MIAMI-BASED CRUISE LINES will move some of their
ships away from the port of Miami this month and into the
neighboring city of Fort Lauderdale. The unusual move is to avoid
what Carnival Cruise Lines said could be "massive congestion" from
the Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting to be held in downtown
Miami Nov. 17 to 21. For example:
• Carnival Cruise Lines will shift the Paradise, the Imagination,
the Carnival Triumph and the Carnival Victory to Fort Lauderdale's
Port Everglades. Ships departing Miami during the next seven days
will disembark in Port Everglades; the ships will be back in Miami
in December.
• Norwegian Cruise Line will keep its Norwegian Sun and Norwegian
Wind in Miami Nov. 16 and Nov. 22, respectively, but is moving the
Norwegian Dawn's Nov. 19 Miami port call to Port Everglades.
• Royal Caribbean Cruises said Monday it is finalizing plans with
local authorities but added it was too early to discuss them.
CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES will roll out an
electronic registration Web site by the end of the month that will
speed up the new data-gathering process required by the Department
of Homeland Security -- as well as speed up guests' embarkation
process. Carnival will give a pass to passengers who register prior
to 40 days before sailing that allows them to "fast-track" through
embarkation. The online registration process will start Nov. 25,
for departures beginning Dec. 15. Passengers, or their travel
agents, may access the site at www.carnival.com/mycruise and register at any point
after the initial deposit is made.
PERSONNEL CHANGES
• David Morris jumped ship from Crystal Cruises to Silversea
Cruises, where he will be the line's senior vice president, North
America sales. Morris previously was the senior vice president,
sales for Crystal.
• Crystal meanwhile appointed Marilyn Richardson-Conroy acting
senior vice president, sales to replace Morris.
• Bill Leiber, Silversea's former senior vice president, sales, was
named to the newly created position of chief revenue officer.
Leiber will oversee revenue planning, reservations, air programs,
charter and incentive sales.
RESIDENSEA LTD. completed the sale of its ship,
the World, as well as the unsold apartment residences onboard the
ship, to The World of ResidenSea II Ltd., a company formed by the
ship's residence owners. The purchase price was not disclosed. The
ship's Residents Committee appointed James St. John III as the
managing director of the new company. ResidenSea president Robert
Riley resigned, effective immediately.
THE SHIP'S SALE, meanwhile, spurred an uptick
in apartment purchases, according to a ResidenSea statement. In the
latest tally, 85% of the 110 two- and three-bedroom units have been
sold, as have 36% of the ship's 89 studio and one-bedroom
units.
THE MARINER OF THE SEAS, the final
Voyager-class design on the order books, was delivered Oct. 29 to
Royal Caribbean International from Kvaerner Masa-Yards in Turku,
Finland. The ship will have all the usual trappings of a
142,000-ton, 3,114-passenger megaship, but it also will have an
outdoor pool deck designed by pop artist Romero Britto.
ROYAL CARIBBEAN and CELEBRITY president and
chief operating officer Jack Williams was one of 30,000 runners in
the New York City Marathon Nov. 2, raising $300,000 for the Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation. Williams' race time in the 26.5-mile marathon:
5 hours, 22 minutes.
SOCIETY EXPEDITIONS filed a motion to dismiss
an involuntary petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy that was filed
last month. The one- ship line also said it is seeking $1 million
in damages, plus nearly $10,000 in legal fees, from the petitioner,
Patrician Cruises. A hearing is set for Nov. 14 in U.S. Bankruptcy
Court for the Western District of Washington State in Seattle. In
other developments, the line filed a motion seeking to establish an
escrow account for future passenger deposits. Society's ship, the
World Discoverer, is continuing to operate, a spokeswoman said.
CORRECTION: A report in the Oct. 28 Cruise
E-Letter incorrectly stated that Society Expeditions was in Chapter
7 bankruptcy. A major creditor filed a petition seeking to place
Society Expeditions in involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy, but the
petition remains pending before a bankruptcy judge.