THE CRUISE
INDUSTRY overwhelmingly opposed a proposed clarification
of the Passenger Vessel Services Act that would require a
foreign-flagged cruise ship that begins and ends a cruise in U.S.
ports to include a foreign port call of at least 48 hours; in
addition, the time spent in foreign ports on the cruise must equal
at least 50% of the time spent in U.S. ports. In comments submitted
to the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border
Protection, cruise companies, the Cruise Lines International
Association, travel agents and travel suppliers from around the
country told the CBP that the proposed interpretation would harm
U.S. ports; businesses and hotels in those ports; and travel
agents. In its comments addressing the 48-hour/50% criteria, CLIA
said that there had been no analysis or discussion to define it and
"to proffer such criteria in such a manner smacks of an arbitrary
and capricious decision making process."
NCL
AMERICA in its comments to the CBP said that it had
invested $1.3 billion into its fleet of Hawaii-based, U.S.-flagged
ships "in direct reliance on the protections of the Passenger
Vessel Services Act and its proper enforcement." Citing a
"significant increase" in lower-cost, foreign flag ships providing
service to Hawaii with a "token stop in Mexico," NCL America said
that competition had unfairly hurt its operations and "poses an
imminent threat to the remaining U.S. flag passenger vessels
operating in Hawaii trade."
STAR CLIPPERS said it
would eliminate the 5% commission it currently pays on airfare on
all reservations made after Dec. 31. The tall-ship cruise line said
that "changing market forces" led it to follow "recent trends in
the industry." Larry Haugh, vice president of sales for Star
Clippers, said that when travelers look for the least expensive
flights they typically use frequent-flier miles or book online,
making it "extremely difficult for us to procure air at competitive
prices." The move follows decisions by Carnival Corp., Royal
Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and NCL Corp. to eliminate air commission
beginning in September.
CUNARD'S THREE QUEENS will
be in New York on Jan. 13 for the first and only time together. The
British line's three ships, the Queen Mary 2, the Queen Elizabeth 2
and the recently launched Queen Victoria, will sail together out of
New York harbor at 6:30 p.m. The QM2 will depart from its homeport
in Brooklyn, and the QE2 and Queen Victoria will depart from piers
on Manhattan's West Side; the three vessels will rendezvous to sail
past the Statue of Liberty during a fireworks display at about 7:00
p.m. The QE2 will then depart on its 26th and final world cruise --
it retires in November to Dubai, where it will be used as a
floating hotel.
DUBAI may get a second
cruise terminal within the year, according to reports published in
a United Arab Emirates newspaper, the Gulf News; the terminal would
handle an estimated doubling of cruise traffic there by 2010. Awad
Seghayer Al Ketbi, the executive director of the Dubai Convention
Bureau and Heritage Division and the Dubai Cruise Terminal, would
not confirm whether Dubai was building a new cruise terminal, but
he said that the DCBHD has commissioned a study to determine
whether a new terminal is necessary. The Dubai Department of
Tourism and Commerce Marketing said that 165,000 cruise passengers
passed through Dubai during the current season, a number that is
expected to reach 350,000 by 2009-2010. Dubai's current cruise
terminal opened in 2001 at Port Rashid and is able to handle up to
two ships simultaneously, the Department of Tourism and Commerce
Marketing said.
Cruise
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