Go
to current entries
Go to newer entries
Thursday, December 30
From the following up on the plan department: When Celebrity
originally announced their Xpeditions program, president Jack Williams
said he wanted to have offerings of hybrid product operating in each of
the line's worldwide areas where they cruise, in addition to new areas
such as the Galapagos, Antarctic and Arctic, which are currently
operating. Celebrity is working their way toward that goal with some new
Xpeditions programs that will be announced in January.
Wednesday, December 29
From the happy family department: Even in the best of families,
there are disagreements during holiday celebrations. In the early morning
hours of Boxing Day (December 26), two members of Coral Princess'
cleaning crew (normally not in contact with passengers) got into an
argument in the crew quarters which resulted in one being stabbed by the
other. The "stabee" was treated in the ship's medical facility
and transferred to a shoreside hospital when the ship arrived in
Ft. Lauderdale on December 28. (There was some internal
bleeding, but he is reported in good condition.) Princess reported the
incident to the FBI and Broward County authorities who investigated and
decided not to take any action since the incident took place between two
foreign nationals in international waters. Princess says they held the aggressor
in custody, terminated his employment and sent him home to the Philippines.
Princess also referred the matter to local authorities in Manila. It seems
the Christmas spirit of peace and goodwill can only last so long.
Tuesday, December 28
From the everybody wants to ride a helicopter department:
Helicopter evacuations of passengers aren't that unusual anymore, but the
passengers on Carnival's Paradise must have been going for some kind of a
record on the Christmas cruise. Last Saturday, the ship's medical team
asked the Coast Guard to evacuate a passenger who had sustained a serious
injury to her hand and take her to a hospital in San Diego. By the time the
helicopter arrived, another passenger had suffered a heart attack and was
airlifted to the hospital on the same helicopter. But then less than eight
hours later, Paradise put in a call for the helicopter to return for a
third passenger who had suffered a stroke and needed to reach a shoreside
hospital as quickly as possible. Three passengers in one day on a 3-night
cruise; it's gotta be a record.
Thursday, December 23
From the declining fortunes department: Figures just released show
the world's busiest cruise port, the Port of Miami, is a little less busy
these days with declines in the number of cruise passengers boarded. The
port has been losing cruise business since 9-11 as a result of cruise
lines establishing homeports at numerous places around the country outside
the traditional South Florida "cruise capital," but this year,
as the main culprits, the port cites the loss of Norway's weekly
turnarounds at the port and last fall's hurricanes. Even though the number
of passengers declined by 12%, the port still handled 3.5 million
passengers, a figure most ports would love to have even a fraction of. The
port said they expect figures to rebound to about 4 million next year
thanks to Carnival Cruise Lines basing the new larger Carnival Valor
there.
Wednesday, December 22
From the not everyone is a player department: It seems like there
is most always a crowd in ships' casinos. And why not? It's exciting with
the bells going off and people winning (and losing) lots of money with
just one turn of the cards or pull of a handle. Casinos are profitable
operations for cruise lines, and literally major businesses on their own
within the cruise line business. Yet as common as they are on cruise
ships, only a minority of passengers ever put a quarter in a slot machine
or play a hand of cards. Carnival Cruise Lines' president Bob Dickinson
last week said that only about 30% of there passengers ever play in their
casinos.
Tuesday, December 21
From the loyalty has its rewards department: Royal Caribbean's past
passengers (Crown & Anchor Society members) will have first crack at
booking space on the new "Ultra Voyager" class ship, Freedom of
the Seas which is scheduled to enter service in April of 2006. The line
will begin accepting bookings from C&A members on February 28, 2005.
Inventory will then be opened to the general public about two weeks later.
During the "members only" booking period, reservations will only
be accepted through Royal Caribbean's Loyalty Center and through travel
agents, and passengers must have a Crown & Anchor number. The space
will not be opened for sale in the line's computer system accessible to
travel agents or on the line's website until approximately mid-March.
Monday, December 20
From the gracious godmother department: Katie Couric christened
Carnival Valor Friday evening in Miami, and following at the godmother's
reception, Ms. Couric did a couple of things one seldom, if ever, sees a
godmother do. After arriving in the ship's Eagle Lounge with Carnival
president Bob Dickinson, he announced that the godmother had offered to
pose for pictures with anyone who wanted to. She seemed genuinely pleased
to do so and chatted for a few moments with each person. Unfortunately,
demand overwhelmed her time, and only a few dozen people got pictures,
before Ms. Couric gave the crowd of a couple hundred invited guests
another surprise. Traditionally the godmother is presented with several
very nice (read that: expensive) pieces of jewelry as gifts by both the
cruise line and the ship's builder. The godmother often gasps, then
politely displays the jewelry in its box, and it's quickly closed and goes
who-knows-where. Ms. Couric, however, after admiring the necklace
given her by Carnival, took off the jewelry she was wearing and put on her
new necklace to wear for the rest of the evening. Whether she truly liked
it or was just being polite, Ms. Couric was one of the most gracious
ladies we've seen handle the godmother duties in a long time. (Speaking of
good manners, Ms. Couric has obviously passed those on to her
daughter, who sat quietly by herself on the couch in the audience each
time her mom was called back on stage for another presentation.)
Wednesday, December 15
From the beehive of activity department: When Sovereign of the Seas
was in drydock at Freeport for its major refit, only about 10% of the
workers came from the yard. Instead about 90% of the work was done by
contractors who were specialists in their areas. The line had more than
500 containers of supplies shipped in from Europe for the project, and at
the height of the work, there were 1,600 contractors onboard the ship at
the same time in Freeport.
Tuesday, December 14
From the most people skip them department: Things are as neat covering
the cruise industry as you think. If you've recorded a TV show to watch
later, when it comes to a commercial you skip it, right? Carnival Cruise
Lines is about to launch a completely new advertising campaign (the
largest advertising buy in their history). Of course they know we'll
want to write about what's different, so what comes in the mail last week?
A tape full of their new commercials. Somehow, it just didn't seem right
coming to the beginning of each commercial on my VCR and not skipping it.
Friday, December 10
Another place to grab a burger: The majorly refurbished Sovereign of
the Seas is debuting to the trade tomorrow, and Royal Caribbean has
decided to add something to the ship that they didn't add to any of their
other ships undergoing the "rejuvenation" process, a Johnny
Rockets restaurant. On the previous rejuvenations, Monarch of the Seas and
Empress of the Seas, they've included other "premium"
indulgences such as the Seattle's Best coffee shop ("Latte-tudes")
and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, but Johnny Rockets has only appeared on
the Voyager-class and Radiance-class newbuilds. Sovereign has lots of new
stuff, but just like on its largest sisters, Johnny Rockets will probably
be one of the hottest tickets.
Thursday, December 9
From the quality work takes time department: Anyone who has ever had a
house repaired or remodeled or built can attest to the work seldom being
completed when they tell you it will be, and you can empathize with
Princess. Earlier we reported that their internal goal was to have the
storm damage at Princess Cays repaired by December 15, but they tell
us that's not going to happen. The work isn't being completed as quickly
as anticipated. The goal has now been revised to having the first ships
return there at the (less precise) end of January.
Tuesday, December 7
From the second time's a charm department: Yesterday Princess
announced they will name their next ship, due in 2006, Crown Princess,
reusing the name of the ship which left the fleet in 2002 and is now
sailing for sister line Aida. But this isn't the first time they planned
to reuse that name. Originally, Caribbean Princess, which entered service
earlier this year, was to carry the Crown Princess name, but when the line
decided to emphasize their presence in the Caribbean, they renamed the
ship, still under construction to reflect that it would be permanently
deployed in the Caribbean.
Monday, December 6
From this year's deal department: The bargain in the Caribbean this
winter seems like it's going to be MSC Cruises as they establish their
identity as a premium line. After last year's season, the management in
Italy realized if they were going to be a player in the American market,
they needed someone who understands the American market, so they hired
Rick Sasso (who was the driving force behind Celebrity's rise to
prominence) to head up the operation along with an equally experienced
team, most of whom worked with him at Celebrity. He's taking the line into
the premium category. Many of the elements are there now, but like
anything, it takes time to have everything in place and operating
perfectly. MSC Opera began it's Caribbean season last Saturday, and it's
solidly in the upper mass market "with a bullet." By the end of
the season (and probably before) they should be hitting their target. But
while they are making their name, they have some outstanding bargains
they've put in the market. (The staterooms are small for a premium-class
line, but they are all about the same size. The standard insides and
outsides are the same size. The size of the actual staterooms of the
balcony accommodations, are only slightly larger, so if a balcony isn't
important to you, go with an outside and save the money. You have to move
to a suite, also bargain-priced, to get the space in a standard balcony
cabin on the other premium lines.) The pricing that MSC is putting out
there right now, definitely makes MSC worth looking at.
Thursday, December 2
From the so-long to old friends department: Holland America's
1984-built Noordam quietly left the HAL fleet a couple weeks ago when it
was handed over to British-based Thomson Cruises in Lisbon. Technically,
it's only on long-term charter to Thomason, but Carnival Corp never
intends to put it back into the fleet of any of their brands. So old
friends can still visit Noordam as it sails for Thomason after a
multi-million pound refurbishment. But fear not; HAL won't be Noordamless
for long. They will recycle the name on the next Vista-class ship which is
scheduled to enter service in January of 2006.
Go to earlier entries
Cruise News Daily Home
|
Cruise
News Daily Headlines
Free shipping & 110% price guarantee when shopping at eBags
Click here for luggage at eBags.com
Click here for eBags.com Travel Accessories
Offering over 2 million products to over 6 million customers, Buy.com® is the
Internet retailer of choice. With categories ranging from computer hardware to
software, from electronics to cellular, from books to movies, from music to
toys, and tons more, we've got whatever it is you're craving 24/7, all year
long.
|