ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD. said Monday it was
"outraged" by the actions of attorneys who filed a lawsuit claiming
the cruise line overcharged passengers on taxes and appropriated
the excess funds as additional passenger revenue. According to the
suit, which was filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, only a
portion which was filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, only a
portion of the $20 to $35 per-passenger tax collected by Royal
Caribbean Int'l and Celebrity Cruises are taxes imposed by
governmental or quasi-governmental authorities. "As a result of its
scheme ... Royal Caribbean and Celebrity were able to increase
revenues without modifying the price structure of their cruises,"
the complaint said. In a statement from RCCL, a spokeswoman for the
company said the attorneys were "dead wrong in their facts." She
added: "We actually pay more in government taxes and fees than we
charge our guests."
PRINCESS CRUISES unveiled some new concepts on
its next Grand-class ship, the Caribbean Princess, during its
Caribbean Marketplace Seminar in New York. For instance, the cover
above the forward pool will be removed and the mini-golf course
relocated to provide more spots for sunbathing; a new al fresco
restaurant, Cafe Caribe, will be created by extending the buffet
restaurant; and a high-energy, hi-tech dance club called Club
Fusion will be added to attract a younger clientele. The Caribbean
Princess also will not use Steiner Leisure to operate its Lotus Spa
as spa operations will be brought in-house, Princess said.
MEANWHILE, PRINCESS' executive vice president
of sales, Dean Brown, said the Caribbean Marketplace was designed
to increase East Coast agents' awareness of the Princess product
and to highlight a newly-placed emphasis on Caribbean sailings.
Brown said bringing the Grand-class ship to the Caribbean
year-round will allow it to compete with other post-Panama size
ships in the region, and he emphasized the "small-ship feel:" three
dining rooms instead of one big one. "You don't tell royalty when
and where to eat," he added.
THE NORWEGIAN DAWN departed Sunday on the first
of its year-round seven-day Bahamas/Florida cruises from New York.
The line unveiled four long cruises from New York on the Dawn: two
10-day and two 11-day southern Caribbean cruises in January and
early February. NCL said the new itineraries were in response to
travel agents who "asked for a longer itinerary that reaches
further south in the heart of winter," said senior vice president
Andy Stuart. The new cruises go on sale May 20. Meanwhile, NCL
inked a four-year deal with the port of Philadelphia to sail at
least 29 cruises to Bermuda from the port. That deal includes a
partnership with the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.
to develop "Freestyle Philly," that will provide NCL passengers
with discounts around the city.
THE SERENADE OF THE SEAS, Royal Caribbean
Cruises' newest vessel, will debut in New York in August, making it
the first Royal Caribbean ship to sail an inaugural season from the
port, as well as the first to offer itineraries north of the border
from the Big Apple. The Serenade will sail five- and six-day
itineraries to Canada through Oct. 27 and will reposition to San
Juan for its winter season.
REGAL CRUISES set up a facility to handle
refund claims. Refund forms can be downloaded from Regal's Web site
[www.regalcruises.com] and the claims center will be
operational though the end of the year, the company said. Monies
that passengers paid for cruises on the Regal Empress are protected
by Regal's Federal Maritime Commission performance surety bond,
which the company posted with Westchester Fire Insurance Co. of
Philadelphia, Regal said. The Regal Empress, meanwhile, is still
for sale. According to the U.S. Marshal's office, the ship was put
up for auction May 16 with a minimum bid of $2 million. There was
one registered bidder, but that bid has not been confirmed by the
Florida Middle District Court.
THE AFL-CIO, which owned 400 Carnival Corp.
shares at the end of fiscal year 2002, will ask Carnival Corp.
shareholders to vote to change the company's jurisdiction of
incorporation from Panama to the U.S. The union federation's
proposal will be presented at Carnival's annual meeting in
Southampton, England, on June 23. In a Carnival SEC filing May 14,
the AFL-CIO was quoted as saying that Carnival's reincorporation in
the U.S. would "improve ... corporate governance and reassure
investors that they enjoy the necessary legal protections." The
Carnival board of directors recommended that shareholders vote down
the proposal, saying a change in incorporation would result in a
"very significant decrease in ... after-tax income."
WEIGHTY ISSUE: Carnival Cruise Lines will shift
ships around in 2004 to bring more tonnage to Tampa, Fla., and New
Orleans. The Carnival Miracle, Carnival's yet-to-be completed
2,124-passenger ship, will homeport in Tampa beginning in November
2004, offering seven-day western Caribbean cruises. That route is
now sailed by the Inspiration, which will shift to four- and
five-day cruises to Grand Cayman and Cozumel in October 2004,
taking over a route sailed by the Sensation. The 2,052-passenger
Sensation will reposition to New Orleans in October 2004 and fill a
berth left vacant by the Holiday by offering four- and five-day
sailings to Mexico. The Holiday, as reported, is moving to
Jacksonville, Fla.
ANOTHER MIRACLE item: The ship will sail a new
route for Carnival: from Baltimore to Key West, Fla., and the
Bahamas between April 25 and May 30 and Sept. 5 through Oct. 24,
2004. The ship will call in Key West, Nassau and Freeport.