passenger Club Med 2, a sister ship
to Windstar's Wind Surf that has long
been on the line's wish list.
"I'd love to have that ship," Delaney
said.
VOLUME 15
APRIL
ISSUE 4
2017
WINDSTAR
WANTS
TO
GROW AND EXPAND OFFER
Windstar Cruises plans more
elaborate shore excursions, an
improved loyalty program and an
upgraded lineup of enrichment
speakers.
Speaking to a group aboard the
annual
President's
Cruise
in
Panama, Windstar president John
Delaney also said that Windstar
continues to hunt for new additions
to its six-ship fleet."We truly want to
grow this brand," Delaney said.
Delaney said he would be using
SEATRADE to meet with several
parties about new capacity, "either
new or existing." He indicated that
discussions are continuing with Club
Med about the acquisition of the 310-
On excursions, Delaney said he is
personally leading a team seeking to
make them more luxurious. He cited
the example of a day's visit to
Sorrento, Italy, that would include a
helicopter ride to a private tour of
Pompeii, lunch at a seaside Amalfi
coast restaurant and an afternoon
tour of a lemon grove and limoncello
factory.
"We can do it on ships of this size.
You can't do that when you have
1,000, 2,000, 3,000 passengers," he
said.
Newly named vice president of fleet
operations Chris Prelog, also on the
president's cruise, said Windstar
would seek out small restaurants to
bring aboard some of their signature
dishes.
Delaney said Windstar would like to
offer
more
destination-related
enrichment speakers -- naturalists,
geologists, park rangers, wildlife
experts -- to help narrate and
interpret destinations for guests.
He dangled the possibility of
improved benefits for Yacht Club
loyalty members -- such as free
internet, laundry service and a 15%
discount on shore excursions -- but
said Windstar must first clean up its
records so that every guest is
credited with the proper number of
past cruises
.
modern design features that today’s
travelers have come to expect.
AMERICAN
CRUISE
LINES–5-- NEW SHIPS
– American Cruise Lines, the largest
U.S. cruise company, is pleased to
announce details for the first of a
new class of 5 modern riverboats
destined for the American rivers.
These will be the first to combine the
modern styling of the European
riverboats with the premium comfort
for which American Cruise Lines is
known.
“For over a decade, we have led the
way with ship innovation in the
United States and we continue to
raise the bar with this new class of
modern riverboats” says Timothy
Beebe, Vice President of American.
ACL considers refurbished boats
unable to meet the modern
expectations of today’s river cruise
passengers.”
The first in the series is scheduled to
begin passenger service in 2018 and
will carry 200 guests. The new
riverboat will feature the largest
staterooms in the United States, with
private balconies, and hotel-size
bathrooms. At 345 feet long, the new
riverboat will include all the finest
Construction has already begun on
the new modern riverboat at
Chesapeake
Shipbuilding
in
Salisbury, MD. In addition to the new
class
of
modern
riverboats,
American is building two additional
cruise
ships
at
Chesapeake
Shipbuilding.
American
Constellation, has a capacity of 170
passengers and is scheduled to
begin cruising in May of 2017 and its
sister ship will begin cruising in 2018.
HOLLAND
AMERICAS
EURODAM WINS RECORD
USPUBLIC HEALTH SCORES
Holland America Line’s ms Eurodam
continues to raise the bar even
higher for cruise ships visiting the
United States by earning its 11th
consecutive perfect score of 100 on
a routine United States Public Health
(USPH) inspection conducted by the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC).
NSTB ADJUDICATES CRASH
@BALTIMORE CRUISE PORT
Carnival pride displayed too much
speed and too steep of an angle of
approach and that led to the collision
with thr pier in Baltimore Harbor last
year, causing more than $2 million in
damage, according to a National
Transportation Safety Board marine
accident brief released last week..
No fatalities, injuries or damage to
the environment were reported in
connection with the incident. The
Carnival Pride struck the the pier at
Cruise Maryland Terminal, South
Locust Point, Baltimore Harbor,
Maryland on May 8, 2016. Property
damage resulting from the collision
was estimated at more than $2
million and involved the destruction
of an elevated passenger walkway,
damage to three vehicles on the pier,
and damage to the Carnival Pride’s
hull and observation and mooring
platform.
According to the NTSB brief, the
Carnival Pride’s staff captain, who
was second in command, had the
conn of the vessel and allowed the
vessel to approach the pier too fast
and at an angle too steep. Upon
recognizing the situation, the staff
captain attempted to shift to manual
controls but was unable to assume
manual control at the bridge wing
station.
A Maryland pilot was aboard the
vessel but had transferred con(trol)
of the cruise ship to the ship’s staff
captain for the final approach and d
berthing at the cruise ship terminal.
Following the changeover, the pilot
assumed an advisory role vice giving
direct orders for the helm and
engines.
determine a cause
possible human error.”
other
than
NORWAY TO BUILD TUNNEL
FOR CRUISE SHIPS............
Norwegian officials have given the
green light to fully finance what is set
to become the world’s first full-scale
ship tunnel, bypassing one of the
The above Chart depicts the
approach to the Cruise Maryland
Terminal, South Locust Point,
Baltimore Harbor, Maryland, via the
Patapsco River. The red star
denotes the accident location and
the red line shows the track of the
Carnival Pride as it proceeded to the
berth on May 8, 2016. NTSB graphic
“The staff captain allowed the vessel
to approach the pier too fast and at
an angle too steep because he
misjudged the power available in the
joystick mode for correcting the
maneuver,” the NTSB writes in the
brief. “In the seconds it took him to
assess that the joystick control would
not be enough, in his opinion, to slow
the ship, he lost valuable time in
shifting to manual control. In his
haste to shift control, he was unable
to assume manual control at the
bridge wing station, an event the
staff captain could not explain. The
vessel’s operating company was not
able to replicate the failed transfer of
control from the joystick mode to the
manual mode during testing on
subsequent voyages. Thus, the
company has been unable to
An illustration of the Stad Ship Tunnel. Image credit:
Norwegian Coastal Administration
most dangerous areas for vessels
along the Norwegian coast.The Stad
Ship Tunnel will be blasted through
1.7 kilometers of rock at the
narrowest point of the Stad
Peninsula, allowing ships the size of
Hurtigruten’s coastal steamers to
navigate it.
What’s fascinating is that the tunnel
isn’t expected to shave much time off
the normal route, rather it is intended
to allow ships to navigate more
safely through the Stadhavet Sea,
where the North and Norwegian
seas meet. The Stadhavet Sea is
considered one of the most exposed
and dangerous areas for vessels
along the coast of Norway,
sometimes experiencing more than
100 storm days per year and a
dangerous combination of wind,
currents, and waves.
According to reports, 33 people have
lost their lives in the area since the
end of WWII.
ROYAL CARIBBEAN INKS
PACT WITH BAHAMAS ON
EMPLOYMENT AND LONG
AWAITED COCO CAY PIER
The world’s 2nd largest cruise line,
Royal Caribbean International, has
committed to a multi-year agreement
with the island nation of The
Bahamas that will help grow tourism
to the destination, rapidly increase
the cruise line’s employment of
Bahamian nationals and invest in
hospitality training to develop talent
in the country. At a signing ceremony
attended by Perry Christie, Prime
Minister of The Bahamas and
Michael Bayley, president and CEO,
Royal Caribbean International, the
cruise line confirmed plans for a
significant investment in major
enhancements to CocoCay – its
private island destination in The
Bahamas – which will include the
construction of a pier, additional
guest features and amenities, and
new opportunities for vendors and
craftsmen to promote the culture of
T
the Bahamas to visitors.
“Royal Caribbean has been a longstanding partner of the islands of
The Bahamas and their plans to
significantly increase tourism to our
country as well as to develop the
talent of our youth and expand
employment
opportunities
for
Bahamians is commendable,” said
Prime Minister Christie. (more) Royal
Caribbean Finalizes Agreement with
The Bahamas –As part of the
agreement, Royal Caribbean plans
to work with The Bahamas
government to develop a training
program to provide those who aspire
to a career in hospitality with a
unique opportunity to participate in
innovative training and development.
The cruise line will create a
curriculum that will prepare many
thousands of students for careers at
sea on board one of Royal
Caribbean’s ships. The classes will
be facilitated by dedicated instructors
who will provide students with
theoretical and practical knowledge
to help them develop valuable and
marketable hospitality skills. In
addition
to
the
classroom
experience, students will receive onsite guidance and training from
shipboard
professionals.
Royal
Caribbean has committed to rapidly
growing the number of Bahamian
nationals employed by the cruise line
in the next five years. In addition,
they have joint ownership of the
Grand Bahamas shipyard in Freeport
at which major revitalizations and
drydock maintenance of its ships
take place. “Tourism is an important
engine of growth for the economy of
destinations in the Caribbean and
The Bahamas, and we are excited to
bring more visitors on our newest
and most innovative ships to this
popular vacation spot,” said Bayley.
“Our commitment to The Bahamas is
multifold. It is our responsibility to
contribute to the country’s economic
diversity, to its employment base and
the training of Bahamian youth as
well as the protection of the
environment.
We are excited about the continued
growth of tourism in The Bahamas,
and look forward to doing our part to
keep that growth and progress
moving along in the years to come.”
Operators of the world’s largest
ships with an additional two mega
ships under construction and four on
order, Royal Caribbean currently
brings 1.7 million visitors a year to
The Bahamas, with plans to
significantly expand that number in
the next decade as they add
capacity in the region. With its
strategic location and proximity to
the
United
States,
Bahamian
destinations are already marquee
ports of call for 13 of Royal
Caribbean’s
ships
and
are
consistently highly rated by guests.
Royal Caribbean International is an
award-winning global cruise brand
with a 48-year legacy of innovation
and introducing industry “firsts” never
before seen at sea. The cruise line
features
an
expansive
and
unmatched array of features and
amenities only found on Royal
Caribbean, including jaw-dropping,
Broadwaystyle entertainment and
industry-acclaimed programming that
appeals to families and adventurous
vacationers alike. On board, guests
are catered to with the cruise line’s
world-renowned
friendly
and
engaging Gold Anchor Service by
every staff and crew member. Royal
Caribbean has been voted “Best
Cruise Line Overall” for 14
consecutive years in the Travel
Weekly Readers Choice Awards.
(more) Royal Caribbean Finalizes
Agreement with The Bahamas –
Page 3 The cruise line sails 25 of the
world’s most innovative cruise ships
to the most popular destinations in
Bermuda and
the Caribbean,
Europe, Canada and New England,
Alaska, South America, Asia, and
Australia and New Zealand. Media
can stay up-to-date by following
@RoyalCaribPR on Twitter, and
visiting
RoyalCaribbeanPressCenter.com.
RCCL BREAKS GROUND
FOR MIAMI $2M TERMINAL
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
executives joined PortMiami and
Miami-Dade County officials on
Wednesday
for
a
ceremonial
groundbreaking on RCCL's new
terminal at the easternmost point of
the port's cruise ship row.
Bayley announced the terminal will
be home to the Allure of the Seas
and the Symphony of the Seas, the
fourth Oasis-class Royal Caribbean
ship. The Symphony is scheduled to
begin service in the summer of 2018
in the Mediterranean before shifting
to Miami in November.
WATCH NORWEGIAN AIR AS
IT COMES TO YOUR TOWN!
Norwegian Air International's plan to
begin flying 12 transatlantic routes
out of three secondary markets in
the Northeast U.S. this summer
could be a harbinger for the industry,
as narrowbody aircraft offering
enhanced fuel efficiency make their
way into the market.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez
said the project will create 4,000 jobs
and push the port past the 6 million
level for annual passengers after it
opens in November 2018.
The 170,000-square-foot terminal
was designed by Singapore-based
architectural firm Broadway Malyan
and will be the most expensive
terminal in North America.
RCCL chairman Richard Fain joked
with Gimenez about the price tag. "I
was feeling quite good until you
reminded me we're spending $200
million," Fain said. "It takes some of
the shine off."
Earlier in the day, Royal Caribbean
International
president
Michael
"The more efficient single-aisles
could serve as a catalyst for
transatlantic fragmentation," said
Richard Aboulafia, an aircraft
industry analyst with the Fairfax, Va.based Teal Group.
In
late
February,
Norwegian
announced that it will launch its
ultralow-cost flights to the U.K. and
Ireland from T.F. Green Airport in
Providence, R.I.; Stewart Airport in
New Windsor, N.Y., (about 60 miles
north of Manhattan); and Bradley
Airport north of Hartford, Conn.
This past Tuesday, the carrier
announced seasonal summer routes
to Providence and Stewart from
Bergen, Norway.
godmothers Dr. Princess Stephanie
Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
and Debbie Wiseman.
The former christened the Viking
Hild, with the latter christening the
Viking Herja.
That means that Providence will be
able to offer Norwegian flights to
Belfast; Cork, Dublin and Shannon,
Ireland; Edinburgh, Scotland; and
Bergen. Stewart will offer service to
Belfast, Dublin, Shannon, Edinburgh
and Bergen. Norwegian will offer
service between Edinburgh and
Hartford.
VIKING BUILDS YET AGAIN
Viking
River
Cruises officially
christened its new Viking Hild and
Viking Herja at a festive event in
Koblenz, Germany ONE RECENT
afternoon and extending through the
evening.
The ceremony marks the sixth such
launch since 2012, commemorating
a staggering total of 48 Longships
built in the short period of time. In
attendance were Torstein Hagen,
founder and chairman of parent
company Viking Cruises; senior vice
president, Karine Hagen, and
The Viking Hild will soon depart on
the line’s new Paris-to-the-Swiss
Alps itinerary along the Rhine River
in the spring, and both the Hild and
the Viking Herja will later embark on
classic Danube Waltz and Rhine
Getaway sailings.
Altogether, Viking Cruises operates
60 vessels for its Viking River
Cruises brand and three ships for its
Viking Ocean Cruises label. While
there are options for additional river
builds, no more have yet been
ordered, but another three ocean
ships are set to come online through
2020.
In the meantime, Viking also just
announced it has purchased a
riverboat for cruises in Egypt; it will
be
updated
with
the
line’s
understated but warm decor to be
consistent with the rest of the fleet.
That craft will begin operations next
March along the Nile. What’s more,
the line’s Ukraine ship is set to come
back online soon, and the company’s
Douro Longships are now fully under
the company’s control.
The existing Viking Odin and Viking
Freya have also been customized for
the China market and will start
Mandarin-speaking
voyages
on
March 28, 2017. Additionally, Viking
continues to pursue eventual entry
into U.S. river cruising along the
Mississippi.
HAVE
YOU
EVER
WONDERED ABOUT SMALL
BOAT COLLISIONS ???
of the ship now bearing down on
their position."
Brown, working with the captain and
bridge team of the Carnival Magic,
maneuvered the vessel away from
the boaters while Primmer pulled
both of them aboard his patrol vessel
and quickly reversed the boat out of
danger.
Brown, a 1982 graduate of the Maine
Maritime Academy, has been a pilot
at Port Canaveral since 2002.
RCCL LEGEND SAILS ON TO
HISTORY..and now a real ???
Two jet skiers were plucked from the
water as the bow of a cruise ship
closed in on them one Saturday
afternoon in Port Canaveral.
The jet skiers were saved by quick
actions by a Port Canaveral harbor
pilot and a Brevard County Sheriff
Marine Unit deputy.
The harrowing incident was captured
on video by a cruise passenger...
Brown quickly alerted Brevard
County Sheriff's Deputy Taner
Primmer, who was operating the
sheriff's marine unit patrol boat
escorting the departing cruise ship.
Primmer
headed toward the
jet
skiers when one of the water
craft flipped and both of its
riders ended up in the water "in
extremely close proximity to the bow
Royal Caribbean’s
LEGEND OF
THE SEAS has departed Dubai on
her final cruise in the RCCL livery.
On March 13th Legend sailed for
Barcelona where she will be turned
over to Thomson Cruises which is a
division of TUI ( partly owned by
RCCL)
Legend of the Seas has sailed for 22
years and in the course of that
service has traveled the most miles
of any RCCL ship ever.
Legend follows sister ship Splendour
in departing RCCL a year ago and it
would seem to this writer that the
next ship to go (age wise and service
wise) will be “Grandeur” which now
operates year round from Baltimore.
Stay tuned for future news. Look for
that to happen in spring 2019 .....not
fact yet, just a prediction!
Radiance class ships have an air
draft of 172 feet... same as the
Pride.... SO WHY RCCL can’t/wont
you deploy the Jewel or the
Serenade or the Brilliance to one of
your very best producing markets?
CELEBRITY STEPS TO THE
EDGE OF SHIP
DESIGN
Celebrity Cruises has sliced open
the box containing new and
innovative cruise ship design once
again. The Solstice class opened
one set of windows but EDGE has
certainly sharpened our opportunities
and outlook.
By the Way..... Your editors did a
study to see why RCCL doesn’t
deploy Radiance Class ships to
Baltimore. Bridge clearance of Key
Most noteworthy is the Magic carpet,
an elevator like appendage which
slides up and down the side of the
ship and which has a number of
designated
functions
including
dining, cocktails and boarding
activity.
bridge is 185 feet and Annapolis Bay
Bridge 186’ . Historically The
Enchantment has an Air Draft (
Height above water) of 164’, the
Carnival Pride ( which sails out of
Baltimore)
172 feet and the
Grandeur 170 feet. Of greatest
interest to this reporter is that the
The “elevator” is about the size of a
tennis court and can stop and be
accessed at any deck from waterline
to the Pool.
can be combined with a Royal suite
to form a larger accommodation.
Magic Carpet is one element of an
overall theme of bringing guests in
closer contact with the sea, said
Richard Fain, chairman of RCCL,
Celebrity's parent company."The
closer connection to the sea is quite
important," Fain said.
Suite guests will have exclusive
access to a sundeck called The
Retreat with a private pool, a
separate lounge and butler service,
as well as to the Luminae restaurant
available only for suite guests, as on
other Celebrity ships.
To foster that, Edge will have a
unique design to some of its balcony
cabins, which will be marketed as
the Infinite Veranda. The fixed
partition of steel and glass between
the cabin and the balcony has been
scrapped in favor of a thin, folding
screen of glass, allowing the balcony
to be incorporated into the cabin
when the screen is open.
Fain said the 918 Infinite Veranda
cabins will be 226 square feet
without the balcony space and 269
square feet with it, compared with an
industry average of 172 to 183
square feet.
Suites will expand from 5% of
capacity on the Solstice-class ships
to 12% on Edge, Lutoff-Perlo said.
There will be two Iconic suites of
about 2,500 square feet perched
atop the bridge with 700-square-foot
balconies. They will have two
bedrooms and two baths, and each
The pool deck, which was also
previewed, will debut the industry's
first two-story jogging track and an
asymmetrical design in which many
pool loungers are positioned outward
to face the sea, rather than inward at
the pool. There will be six rentable
cabanas with 20-foot ceilings and
tulip-shaped hot tubs that will be
elevated on stems.
A Rooftop Garden with tree-like
sculptures will occupy the aft pool
deck. It will be larger than the Roof
Terraces on Celebrity's Millennium
class, and about the same size as
the Lawn Club on Solstice class. It
will have a grill comparable to the
Lawn Club Grill and show movies
like the Rooftop Terrace.
The new Fleet Operations Centers, a
first in the commercial maritime
industry, will utilize a state-of-the-art
tracking and data-analysis platform
that enables real-time information
sharing
between
Carnival
Corporation ships and specialized
onshore teams designed to support
fleet operations. The proprietary
system is intended to significantly
improve communication from ship to
shore and provide new capabilities
for the safe passage of ships at sea,
as well as help improve operational
efficiencies and support overall
environmental initiatives at Carnival
Corporation.
Carnival opens second of 3
Fleetwide operations Centers
The advanced system, which initially
captures thousands of data points
and provides real-time analytics for
28
distinct
parameters
for
navigational safety from each ship,
focuses on the following strategic
areas to optimize safety, efficiency
and overall fleet performance. These
areas include nautical operations &
safety, which includes the capability
to see real-time radar visuals,
stability conditions, automation, the
Safety Management and Command
System, and webcams from each
ship, along with GPS location,
routing, ship conditions and weather
data. Other areas include procedural
optimization and efficiency, including
Carnival Corporation has opened its
second Fleet Operations Center in
Seattle that will be used to provide
real-time support for the company’s
102-ship fleet.
Carnival’s first Fleet Operations
Center is located in Hamburg,
Germany. A third will be added later
this year when construction is
scheduled to be complete on a
Miami facility at the company’s
headquarters.
speeds, navigational data and
engine conditions, as well as
sustainability, which includes fuel
and energy usage, emissions, and
water and waste management.
The new system, dubbed “Neptune”,
utlizes cloud-based technology from
Microsoft and has been in use at the
Carnival Maritime Fleet Operations
Center (FOC) in Hamburg, Germany,
as announced in October 2015.
Carnival Corporation has been
piloting the system with its European
cruise line brands in Hamburg and
Southampton, England. Building on
the system’s success,
SANDALS BARBADOS WING
NOW A STAND ALONE SPOT
The
newest
Sandals
Resorts
International (SRI) property will be a
222-room resort.
Originally planned as an extension to
the existing Sandals Barbados, this
all-new, all-suite Sandals Royal
Barbados will open in December as
a
stand-alone
resort
and
“complement” to the adjacent
property said Gordon “Butch”
Stewart, SRI’s chairman.
The new resort’s accommodations
will consist of concierge and butlerlevel suites that include Sandals’
Rondoval and Millionaire Butler and
Skypool suites. Guests will receive
private airport transfers via Rolls
Royce and enjoy access to a Crystal
Lagoon Pool complex.
NCL OFFERS RADICAL NEW
SHIPS DESIGN ORDER,,,,,,,
Norwegian Cruise Line unveiled a
rendering of a new class of ship it
plans to build starting in 2022.
No other details were released at a
Norwegian news conference at the
Seatrade Cruise Global convention
that mostly covered other topics.
The rendering shows a ship with
some of the same characteristics as
the upcoming MSC Seaside, such as
a funnel moved forward to the middle
of the ship, extensive open deck
space and a narrowing of the ship
profile toward the aft.
Look for some changes in the next
year no matter how all of this plays
out.
JET BLUE CONSIDERING
LEAP TO SERVE EUROPE
Norwegian has contracted for four of
the 3,300-passenger vessels from
Fincantieri at a price of $800 million
each.
"The addition of these vessels will
allow us to substitute newer, stateof-the-art vessels with a richer
stateroom
mix
in
premium
destinations, which in turn will allow
us to deploy existing vessels to
domestic or international homeports
where we currently do not have a
presence," Norwegian Cruise Line
Holdings CEO Frank Del Rio said to
Wall Street analysts on Feb. 22.
FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR
SOME TRAVEL RELATED
PROGRAMS TO BE STUDIED
Jet Blue recently announced that it is
considering its first trans ocean foray
into serving the UK and possibly
other European cities. They believe
that they can offer better service for
less money than many legacy
carriers.
To us this is a special sign as we are
personally very fond of the airline, its
people and its aircraft.
Jet Blue said it would use Airbus
A321LR airplanes . In another front
the company is considering replacing
its Embrier 190 aircraft with larger
and more economical aircraft. For us
in Portland. Maine that would be a
welcome addition to our options.
Queen Mary in Trouble......
The current drive to reduce the
Federal Budget is moving into the
area of travel related issues. At
question in most of these areas is
the fundamental concept of federal
support of individual services.
Amtrak Long Distance trains ,
underwriting support for small local
airports which cannot support airline
service and restructuring the nations
air traffic control system are just
some of the Federally Underwritten
or operated programs that are under
scrutiny
The famed Queen Mary, the oceanic
crown jewel of Long Beach,
California, is showing its age.
Long past its seafaring days, the
Queen Mary has become something
of a hotel hot spot and annual
haunted curio for locals and tourists.
But it’s fallen on hard days. Like an
aging athlete who has seen one too
many battles,
its
body has
deteriorated to alarming levels.
“The report estimates the total cost
of ship repairs could range from
$235 million to $289 million and
predicts the work would take up to
five years to complete. Roughly 75
percent of the repairs were deemed
‘urgent,’
according
BARCELONA TO SAN DIEGO
$149 ON BA STEPCHILD
The parent company of British
Airways , Aer Lingus, Iberia and
others has announced that it will
enter the low cost transatlantic
business with a new airline called
LEVEL.
Using Airbus A330 aircraft the line
will initially fly from its home base in
Barcelona to Oakland, CA , Buenos
Aires, Punta Cana and other popular
destinations.
to the study.”
When you consider the lengthy list of
issues facing the Queen Mary, you
begin to see where these millions
might go, via Curbed LA. Some of
the most egregious includes an
event
space
floor teetering
dangerously close to collapse, a hull
that shows signs of immense
corrosion and a nonfunctioning bilge
system.
At the moment, Long Beach officials
are working in tandem with
leaseholder Urban Commons for a
solution to the onslaught of
problems. As noted, the city has
already approved $23 million in
funds for repairs.
Fares will be a startup $149 and like
its competition Norwegian Air almost
everything will be extra. But with
fares at $149 you expect extra.
Tickets are now on sale at
flylevel.com.
For the many US folks who cruise
out of Barcelona, this option will be a
real boon.
THE NICKELS AND DIMES
ARE DOING MORE CLINKING
Several cruise lines have announced
new financial policies which will
impact the cost of cruising.....
NCL had upped it gratuity take to
$13.99 for mini suites and below and
16.99 for those above that line and
this is all but the Norwegian SKY
where it goes to $18.99 and $21.99
respectively
RCCL LAUNCHES TOUR
ARM CALLED “ GO BE”
On Royal Caribbean Room Service
is no longer free ! The line will
charge guests a fee of $7.95 per
order for ordering room service from
the All Day Menu and the American
Section of the breakfast menu.
Continental breakfast options will still
be complimentary. Additionally, room
service will remain complimentary for
guests
staying
in
a Grand
Suite stateroom or above. The $7.95
fee will be assessed for each room
service order.
CUNARD
ALASKA
TO
DISCOVER
In 2019 Cunard's Queen Elizabeth is
going to make maiden calls in many
Asian ports and arrive in Japan for
cherry blossom time.
Then it will sail across the Pacific
Ocean eastward and sail for the first
time on an Alaska itinerary. “We’ve
never had the Cunard product
there,”.
While
the Alaska
itinerary
includes Inside Passage calls at
places
like
Juneau
, Ketchikan and Skagway, it's also
loaded with calls elsewhere in
Alaska,including Kodiak, Anchorage,
Icy Strait Point and Sitka.
Plus, the ship will call at Victoria, BC,
before heading to Vancouver.
Royal Caribbean Cruises has
launched a new subsidiary, GoBe,
an online seller of tours and activities
available to the general public.
"We're thrilled to officially open GoBe
to every type of traveler, from hotel
guests and staycationers to business
travelers with a long layover,"
GoBe says it offers thousands of
tours in 97 countries, and it plans to
triple inventory by the end of the
year.
There are three main product
categories on GoBe: high-value
group tours, private excursions, and
exclusive "Travel Creations." RCCL
said Travel Creations are tailor-made
tours that can be "found nowhere
else online."
GoBe offers a variety of products,
like a sea kayak expedition in Port
Frederick, Alaska, during which
participants can spot humpback
whales and enjoy scenic bays and
estuaries; a private helicopter ride
over Rome; and surfing lessons in
Brazil.
ACAPULCO aNO 4 HOLLAND
Holland America Line said it will
forgo eight scheduled calls in
Acapulco, Mexico, citing security
concerns.
The calls are scheduled on seven
Panama Canal cruises and a South
America voyage in 2017-18.HAL
said it would replace Acapulco with
other ports in Mexico.
Oceania is the first cruise line to
announce more than one scheduled
Cuba voyage for 2018.
Earlier this month, Oceania made its
first Cuba voyage on its 1,280passenger Marina.
Oceania said that it recently added
six Journeys to Cuba aboard the
Insignia in the autumn of 2017 and
added calls to Havana on four of its
Regatta sailings in the spring and
autumn of 2018. The cruises are
roundtrip from Miami
SO YOU DONT GET OFF THE
Acapulco, in the Mexican state of
Guerrero, has been one of the cruise
destinations in Mexico most affected
by drug-related violence and has
been on and off cruise itineraries in
recent years.
SHIP WHEN IT IS IN PORT ??
OCEANIA MORE TO CUBA
Oceania Cruises said it plans 10
cruises to Cuba in 2018 on the 684passenger Sirena.
The seven- to 10-day voyages will
stop in Havana, Cienfuegos and
Santiago de Cuba.
A recent survey conducted by Allianz
Global Assistance concluded that a
surprising 34.3 percent of cruise
travelers prefer to stay on the ship
the entire time or a majority of the
time. The primary reason was fear of
safety ashore, followed by having
been there before, fear of getting
back to the ship before it sailed, the
fact that there was free food onboard
while it cost money ashore, and lack
of internet/telephone availability
Personally we like the fact that with
everybody else gone we have the
ship to ourselves......empty pools,
wide open restaurants, etc..
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