THE
NORWAY will transfer to sister company Star Cruises, where
it will be used in a new venture. Star is making arrangements to
tow the Norway to Port Klang, Malaysia, in the near future, NCL
said. Star did not disclose any specific plans for the vessel. The
Norway was damaged in a boiler explosion in Miami in May 2003 and
has been laid up at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Germany since. NCL
said the ship would not return to the NCL fleet, and last month CEO
Colin Veitch said NCL had done our bit in giving the ship the best
chance of finding a new home.
PRINCESS
CRUISES Regal Princess, which was built in 1991 and
carries 1,690 passengers, will leave the Princess fleet and
transfer to Ocean Village, a sister company based in the U.K., in
November 2006. The transfer will set Princess cruises overall berth
space back by about 5%; Ocean Villages berth space, meanwhile, will
jump by 108%. The Regal Princess is one of the oldest in the
Princess fleet.
STAR
CRUISES is moving into the India market with the Norwegian
Sea, which will be renamed the SuperStar Libra when it transfers
from Norwegian Cruise Line to Star Cruises. The SuperStar Libra
will homeport in Mumbai, India, beginning in September and will
offer four-day cruises. The SuperStar Gemini, meanwhile, will move
to Singapore in November from its summer home in Taiwan.
RADISSON
SEVEN SEAS CRUISES last week launched an agent-booking
tool at www.rssc.com. The booking tool was part of an overall
site redesign, RSSC said. The program, called Partner Access,
enables agents to view reservations online (even reservations made
over the phone), add hotel and land packages and take information
for meals and special requests.
CARNIVAL
CORP. said its second-quarter and full-year earnings per
share could be reduced by one cent and three cents per share,
respectively, due to higher-than-expected fuel costs. Carnival
based its previous guidance on average fuel prices of $246 per ton,
but it said in its first-quarter report that fuel pricing curves
indicate the price could increase 29% for the next three quarters,
to an average price of $257 per ton.