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Cruise
lines, harbor pilots head to court
The two cruise
lines that sail from Galveston Island are heading to court to resolve
a dispute with harbor pilots that guide the ships as they arrive and
leave port.
Carnival
Corp., Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and the Florida-Caribbean Cruise
Association jointly filed paperwork with Galveston County District
Court on Sept. 23 requesting a judicial review of the
commission’s proceedings while proposed pilot rate increases
were being considered.
Earlier this
year, the harbor pilots had sought rate increases to handle vessels
heading in and out of Galveston and Texas City that were reviewed by
the Board of Commissioners of Pilots for the Ports of Galveston
County at several hearings.
A major point
of contention between the cruise lines and pilots in recent years had
been the pilots’ insistence that all cruise ships require two
pilots on board, with the second pilot billing the cruise lines at 50
percent of the regular tariff. The cruise lines had argued the second
pilot was not necessary due to the handling capabilities of modern
cruise ships.
In May, the
pilots and cruise lines signed a memorandum of understanding to
eliminate the second pilot, in return for the cruise lines dropping
objections to other rate increases.
But after the
commission made several rulings that approved other rate increases
without proper hearings, the cruise lines and other industry
representatives filed protests, and the pilots abruptly withdrew
their application at an August commission hearing, saying that the
deal with the cruise lines was also off the table, despite the signed agreement.
The cruise
lines are asking the court to uphold the agreement.
-- Houston
Business Journal - by Greg Barr Senior Reporter
Holland
America Cruise Ships to Serve as Hotels for World Cup 2010
Next summer,
hundreds of thousands of football enthusiasts will descend on South
Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and a few thousand lucky fans
will be staying aboard Holland America Line's Noordam and Westerdam.
South Africa's
Cape Argus newspaper reported on the 25th that the two ships have
been confirmed for a June 10 to July 12 residency in South Africa.
Chartered by Germany-based hospitality services provider One Ocean
Club, Noordam and Westerdam will dock at three South African ports --
Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban -- sailing between them to
follow the action.
One Ocean Club
is offering various two- to five-night packages that coincide with
match play, though finalized schedules will not be available until
the official World Cup bracket is cemented in early December.
(Qualifications are ongoing.) While the various packages, available
for purchase here, will include transfers on match days, they do not
include tickets to any of the always raucous games, so you'll have to
secure your own through FIFA.
Besides being
a fully operational cruise ship, with casinos, bars and restaurants
open for service, "the ships will have African touches,"
says Hartmut Schultz, spokesman for One Ocean Club. Menus will
feature locally sourced African food, African artists will perform in
lieu of the standard show program, and both ships will display a
gallery with local art. As is standard on Holland America cruises,
passengers can dine at the Pinnacle Grill, an alternative restaurant
that serves steaks and seafood for an additional cost.
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Norwegian
Cruise Line opens bookings for Epic's first Caribbean sailing
Norwegian
Cruise Line begins taking bookings from the public today for the
first Caribbean sailing of its much-awaited Norwegian Epic.
The line says
prices for the seven-night Eastern Caribbean voyage, departing Miami
on July 10, 2010, start at $1,149 per person, based on double occupancy. |
Norwegian
Cruise Line already has been selling the maiden trans-Atlantic voyage
of the Epic, which departs Southampton, England on June 24, 2010, and
arrives in New York seven days later. The first Caribbean voyage
going on sale today takes place nine days later.
Carnival
drops Antigua from seven-night Southern Caribbean cruise itinerary
Industry giant
Carnival has dropped Antigua from the itinerary of the Carnival
Victory, effective with the voyage of Jan. 3, 2010.
The
2,758-passenger ship, which sails to the Southern Caribbean out of
San Juan, Puerto Rico, instead will visit St. Maarten. The other
islands visited on the itinerary -- St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados,
St. Lucia and St. Kitts -- will remain the same.
The change
comes just three weeks after Antiguan police arrested six Carnival
Victory passengers in an incident that made international headlines,
but Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen tells USA TODAY the decision
to pull the ship from the island is unrelated to the arrests.
In a
statement, Carnival says it had been contemplating moving the ship
away from Antigua for quite some time. "We have not modified
this Southern Caribbean itinerary in the past four years and had a
desire to incorporate a new port of call," the line says.
"At the same time, St. Maarten holds very strong appeal from a
tourism standpoint and we have made a commitment to St. Maarten to
support the extensive port and infrastructure development currently
underway there."
Carnival notes
Antigua will remain on the itinerary of the eight-night Southern
Caribbean cruises it offers on another ship, the Carnival Freedom,
out of Ft. Lauderdale. The Freedom sails the itinerary every fourth
week -- or 13 times a year. Still, the net effect of the change is to
reduce Carnival's arrivals in Antigua by 80%.
Royal
Caribbean boosts Haiti tourism push
By far the
biggest private investment in Haiti tourism in decades, a
multimillion-dollar expansion by Royal Caribbean on the northern
coast is igniting hopes of a tourism comeback.
LABADEE, Haiti
-- Some vacationers Jet Ski, lounge on beach chairs and gorge at the
buffet. Others hunt souvenirs in the nearby market or soar across the
sky on a zip line linking lush mountains.
Miami's Royal
Caribbean Cruises has extended the palm-lined beach, put in a roller
coaster and constructed an 800-foot pier -- a nearly $55 million
investment that is fueling hope that this troubled nation can finally
achieve the elusive goal of becoming a tourist getaway once more.
``We see a lot
of possibilities,'' said Jean Bernard Simonnet, 54, who heads the
north chapter of the Haiti Tourism Association. ``We have a lot of
things we can offer tourists.''
Click
here for the rest of this article
-- By
Jacqueline Charles, Miami Hearld
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