CELEBRITY will cancel the Dec. 10 sailing
of the Millennium in order to repair the vessel's propulsion
system. The affected cruise is a seven-night Caribbean sailing,
roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale; Celebrity said the Millennium is
expected to be back in service for its subsequent sailing, which
departs Dec. 17. The line said the ship is operating safely, but
that a drydock is necessary in order to replace the port thrust
bearing in the propulsion system. Passengers were given a refund
and a future cruise credit; the line established a help desk for
passengers and agents at (888) 281-9343.
CARNIVAL
CRUISE LINES, meanwhile, modified the Carnival Liberty's
Nov. 19 itinerary to give the ship a two-day break for a thorough
sanitizing after a suspected Norovirus outbreak on the Nov. 3
sailing from Rome to Fort Lauderdale affected 506 passengers and
137 crew members. The modified itinerary, which was shortened to a
four-day cruise leaving Nov. 21, originally was scheduled as a
six-day roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean. Carnival
is offering passengers on the shortened cruise a 50% discount on
the fare and a 50% future cruise credit, or the option to cancel
without penalty.
PRICING AND
BOOKINGS ARE IMPROVING, even in the Caribbean, according
to a survey of 450 travel agents done each month from August to
October by Bank of America leisure analyst Michael Savner. October
was the third consecutive month of improved Caribbean demand, the
report said, with the Caribbean demand index rising to 46.8 in
October from 39.5 in August. "We do not believe this indicates the
Caribbean market is healthy, but it does not appear to be
worsening," the report said. Overall, bookings and pricing improved
over the last three months as well, and Savner wrote that the
upcoming Wave season could be "solid." The report said that demand
had risen over the three months for Royal Caribbean International,
while it decreased for Norwegian Cruise Line.
THE
CARNIVAL TRIUMPH will operate a new seven-day itinerary
from Miami to the Eastern Caribbean beginning in April. The
2,758-passenger ship will visit the private Bahamian island Half
Moon Cay; San Juan; St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.; and Grand Turk, Turks and
Caicos. The Triumph's previous itinerary on its eastern route was
to San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. The program will run from
Miami every other Saturday from April 21 through August 11, and in
the fall, the Triumph will shift to New Orleans.
Cruise
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