Cruisearama

More Cruise Companies Moving Away From San Diego

Sunny San Diego’s close location to the Mexican Riviera made it the perfect departure point for a number of cruise companies, at least until recently. Holland America has decided to move its operations down to Australia, which means that the Carnival Spirit and the Oosterdam will only be making a few more voyages to the Mexican Riviera before the company closes up shop in San Diego by early 2012. The cruise liner industry hit its peak in 2008, when there were 255 vessels making voyages to and from the Port of San Diego on a regular basis. Just three years later and there are only around 103 ships left.

It took the cruise line industry nearly 10 years to rise to epic proportions, but little more than three years for it to virtually dry up in San Diego. Now that Holland America is leaving the West Coast, California residents will no longer have any ships that make voyages to the Mexican Riviera to choose from. In addition, the city of San Diego will miss out on approximately $100 million in revenues, and thousands of workers will be out of jobs.

California has one of the highest unemployment rates in the US, and even the most affluent areas are not immune. There are so few ships sailing out of San Diego that the entire industry could possibly collapse in less than two years. Although Holland America will not say why they are pulling out of San Diego, it is apparent that they are pulling out of the city to seek out more lucrative opportunities elsewhere.

SC Residents Not Happy About Plans To Open Cruise Ship Port

For more than 300 years, Charleston, South Carolina has been a port town. Cargo ships regularly enter the US and dock in Charleston, which makes this town one of the main transportation hubs on the East Coast. As Charleston has been struggling to attract new businesses, the state Port Authority believes that its new proposed plan to develop a massive cruise ship port will help to stimulate the economy. Local business owners agree, and Charleston lawmakers have largely supported the measure. Unfortunately, local residents fear that their town will be overrun with tourists.

The yet unnamed $25 terminal is to be built over 67 acres of undeveloped ocean front property. The current plan is to build a large parking lot that would service both Carnival Cruise employees and customers as well as several local merchants. Considering the fact that the cruise ship terminal will be located in close proximity to the existing Charleston port, citizens of the city believe that the local roadways will not be able to handle the traffic.

While the developers believe that the project will be a success, the critics also have a point. Whenever a large scale project such as the proposed cruise ship terminal is completed, the first thing that usually ends up happening is a massive increase in traffic. The state of South Carolina would need to spend millions of dollars to support the influx of traffic, which may end up negating the expected increase in revenue. Lawmakers have yet to vote on the project, but a decision will be made in the coming months.

Queen Mary 2 Cruise Liner Used To Transport Illegal Aliens

The Queen Mary 2 cruise ship has made hundreds, if not thousands of voyages all over the world. While this luxury liner is able to hold more than 2600 passengers, it was over maximum capacity when the captain unknowingly transported a dozen Chinese citizens illegally into the Unites States. Authorities say that Fatt Kwee Wong was at the center of the operation. Apparently, Wong was paid around $3,000 to smuggle each of the Chinese illegals into the US. When the Queen Mary 2 was docked in Dubai the Chinese immigrants were taken on board as if they were regular passengers.

The cruise liner continued on its course and the illegals were able to blend in with the other passengers. However, when the ship pulled into the United States, authorities in New York became suspicious. Two of the rumored 12 illegal aliens were taken into police custody for questioning last month. It is likely that the captured illegals will be returned to their home country. As for Wong, he has been charged with numerous crimes. Wong may have been a passenger or an employee on board the Queen Mary 2, but representatives have not yet supplied a response.

This is not the first time that a cruise liner has been used to transport illegal immigrants into the US, but it is the first time smugglers have used such a high profile ocean liner. Perhaps the smugglers assumed that they would be able to slip out unnoticed due to the large passenger list, but investigators are looking at the records of past cruise records to see if anything is out of place.

Experts Predicting West Africa Could Be Hot Cruise Location in Coming Years

Travelers who love to cruise are enchanted by few things more strongly than a genuinely new experience in a fresh area that they have not been to before.  Since cruise lines are always seeking out a way to offer something special for their guests due to the intense competition between the many lines sailing today, industry experts constantly look to predict the next big destination. Southeast Asia and South America are two of the more popular growth regions of the world today, but analysts always seek to point towards new waters that may begin to call the tourist in the future as political and social climates around the world are always in continual flux. Of all the places possible to visit, many would be surprised to learn that Africa is quite a hot destination with many, but until recently it has been East Africa that has been the star of the show for most visitors.

Things may be beginning to change if Crystal Cruises turns out to be a pioneer in West Africa. As a luxury line, Crystal Cruise is known for their world cruises and in April 2011 they will be conducting a voyage from London to Cape Town in South Africa. Pricess Cruises has kept up their West Africa tours, but the entry of Crystal Cruises could signal something of a new movement for this particular region of the world. Calls to ports in Ghana, Togo and Senegal would be on the list for Princess with 107 night world cruise being the overall mission.

Cruise Shipping Miami Convention Leads to New Idea Generation

One of the largest events in the cruise ship industry takes place in Miami each year. The event is known as the Cruise Shipping Miami Convention and it draws high level pros from around the world who not only represent the major lines in the industry today, but also the ports of call that these ships sail to, the designers that create the interior decoration and, of course, the manufacturers who construct the might vessels themselves. This event brings together a large number of people from all the sub niche industries, as well, from those who provide the food service to the entertainment companies that help to create so much of the fun the cruises are known for. There is always a large press conference to start things out and 2010 proved to be no different, with industry leaders stepping up to talk about what they have in mind for the upcoming year. 

These events have become quite well known for being the place that big lines like MSC Cruises and Carnival Cruise Lines will wait to show off their big plans. This year it appears as if there is more of a go-over of previous years with not as much innovation with the exception of a 5 language safety drill that is becoming a crucial part of cruise ship safety across the globe. The push to make this standard procedure has definitely become paramount. This and the announcement of South America as the next big cruise destination make this year’s convention an affirmation that the industry intends to keep an eye on the future and stay practical for 2010.

Royal Carribean Plans Whole New Cruise Experience with New Ship

According to recent comments coming from the upper echelon of Royal Caribbean International, it appears as if there may be some new features on the horizon for the ship that got its name from a contest: The Oasis of the Seas. It turns out that Adam Goldstein, the CEO of Royal Caribbean has hinted at the possibilities that there will be another ship up for cruisers to try out which is quite similar to the Oasis and is known as the Allure of the Seas. This new vessel will be something of a next generation version of the first ship, but it looks as if this will be a copy of the largest ship ever to set sail. The new ship will be 225,000 tons in total size and this alone has set it up to receive a great deal of attention. While the company had previously said that Allure of the Seas would not be much different from its parent, Oasis, it turns out that this may not quite be the case according to what Goldstein revealed in a recent blog posting.

According to the CEO, the company has founded its entire image on the idea of embracing innovation and they are sure to keep some new features for the Allure that will definitely please their customers. The ship will be able to hold over 6,000 passengers and is being constructed in Finland at the moment. It appears that Goldstein may have been seeking some dreams from his audience that he would be able to make come true. Only time will tell how the story unfolds from here.

New Cruise Ships to Set Sail in 2010

In the cruise ship industry, as in all of the travel and hospitality industry, innovation is one of the key ways that companies have of delighting their customers. For many, according to experts in this field, there are few things which will turn customers on to a cruise line faster than a brand new ship and it looks as if 2010 just may be a banner year for new and improved voyaging ships setting sail around the world. In all, there are several different brands from North America and Europe that will be unveiling new ships this year, chief among them are Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America, MSC Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises and Royal Caribbean. Each of these companies have ordered their ships years ago since it can take many years to complete even one vessel to their enormous size, but this means that there will be plenty for new travellers and old fans alike to be able to choose from if they would like to sail in a brand new ship fresh out of the harbor.

From Royal Caribbean will come another version of the contest named Oasis of the Seas, the world’s largest ship so far. The Eurodam is a new ship from Holland America that is very similar to its existing ships, while Celebrity Cruises is planning to expand into a new ship from its Solstice Class, a fairly popular choice or many cruise enthusiasts. The Epic from Noerwegian will definitely be a big name attraction with all of its Vegas style glitz and glamor. Over all, travellers should be able to revel in high seas fun any way they like in 2010.

Elvis and Madonna to Bring Entertainment to Cruise Line

One of the big sources of entertainment on cruise ships these days has begun to come from an ever growing number of impersonation performers and Norwegian Cruise Line has picked right up on this. The have announced that they are taking some Las Vegas Strip Style fun to the high seas by offering what is being called the Legends in Concert series of shows on their cruises. These shows will include musicians who will be performing tribute acts to some of the biggest musical performances in the history of show business. There will be performances from a variety of different performers, chief among them Madonna, Elvis Presley and Tina Turner – all major acts in their time that have done a great deal to revolutionize entertainment. While opinions vary on the amount of draw the Legends in Concert series will have for Norwegian Cruise Line, the Norwegian Epic ship is certainly set to live up to its name. The recently announced shows will be a huge part of the summer fun for 2010 and executives at the company are hoping travelers will enjoy themselves with on-board entertainment.

The Epic ship itself is practically its own legend and weighs in at 153,000 tons, the largest ship ever from Norwegian. The performers will be putting on 45 minute sets for three days out of the week long cruises and there will also be some cabaret type shows for those who prefer that sort of entertainment in the ship’s Manhattan room where a supper club will prevail. The Legends in Concert will hold their performances in the Epic Theater, a massive amphitheater that seats nearly 700 people all told.