ships in its fleet,
the Regatta, the Insignia and the Nautica, which it has been
operating under long-term lease from Cruiseinvest, LLC, Oceania said.
Taking ownership of our vessels and the recently executed credit
facility have perfectly positioned Oceania Cruises to enter its next
phase of growth," he said. "With our enhanced financial
performance and flexibility, we can now focus on fleet expansion."
NCL praises law enabling flexibility in crewing U.S.-flag ships
NCL America said it was pleased with recent legislation passed by
Congress that increases the flexibility to fill certain crew
positions on U.S.-flag cruise ships with limited numbers of
non-citizen workers, but insisted that the change will not affect any
existing crew currently employed on its U.S.-flag ships.
NCL released a statement saying that a new provision contained in the
U.S. Dept. of Defense authorization bill, signed into law by
President Bush Oct. 17, makes no change to the requirement that 75%
of the onboard crew be U.S. citizens. The current law also permits up
to 25% of the unlicensed crew to be non-citizen permanent residents
(green card holders). The new law will allow other visa holders to
make up that 25% component, NCL said, increasing worker flexibility
within that 25% component.
This flexibility will "significantly help address crew shortages
and turnover that NCL America has experienced since the startup of
its U.S.-flag cruise ship operations", NCL said.
The law stipulates that "experienced seafarers, holding proper
visas and having received U.S. Coast Guard merchant mariner
documents, to work aboard U.S.-flag ships for a period of not more
than three years", NCL said. All of these employees would be
required to undergo background checks by the State Dept. and by the
U.S. Coast Guard.
Holland America's Signature-class ship takes name
Holland America Line has decided on a name for its first
Signature-class vessel: the Eurodam. The 2,044-passenger ship, the
largest to be constructed by the line, is to be delivered in summer 2008.
The 86,000-ton Eurodam will be built at Italian shipbuilder
Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard with an estimated all-in cost of
$450 million. HAL has a second Signature-class ship on option with
Fincantieri, with delivery scheduled for spring 2010.
Carnival shortens next Liberty sailing
The number of new cases of suspected norovirus on Carnival
Liberty’s current Atlantic crossing has dropped to four
passengers with no new crew cases but Carnival Cruise Lines said it
will shorten the next voyage to allow time for thorough sanitizing.
The six-day Caribbean cruise scheduled for Nov. 19 will instead sail
on Nov. 21, with stops at Key West and Cozumel.
Carnival said 506 passengers out of 2,804 and 137 crew out of 1,166
on board the 16-day crossing from Civitavecchia to Fort Lauderdale
reported symptoms of gastrointestinal illness consistent with norovirus.
The cruise line said that after the start of the voyage, it was
determined that at least two passengers were sick with
gastrointestinal illness just prior to the cruise and sought medical
treatment in Rome before boarding the ship.
New Orleans opens riverfront to development
An agreement that paves the way for public use and visitor-friendly
development of waterfront areas in New Orleans was signed
between the city and the Port of New Orleans.
The Riverfront Redevelopment Plan will open four miles of
port-controlled riverfront, from Jackson Avenue to the Industrial
Canal, to non-maritime use by the city. The goal is to transform port
areas once set aside for industrial purposes into areas of public
access, recreation and retail.
‘We want to create one of the best river fronts in the world so
that it will be a separate tourist destination — another
compelling reason to visit New Orleans,’ said Sean Cummings,
executive director of the New Orleans Building Corp.
Crystal sets 2-ship course for Dubai
For the first time, Crystal Cruises will deploy both of its ships on
itineraries featuring Dubai, which the line calls ‘one of the
world’s hottest travel destinations.’
Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony in 2007 will offer a total of
four cruises that begin or end in the trendy emirate. That’s a
doubling of departures since 2006, ‘and interest in the region
still surpasses our expectations,’ said Bill Smith,
Crystal’s svp sales and marketing.
Crystal Serenity will sail a 17-day Cape Town to Dubai passage on
March 3, followed by an 18-day Dubai to Istanbul route. Crystal
Symphony will cruise from Singapore to Dubai in 16 days, departing
May 1, followed by a 14-day cruise from Dubai to Civitavecchia.
A Santorini stage for dual Princess ship namings
In a first for Princess Cruises, the 3,100-passenger Emerald Princess
and 710-passenger Royal Princess will formally join the fleet in a
dual christening ceremony in Santorini.
The May 12 event, featuring one of the line’s largest and
smallest vessels, is intended to underscore the range of ship choices
Princess offers.
Emerald Princess, the sister to this year’s Crown Princess, will
offer a dramatic contrast to Royal Princess (the former Minerva II),
less than a quarter of the size. Both ships begin sailing in Europe
this April on a series of Mediterranean itineraries, including the
Greek Isles, Crimean Coast, Egypt and the Holy Land, and a number of
new ports on the Adriatic Sea.
San Diego Cruise Update
Carnival will launch the first year-round service out of San Diego in
June when it sends the 2,052-passenger Elation there to operate 78
four- and five-day Baja Mexico voyages per year. The ship will move
from Port Canaveral, Fla., where it currently sails year-round to the
Bahamas; Carnival currently has no plans to replace the Elation in
Port Canaveral.
Celebrity cancels Dec. 10 sailing on Millennium for repairs
Celebrity Cruises will cancel the Dec. 10 sailing of the Millennium
in order to repair the vessel's propulsion system.
The affected cruise is a seven-night Caribbean sailing, roundtrip
from Fort Lauderdale; Celebrity said the Millennium is expected to be
back in service for its subsequent sailing, which departs Dec. 17.
Celebrity will send the ship to drydock in order to replace the port
thrust bearing in the propulsion system. The line said that the
Millennium is operating safely.
The Price of Not Memorizing the Rules
Royal Caribbean is $100,000 poorer tonight, because the State of
Washington's Department of Ecology imposed that fine on the company
for a series of incidents last year where Mercury accidentally
discharged a half million gallons of untreated gray water into Puget
Sound.
The incidents were the result of members of the ship's crew not being
clear on where the state's territorial waters ended and where it was
OK to make the discharge. Everyone (the company and the state) seems
to agree that it was an honest mistake, so it's difficult to
understand why the state is imposing a fine, especially since the
discharge caused no harm.
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