January

Miami
Royal Caribbean Cruises said Thursday that its fourth-quarter earnings tumbled 98 percent, missing Wall Street's expectations, as cruise bookings fell and the company's fuel costs were higher than expected. Cruise pricing remains very weak, although bookings have started to stabilize, the company said. more >>>

Helsinki
STX Europe’s Helsinki shipyard delivered the car- and passenger ferry Armorique to Brittany Ferries on January 26. has been designed specifically for operations on the route between Plymouth and Roscoff. The 168.3 metres long and 26.8 metres wide vessel has a service speed of 23 knots and top speed of 25 knots. The capacity is 980 lane metres of vehicles and 1,500 passengers. A total of 248 cabins will provide overnight accommodation for a maximum of 780 passengers.
Meanwhile STX Europe President Torstein Dale Sjøtveit said the Yard needs to secure new orders in the next six to nine months if it is to avoid a major shortfall of work and likely lay-offs. The frenzied orders by major cruise and ferry operators hase dried up.

Starting September 2009, the Irawaddy Flottila Company, Pandaw are thrilled to announce a new river expedition sailing between Calcutta and Benares on the Ganges and Hugli rivers. The RV Bengal Pandaw was launched in Burma as Pandaw IV in 2004 and has twenty-eight promenade deck staterooms.  The eight hundred mile expedition will be of fifteen days duration. Only ten sailings are planned for the coming season. >>>>

Is the Disney Wonder the best of the big cruise ships at sea?
That's the word from Conde Nast Traveler, which is out with its closely-watched annual rankings of top ships by category.
May as it be, the curret enviroment which has caused factories to close and many workers being laid-off, has also hit Disney. Walt Disney Co. has offered voluntary buyout packages to about 600 executives at its domestic theme park and resort divisions as it seeks to trim costs in the face of a worsening economy. Disney continues to explore new destinations, however, and the line's fans have several new itineraries to choose from. In 2010, Disney Magic will return to Europe for a second time -- it will sail Western Mediterranean cruises and its first ever Baltic itineraries. Also starting next year, Disney Wonde will switch from three-night Bahamas cruises to four- and five-night Bahamas cruises -- some with two stops in Castaway Cay, Disney's private island.And with two new ships debuting in 2011 and 2012, the future may bring even more new Disney itineraries. Stay tuned.

Grimaldi Group has launched nine new "motorways of the sea" services linking Italy to Spain, Tunisia and Malta.
The Italian ferry and ro-ro owner will deploy traditional ferries and modern cruise ferries to carry freight and passengers on the new routes. The services begin in late January.Two of the new services will use a pair of modern ropax cruise ferries, the 54,300-gt Cruise Roma and Cruise Barcelona. The 1,200-passenger, 31,700-gt ropax Eurostar Barcelona will travel weekly between Civitavecchia and Trapani, Sicily. It also will make weekly trips between Trapani and Tunis. Under the motorway of the seas initiative, existing services will see improvements of their service, Naples-based Grimaldi says.
Naples-based Grimaldi Group operates 127 ships, and it controls Finnlines and Minoan Lines.

The global slump in the shipping industry is turning out to be boon for the ship breaking industry in Alang, where around 60 vessels have arrived for scrapping from December 1 to January 15. According to people associated with the industry, around 100 ships have landed in Alang for dismantling in the last two months and the trend will continue because of global recession.

"Alang is all set to set a new record in scrapping largest number of ships in 2009 as more than 600 ships are available for dismantling in the international market due to slowdown in the global trades," said  Vishnu Gupta, President of Alang Ship Breakers' Association.

As per the data provided by Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) on arrival of ships, in last 45 days, 57 ships have got beached at Alang yard

Star Cruises, the largest cruise line in the Asia-Pacific, indicated Sunday that it may consider withdrawing from the Taiwan market if Taiwanese authorities deny its application to operate a direct cruise service between the northeastern port of Keelung and Xiamen in China's Fujian province. Star Cruises filed the application with the Keelung Harbor Bureau in December last year to serve the route, but the screening process has turned out to be a frustrating experience for the company, as government officials and the cruise line's executives disagree over the nature of the service. The Hong Kong-based Star Cruises contends, however, that ordinary people are unlikely to use expensive cruises as "passenger services." Transportation officials have suggested that Star Cruises add another destination to the line to make the operations look more like a cruise than a ferry service. The sources disclosed that Star Cruises has already reduced its work force in Taiwan by 70 percent amid the global economic downturn. The company was to close its operations in Taiwan in early 2008 but delayed the action after seeing a glimmer of hope in proposed cross-Taiwan Strait talks on direct shipping between Taiwan and China. Star Cruises entered Taiwan's maritime tourism market in 1997, sailing primarily between Keelung and Japan's Okinawa. The cruise line stopped sailing this route in October 2005, but resumed the service in June 2007. more >>>>

FINCANTIERI has been forced to deny that it had lost an order to  build a second ship for Oceania at its Sestri Ponente yard in Genoa.
The suggestion that the second half of a $1bn-plus order had collapsed came from local metalworkers unions, which are involved in  contract talks with the company. They said that they should not be punished financially for the loss.
A Fincantieri spokesman flatly denied that any final decision had been made on the fate of the second vessel, though he did concede that talks with Oceania were ongoing.
He declined further comment, but the market has been alive with speculation that a delivery delay or price renegotiation at the very least might be on the cards. If the Oceania vessel does fall through, it will be only the latest in a series of commercial blows for Fincantieri. 

Miami
Another day, another cutback at Royal Caribbean. Vitality at Sea fitness rewards program, effective immediately. Royal Caribbean won't say why it's cutting the rewards program, but the move comes as the line looks for ways to slash costs and boost on-board revenue. Royal Caribbean also recently began charging for late-night room service and is experimenting with extra charges for steaks

The remote south Atlantic dependency of St Helena is to have its first airport in 2012 when the current Royal Mail Ship, St Helena, will be withdrawn from service. For many years the ship was operated from Falmouth by Curnow Shipping from its Killigrew Street office. In a referendum, a majority of the 3,800 islanders voted in favour of the airport, which is seen as the island's future economic lifeline with the outside world. Outgoing governor Michael Clancy said: "The potential growth of tourism is considerable but the St Helena can only carry a maximum of 128 passengers, which puts a limit on development."

The St Helena government expect tourist numbers to increase to 10,000 per year after the airport is built. The isolated island, 1,200 miles off the coast of Africa is best known as the island where Napoleon Bonaparte was imprisoned until he died in 1821. The fourth HMS Northumberland conveyed Napoleon from Plymouth to St Helena, where the late Emperor disembarked in October 1815. The ship called into Falmouth to shelter enroute to the South Atlantic. RMS St Helena, which was launched by HRH The Duke of York in 1989, is a 6,767 ton liner that carries 128 passengers and 2,000 tons of cargo. The ships also visits Ascension Island - Tristan da Cunha, as well as Cape Town and Walvis Bay in Namibia.

London
When she set sail for its latest tour of the Caribbean, the liner Ventura was brimming with festive cheer. This weekend, however, it is awash with claims that “chav” holidaymakers had turned it into the cruise ship from hell. P&O is bracing itself for a flood of complaints from returning passengers about a “them and us” divide which saw guests who had paid up to £7,500 a cabin taking refuge from fighting families and underage drinkers. read more >>>>

Tallin, Estonia
7.5 million passengers passed through the Ports of Tallinn  (live Webcam) last year, an all-time-high despite that two ferry operators stopped sailings before the end of the season. In 2005 the passenger number was close to 7 million. After that, the passenger traffic started to decline to reach 6.5 million in 2007. 2008 was the first year within the Schengen treaty. 6 million passengers travelled between Helsinki and Tallinn, where three brand new ferries were introduced during the year. Passenger numbers on Tallinn–Stockholm grew by 14.8 per cent to 774,400. Cruise passengers increased to 337,500, up by 28 per cent.
(Photo Credit "Port of Tallinn 2008, Andres Tarto")

The Chilean Navy was presented with the Courage at Sea award due to the prompt and effective rescue staged by the Search and Rescue Service during the emergency involving the mv Explorer passenger ship, which sank in the waters of Antarctica on November 22nd of 2007.Chile was the country in charge of coordinating efforts of all those who participated in the rescue. The operation managed to successfully save all 154 passengers while also preventing
any contamination that may have been caused by the vessel's collision with an iceberg, which eventually caused the ship to sink.

The Associated Press quotes Brazilian health officials today as saying at least 340 people on the 1,566-passenger MSC Sinfonia are suffering from the illness.
While the symptoms are similar to those reported during outbreaks of norovirus -- a common, flu-like illness that occassionally sweeps across cruise ships -- Brazilian health officials tell the Associated Press that an inspection of the ship has found problems with the amount of chlorine in its drinking water and with the storage of some perishable food items, notably mayonnaise. more >>>>

Miami
The Miami Herald Travel writer, reports in her Blog about her experience on an U.S. inaugural cruise onboard MSC ORCHESTRA.
"The year-old ship was late arriving in Fort Lauderdale from its transatlantic voyage Jan. 2, the line’s U.S. president, Rick Sasso, told me. That delay, coupled with a crippling computer problem, left more than 2,000 passengers embarking on a two-day Bahamas cruise standing in line for 3-4 hours before they could board." Well, these may seem small inconveniences and nit-picking by Jane, but read and see more here >>>>

Atle Brynestad, the owner and Chairman of SeaDream Yacht Club has assumed the position of CEO. Larry Pimentel, who has been the President and CEO of SeaDream from it’s beginning in 2001, has decided to step down. Brynestad founded Seabourn Cruise Line in 1987 and was its Chairman for ten years as well as CEO during the initial years. He has also been the Chairman of Cunard Line Ltd. and a board member of Carnival Cruise Lines. Is this a sign of things to come, or has Larry's departure no correlation to the financial crises? 

New York
The Cruise Industry News Magazin has conducted a survey among the leading Cruise Lines, as to how the standard of Hotel Operations is being maintained or even improved. Senior Hotel executives have given their responses. What we found most interesting is, that all Cruise Lines are working hard to increase the level of service, quality of product. With exception of COSTA. Here comments of Antonio De Rosa, vice president of cruise operations, Costa Crociere:  "We are working hard to reduce and contain costs without touching the product. However, in terms of onboard spending, I believe it is very difficult to get more money out of the pockets of our passengers".........more
So, at COSTA it seems to top priority is to cut cost and to see how much more onboard spending can be achieved. This sets Costa apart from its peers!
Cruising Italian Style !!

Ft.Lauderdale
In celebration of the Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States the MV Regal Empress by Imperial Majesty Cruise Line is offering an exclusive sailing to the inauguration. The seven day itinerary will depart Ft. Lauderdale FL to sail round trip to Baltimore MD, located only 40 minutes from Washington D.C. and include shuttle service to inauguration events. Dubbed Yes We Can 2009 Cruise - The Cruise to Historyit is the first ever, passenger cruise to the inauguration celebration of a U. S. President. So far the text of the Organizer's website.
Reports in Florida newspapers today say sluggish ticket sales may hinder plans by President-elect Barack Obama supporters to travel to his inauguration on the Regal Empress. The "Yes We Can 2009 Cruise" has not drawn enough bookings to meet the minimum requirement of the ship's owner, Imperial Majesty Cruise Line, according to the Miami Herald and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.