This recent attack is not the first in Puerto Vallarta to put cruise passengers in danger. Just months ago, an armed robbery near the passenger terminal occured in the afternoon while cruise passengers shopped nearby. Many people have been questioning the safety of cruise ships in the Mexican Riviera, with cruise lines pulling out such as Disney, and others such as Carnival replacing larger ships with smaller ones and reducing itineraries. Yesterday's incident will certainly hurt confidence in this area.
Passengers from the Carnival Splendor were robbed at gunpoint coming back from a ship-sponsored shore excursion in Puerto Vallarta on Thursday. A Mexican media outlet has reported that the passengers were returning to the ship after spending time in a tourist area, El Nogalito. At around 5:00 PM, masked assailants stopped the bus and robbed 22 cruise passengers of their money, watches, cameras and other valuables. All passengers returned to the ship safely, and Carnival released a statement that they were working to reimburse the victims and to help them obtain any lost passports and identification. The guided nature tour which they were on has been suspended by the cruise line.
This recent attack is not the first in Puerto Vallarta to put cruise passengers in danger. Just months ago, an armed robbery near the passenger terminal occured in the afternoon while cruise passengers shopped nearby. Many people have been questioning the safety of cruise ships in the Mexican Riviera, with cruise lines pulling out such as Disney, and others such as Carnival replacing larger ships with smaller ones and reducing itineraries. Yesterday's incident will certainly hurt confidence in this area.
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Carnival sure has been busy with their deployments lately, and today is no exception. More moves are coming for Carnival ships with some mystery around one in particular. First, the Carnival Valor will be replacing the Victory in San Juan, increasing the capacity there from around 2,500 to 3,000. The itineraries for the Valor are week-long sailings with stops in St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Maarten. The Carnival Victory, in turn, will be moving to Miami will be sailing 4 and 5 day cruises to either Cozumel and Key West or Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay for the 4 day cruises and Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios for the 5 day itineraries. Both ships will offer special repositioning itineraries in late Jan- early Feb of 2013. The most interesting news to me is concerning the Carnival Destiny, which will be operating a 16 day transatlantic cruise on Feb 4th with stops along the Mediterranean and ending in Civitavecchia (port for Rome). Details haven't been released yet about what the sailing season or itineraries will be for this ship, but there are a few intriguing things to note. First, Feb. 4th is extremely early for a transatlantic with most not taking place until mid to late March. Does this mean a year-round ship for Europe? Second, it ends in Civitavecchia which hints to me that it might be a homeport for the ship. Remember, the Legend will homeport in Barcelona and Venice when it is in the Western Mediterranean. Its itineraries also tend to be longer. Will the Destiny be operating 7 day Western Mediterranean itineraries? We'll see. And how exciting is it to have two Carnival options in Europe next year?!? You know my answer. Stay tuned for more news! Carnival has just announced that the Carnival Legend, a Spirit-class ship, will be heading to Europe in 2013. The homeport will be Dover, UK with some Mediterranean sailings leaving from Barcelona and Venice. The ship will arrive in Europe on Aprill 22 after an April 7th trans-atlantic sailing that stops in Bermuda, the Azores, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca. It will then begin a series of Mediterranean cruises before turning its attention North to the Baltics and the British Isles. The return to Tampa for a winter cruising season will begin on November 12, leaving the Legend in Europe for almost 6 months. This news is extremely exciting for us as we love the value that Carnival provides, and Europe happens to be our favorite cruise itinerary. John Heald has been hinting to a UK-based ship for some time, and we suspected it might be a Spirit-class ship, just because the size really seems to work for Europe. Another exciting part of this announcement is that the Legend is not sticking to the normal itinerary of the Western Mediterranean, but is branching out to not only just the Baltics, but also the British Isles. Carnival has reported increased success in reaching British passengers in the past year, and this deployment is a step in affirming that relationship. The Spirit-class ships are usually among the highest-rated ships for Carnival at 88,000 gross tons. With a longer, more sleek look than some of their fleetmates, these ships are usually praised for layout, and all feature Carnival's Supper Club. What do you think of the news? Does a Carnival ship in Europe make you more likely to cruise there? New Blue Iguana Tequila Bar The Internet was buzzing today with speculation about the announcements from Carnival Cruise Line. And while there are no new ships on the horizon other than the Breeze, which will be debuting in June, and no groundbreaking announcements about new itineraries or home ports, what was announced can definitely be classified as FUN, and that is what Carnival is going for, so let's get into it! All the announcements centered around upgrades which will come to most of the Fun Ships over the next couple of years, starting with the Carnival Liberty next month and the Breeze, Conquest and Glory following in 2012. So what is new? Find out below! Eateries Guy's Burger Joint: If you have ever wanted to sample celebrity chef fare without paying extra on a cruise ship, here is your chance. With 5 types of burgers (80/20) and Guy's signature onion rings, this is sure to be a hit. The restaurant will also feature Guy's barbecue sauce and a toppings bar. Blue Iguana Cantina: If you like Carnival's made to order burritos as much as I do, you were excited about this next one. The Blue Iguana Cantina will feature those great burritos as well as tacos, homemade tortilla chips and salsa. It will be poolside on the Lido deck, and will be a welcome addition, assuming they can get through the line quicker than the previous burrito station in the Lido area. Bars Red Frog Rum Bar It is not surprising to see that little red frog pop up again on a Carnival ship, considering how popular the Red Frog Pub is currently on the Magic, but this time he is headlining a rum bar, rather than a pub. The bar will be poolside, and will feature a variety of rums and rum-based concoctions, but not to worry, Thirsty Frog Red beer is still available. Check out the menu here Adjacent, and competing will be.... Blue Iguana Tequila Bar (photo at top of article) As mentioned, this bar will also be poolside, but will feature tequila and frozen tequila drinks as well as Mexican beer. Menu is here Alchemy Bar A cute bar idea with a pharmaceutical twist down on the Promenade Deck with prescription order pads and drink offering such as "The Remedy" "Forty is the New Twenty" and "The Antioxidant". Full menu can be found here. Library Bar A library with a wine dispenser, but classy. (Where do they come up with some of this stuff?) Apparently, a bartender will be librarian in residence here with an extensive wine collection, as well as books. EA Sports Bar Carnival has always been lacking in good sports bars, so this one is certainly a refreshing addition. It will, of course, feature live sporting events, but will also have EA game titles available to play. And, if you are hungry, hot soft pretzels will be offered for $1.25 as well as peanuts. The menu is here Entertainment The rest of the announcements centered around new entertainment offerings on the ships which include:
Hasbro: The Game Show: Described as a chance to play all your favorite Hasbro games onstage. A little vague, but seems to be a pretty large scale production with LED screen and refers to "teaming" up, so maybe you will play as teams. Should be fun! DJ Irie- The official DJ of the Miami Heat will be training DJ's to rock the Carnival ships. I never noticed that they needed extra training before, but then again, I am not really "in the know" where DJ's and party music are concerned. "Baby Got Back" always gets me moving. Playlist Productions- Carnival is getting some new shows! The revealing titles are: Motor City, The Brits, Divas and Latin Nights. Really, I am a fan of anything done well, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. George Lopez in the Punchliner Comedy Club- And last, but not least... well, barely not least, George Lopez is teaming up with Carnival to hand select the comedic talent on board. I have to say, I wasn't impressed with the comedy on Carnival's ships, so maybe this will be a good thing. And, if I ever do get to see Lopez... well, that would be cool. Additionally, they will have a new brunch in the comedy club with hourly performances. Whew! There you go. Lots of new stuff coming to only a few ships, not all that soon. Well, I guess it is something... This week a tropical storm in the Gulf caused more cruise itinerary changes, Norwegian released some candidates for names of their new ships, and Royal Caribbean announced some details about their itineraries in Asia. Let's see if we can make this interesting... Tropical Storm Lee Delays Ships/Disrupts Itineraries- More hurricane season drama occurred this week as TS Lee dumped a ton of rain and wind on southern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The ports of New Orleans and Mobile we affected with Carnival and Norwegian having to delay the return of ships and the departure of others. Both cruise lines reimbursed passengers a percentage for any missed cruise days, Norwegian in the form of an on board credit, but presumably passengers were forced to cover their own extra hotel expenses and change fees for air tickets. Earlier this week, a good friend questioned why we have been promoting travel insurance as a no-brainer when we are so focused on saving money, and often, insurance doesn't make fiscal sense if one can afford to self insure. It got me thinking, and to be honest, I have never insured a vacation that was not a cruise. Maybe I am haphazard, but I figure if a flight is delayed and we get there a little late, I am not eating too huge a cost. With the cost of changing plane tickets, I often feel like if I buy a plane ticket, I am going goshdarnit! But cruises are a bit of a different breed to me. If something weird happens and you miss the boat, well, you miss the boat (maybe that is where that saying came from). I would much rather be out a couple hundred dollars for insurance than a couple thousand for the whole cruise. This hurricane season has really highlighted that for me, and has made me much more likely to bite the bullet and put up my couple hundred. But, I guess if you can afford to self insure and fly to the next destination, should that be needed, more power to you. (And maybe some insurance guy is sitting in his office right now, laughing at my naivete.) Royal Caribbean Sends Another Ship to China- This week, Royal Caribbean released more details about the 3,138 passenger Voyager of the Seas itineraries in Asia. The 2,076 passenger Legend of the Seas has been operating cruises out of Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong since 2009, and the larger namesake of the Voyager class will join her in May of 2012. Longer cruises to the South Pacific, and Australia will also be offered. If you have been paying attention to the news at Royal Caribbean lately, there is an obvious movement away from the North American market with a greater emphasis on Europe than ever before, and now this growth in Asia. From financing cruise ports in Europe like Ravenna and in Greece, to their chairman announcing that North Americans won't be their leading demographic anymore it is clear that this is a trend they expect to continue. With less than half of their ships already stationed in North America year round, one is left to wonder how far Royal Caribbean will eventually go in deploying their fleet to the rest of the world. While I am certainly excited about the options that Royal Caribbean is offering all around the world, I hope they do not change their product, making it less appealing to North American cruisers : changing on board currency, language, entertainment etc. Norwegian Announces New Ship Name Finalists- A few months ago, Norwegian requested that cruisers submit name suggestions for the two newest ships in their fleet, and the preliminary results are in. Perhaps most unimaginative is the Norwegian Breakaway (since the shipbuilding project has been called Project Breakaway). I have personally hated the name "Project Breakaway" since I heard it as it conjures up images of unstable things. For some reason, I also think of those zip off pants/shorts things. Another doozie is the Norwegian Getaway. Really? Bonnie and Clyde get ready because your getaway vehicle is now a slow moving cruise ship. Similar is the Norwegian Escape, which is slightly better because I just think of the SUV. And that leaves my two favorites, keeping in mind that I am picking the best of a so-so lot: Norwegian Journey and Norwegian Bliss. Not too bad, in my opinion, and certainly the two I hope they will land on. Sure, Bliss is a chocolate candy, but how bad is that, really? And Journey is slightly boring and reminds me of the 80's band, but again, decent reference. And, as critical as I am, I really can't think of anything better. Thanks for reading, as always, and I would love your comments. Do you like some of the names or have better ideas? Are you upset about losing the majority of Royal Caribbean's fleet to the rest of the world? Do you think I am being an idiot about travel insurance? Sound off below, and have a great weekend! Resources: www.cruiseradio.net , www.royalcaribbeanblog.com Good morning cruise fans! Yes, the inspiration has hit once again, and the news is forthcoming. Well, my thoughts on the news are forthcoming. Let's get started, shall we? Hurricanes- Everyone is talking about the hurricane these days, and while I certainly do not blame them, I have little to no interest in discussing the weather. (Although I did ace meteorology in college ;) ) If you have a cruise coming up in the near future, you can putz around on the internet trying to find out what is happening OR (suggested) you can call your travel agent! What, Obama? Travel agents are irrelevent? Well, who booked all those trips to Spain for your family? But, I digress.... Call your travel agent or the cruise line directly. You may be thinking "why would anyone cruise during hurricane season anyway? Aren't your plans very likely to be disrupted?" And you would be wrong. (Well, about it not being a good time to cruise) Chris Owen wrote a great article about the pluses of cruising during hurricane season. Find it on his website here: Chris Cruises Although this is still a great time to cruise, it might not be the best time to book private excursions ahead of time, which might require a deposit, and you might not be able to show up. Hurricane season might be a better time to cruise, purely for relaxation on the beach, or to (dare I say it?) book shore excursions. Stranded in San Juan- On first reading of this article, I thought that the cruise line had left a port day early and I was aghast. I mean, how in the world could you know if a ship's Captain had suddenly decided to leave 3 hours early? Royal Caribbean bat signal? But, no. San Juan was an embarkation port and left a few hours early, around 5, instead of hanging out until 8:30. Yes, it is still a big deal and people did get stranded in San Juan, but who in the world hasn't checked in by 5:00 pm? I mean, the mandatory boat drill is almost always around 4:00. If you are anything like most avid cruise passengers, you are knocking over your fellow cruisers when the terminal opens in the morning to be the first in line for the buffet. An interesting aspect to this story was that the cruise line did contact people who had booked airline travel through them as well, just not "independent" passengers. Just another great reason to have travel insurance. Find this story and every single story pertaining to Royal Caribbean on royalcaribbeanblog.com. Seriously, this guy is thorough. The Carnival Breeze Life - Really? As much as I love the Carnival Magic, and am excited about the Carnival Breeze, this new advertising campaign makes me roll my eyes. I understand that they are attempting to convey that a cruise can help you relax more in your day to day life, but I think Princess is doing a much better job with the same theme. (This one is my favorite, but all of them make me sigh Coffee Moment) See Carnival, that is how it is done. Having folks claim that they are going to "live their life at the buffet" or "wear flip flops all the time" or "only ride waterslides and play minigolf" is silly. And the whole Mr. Breeze thing? Okay, I'll admit that so far, those commercials are cuter than The Carnival Breeze Life. I might can get onboard with him. But, most of all, Carnival should be showing the world how great these new ships are, and what a departure they are from what most people think of as "Carnival". The staterooms are gorgeous, the Red Frog Pub really IS a great, relaxing hangout, and the features like a whole fleet of hot tubs, great waterslides, ropes course etc. would really appeal to a large segment of the population. If you haven't checked out the new campaign, SeaTrade Insider has links here. Royal Caribbean and Universal Packages- After several years of Disney building much of their cruise success on combining their cruise vacations with park days in a package, another cruise line has finally wisened up to what a good idea this is. Royal Caribbean will have packages with Universal for their shorter cruises out of Tampa. I think this is really smart, and can introduce a whole demographic to cruising AND, I think it will be successful for Royal Caribbean especially because their rates are so much lower than Disney's. Imagine you are planning a trip down to Orlando and learn that you can add on a relaxing cruise out of Tampa for a few extra days for only a few hundred dollars a piece. As it is, Universal is somewhat difficult to push as a destination park within itself, but combined with a cruise, well, you have a really complete vacation. Honestly, to me, this makes more sense than Disney because Disney really IS a complete destination to itself. You can easily spend a week there, and if you only have 3 or 4 days, you would miss a lot. Universal, not so much. Gene Sloan has more on that story here. Well, that is it for today. As always, we love to hear your feedback. It has become clear to me that I do not enjoy and am not good at updating daily with news, so I have decided to comment on all the news I find interesting each week in a Cruise News Blog. I will link to where I found the stories, so you can read all the details if you like. Keep in mind that you can get more news commentary from our podcasts each week! So, here we go.... Norwegian cuts out in cabin smoking- Umm. Surprise, surprise? No. As much as I respect someone's right to smoke, if they choose to do so, it is still crazy to me that cruise ships are one of the last holdouts as far as smoking in rooms goes. Seriously? I mean, what is the most scary thing on a cruise ship? Yep, fire. (And icebergs) I understand that people would freak if they weren't allowed to smoke on their balconies (as they did on John Heald when he first announced the new policies from Carnival Corp), but considering that cruise ships are one bad cigarette flick away from bad stuff, I kinda don't get it. For the details, click here Seatrade Insider Carnival Extends Contract in Baltimore- Hooray! Another win for a regional port! If you have read my blog or listened to the podcast, you know what a fan of regional ports we are, and that Carnival decided to stay in Baltimore for another few years makes us happy. I, for one, believe that the growth of these regional ports is a large factor in general cruise growth, and hope to see this trend continue. Baltimore is a great city (as has been duly noted by the musical, Hairspray) and is so centrally located for so many people in the US. Check out Chris Cruises for more info Disney Dream Helps Boost Earnings- Really? One ship that is not even the biggest or best has boosted the earnings of a company which owns ABC and ESPN as well as the most successful theme parks in the world? Okay. So, why isn't there more than one more ship on the way? I would have at least 4 more of those puppies in the pipeline. Currently, pricing is INSANE at anywhere from $600 and up for a 3 DAY cruise. Let's say they have to eventually drop prices to, say Celebrity levels. Well, that is still really, really good. Obviously, people are clamouring for what Disney has to offer through their cruise lines. Maybe if they build enough ships, I can afford one of these cruises again one day. For more info, check out dclblog. . Thirsty Frog Red to be Rolled out To Entire Carnival Fleet- While on the inaugural sailing of the Carnival Magic, I did get to visit the relaxing and enjoyable Red Frog Pub, But, due to a certain other cruise podcast host draining the tap (cough, cough, Doug Parker), I did not get to try Thirsty Frog Red, Carnival's own new line of beer. But seriously, this seems like a great idea as the beer is clearly popular and has a cute logo and merchandise attached to it. (More revenue for Carnival!) I will be intrigued to see if it is as popular without the physical location attachment, but suspect that since people are always interested in craft beers and microbrews, it will do just fine. For a great video, check out Cruise Radio. Well, that is all for today. This was way more fun than writing news, so I expect to keep it up, but would like comments. Till the next news breaks... July 17, 2011 In January of next year, the Carnival Destiny will be going under the knife, so to speak, and will be in dry dock for over a month with major construction occuring on both the open decks and interior of the ship. On the upper decks, they will be upgrading the waterslides and moving them to the aft of the ship as well as adding a new pool and completely renovating the Lido deck. Inside, two new restaurants, a steakhouse and an Italian restaurant (likely Cucina del Capitano) will be added to an open space in the old Galaxy dining room. All cabins will be freshened up as well as an entire modernization of the spa. The Camp Carnival program will also be upgraded. One is only left to wonder if there is room for the Red Frog Pub on this ship in the midst of all the improvements... Soon smokers will have to look a little harder to find a place to light up on cruise ships. Three Carnival Corp. owned cruise lines announced today that they will no longer allow smoking in cabins, although Carnival and Holland America will still allow smoking on balconies. These new restrictions take effect Dec 1 for Carnival and Jan 15 for the other two lines. Also, effective immediately, Carnival is restricting smoking on its ships to limited sections of the casino, dance clubs and certain areas on the open decks. Passengers who have already booked sailings after the restrictions come into effect have been notified. These new bans reflect what is becoming common in the cruise industry with most of the luxury lines already banning smoking in cabins and on balconies and Disney and Royal Caribbean also banning smoking in cabins. Passengers caught breaking the new rules will be charged a $250 cleaning fee. June 14, 2011 Yesterday, after much speculation, citizens of Charleston, SC, led by the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, filed a lawsuit against Carnival Cruise Lines. They claim that the lawsuit is to "enforce local laws which protect the city's healthy environment and treasured historic assets." The lawsuit asserts that Carnival violates local ordinances, as well as operates without permits required by state pollution laws. The port authority released a statement in response to the lawsuit yesterday. We believe this suit is frivolous and is intended to harass Carnival in hopes they will leave Charleston rather than endure further public attacks by this element of Charleston’s population. We also believe that the suit will inevitably fail on its complete lack of merit. Unfortunately, Carnival is being used to strike out at the South Carolina Ports Authority and the City of Charleston. Carnival not only complies with all applicable laws and regulations but, in many cases, exceeds those requirements. The South Carolina Ports Authority is directed by state law to enhance and increase waterborne commerce through the harbors and seaports of our State, including Charleston harbor. We are compelled to take all legal steps necessary to hasten the failure and end of this lawsuit in the shortest possible time. This suit is a step toward limiting our state’s ability to conduct international commerce. We cannot – and will not – let that happen. Its premise denies this City’s 341-year-old maritime history. Statement by Bill Stern, Chairman, S.C. States Port Authority: Our commercial port system is the economic heart of South Carolina. This irresponsible lawsuit is not only an attack on a valued port customer; it is also an assault on jobs and economic growth all across our State. The special interests behind this lawsuit are clearly attempting to harass port customers. Their goal is to cripple our port system to satisfy their anti-growth agenda. First it's cruise ships, then cargo ships. Next it will be trucks and rails. They don't seem to care that their agenda would irreparably damage economic development and kill jobs all across South Carolina. It's time for people of goodwill to stand against this narrow-minded band of radicals and their frivolous, irresponsible lawsuits. (courtesy of cruiseindustrynews.com ) |
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