Rotterdam
According to a press release by De Rotterdam BV and publications in the
newspapers, the s.s. Rotterdam will depart from Wilhelmshaven early
Saturdaymorning and will arrive at her future berth at the Maashaven in
Rotterdam at 09.00 in the evening on Monday 4 August.
MonacoSilversea Cruises is currently in the middle of a major company restructuring which is aimed at raising quality aboard its ships as well as exerting closer control over rising costs. V.Ships has been appointed as ship managers, responsible for all technical management, marine operations and crew management, while there is to be a major shake-up in hotel operations, with this department moving from Monaco to Fort Lauderdale. Silversea is facing difficulties due to soaring fuel prices, softening US economy (50% of its passengers come from the US), weakening US $ and difficulties recruiting and retaining quality staff.
Dubai
Nakheel has revealed the new home for the world famous cruise liner, QE2, as the anchor of a luxurious marina development on the eastern trunk side of Palm Jumeirah. Nakheel will commence construction on her eventual home in September; a luxury marina development that will establish a cultural centre and tourist attraction on Palm Jumeirah paying homage to the famous ocean liner.Plans for the QE2 include its transformation into an ultra-luxury floating hotel, featuring public promenades, retail outlets, cafes and restaurants, as well as a heritage museum displaying artifacts from the QE2 and maritime history.
Following the effects of Cyclone Nargis, the Road To Mandalay river cruise service will be suspended for the 2008/2009 season during which time the vessel will be repaired and substantially reconditioned in Burma. The boat will return to service in the summer of 2009 at the start of the 2009/2010 season more » Miami (AP)
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. reported sharply lower second-quarter earnings Monday, blaming higher fuel prices, and said it would cut 400 jobs.
Although demand for cruises remained high in the quarter, fuel prices soared 55 percent. As a result, the company said it would take several steps to cut costs by about $125 million including eliminating jobs. Royal Caribbean will eliminate approximately 400 shore-side positions. It also is getting rid of some non-core operations, such as "The Scholar Ship," an educational program for college students to study abroad at sea.
Are the good times over for the booming Industry?
The World, the only private residential community at sea, has recently completed an extensive redesign of its Web site. The new site, complete with a sleeker, updated look, debuts sophisticated features designed for more user-friendly navigation; as well as a revamped image library, allowing visitors to get a behind-the-scenes look at life onboard. A more detailed ‘Life on Board’ section, which provides useful information on the amenities and services offered on the vessel, as well as insight on the lifestyle led by Residents and Guests of The World. Deck plans, apartment images and more for prospective buyers or for those interested in a short-term stay on the ship. New York, N.Y.
Clipper Pacific' Inbound From Greenland To Bahamas Found To Have Significant Hull Damage And More Than 60 Discrepancies Approximately 1,200 Passengers Let Off Boat After Failed Inspection NEW YORK (CBS) ― A 637-foot cruise ship carrying approximately 1,200 passengers and crew is being detained in New York Harbor after a routine safety inspection revealed significant damage to the hull of the ship. Coast Guard Sector New York issued a Captain of the Port order on Sunday because of the ship's hull damages. The ship was declared detained after
the examination concluded Tuesday and will remain in this status until the master can provide a repair proposal and can make necessary repairs.
The mv Clipper Pacific is owned by danish shipping Group CLIPPER and is managed by Miami based ISP International shipping Partners.
St.John, New Bruswick, CA
Matrimony Many gay couples expected to take advantage of Canadian law
during Saint John stopover. Many cruise ship passengers who arrive in Saint John single this morning will pull out of port tonight married.
When the Norwegian Dawn docks at 9 a.m., 2,300 gay and lesbian passengers will disembark to what R Family Vacations' co-founder Gregg Kaminsky hopes will be a huge outpouring of hospitality.
Rosie O'Donnell, talk show maven, activist and blogger, will be at the helm. R Family Vacations is a charter company co-founded by Kaminsky and O'Donnell's partner Kelli Carpenter O'Donnell.
"One of the reasons we chose two of the ports in Canada is because we love going to places we feel welcome," said Kaminsky. "We did go to Halifax a few years ago and everyone loved it."
During the Halifax visit in 2005, Rosie praised Canada's progressive gay
marriage laws.
"We have gone to a few places on our cruises where we have not been welcome," said Kaminsky. "It's frustrating. You're on vacation. Gay people love Canada in America."
Peter Deilmann River Cruises has pledged not to add fuel surcharges as an extra cost to 2009 holidays. The company, releasing its European river cruises programme for next year, said: “Unlike many other operators, Peter Deilmann River Cruises will not be adding fuel surcharges as an extra cost to 2009 cruise fares. The fare published will be the fare payable for 2009 sailings.” Helsinki
The Finnish owned 186 passenger capacity cruise ship Kristina Regina is undergoing emergency main engine repairs in Bremerhaven, Germany. Urgent work was required on the 1960-built vessel’s starboard diesel engine, with this work being undertaken by Wärtsilä and machinery repair specialist Metalock. Kristina Regina is expected to return to service on the 23 July, a 10-day cruise from Reykjavik, Iceland to Leith, Scotland. PORT CANAVERAL, Fla.
Hundreds of employees of a Port Canaveral casino cruise ship showed up for work Monday only to find out the Ambassador II has shut down and the employees have been laid off.The next time the Ambassador II sets sail, it will be to another port and the hundreds of employees who used to work on the ship are now left unemployed."Everyone was just stunned. We were speechless," said former employee Debbie Bryant. more >>>>
VIDEO of mv Ambassador II in a storm >>>>
Hamburg
On Wednesday, July 2, the cruise ship BRAEMAR (19,089 gt / ex CROWN DYNASTY) left the yard at Blohm + Voss Repair – a company of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems – after lengthening and other conversion work and is now on its way to Southampton, Great Britain. By the middle of July, this will be the origin of the first cruise for the ship, now by 31.20 metres longer.
BRAEMAR is the second cruise ship from Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines to be lengthened at Blohm + Voss Repair. She follows the conversion of the BALMORAL between November 2007 and January of this year. Copenhagen
DFDS Seaways is struggling to survive at the market. According to a confidential report, which came in the hands of the Danish Ekstra Bladet, the deficit in the first four months goes as high as DKK 135million. In the period the deficit on the company’s best service from Copenhagen to Oslo was around DKK 40.6 million.
On the Amsterdam-Newcastle run the deficit in the first four months landed on DKK 65 million. The service between Bergen and Newcastle will stop at the end of August after a deficit of DKK 37 million in the first four months. The passenger division does not earn enough on the present service, says company spokesman Gert Jakobsen in a statement. A combination of low-fare airlines and rising bunker costs has worsened DFDS Seaways problems. Ft.Lauderdale
when the state of Florida recently went through drastic changes in
gambling rules and regulation, some may have bemoaned the proliferation
of gaming, the adverse effects upon society, the corruption of communal
morals; yet those who so protest are often found to be not disinterested, but firmly connected to other gambling venues seeking their own exclusive rights to riches. One group that lobbied the state legislature with millions, hoping to prevent the augmentation of Class III gaming, first to racinos and then more alarmingly to the Seminole casinos, was the cruise ship industry. While cruise lines offer many attractive entertainment options beyond gambling, casino play is certainly both a draw and a moneymaker for the big ships. Further, several cruise trips were daily ventures, only going a few miles offshore to go past the legal three-mile barrier, at which point bells rang and casinos jumped into action. If blackjack and Vegas slots were available on land, what future would these trips have?The Princess had already filed for Chapter 11 protection more than a year ago. With the current level of competition in Florida, it has become a hard sell to convince patrons to drive by tracks and casinos, to take the twenty-minute trip out past three miles, to do what they could have been doing much sooner. 
Manila
With President Arroyo giving a deadline of 15 days for the Palace task force to wrap up the probe on the M/V Princess of the Stars, and with the admission of the Coast Guard officials that the probe is being stymied by a lack of witnesses, Vice President Noli de Castro, who is part of the ferry probe team, yesterday surprised the media when he virtually accused the shipping firm of hiding the still missing captain of the ship, who De Castro said, is believed to be alive.
He bared that authorities are now looking into reports that the Princess of the Stars captain, who remains missing, and presumed to be dead, is alive but hiding in a safehouse of Sulpicio Lines to evade charges. News reports said De Castro claimed he had received information that ship captain Florencio Marimon Sr. and another survivor are allegedly in the custody of Sulpicio Lines Inc. The report said the two are being kept in a safehouse. “I tend to believe that this is a possibility. Past incidents have shown the captain would go missing shortly after a mishap. We’ll look into it.” De Castro was quoted as saying. Sulpicio officials quickly issued a statement denying the accusations of the Vice President.
On June 30th at the yard of CI.MAR (Cimolai-Mariotti) in San Giorgio di Nogaro (East Italy) Seabourn and T.Mariotti have confirmed their good relationship with a spectacular double keel laying of two new ultra luxury sister ships.Present at the ceremony were: Pamela Conover President and CEO of Seabourn, Marco Bisagno
Chairman of T.Mariotti shipyard Genova and Luigi Cimolai a leader of the Pordenone Group and President of CI.MAR. Costruzioni Navali, together with the Companies’ top management and Pietro Del Frate the Mayor of San Giorgio di Nogaro. At CI.MAR yard in San Giorgio di Nogaro (East Italy) Pamela Conover (President of Seabourn, the luxury brand of Miami based Carnival Corporation & PLC) and Marco Bisagno (Chairman of the Italian Genova based T.Mariotti Shipyard) placed their coins on each of the two blocks that will become the hulls of the new buildings MAR063 and MAR064. Two welders have been employed to fix the coins simultaneously on the steel to underline that those ships are twins.
The double ceremony, with two keels laid and four coins welded, symbolize the confidence in the segment of cruising of that class and express satisfaction with the progress of the work carried out on the first new Seabourn flag ship thus far. More >>>> Carnival Cruise Brands have 140 energy saving Ideas:
Faced with skyrocketing oil prices, brands within the corporation are considering a range of initiatives from cutting the speed of cruise ships to using special paint to help vessels travel through the water more efficiently. These include harnessing waste heat, developing new software to automatically adjust the trim of ships to ensure they operate most effectively, reducing speed through better itinerary planning to improve fuel consumption and even turning off lights. The measures emerged a week after Carnival Corporation reported that higher fuel prices cost the company $158 million in the three months to May 31. The conglomerate, which operates a total of 87 ships across brands such as P&O Cruises, Cunard Line and Costa, predicted that its fuel expenses would rise by $752 million this year over 2007. Bringing down the speed of ships by even a few knots can reap benefits in improved fuel consumption, he said. |
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