NORWEGIAN
CRUISE LINE will become the second major cruise line to
convert to all-electronic documentation, beginning May 28.
Passengers on NCL and NCL America cruises will have access to
e-documents 60 days prior to sailing, a move that offers "increased
flexibility and choice" and "enhancing reliability and earlier
delivery of cruise documents," said Andy Stuart, NCL's executive
vice president of marketing and sales. Princess Cruises in November
called itself the first cruise company to go to all-electronic
documents. Royal Caribbean International sends guests paper tickets
and allows them to check in online, and Carnival Cruise Lines said
it currently sends paper documents but is in the process of testing
an e-documents system that will let guests choose whether they
receive paper or electronic documents.
THE
TAHITIAN PRINCESS will go to Alaska in summer 2008, the
first time the 670-passenger ship will offer cruises beyond South
Pacific waters. The vessel will join four other Princess ships on
Gulf of Alaska itineraries and will offer what Princess calls its
"most destination-intensive itinerary in Alaska," a 14-day,
roundtrip sailing from Vancouver that will call in the Alaskan
ports of Kodiak, Valdez and Seward in addition to the regular Gulf
of Alaska stops of Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. Princess acquired
the Tahitian Princess from French Polynesia's government in 2002,
and under an agreement with that country sailed year-round French
Polynesia itineraries for three years. Princess fulfilled that
agreement in 2005, and while the ship will return to French
Polynesia for winter 2008 sailings, the line wants to use its
smaller ships to expand its collection of unique itineraries, said
spokeswoman Julie Benson.
CARIBBEAN
PRICING IS IMPROVING while Alaska pricing is down and
Europe remains strong, according to a report from investment firm
AG Edwards. Leisure analyst Tim Conder, in looking at pricing
trends for the third and fourth quarters of 2007, wrote that
Caribbean pricing "appears to be stabilizing and continues to
slowly improve" and that "pricing for both short and long
itineraries appears to be bottoming based on our pricing surveys."
Conder noted that Caribbean cruises occupy 40% of Carnival Cruise
Lines and 54% of Royal Caribbean and Celebrity's 2007 capacity, and
that as the industry leader Carnival's price stabilization bodes
well for the rest of the industry in the region. The AG Edwards
survey said for a third consecutive survey that Alaskan pricing is
weak, with Carnival pricing in May and June down approximately
20%.
GREENPEACE
IN GREECE said it could take months before more than 400
tons of oil is removed from tanks on the sunken Sea Diamond, the
cruise ship that sank off Santorini last month, and said that Louis
was moving slowly in getting the oil removed from the tanks. In
response, Louis Cruises said it had hired "one of the most
reputable companies specializing in the prevention and management
of sea pollution" and that is has been "cooperating fully with the
local Greek authorities in preventing and minimizing any possible
effect on the environment following the sinking of the vessel."
Louis said the delay was also due to "the evaluation of the most
appropriate way of minimizing any threat" and that it had to
outline a plan "which takes into account the considerable practical
difficulties which arise from the location of the vessel and exact
position of the tanks within the hull structure."
PORT
UPDATES:
" The Port of
Lisbon will spend $60 million on a cruise ship terminal with
capacity for up to five cruise ships. Construction begins this
summer at the Santa Apolonia pier, with expected completion in
2008. The port said that cruise ship traffic to Lisbon increased by
25% in 2005, to 44,000 passengers.
" Saguenay, a
Canadian city north of Quebec on the St. Lawrence River, will spend
$29.4 million to develop a cruise ship port that is expected to be
operational in 2008. Currently, ships that visit Saguenay tender in
Ha Ha Bay.
" The Ports of
Stockholm have begun planning a 975,000-square-foot cruise terminal
expected to be ready for the city's 2008 summer cruise season. The
terminal will be the Swedish capital's first purpose-built cruise
facility and will be "modern and environmentally sound," said Ulla
Hamilton, the Ports of Stockholm's chairman.
Cruise
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