NEW YORK -- Renaissance Cruises, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based
premium cruise line, ceased all operations and filed for Chapter 11
reorganization Sept. 25.
As reported, Renaissance Cruises' telephone reservations system
shut down Tuesday, with callers being advised to "call back in five
to 10 minutes" because of "technical difficulties."
That fueled widespread industry speculation that the line would
file for bankruptcy -- a speculation confirmed in a statement
issued by Renaissance late Tuesday.
Manfred Urpsrunger,
Renaissance's president and chief executive officer, said, "In
light of the severe, unexpected drop in leisure travel following
the terrorist attacks on the United States ... we concluded that
this was the only responsible action we could take to exit our
business in an orderly fashion."
Renaissance said it is making necessary provisions to return
current passengers to their home ports; customers with upcoming
bookings should contact their travel agents for refund
information.
The cruise line, which dropped its antitravel agent strategy in
June 2000 in the face of mounting debt, also thanked travel agent
partners for their support over the past year.
Because none of Renaissance's cruises depart from the U.S., the
deposits of North American vacationers with pending bookings would
not be covered under the Federal Maritime Commission's bond
program.