New Transatlantic Cargo-Passenger Service Available

 

A new Bremen now sails between Southampton and New York.The Cruise People Ltd is pleased to announce the availability of a new Transatlantic cargo-passenger service aboard the container ship OOCL Bremen, delivered this August to renowned Hamburg shipowner F Laeisz.The 7,520-ton OOCL Bremen now accepts passengers between Rotterdam, Hamburg, Le Havre nd Southampton in Europe and New York, Norfolk and Charleston in the United States. Together with the 32,000-ton container ship m/v Hamburgo, owned by another famed Hamburg shipowner, Rickmers Reederei, and operating between Antwerp, Hamburg, Rotterdam and Liverpool in Europe and New York, Norfolk and Savannah in the US, the two ships offer sailings on an approximately fortnightly basis.OOCL Bremen is fitted with an Owners cabin and a standard double, whileHamburgo has an Owners cabin and a single. Each vessel offers a sailingevery 28 days.Both F Laeisz and Rickmers once operated clipper ships. Laeisz owned thefamous Flying P’s – Pamir, Passet and Peking while the last Rickmers clipper ship, Rickmers Rickmers, is still in existence as a floating restaurant in the Port of Hamburg.Fares range from €80 to €105 per day plus dues and taxes.Intending passengers should note that as cargo ships are not included in the US visawaiver programme they will require a full US visa to enter the United States, unless they are US or Canadian citizens, but are allowed to board without visa at the last US port, viz Charleston or Savannah, for Europe.

Fuel Surcharges

 

As a result of the continued rapid escalation of fuel prices, the North American brands of Carnival Corporation & plc have announced they will implement a fuel supplement of US$5 per person per day.

The fuel supplement, which only applies to the first and second passengers in a cabin and will not exceed $70 per person per voyage, is effective on all bookings for voyages departing on or after Feb. 1, 2008 on the following Carnival Corporation & plc brands – Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, and The Yachts of Seabourn.

According to Carnival Corporation & plc Chairman and CEO Micky Arison, the recent spike in fuel prices has dramatically impacted the company’s operating costs, thus necessitating the supplement. The price the company pays for fuel has increased 140 percent over the last three years, with a 50 percent increase occurring in just the last seven months.“Earlier this year, we implemented a supplement for our European brands. We had hoped to avoid a similar supplement for our North American brands but with the price of oil approaching $100 a barrel this is no longer possible. The implementation of the fuel supplement beginning February 1 for our North American brands will result in consumers paying approximately one-third of our year-over-year fuel cost increases over the first six months of the fiscal year,” he said.

Mr. Arison added that the company had been considering a supplement for some time but held off as long as it could. “We are hopeful fuel prices will someday return to a level that will enable us to eliminate this supplement. Until then, we believe that guests sailing on our North American brands will understand the dilemma that soaring fuel prices has caused for our company and industry and that a fuel supplement was needed to enable us to continue offering the high quality cruises our guests have come to expect,” Mr. Arison explained.

The fuel supplement of $5 per person per day will be applied to all new and existing bookings for cruises on or after February 1, 2008.