Miami/AP
Royal Caribbean Cruises said Wednesday it took a loss in the second quarter as people booked fewer cruises amid concerns over swine flu and the recession. Quarterly loss totaled $35.1 million, or 16 cents per share, compared with a profit of $84.7 million, or 40 cents per share, last year. "Obviously, the economy continues to be a challenge and the impact from the publicity surrounding H1N1 has been very frustrating," Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO said in a statement. more.... Limassol
Louis Cruises, Cyprus, announced it has entered into an agreement with Agencia De Viagens CVC Tur for the charter of the mv Orient Queen from November 20, 2009 to March 15, 2010. During her 115-day long charter, Orient Queen will undertake regional cruises out of Recife for the Brazilian tour and cruise operator Aqua Expeditions' Aqua, a well-known luxury vessel that has won rave reviews since debuting on the river early last year, was boarded Sunday by six armed bandits who robbed passengers of money and valuables. The news outlet says the 130-foot-long ship was returning to a port Monday where passengers were to leave the vessel. It says the company is promising passengers a full refund. The Aqua sails three-, four- and seven-night expeditions on the Amazon River year-round La Habana/Havana Cuba
The cruise industry is facing a "berth control" problem in this down cycle of the travel and leisure industry. With bigger new builds coming online, cruise operators such as Carnival Cruises plc CCL.N, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line are faced with creating new destinations to offer its passengers and more importantly its loyal repeat passengers. With The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and Cancun becoming virtual cruise ship parking lots, the cruise industry is in desperate need to create a new and exciting destination. read more... Neil Armstrong may have walked on the moon, but he hasn't stepped foot on that most remote of continents on Earth, Antarctica.
So perhaps it should come as no surprise the legendary astronaut has signed on to accompany a Lindblad Expeditions voyage to the icy region.
Lindblad says passengers who sign up for the trip will have the unusual opportunity of spending time with Armstrong -- surely one of the most famous explorers of all time -- as they are "following in the footsteps of heroic Antarctic explorers and reflecting on the future of exploration." The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) agreed to circulate, via MEPC circulars, a package of interim and voluntary technical and operational measures to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) from international shipping and a work plan for its further consideration of market-based instruments to provide incentives for the shipping industry, when it met for its 59th session from 13 to 17 July 2009, at the IMO Headquarters in London.
Meanwhile SWEDEN laments: Report dumps on Baltic cruise ship discharge Sweden's coastal waters are under threat from tonnes of human and other waste being regularly dumped into the Baltic Sea by passenger liners, according to a new report.Only harbours in Stockholm, Visby and Helsinki have the capacity to handle effluent and other waste water carried by visiting cruise ships, according to the study. more...
IMO group approves US-Canada ECA: IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee this week approved the joint US-Canada proposal to establish an Emission Control Area (ECA) around portions of the coastlines of both countries. The size of the ECA stretches 200 miles off the coast of the US and Canada including the Hawaiian Islands but not the Arctic. The North American ECA would become the world’s third, following the Baltic Sea area and the North Sea/English Channel. San Diego
A woman found dead on a Carnival cruise ship last week was beaten and strangled, an autopsy has found. The San Diego County medical examiner's office says Shirley McGill, 55, of Winnetka, Calif., died of strangulation and blunt force injury to the head and torso, the Associated Press reports. McGill's husband, Robert McGill, 55, has been charged with killing her in their cabin on the 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation late Tuesday just after the ship pulled out of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. more... FUZHOU, Xinhua
The first combined passenger-cargo vessel left the Chinese mainland bound directly for Taiwan Monday morning. It is the first such sailing after the mainland and Taiwan started direct air and sea transport and postal services last December. The ship, "New Golden Bridge II", carrying 630 passengers, left Mawei, Fujian Province, at around 11 a.m. and is expected to reach Keelung, Taiwan in about ten hours. more... For a record 14th year, Crystal Cruises has been voted “World’s Best Large-Ship Cruise Line” by the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine. The ultra-luxury line is the only cruise line, resort or hotel to have won the prestigious award each year since the awards’ inception. Crystal Cruises’ 2009 World’s Best Score of 88.94 is the highest of any cruise line – large or small. A Crystal cruise is the only vacation experience to have been voted #1 by Travel + Leisure readers for 14 years. We always wonder how many readers do vote, how many who voted actually cruised the particular cruise line and how many did in fact ever take a cruise? 
Sailing from Murmansk on Friday, the nuclear powered icebreaker 50 Years of Victory will head to the North Pole with tourists in its cabins. The wealthy tourists who want to add their names to the list of adventurers who have made this ultimate journey to the top of the world, have to pay from USD 22.690 for the two weeks tour. However, a suite will cost you USD 33.390, and then the air ticket to Murmansk is not included. Put into service last year, 50 Years of Victory, is the world’s largest icebreaker. The vessel has everything from saloon, lounge, saunas, gym, indoor pool, shop, elevators etc. Equipped with two nuclear reactors, the icebreaker will crash through ice meters thick with a force reminiscent of a 9.0 earthquake. The Russian fleet of nuclear powered icebreakers, with Murmansk as their homeport, has offered tourist cruises to the North Pole since the early 90-ties. Russia is the only country in the world operating a fleet of civilian nuclear powered vessels. Watch Video of the Maiden Voyage 2008 here.... Monaco/Seattle
Windstar Cruises will take complete control of managing its shipboard deck, engine, and hotel operations, as well as shore-based management functions such as port operations, technical and hotel purchasing, compliance, and human resources. “V. Ships Leisure did a tremendous job managing our beautiful sailing vessels over the past two-and-a-half years,” said Captain Nico Corbijn, executive vice president of fleet operations for Windstar Cruises. “However, we are in a position now to control all ship operations" and by no means more cost effective and less time consuming. As ship owners are looking for way to save cost, we may see more such developments in the near future. Invergordon, Scotland
Town leaders in Invergordon, Scotland are expressing outrage today that a cruise ship carrying more than 100 sick passengers was allowed to dock this week. 'They have let dozens of sick people wander around the town without any word of warning," councilor Martin Rattray complains today to the UK's Daily Mail. "'These people have been in shops and cafes, possibly infecting locals. Why were they allowed to go around when it was known there was an outbreak?" Transocean Tours' Marco Polo is in the midst of a vicious outbreak of a norovirus-like illness that the UK media is saying has sickened as many as 200 of 769 passengers -- an unusually large percentage. One passenger on the ship has died. reprots USA Today more.... Miami/Herald
The company caters to those looking for a vacation on a budget, a growing segment as consumers look to cut spending. ''People have planned to take a vacation this year, but they may be able to scale down,'' said Charles Kinnear, Celebration's Cruise Line new president. ''We want to be the cruise line for South Florida,'' he said. According to Ryerson, some of the company's owners were involved in Imperial Majesty Cruise Lines, a company with a similar business model but a much older ship that ceased operations early this year. Several of Celebration's executives also worked for Imperial Majesty, including Ryerson and Martin Salzedo, whom Kinnear replaced as president in April. more... London
Bookings opened for the P&O Cruises and Cunard2011 world voyages on 1 July with a record breaking start. On that date, 2,044 people booked voyages from the two programmes, 47% more than on the same day last year for 2010 world voyages, when a total of 1,385 bookings were made, the two companies said in a joint statement. Also Fred. Olsen Cruises reported strong demand for their world cruises.
London/Miami
Carnival Cruise Line said Thursday that it will sell 25 million shares in Carnival plc, its entity listed on the London Stock Exchange. Estimated $660m worth of its London shares to buy up US-listed shares. Based in London and Miami, Micky Arison-led Carnival operates 92 ships totalling 177,000 lower berths across 11 brands. It also has 14 newbuildings on order. Monfalcone, Italy
Speaking at the float-out of P&O Cruises' Azura last week, Fincantieri Monfalcone director Paolo Capobianco hailed the Italian shipyard's relationship with Carnival Cruises, which has had 46 new ships built since 1990. However, the cruise industry's failure to order new ships beyond 2012 is causing concern for the shipyards. more... Miami
When Celebrity Cruises' newest Solstice-class ship, the 2,850-guest Celebrity Equinox(Videos), sets sail for the first time this summer, her sleek exterior and critically acclaimed interior design won't be the only features raising eyebrows among cruise and travel enthusiasts. Celebrity's AquaClass veranda staterooms, introduced as a Solstice-class exclusive feature last year, are located in close proximity to the ships' two-story spa, known as "AquaSpa by Elemis." more... Dublin/Genova
Costa Crociere, the biggest cruise company in Europe, is tight lipped about the future of its cooperation with Ryanair, the largest no frills airline, which is reported to allowing passengers to bring just hand luggage on board their flights. “At the moment we have no official confirmation about this news. So we cannot make any comment. Anyway our partnership is basically a commercial agreement to sell our cruises on their website, separately from their flights,” said Davide Barbano, press officer at Costa Crociere’s head office in Genoa. Bloomberg news agency reported that Ryanair would bar passengers from traveling with anything other than hand luggage. How many bookings were generated over the Ryanair Website was not made public. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.
Oceanic Retirement Communities of America (ORCA) has started taking reservations for a program that will allow seniors to own a condo on a private residential cruise ship that also provides both the Independent and Assisted Living accommodations typically found in land-based facilities. The ORCA Lifestyle Cruising Program will provide the healthcare aspects of traditional retirement facilities on private resident-owned cruise ships to be home ported in various coastal Florida cities. more... |
zum Video
