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October is National Cruise Vacation Month
In less than two weeks, the Cruise Lines International Association
will celebrate National Cruise Vacation Month. Each year the
North American industry's annual travel agency promotional program
seeks to focus consumer attention on cruising.
The centerpiece of the month-long October awareness campaign is the World's
Largest Cruise Night on Oct. 19.
The Cruiseman will be participating in both National
Cruise Vacation Month and World's Largest Cruise Night activities.
The World's Largest Cruise Night will be a part of our 12th
Anniversary Celebration. Keep your eye on this newsletter for
details in October.
Royal Caribbean to sail Rhapsody of the Seas in Asia in 2007 (09/18/2006)
Royal Caribbean International said it will begin sailing out of ports
in Asia in December 2007, including Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
The Vision-class Rhapsody of the Seas will offer a series of sailings
to ports in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan,
sourcing mostly from the local Asian markets, Royal Caribbean said.
“The introduction of Rhapsody of the Seas into Asia, together
with our previously announced deployments of ships to South America
and the Dominican Republic, are all part of the company’s
strategy of international business development and expansion into
emerging and high-growth markets,” said Adam Goldstein,
president of Royal Caribbean International in a press release.
The Rhapsody of the Seas will debut in Singapore on Dec. 10, 2007
offering itineraries to Malaysia and Thailand. The ship will then
move to Hong Kong for the Chinese New Year holiday season, and sail
to Taiwan, Japan, and China’s Hainan Island. It will then move
to Shanghai, China, and run trips to ports in Japan and Korea.
Plan for new cruise terminal scuttled in San Francisco
The Port of San Francisco has scrapped its proposed $360 million
cruise ship terminal at Piers 30 and 32 that had been in the planning
stages since 2000. In addition, the contractual agreement the port
had with the San Francisco Cruise Terminal expired, effective Sept.
15, said Renee Dunn, the port's manager of communications.
According to a report in the San Francisco Examiner, contributing to
the decision to back out of the plan were rising construction costs,
the costs associated with retrofitting the rotting piers and
declining real estate rents. The terminal was to include
restaurants, office space and a waterfront promenade.
Celebrity shifts departure for Alaska sailings to Vancouver
Celebrity Cruises has changed the Mercury's port of arrival and
departure from Seattle to Vancouver for its seven-night Alaska
sailings in 2007. The cruise line said the change will
enable passengers to spend more time in select ports of call and
allow for a better arrival time for viewing Alaska's Hubbard Glacier.
FBI identifies woman missing from Carnival Imagination
The FBI in Miami has identified the woman who disappeared from a
Carnival Cruise Lines ship on Sept. 11 as 35-year-old, Toledo, Ohio,
native Tammy Grogan, who was traveling with her son, a sister and two
friends.
Grogan was reported missing when the Imagination docked in Miami
after a 4-day trip to Key West, Fla., and Calica, Mexico. According
to Carnival, early on Sept. 11 a guest onboard the Imagination
approached the Information Desk to report a family member missing
when it docked in Miami on Sept. 11.
She was last seen by a family member in the very early morning hours
of Sept. 10, several hours after the ship had left port in Calica,
Carnival added.
All proper authorities were notified and a full investigation remains
underway, Carnival said; the FBI has said that no foul play was suspected.
In addition, Carnival said that it provided members of its Special
Assistance Team to lend assistance and support to the family.
New piers engineered to Cat. 5 strength
New cruise piers across the Caribbean are being designed to withstand
hurricanes up to a Category 5 threshold, an engineering and planning
expert told The Cruiseman.
The goal is to create facilities robust enough to survive storms with
winds of up to 155 mph so that cruise ships can very quickly return
to destinations, decreasing schedule disruptions and bringing badly
needed tourism dollars to recovering areas. Carnival
Corp. new Grand Turk pier was the first in the region built to the
Category 5 threshold.
Alaska's "Tax On Consumers"
Princess CEO Peter Ratcliffe calls the recent vote in Alaska to enact
a series of head taxes and gambling taxes on cruises calling in the
state "a tax on consumers" rather than a tax on the industry.
Ratcliffe explains that's because it's being passed onto consumers:
"When the head tax becomes law, it will be included in the
government taxes and fees area of payment."
Is there any reasonable chance it can be circumvented? "Clearly,
we're disappointed, as the head tax is in excess of the costs that
can be reasonably attributed to the industry in Alaska," replies
Ratcliffe. "The result raised the question: is the tax fair or
indeed lawful? We are working closely with the Alaskan community and
the government representatives to try and resolve that issue."
Shortly after the vote, the International Council of Cruise Lines
released survey findings indicating the cruise industry contributed
almost $1 billion to Alaska's economy in '06--a figure that looks
likely to climb in '07.
Lawyers Lose!
Remember back in April of last year when Norwegian Dawn was sailing
back to New York from the Caribbean, and it was hit by a rogue wave
breaking some windows and flooding some of the passenger areas
briefly? And there was a group of passengers who were hopping mad and
going to file a class action law suit? Well, they lost.
In the mean time the NTSB and the Bahamas Maritime Authority (where
the ship is registered) have both issued reports, finding NCL acted
properly, and the BMT also said they found no evidence that NCL took
any undue risks in order to get the ship back to New York for a TV
taping as some passengers had charged.
In its report released in November 2005, the NTSB concluded that
although the rough weather made the voyage unpleasant, "the
safety and integrity of the ship was in no way compromised by this
incident," and that it determined that NCL acted appropriately
during the severe weather and tried to accommodate and comfort its passengers.
Crystal early out with ’08 world cruise
In its earliest release of a world cruise program, Crystal Cruises
said its 2008 circumnavigation will be a 108-day odyssey through
Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, India,
Northern Africa and the Mediterranean.
This is the first of the line's 2008 itineraries to be announced.
Crystal Serenity will visit 45 ports in 22 countries, sailing from
Los Angeles on Jan. 19, 2008, and arriving in Southampton on May 7.
The voyage features overnight stays in New Zealand, Australia, Hong
Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, India, Egypt and Monaco,
and maiden calls at Crete/Aghios Nikoloas, Greece, and La
Coruña and Valencia, Spain.
Caribbean pricing trends softer
Pricing continues to modestly weaken for Caribbean cruises in the
fourth quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007, according to
the latest booking and pricing survey by A. G. Edwards. The
survey tracks Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean International
and Celebrity Cruises.
Editors Translation: Now is a great time to grab a super
deal on a fall or winter cruise!
Disney Wonder chalks up maiden calls
Disney Wonder made inaugural calls at five ports last week as
part of a special 10-night Southern Caribbean cruise. They are St.
Thomas, St. Lucia, Barbados, Antigua and St. Kitts.
At each of these first visits, plaque exchange ceremonies are taking
place with the captain and officers, port officials and community
leaders. Led by Disney Wonder Capt. Henry Andersson, the events
provide opportunities for the cast and crew to thank the communities
of the new ports for their hospitality, Disney Cruise Line said.
The 10-night itinerary includes Castaway Cay. An special 11-night
sailing to the same ports will departed on Sept. 17.
This week marks the first time any DCL ship has visited Barbados and
St. Kitts. Disney Magic calls every other week on St. Thomas and
previously visited St. Lucia and Antigua in December 2004 as part of
a special 10-night holiday voyage. It will return to both those ports
this December.
Majestic America touts flagship’s inaugural
Majestic America Line will position the 222-cabin American Queen as
its flagship when the vessel enters service on March 9 with
celebrations in New Orleans following a months-long lay-up.
Majestic America Line is the new brand that will also consist of
Delta Queen, Mississippi Queen, Queen of the West, Empress of the
North and Executive Explorer. The ships have been assembled by
Ambassadors Cruise Group, led by David Giersdorf, president and coo,
who also serves as president of Majestic America Line.
Giersdorf said the company has looked forward to American Queen
becoming the ‘flagship and crown jewel’ in its fleet since
acquiring the Delta Queen Steamboat Co. earlier this year.
All Carnival brands attain ISO 14001 compliance
All 12 operating companies of Carnival Corp. & plc have achieved
certification of their respective environmental management systems in
compliance with ISO 14001, the international standard.
Certifications of compliance for brands in the Carnival family have
been issued by Italy’s RINA, Germanischer Lloyd, Lloyd’s
Register Quality Assurance of North America and the UK’s
Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
The company’s dozen brands operate 81 ships totaling
approximately 144,000 lower berths. Fifteen new vessels are scheduled
to enter service between March 2007 and Spring 2010.
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