September

Miami
USA TODAY and Royal Caribbean today are launching a contest in search of a "citizen journalist" from the United States to help cover one of the biggest travel stories of the year – the unveiling of Royal Caribbean's groundbreaking, 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas. The winner of the Reporter at Sea contest, as it's being called, will get to sail with me, USA TODAY's Gene Sloan, on a pre-inaugural voyage of the vessel scheduled for late November and file first-hand reports that will appear here at USA TODAY's Cruise Log. more...

Brussels/Reuters
Aviation and shipping should cut their respective carbon dioxide emissions to 10 and 20 percent below 2005 levels over the next decade, the European Union is likely to propose at global climate talks this week. EU diplomats said the cuts might be linked to a tax on fuel to generate billions of dollars of revenues to help poor countries cope with climate change -- a key contribution to finding a global climate deal by December. Aviation and shipping are not covered by Kyoto, the global climate change treaty agreed in 1997. more...

Moscow
Royal Caribbean participates in the MATIW "International Trade Fair for Tourism," now in its15th year. Over the years, the Fair has established itself as the leading global international autumn event for the tourism industry in Russia and the CIS. Royal Caribbean’s event is dedicated to promote the first Arabian Gulf season that the company will offer with Brilliance of the Seas from January 2010. LantaTur Voyages, RCCL’s International Representative in Russia, sponsored the conference: "Inauguration of Brilliance of the Seas Gulf Cruises" during the morning at the Trade Fair. The event comes as Royal Caribbean enjoys unprecedented growth in the Russian holiday market. Unofficial figures suggest year-on-year expansion for the business of over 24% each year since 2006.

Miami
Silversea Cruises has officially launched a blog for its new ship, Silver Spirit, and has unveiled a new-look website. (Video) The Blog will show the latest news and photographs detailing the ship's progress and counting down the days until it sets sail on December 23. The cruise line’s website also has new content pages, a more visually engaging home page with a flash header.

NEW YORK (Reuters)
Carnival Corp & Plc (NYSE:CCL - News; LSE:CCL.L - News), the world's largest cruise operator, lifted its 2009 earnings forecast on Tuesday, citing stronger booking volumes, sending shares up as much as 8.4 percent. "It is clear that we've kind of stabilized here, and that we have been able to tweak pricing up at a price point that people find very attractive," said Chief Operating Officer Howard Frank during a conference call with analysts. more...

Cunard Line, Royal Caribbean International and Thomson Cruises has all won consumer plaudits in the latest cruise passenger ratings published by online agency www.cruise.co.uk.  
The ratings, formulated from more than 17,000 independently sourced cruise reviews on the site, show Cunard as the best cruise line and Queen Mary 2 both as the best ship and providing the best accommodation. read more...

5 years ago Assam Bengal Navigation pioneered river cruising holidays in India on the Brahmaputra in Assam, and 2 years ago went on to pioneer summer river cruises on the Hugli - part of the lower Ganges - in Bengal. Drawing on the unmatched experience on the Indian rivers,  Assam Bengal Navigation is careful to offer only cruises that are actually feasible and practical within the times allotted. The Ganges cruises go as high as Patna, at the upper limit of commercial navigation, and an excellent communications centre for onward travel to Varanasi, Delhi or Kolkata. The lower finishing point on Ganges cruises, which is also the upper finishing point on Hugli cruises, is the Farakka lock on the Ganges, with good rail connections from Kolkata included in the cruise price.

Anchorage's NBC affiliate, KTUU, this morning reports the suit over a $50 per passenger "head tax" enacted in 2006 is imminent and may already have been filed. Cruise executives have said the tax, tacked on the bill of every cruiser visiting the state, violates the "tonnage clause" of the U.S. Constitution. The clause forbids states from taxing ships for the privilege of entering a port. "Our intention is to file the litigation relatively soon," Carnival Chairman Micky Arison told cruise writers in late June during a press conference. "I think we've pretty much exhausted all other outlets." read more...

In advance of its much-anticipated Panamera launch, European luxury automobile manufacturer, Porsche, chartered Crystal Cruises' award-winning Crystal Serenity for comprehensive training of more than 1800 worldwide dealers.   The new Panamera automobile is Porsche' first four-door, four-seat luxury sports car.   Hundreds of subcontractors completely emptied Crystal Serenity's deck areas and public rooms to make way for five cars and thousands of pounds of special equipment, furniture and exhibits for the intensive training in July. read more...

Dubai/Maktoob
Nakheel has moved to allay fears the berthing of the QE2 in Cape Town will drain money out of South Africa, with opposition MPs threatening to scupper a deal that will bring the struggling Dubai-owned developer some much needed cash.  Nakheel, part of state-owned conglomerate Dubai World, said in July it planned to berth the cruise liner in Cape Town for the World Cup and was in talks to finalise the move. The QE2’s new home will likely be Cape Town's V&A Waterfront, also owned by Dubai World.
Read more...

First a cruise for swingers. Now a voyage for . . . cougars. 
Los Gatos, Calif.-based Singles Travel Company and singles group The Society of Single Professionals are co-sponsoring the three-night escapade aboard a Carnival Cruise Line ship, which is aimed at older woman who pursue younger men -- or "cougars," in contemporary lingo. Singles Travel Company promises three days of singles meet-ups, dancing and "partying" that draws its inspiration from Valerie Gibson's 2001 book Cougar: A Guide for Older Women Dating Younger Men.
A cougar "knows exactly what she wants," the book says, and "what she doesn't want is children, cohabitation or commitment." Happy sailing!

Dover/TTGlive
Fred Olsen Cruise Line ship ms Balmoral, which was hit by a vomiting bug last week, has returned to Dover a day early to undergo a deep clean before departing on its next cruise.The norovirus struck passengers onboard the ship early last week as it sailed around the Scottish islands. It had been due to call at Guernsey in the Channel Islands on Sunday but instead sailed directly from Falmouth to Dover to finish the cruise a day early. Fred Olsen made the decision to give it more time to clean the ship before it departs tonight Monday on a 12-night Baltic cruise more...

Dubai
Royal Caribbean’s first ship based in the Middle East, Brilliance of the Seas, will start sailing from Dubai in January, stopping at Muscat, Fujairah, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. he Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) predicts that the overall number of cruise liner passengers in the emirate will top 260,000 this year. The official announcement of the new terminal’s opening will be made at the Seatrade exhibition in Hamburg next week. more...

Hebridean Island Cruises, which is part of the UK based niche cruise group All Leisure Group, will use a single hub to operate a possible second vessel rather than to operate it on itineraries that cover large parts of the globe. Hebridean is looking for another vessel to complement the 2,112 gross ton Hebridean Princess that trades mainly along the west coast of Scotland. However, the second ship would enable the company to expand its itineraries to include other destinations, says Ken Charleson, sales and marketing director at Hebridean.

Helsinki
The recession has failed to bate Finns’ passion for maritime travel. Companies plying the Finnish-Estonian route in particular have enjoyed strong demand. Part of the explanation for this lies in the decline in the number of competitors offering this connection: last autumn, both SuperSeaCat and Nordic Jet Line ceased to operate between Helsinki and Tallinn. In July, more than 430,000 passengers travelled between Finland and Estonia, an increase of about one quarter on last year’s numbers. more...

Thessaloniki, GR
Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis announced one of the changes he will make if re-elected is to abolish all forms of cabotage for cruise ships operating in Greek waters. Currently Greek law stops non-EU ships using the country for round-trip cruises. Greece was Europe’s second leading destination last year, attracting around 4.2m passengers, according to the European Cruise Council. Greece generated 472,000 passenger embarkations, mainly in Piraeus. Whilst EU-flagged ships can operate closed jaw cruises from Greek ports, current law states they have to adhere to Greek flag manning/language scales.

Bremen/USToday
The operator of a cruise ship that made headlines around the world this summer when it was the scene of a massive outbreak of norovirus has filed for bankruptcy.
Transocean Tours charters two ocean-going vessels, the Marco Polo and the Astor, cruises on seven river ships. It was the Marco Polo, which the company has been marketing mostly to British vacationers, that was caught up in a disastrous norovirus outbreak in July that resulted in a reprimand by British authorities. The ship financing house Premicon - who owns the ms Astor - will take over Transocean, who will continue to market their ships under the same name.

Manila, PI
At least five people drowned and 900 rescued after passenger ship MV SuperFerry 9 listed before sinking off the Zamboanga Peninsula early Sunday morning, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported. more...
Official Statement of the Company SuperFerry here...

Port visits are more important than days at sea, according to research from the UK’s second largest cruise line. As a result Thomson Cruises and Island Cruises will include more fly-cruises in its 2010 programme. The line’s five ships cover 130 ports of call and carry more than 200,000 passengers a year. Thomson Cruises launches new ship Thomson Dream - previously Costa Europa – next year.

When she makes her debut in December 2009, Royal Caribbean International’s newest ship, Oasis of the Seas, will introduce the most unique and varied collection of entertainment and activities ever offered for guests of the global cruise line. From Broadway shows and heart-pounding diving and acrobatic exhibitions. Watch this exciting Video of Auditions and rehearsals"Come Fly With Me" here....

Miami
Costa Crociere S.p.A. ("Costa"), a subsidiary of Carnival plc, entered into a new service agreement with Pier Luigi Foschi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Costa and a named executive officer. The agreement provides for twelve month terms, which automatically renew unless either party gives 60 days advance written notice. Pursuant to the agreement, Mr. Foschi's annual base salary compensation for 2009 is $835,000. more...

Voyages to Antiquity introduced by Orient Lines founder Gerry Herrod. The new line focuses on Mediterranean itineraries that trace the “cradle of civilization” cultures (Romans, Egyptians, Greeks, Byzantine, etc.), calling at many destinations that the megaships of today can’t reach. Starting in May, 2010, the nine itineraries, with 16 departures,