Oasis of the Seas To Drydock in Europe in 2014

 

SS Norway

Reminiscent of the days when Norwegian Cruise Line used to bring its s.s. Norway back to Europe for drydockings when she was still the world’s largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean International will be bringing its 5,400-berth Oasis of the Seas back to Europe, where she will drydock in the Netherlands in the early autumn of 2014.

While typically Norwegian used to drydock Norway in Europe, she also performed the odd Transatlantic crossing, remembering her days as the famed s.s. France.

In 1997, for example, she left Miami on August 16 and New York on August 18 for Southampton, where she arrived on August 30, sailing from Southampton on her return voyage on September 2 and reaching New York on September 10 and Miami on September 13.

On some of these crossings, Norway was drydocked for modifications and on one such visit to Europe she was even chartered to a French group TMR for cruises from France. These first Oasis cruises from Europe will also no doubt be remarked upon since Royal Caribbean have ordered a third such ship from STX France.

Oasis of The Seas

In 2001, Norway made her final crossing, leaving Miami on September 2 and New York September 5 to arrive in Southampton on September 18. The events of September 11 occurred while s.s. Norway was still crossing the North Atlantic.

The upcoming dry-docking will allow Oasis of the Seas to offer a brief season of Europe cruises in the late summer/autumn of 2014 before and after a five-year dry-docking in the Netherlands.

The Oasis will offer a total of five cruises, including two Transatlantic crossings and three cruises out of Barcelona, in a short European season. The Oasis, along with sister ship, Allure of the Seas, has been operating alternating eastern and western Caribbean cruises out of Port Everglades since her debut in December 2009.

On September 1, 2014, the Oasis will offer her first Transatlantic revenue crossing (she carried no passengers on her original delivery voyage in 2009) to Europe: a 12-day eastbound crossing from Port Everglades to Barcelona.

A 13-day westbound cruise will return her to Florida from Rotterdam on October 14, and passengers will also be able to embark at Southampton on October 15. When she does so, she will become the largest passenger ship ever to have called on Southampton, not a difficult task, as she is the world’s largest passenger ship.

While in Europe, the Oasis will offer two round-trip five-day Mediterranean cruises from Barcelona and a seven-night sailing from Barcelona to Rotterdam, where she will commence her dry-docking. The seven-day Barcelona to Rotterdam cruise will call at Malaga and Vigo while itineraries for the five-day cruises will be announced before April 11.

AidaStella and MSC Preziosa Join World Cruise Fleet

by Kevin Griffin writing for cybercruises.com

AidaStella sailing the Elba River to Hamburg

AidaStella, 71,300 gross tons, 831 x 106′, 2,194 lower berths
Saturday saw the naming in Warnemünde of Aida Cruises’ tenth cruise ship, AidaStella, completed recently by shipbuilder Meyer Werft in Papenburg. Last of the latest series of seven “smaller” ships, she will be followed in 2015 and 2016 by two 125,000-tonners of a totally new design from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan.

The ten godmothers for AidaStella included eight Aida employees from different countries and departments, and a representative each from Meyer Werft and naval architects Partner Ship Design. Aida of course is the German arm of Carnival Corp & plc, reporting to the Costa Cruises Group in Genoa, where former Aida president Michael Thamm is now ceo.

As seagoing “club resorts”, Aida ships have many on-board amenities and facilities that attract younger, more active holidaymakers and families. Much of the dining, for example, is buffet style.

The evening ceremony was celebrated with “stellar” fireworks, stella of course being the Latin word for star. AidaStella spent the night in Warnemünde before setting off on Sunday for her maiden voyage to Oslo, Southampton, Le Havre and Amsterdam and Genoa, where she is due to arrive on Friday.

Of AidaStella’s 1,097 passenger cabins, roughly two-thirds (722), have balconies. Included are thirty-nine spa cabins with direct access to the large spa with its glass roof. The ship also comes fully equipped with seven restaurants and twelve bars, including the Bella Donna for Italian regional specialties and gourmet restaurant Rossini.

AidaStella has her own red wine and an exclusive AidaStella beer will be available on board, in Swarovski-designed crystal-studded ‘starry’ beer glasses.

 

MSC Preziosa, 139,072 gross tons, 1093 x 125′, 3,478 lower berths.
To the south, Thursday saw STX France deliver the MSC Preziosa to MSC Cruises in St Nazaire. After a ribbon-cutting ceremony, she is now cruising by way of Lisbon, Cadiz, Casablanca, Valencia and Marseilles to Genoa, where she will be officially named.

MSC Cruises took over this ship, which was originally ordered in 2010 by Libya’s General National Maritime Transport Company, on the stocks last year. Of MSC’s own Fantasia class, naval architects De Jorio Design International were responsible for the end design.

MSC Fantasia

The fourth of the Fantasia class ships, MSC Preziosa has 100 cabins more than earlier vessels, and becomes the line’s new flagship. Like the AidaStella she also has a Swarovski feature, in her case her sweeping grand staircases. Other features include a magical “infinity” pool for adults only and a revised rear lounge arrangement, casino and disco.

Like the other Fantasia class ships, Preziosa features an exclusive, but enlarged in her case, MSC Yacht Club suite area, with dedicated facilities, private decks and forward-facing lounge on top of the ship.

Almost double the size of AidaStella, MSC Preziosa counts among the ten largest ships in the world. Royal Caribbean International has five larger, seven when Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas deliver in 2014 and 2015. Norwegian Breakaway (to enter service in May) and Norwegian Getaway (2014) will also exceed her size, as do Queen Mary 2 and Norwegian Epic.

MSC Preziosa has eleven shopping venues, including new perfumery and cosmetics shop La Profumeria and two jewellery shops, Il Gioiello for high-end jewels and the new Fashion Bijoux for costume jewellery. Fantasia class favourites include duty-free Mini Mall, designer watch and sunglass shop L’Angolo dell’Oggetto, La Boutique for men’s, women’s and children’s fashions, the Pool Shop, MSC Logo Shop, sweet shop La Caramella, Accessories Shop for upmarket bags, belts and leather goods and the MSC Photo Shop.

MSC Preziosa is due to be named on Saturday by the line’s longtime permanent godmother Sophia Loren.

The Growth of Cruising – A Twenty-Five Year Comparison

by Kevin Griffin writing for cybercruises.com

Twenty-five years ago, in 1988, the main cruise lines were Carnival, Cunard, Holland America, Norwegian America Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Royal Viking Line.

Royal Viking Sun

Of these seven, only two, Norwegian America and Royal Viking Line, have fallen away, consolidated into Cunard. But half a dozen new lines have arisen.

In 1988, Seabourn had introduced its first ship, the 212-berth Seabourn Pride, and four more lines follow over the years with Crystal Cruises, Regent and Silversea, all ultra-luxury, and more recently Oceania and Azamara in the ultra-premium sector. The former Chandris Cruises, meanwhile, evolved into Celebrity Cruises, which was taken over by Royal Caribbean in 1997.

Of the lines we have chosen, it might be surprising to some that in 1988 the fleet numbered only 39 ships with 37,157 berths (42 and 40,566 berths if we include Cunard), especially as in 2013 the top eight ultra-luxury and ultra-premium lines together operate 25 ships with 21,480 berths. In this context, to-day’s ultra-luxury and ultra-premium fleet is more than half the size of the entire main line and luxury fleet of twenty-five years ago.

The biggest difference, however, is in the size of the ships. Although the 1988 average was below 1,000 berths per ship this was the beginning of a period of growth, not only in number of berths (Princess Cruises’ 62,500-ton Star Princess, which seemed big then, had only 1,470 berths), but ships started to grow in tonnage as well.

Ultra-Luxury & Ultra-Premium Fleet comparison table: 1988 – 2013

The average ship size for the main-market lines grew from about 950 berths to 2,335 berths, or almost two-and-a-half times per ship. And the size of ultra-luxury and ultra-premium ships has risen from 212 in  Seabourn Pride to about 670 to-day if we do not include Cunard, or more than three times the size.

And the main market lines have also been taking advantage of economies of scale. Although Norwegian Cruise Line had introduced the 70,202-ton 1,850-berth Norway in 1980, it was 1988 before Royal Caribbean introduced the 73,192-ton 2,292-berth Sovereign of the Seas. But another eight years saw the introduction of the 101,353-ton 2,642-berth Carnival Destiny. The result has been that traditional lines’ fleets and berth capacities have grow exponentially:

Main Line & Luxury Cruise Fleet comparison table: 1988 – 2013

Other lines such as Costa Cruises and Chandris Cruises, with six ships each, the 10-ship Epirotiki Lines and a single-ship (at the time) P&O Cruises have not been included in this analysis, but obviously Costa and P&O have both benefitted in terms of fleet expansion from being taken over by Carnival Corp, now Carnival Corp & plc.

All in all, despite wars, terrorism, disease and economic dislocations, the industry as a whole is surviving and seems to be surviving well if we can judge by cruise line stocks as well as fleet size .

The New Crop of Cruise Ships

by Kevin Griffin writing for cybercruises.com

This year and next will see the introduction of four new classes of cruise ship, the first of a new crop. Two of these designs, the new TUI Cruises ships from STX Finland and Project Sunshine for Royal Caribbean International from Meyer Werft, are for the Royal Caribbean group. Of the others, Norwegian Breakaway, also from Meyer Werft, will be for Norwegian Cruise Line, and  Royal Princess, from Fincantieri, for Carnival Corp & PLC. Here is a basic comparison of the new ship classes, at least two of which have so far been ordered of each design:

The New Crop of Cruise Ships: a basic comparison of the new ship classes

The first to be delivered, Norwegian Breakaway, will undertake her maiden voyage, an Atlantic crossing from Southampton to New York, on April 30. At New York, she will become the largest ship to be based there year-round, cruising to Bermuda by summer, the Bahamas and Florida in the autumn and to the Caribbean by winter The most remarkable feature of this ship and her sister ship Norwegian Getaway, to be introduced in 2014 from Miami, will be their Waterfront area, which will include a number of restaurants and bars with open air access to the outside promenade decks on either side of the ship.

Second up will be Royal Princess, the latest design for Princess Cruises, which will come to Southampton in June. Unlike Norwegian Breakaway with her Waterfront, Royal Princess will have new attractions on her very top deck, including a Sea Walk, which will extend 28 feet out over the edge of the ship. Some 60 feet long and 128 feet above the ocean, this glass-bottomed walkway will offer views unavailable on any other ship. On the other side of the ship, the SeaView Bar will extend out over the waves for cocktails with a view.

The New Crop of Cruise Ships: Norwegian Breakaway, Royal Princess, Mein Schiff 3

The top deck will also feature Princess’s trademark Movies under the Stars, and Water & Light Shows, with a computerized fountain of 85 water jets shooting streams of water 33 feet into the night sky. Two freshwater pools and a variety of deck furniture will be available to those who enjoy the outdoors life.

Royal Princess sails on her maiden voyage from Southampton on June 16, when she departs on her 7-night cruise to Iberia. This will be preceded by two 3-night preview cruises for the UK market, leaving Southampton on June 10 and June 13. This ship and her sister ship Regal Princess, to follow in 2014, will be of great interest to British cruisers, as they are the design on which P&O Cruises’ next new ship will be based. The 154,407-ton P&O vessel, to be introduced in March 2015, will differ in profile from the earlier ships in that she will feature a more traditional look, with two funnels arranged fore and aft.

The third of the new designs will be for TUI Cruises, and its third ship. She was ordered after the successful introduction of Mein Schiff 1 and 3, the former Celebrity Galaxy and Mercury, to the German market. The new ship will be completed to a sophisticated and highly innovative design and is scheduled for delivery in the spring of 2014. A fourth ship was also ordered in November for delivery in 2015. Both will have many environmentally friendly features, with particular emphasis on energy efficiency. TUI Cruises primarily targets couples and families who appreciate plenty of space, good quality and personal service and operates ships that are a step above the “Club Ship” buffet concept espoused by its competitor in the German market, Carnival-owned AIDA Cruises.

These orders are important for STX Finland, as it has lost the order for the third Oasis class ship for Royal Caribbean to STX France. In fact, Mein Schiff 3 was the first cruise ship order for STX Finland since the yard delivered  Allure of the Seas to Royal Caribbean in 2010. Ironically, TUI Cruises had to go to STX Finland, as did Hapag-Lloyd Cruises to STX France for its Europa 2 (also to be delivered this year). Both German owners would have been expected to order from German yards but Meyer Werft was not able to deliver on time, having a full order book from Norwegian Cruise Line, which had switched from STX France, and Royal Caribbean. Mein Schiff 1 and 2 were both products of Meyer Werft.

The last new design is still a bit of a mystery. Royal Caribbean has come up with a new design, smaller than the Allure and Oasis of the Seas, but larger than its other ships, under the name Project Sunshine. These ships’ features have until now been kept secret and the only design in circulation is a photograph that appeared on an Italian blog, and may or not be the new ships. On this we wait to see, but that there can be no question that these ships will adopt many of the concepts used on the successful Oasis class ships, except that on a slightly smaller platform they will be able to trade worldwide.

All these new designs meet the latest International Maritime Organization Safety of Life at Sea rules, embracing the concept of “the ship as ‘its own best lifeboat,” that came into place on July 1, 2010.

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Some Early Royal Caribbean History: The Beginnings of the Eastern Shipping Corporation and the s.s. Nuevo Dominicano

 

The 3,445-ton Nuevo Dominicano, formerly the Clarke Steamship Company’s New Northland, seen here at Miami in 1953. This ship pioneered cruising from Miami during the 1920s and 1930s, and again in the 1950s

The Beginnings of the Eastern Shipping Corporation

In May 1948, the former Canadian cruise ship New Northland, a vessel that had cruised from Montreal in the summer time and from Miami by winter before the war, was purchased by the Flota Mercante Dominicana, or the Dominican Line, which announced that it would run her between New York, Puerto Plata and Ciudad Trujillo, as Santo Domingo was known under the rule of Dominican dictator President Trujillo.

She was renamed Nuevo Dominicano and crewed by the Dominican Navy, and for a year and a half ran from New York. But not attracting enough passengers to fill her 177 berths, she was replaced by cargo ships.

This is where Frank Leslie Fraser came onto the scene. Fraser, whose family had started a banana shipping business from Jamaica in the 1930s, was the general administrator of the Flota Mercante Dominicana, president of Fraser Fruit & Shipping of Cuba, president of the Dominican Fruit & Steamship Co and managing director of the Maple Leaf Steamship Co of Montreal, through which he had purchased a number of coasters in Canada when his own banana boats had been requisitioned during the war. These coasters he had used to serve the Dominican Republic.

But most importantly, Fraser was president of the Eastern Shipping Corporation, which would now charter Nuevo Dominicano to cruise out of Miami.

While visiting Kingston in his native Jamaica, Fraser told the “Gleaner” that Nuevo Dominicano would make fortnightly trips to Jamaica, with stops at Kingston and Montego Bay as well as Ciudad Trujillo on a 12-night cruise. By arrangement with the Bahamian Government, she would also call at Nassau on Thursdays, leave on Friday morning and be in Miami by Saturday morning.

It was Fraser’s idea to bring Nuevo Dominicano back to Miami, where she had operated successfully in the past. Under his direction, she was readied for cruising out of Miami once more. Despite her renaming, Eastern still used the old name in brackets, with the new Eastern Shipping Corp brochure exclaiming:-

“An exciting life will be yours aboard the s.s. Nuevo Dominicano (formerly known as the s.s. New Northland) with luxury accommodations for 177 passengers, completely refitted from stem to stern to provide all cruise comforts, modern services and delicious cuisine.

“Attractively and comfortably furnished staterooms make this a giant, floating hotel for your enjoyment. You will delight in the spacious decks for sports or promenading, comfortable lounges, sunbathing and swimming in the ship’s swimming pool.”

The new swimming pool was installed where her forward cargo hatch had been.

The Bahamians were busy behind the scenes however and on April 16, 1950, the “New York Times” reported that Nuevo Dominicano would offer more Nassau voyages:-

“The Nuevo Dominicano, which made two Miami-Nassau cruises each month during the winter, has inaugurated a spring and summer schedule which includes six stops at Nassau each month. The vessel will visit Nassau twice on her nine-day cruises, one to Ciudad Trujillo, the other to Kingston, Jamaica, stopping at Nassau on both outward and homeward legs. The vessel also will make two Miami-Nassau cruises each month, with a two-day stop in Nassau.”

The ship’s most famous passenger during this period was actor Clark Gable who with his wife travelled to Nassau for a golfing holiday in December 1950.

Although the Eastern Shipping Corporation successfully inaugurated year-round cruises from Miami, at the end of three years it decided to end its charter of Nuevo Dominicano. For three years, all had gone well for Nuevo Dominicano, but with a capacity of only 177 passengers, there was not much room for profit. Fraser’s absence would only be temporary, however.

The Dominican Republic Steamship Line

To replace Eastern, the Dominicans formed the Dominican Republic Steamship Line in 1953. Unwisely, the naval personnel were withdrawn and a mixed crew took over the deck and engine departments. Standards began to drop. The ship no longer called at Jamaica, but ran 11-day winter cruises on alternate Mondays from Miami to Nassau, Ciudad Trujillo and Port-au-Prince, and 3-night Friday weekend cruises from Miami to Nassau. The 11-day cruises also offered a short one-way passage from Miami to Nassau.

Every Monday and Friday from July through September she ran 3-day cruises from Miami to Nassau. This was the opposite of what had been introduced by New Northland in 1935 as these were summer cruises and not winter ones.

Soon, however, the new management not only failed in passenger service, but the ship also suffered continual breakdowns. That August, she had to be towed into Miami by the US Coast Guard, and again in September by a salvage tug. At this point, the US Coast Guard suspended her passenger certificate and required a general refit of the safety equipment.

She left Miami on October 9, 1953, for a refit in the Dominican Republic and within twenty-four hours was reported aground off Nuevitas, Cuba. On October 17, she ran aground again, on Punta Guarico, near Baracoa. On November 26, she was refloated and anchored in semi-protected waters but she suddenly went down.

Her end was reported in the “New York Times” on November 26, 1953, under the heading “Jinxed Liner Sinks at Anchor in Cuba”: “After a successful salvage operation, the empty passenger liner Nuevo Dominicano rolled over and ‘died’ in southern waters on Thursday night, it was reported here yesterday. No one was injured.”

This ship had been a true pioneer of cruising from Miami – she had operated the first weekly cruises from that port, in January 1927, the first all-inclusive cruises (as opposed to just overnight steamship service) between Miami and the Bahamas and become Miami’s first year-round cruise ship, in 1950.

The Eastern Story

The loss of Nuevo Dominicano produced an opportunity for Fraser. His Eastern Shipping Corporation decided to look for a ship to fill the gap left by her loss and in May 1954, he bought Eastern Steamship Lines’ Yarmouth for $500,000. On June 18, 1954, his new ship began a series of 9-day Miami, Jamaica and Haiti cruises that alternated with 4-day Miami, Nassau and Havana cruises.

However, at the request of the Bahamian Government, which no longer had the services of  Nuevo Dominicano, he soon renamed his ship Queen of Nassau and put her into a two-year contract running between Miami and Nassau. Following the same schedule as the Nuevo Dominicano, the Queen of Nassau left Miami for Nassau every Monday and Friday at 6 pm. If Fraser had not been able to make money with Nuevo Dominicano‘s 177 berths, he could certainly do so with the 500-passenger Queen of Nassau.

At the end of 1954, Fraser reunited the two sister ships by acquiring Evangeline after she completed her last season on the Boston to Yarmouth NS run. Evangeline did longer cruises but she made it to Nassau every second weekend.

Fraser continued to build his business. In 1959, he acquired Bahama Star at auction for $512,000 and promptly began advertising her as the largest cruise ship sailing from Miami. Late in 1960, he bought Ariadne. These two ships at first offered longer cruises, then moved to the 3- and 4-day cycle, out of Miami and Port Everglades respectively, serving both Nassau and Freeport.

Fraser Sells Eastern

Meanwhile, on May 27, 1961, an item in the “New York Times” recorded a change in the ownership of the Eastern Shipping Corporation: -

“The Eastern Shipping Corporation, formerly controlled by the McCormick Shipping Corporation of Panama, has been acquired by W R Lovett of Jacksonville, Fla. Mr Lovett reported yesterday that the corporate name had been changed to Eastern Steamship Corporation. The company is general agent for the cruise ships Evangeline, Yarmouth, Bahama Star and Ariadne, which operate between Miami and the West Indies.”

Three days after this announcement, Rafael Trujillo was assassinated in the Dominican Republic, bringing to an end a dictatorship that had lasted for thirty-one years.And by January 1962, Fraser had passed full control to William Lovett, a 71-year-old financier who was experienced in running banana boats himself, as founder of the Winn-Dixie supermarket chain..

When Eastern changed hands the letter “F” for Fraser on the ships’ funnels was replaced by “L” for Lovett. But unfortunately, Fraser died on July 22, 1962, only a few months after the sale, at the age of 57. And by 1965, Lovett would rename the company once more, this time as Eastern Steamship Lines

Meanwhile, in 1963, Yarmouth had been sold to another Miami company, Yarmouth Cruises Inc, and was soon joined by Evangeline, which was renamed Yarmouth Castle to fit in with the Yarmouth Cruise Lines theme. These veterans were placed onto a new run that served Freeport as well as Nassau, on a schedule of four sailings a week. Yarmouth Castle, of course, is known now for the loss of eighty-seven lives in a fire off the Bahamas on the night of November 13, 1965.

Eastern Steamship Lines had kept the larger Bahama Star and Ariadne, but in 1968 it acquired the larger New Bahama Star, formerly the Peninsular & Occidental Steamship Co’s Miami. New Bahama Star was the largest cruise ship sailing from Miami, and its purchase by Eastern effectively meant the end of a competitor, a company that had introduced the first Miami to the Miami-Nassau route seventy years earlier, in 1898.

Gotaas-Larsen Corporation

Passenger numbers leaving Miami reached 188,000 in 1967 and 246,000 in 1968. In 1970, Lovett, now 79, sold out to Gotaas-Larsen Corporation of Norway, one-third owner of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, which had been formed in 1968. By then, the number of Miami passengers was 610,000 and growing. Royal Caribbean was introducing three new ships to the Miami market in 1970-71 and others had also come onto the scene.

In 1972, Eastern’s new Norwegian owners introduced its largest ship, the 24,458-ton Emerald Seas, acquired from Chandris Lines, partly in exchange for the smaller Ariadne. Although Gotaas-Larsen was involved in both Royal Caribbean and Eastern, any conflict of interest was avoided by Royal Caribbean handling the longer-duration 7- and 14-night cruises while Eastern looked after the 3- and 4-day market, now under its fourth name as Eastern Cruise Lines.

Miami passenger numbers exceeded the million mark in 1977. Ultimately, a merger of Eastern Cruise Lines, its West Coast affiliate Western Cruise Lines and Stardance Cruises led to another new firm, Admiral Cruises, in 1986. By then, Miami was hosting three million passengers a year.

Admiral Cruises was taken over in early 1992 by Royal Caribbean, which decided to sell its older ships and to complete its “Future Seas” newbuilding project as the 48,563-ton Nordic Empress. This was the first ship to be designed and built specifically for the Florida-Nassau short cruise market since Henry Flagler’s Miami of 1898, the trade having been served traditionally by second-hand, seasonal or chartered tonnage.

By the late Capt Carl Netherland Brown and Kevin Griffin of The Cruise People

Illustrations courtesy of Michael L Grace’s “Cruising the Past” website.   www.cruisingthepast.com

Holland America Line Single-Handedly Extends St Lawrence Season

Originally published by our London office.

 

Holland America Line’s Maasdam, a regular St Lawrence trader, passing under the Quebec Bridge

For many decades, in the days before air conditioning, the St Lawrence cruise season ran all summer long. From 1919 until 1965, Canada Steamship Lines offered weekly Saguenay cruises from Montreal, with a season that ran from June to September, even during the war. From 1921 to 1961, the Clarke Steamship Company offered longer “Round the Gulf” and Labrador cruises in a season that ran from May through October. After these services closed, Cunard Line, the Baltic Shipping Company, Polish Ocean Lines, Moore-McCormack Lines and the Greek Line, among others, began offering week-long cruises from Montreal or 10/11-night cruises between New York and Montreal.

The history of St Lawrence cruising goes back a long way. Under the auspices of Thomas Cook, the Quebec Steamship Company first sent its 1,864-ton Orinoco out from New York in the summer of 1894 to visit Saint John NB, Halifax, Charlottetown, Gaspé, Tadoussac, the Saguenay River and Quebec. Indeed, by 1904, the Plant Line was advertising its Gulf of St Lawrence cruises from Boston as follows:

Six Days’ Cruise 1400 miles for $18. From Union Wharf, Boston, every Tuesday and Saturday, 12 noon for Halifax, Hawkesbury and Charlottetown. Good board. Cheapest rates. Best trout and salmon fishing, and shooting. Beautiful scenery. This doesn’t half tell it. Send stamp for booklet “Looking Eastward,” maps, etc.

A pioneer of St Lawrence cruising from 1908 until the First World War, the s.s. Trinidad cruised the St Lawrence by summer and sailed from New York to Bermuda in the winter.

The Quebec Steamship Company’s 2,162-ton Trinidad followed in 1908, the 300th Anniversary of the founding of Quebec. In 1919, this line was acquired by Britain’s Furness Withy & Co, who cruised first the 5,530-ton Fort Hamilton and and then the 7,785-ton Fort St George from New York to Quebec. Between the wars, the Anchor Line, Canadian Pacific, the Clyde Line, White Star Line and others all offered cruises between New York, the Maritimes, Quebec and Montreal. These cruises were nearly always offered in the high season in July and August, when it was hottest in the cities, as a getaway from the summer heat.

More recently, however, the so-called Canada New England brand has suffered in that even The Sunday Times now tells people who want to cruise the St Lawrence to go in the autumn. The question is, is this the propogation of a myth or is it simply because cruises only go there now in the autumn? This has been one of the biggest challenges facing St Lawrence and New England destinations in recent years, but things are slowly starting to change.

In recent years, Holland America has operated one ship, the 1,266-berth Maasdam, into Montreal between May and October. Starting this autumn, however, it brought a second ship to the St Lawrence, in the 1,348-berth Veendam, which it had previously been operating on the New York-Bermuda run. Next year, Holland America will operate Veendam on a full season of St Lawrence cruises, from May through October, turning at Quebec while Maasdam continues to turn at Montreal.

Maasdam departing Montreal on a cruise. On the left is the Sailors’ Memorial clocktower on Victoria Pier. Behind here is where the Canada Steamship Lines and Clarke Steamship Company cruise ships used to sail from

Moving Veendam to St Lawrence cruising is interesting in two ways. First, Holland America has already let it be known that it thinks it can make more money trading to Canada and New England than in what was once regarded as the lucrative Bermuda cruise market. Secondly, with the imposition of the North American Emission Control Area (ECA) this summer, Veendam is actually going against the flow.

When sailing to Bermuda she spent most of her time outside the 200-mile ECA limit but by sailing to Canada she will always be within it. This means she will have to burn more expensive distillate fuel in order to reduce sulphur emissions, something that Holland America has already estimated increased their fuel costs by 40% in the Alaska trade, which is also completely within the ECA, for an  extra $200,000 on a 7-night cruise.

Veendam will handle four embarkations and four disembarkations at Quebec, bringing more than 20,000 extra visitors a year over a three-year period. Under the new marketing agreement, Montreal will also see additional turnarounds from Maasdam in July and August. This programme, announced last month, is backed by $1.15 million in government funds, half from Tourism Quebec and half from Quebec City.

Included in Veendam’s new sailings will be four 14-night round trips from Quebec that will call at Charlottetown, Sydney, Halifax, Bar Harbor, Boston and the Saguenay. Equally, Maasdam will offer seven 14-night round trip cruises from Montreal calling at Quebec, Charlottetown, Sydney, Halifax, Bar Harbor and Boston. Both itineraries will also be available as one-way 7-night sectors between Montreal and Boston and Quebec and Boston.

As part of this agreement, the 450-berth Seabourn Sojourn, operated by Holland America affiliate Seabourn, will also operate three St. Lawrence turnaround cruises from Montreal that will visit seven ports in Quebec: Montreal, Quebec City, Trois Rivières, Saguenay, Baie Comeau, Gaspé and the Magdalen Islands.

Holland America has become a bit of a pioneer in the St Lawrence. It was the first cruise line to visit Sept Iles, on the St Lawrence North Shore, when it sent  Maasdam there in May 2009. This in itself was an earlier season start than usual for the St Lawrence, the call having been made during a positioning voyage from Fort Lauderdale to Montreal, something it will offer again in 2013. The new $20 million berth at Sept Iles now accepts cruise ships of up to 985 feet in length.

Compagnie du Ponant’s Le Boréal calls at the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St Lawrence

Fellow North Shore ports Baie Comeau to the west and Havre St Pierre to the east have also added cruise facilities and their proximity to Gaspé on the South Shore, Charlottetown in Prince Edward Island and Corner Brook in Newfoundland, offers a choice of half a dozen cruise ports in the Gulf of St Lawrence below Quebec. The Magdalen Islands, which has its own weekly cruise ferry from Montreal and is now also visited by Compagnie du Ponant and Crystal Cruises, adds a seventh.

Crystal Symphony seen here calling at Quebec, offers a round-trip Gulf of St Lawrence cruise from Montreal each September.

On September 30, Crystal Cruises operated  a 7-night round trip from Montreal with its 960-berth Crystal Symphony. Three of her four ports, Sept Iles, the Magdalen Islands and the French islands of St Pierre et Miquelon, were first time calls for Crystal. The fourth port, Quebec, has been rated as the most popular cruise port in North America. This Montreal round trip itinerary will be repeated on September 26, 2013. But in September 2014, the cruise will be offered by Crystal Serenity from Quebec. A larger ship than Symphony, the Serenity presumably can’t get under the Quebec Bridge to sail upriver to Montreal.

Royal Caribbean has also started operating turnaround cruises from Quebec with its 2,112-berth Brilliance of the Seas, with a typical 10-night cruise taking in Baie Comeau, Corner Brook, Halifax, Sydney, St Pierre et Miquelon and Charlottetown. Like the Serenity, the Brilliance is to tall to fit under the Quebec Bridge.

Other St Lawrence visitors this season have included the 3,114-berth Emerald Princess, 2,104-berth Eurodam, 264-berth Le Boréal, 2,476-berth Norwegian Dawn, the 2,620-berth Queen Mary 2, the 684-berth Regatta, 490-berth Seven Seas Navigator, 388-berth Silver Whisper and Veendam, nearly all in September and October. Not to mention Aida, Fred Olsen and Saga ships that cruise over from Europe.

The addition of  Veendam to the St Lawrence trade is good news for Quebec City, which in 2013 will see five Holland America calls each month from May to August and seven in June. The only other ship coming nearby in the summer months is Oceania’s 1,258-berth Marina, which will make an unusual June 1 call at Quebec while on a 16-night cruise from New York to Southampton. The other ships will all wait until September (21 calls) and October (27 calls), when they come flocking in for “the leaves.”

For more details on Cruising the Gulf of St Lawrence please call The Cruise People Ltd in London on 020 7723 2450 or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk and in Canada at 1-800-961-5536 or e-mail cruise@thecruisepeople.ca

Star Clippers To Cruise Cuba

by Kevin Griffin writing for cybercruises.com

Over the years, as Carnival Corp & plc and Royal Caribbean Cruises have expanded into Europe by acquisition, a number of Cuban cruise programmes have had to be shut down when they purchased Iberocruceros and Pullmantur.

Star Clippers, however, is European-controlled and has just announced a programme of eight Cuba cruises in the winter of 2014 on board its 170-passenger Star Flyer. This will be an expansion of its already existing winter cruise programme in the Caribbean, which has been based on Barbados and St Maarten.

Star Flyer will operate four Cuban itineraries — in February and March — ranging from six nights to 14 nights in duration. The line’s Cuban base port will be Cienfuegos, which will see positioning cruises at the opening and end of the programme and one 6-night and five 7-night cruises round trip from Cienfuegos.

“Cuba represents an exciting new destination both for our first-time guests and our many repeat clients,” said Star Clippers president, Mikael Krafft. “As well as offering spectacular history, culture and architecture, the island’s coast is ideal for sailing, with many beautiful anchorages and uninhabited beaches and cays.”

The Cuban cruises cannot be sold to US citizens or residents due to the embargo which prohibits travel to Cuba unless under restricted circumstances. While Europeans, Canadians and South Americans will be able to book these cruises, present US laws will mean that US sales agents will not be able to sell this programme.

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Yet Another Line Cuts Bermuda Calls

by Kevin Griffin of The Cruise People writing for cybercruises.com

Two weeks before Holland America Line’s 1,346-passenger Veendam departs New York on her final cruise to Hamilton, Bermuda, comes news that yet another cruise line is cutting back the number of its Bermuda calls, this time from fifty-five to forty-four, a further reduction of eleven cruises.

This weekend, Royal Caribbean announced that it was going to reduce the number of Baltimore to Bermuda sailings next year on its 1,950-passenger Grandeur of the Seas, which will replace the 2,252-berth Enchantment of the Seas.

Instead, the Grandeur will alternate between Bermuda and Bahamas next year, making only fifteen cruises to Bermuda’s Dockyard. Not only will there be ten fewer Bermuda cruises from Baltimore but the berth capacity of the Grandeur is 15% less, meaning an effective reduction of almost half in the number of Baltimore passengers able to cruise to Bermuda.

This comes as a result of Royal Caribbean wanting to give its Baltimore guests more choice in their destinations.

The 3,114-berth Explorer of the Seas, will undertake twenty-nine cruises from New York to Bermuda compared to thirty this year. The number of Baltimore to Bermuda cruises will fall from twenty-five this year to fifteen next. On top of the change in plan, it has also been reported that some of Royal Caribbean’s Bermuda cruises were not selling that well.

By the end of this month, three major cruise lines, all owned by Carnival Corp & plc, will have either eliminated or reduced their Bermuda cruises.

Carnival Cruise Lines visited Bermuda sixteen times in 2011, but just once this year. And Princess Cruises, which called in Bermuda ten times in 2011, has just two calls scheduled for 2012. On top of this, Holland America Line will drop its regular service later this month.

As no replacement has been found, regular cruise ship visits to Hamilton will become a thing of the past after Veendam leaves New York on her final voyage on August 26. Thereafter, she transfers to the Canada/New England trade.

Veendam, the only ship sailing regularly into Hamilton for the past three years, will have made nineteen trips this year, but will not return in 2013.

Joanne MacPhee, head of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, told the Bermuda Sun, “it is a significant blow that there will be no regular cruise ship next year in Hamilton. The Veendam has provided a major boost to retailers and restaurants in the city over the last three years. The ship’s passengers have a higher spending power than the ships that come into Dockyard.”

Meanwhile, the Bermuda Government is hoping to lure more small ships into Hamilton and St Georges to make up for the drop in numbers. Also, officials are said to be talking to Disney Cruise Line.

Small ship operators that have been identified include Azamara Club Cruises, Regent Seven Seas and Silversea, who have each sent occasional callers. Azamara Journey did a full Bermuda season on 2007.

Other ships that have been identified include Princess Cruises’ 688-berth Pacific Princess and Holland America’s 837-berth Prinsendam, both of which make occasional Bermuda calls.

The only good news in Bermuda is that Norwegian Cruise Line’s new 4,000-berth Norwegian Breakaway will substantially increase its Bermuda capacity next year. But one also wonders whether Bermuda should not be going after more of the old formula of weekly cruises from New York that served both Bermuda and Nassau, or even Florida for that matter.

The only other thing going for Bermuda may be the new North American Emission Control Area that came into effect on August 1 and applies to a 200-mile limit from the US coast.

Ships sailing to Bermuda can still burn the cheaper heavy bunker fuel once outside the ECA, and Bermuda, unlike Alaska and Canada/New England, is 697 nautical miles from New York and 683 from Norfolk, well outside the ECA.

How Cruise Sales Differ Across the Atlantic

Image of the house flag of Carnival Cruise Line. This flag is also used within the corporate logo of Carnival Corporation & PLC (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

by Kevin Griffin – The Cruise People, Ltd writing in cybercruises.com

Cruise selling policies differ on both sides of the Atlantic, the most obvious contrast being that in North America deposits remain fully refundable up to final payment date, while in Europe’s largest cruise market, the UK, one forfeits their deposit if they cancel. But even in Europe practices differ.

In Germany, for example, Europe’s second largest cruise market (and soon to be largest), deposits are usually refundable up until just a month before sailing. But in the meantime, a couple of other notable differences have sprung up in recent times, first on who can buy a cruise where and second on agents remuneration.

On the first subject, P&O has long been known for prohibiting cross-border cruise sales. Three decades ago, the author was quoted a fare by P&O Los Angeles on a cruise from Sydney that was 33% higher than the same cruise quoted in Australia. A similar complaint was made to UK cruise magazine “World of Cruising” in more recent times when Swiss clients were told they had to book a Princess cruise through Swiss agent Kuoni at a higher fare than offered in Florida.

Through its association with P&O, this restriction has now also spread to Cunard, which no longer allows cross-border bookings and whose Transatlantic sailings can be as much as 25% more expensive in the UK. But even here there is no consistency, as sometimes UK fares for the same sailing are lower than the North American fares.

Meanwhile, this prohibition has spread beyond P&O. To cite an example, Vacations to Go, a US agent with a UK phone number, states on its web site that “the following cruise lines now prohibit all US travel agencies from selling cruises to citizens of countries other than the US and Canada, unless they have a residence in the US or Canada.
This is not a Vacations To Go policy or a US government policy, it is a corporate policy instituted by each of these cruise lines.”

It then goes on to name “Holland America, Oceania Cruises, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Star Clippers.”

More recently, appointed as US agent for P&O Cruises, its site adds for good order that “residents of the UK may not book P&O Cruises through Vacations To Go.” Missing from the list is one line that used to be there, namely Costa.

In an age of globalisation this practice of cruise lines prohibiting cross-border sales is in effect a restraint of trade and we wonder how legal it is. Apple once tried something similar with its iTunes pricing within Europe, restricting buyers to making purchases in their own country, and thus forcing some to pay higher prices. In 2004 the UK Office of Fair Trading referred Apple to the European Commission for violation of EU free-trade legislation and in 2007 Apple was threatened with a £330 million fine.

In the end Apple had to agree to offering common pricing throughout Europe. In a single market such as Europe customers should be free to purchase goods and services from any member state, but this still appears to be not the case with many cruise lines.

On another subject, P&O, Princess and Cunard last year announced that they would cut agents’ commissions in the UK to 5% in an attempt to try to stop them from rebating, a process whereby agents would pass on part of their commission to the client in order to “buy” their business.

Meanwhile agents selling the same Princess and Cunard cruises in North America (and elsewhere) are still paid on a scale of 10-15%. One of the reasons P&O, Princess and Cunard UK did this was apparently a fear of being accused of resale price maintenance. This is a practice whereby a manufacturer and its distributors agree on pricing, a practice that is outlawed in the UK. But whether a service is a manufactured good and an agent is a distributor are moot points.

Meanwhile, this spring, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ adopted a different approach, which is to offer 10% agency commission and threatening to stop sell agents who rebate from their commission. Those who did not rebate would be rewarded by a 5% bonus at the end of the year.

This in effect would punish agents who rebate, as opposed to punishing those who do not rebate by cutting their income, which was the case with P&O, Princess and Cunard UK. The Fred. Olsen approach shows strength and is a refreshing change and it will be interesting to see where this all goes. Clearly at 5%, P&O, Princess and Cunard UK are well below the usual cruise sales norm of 10%.

Back in North America, on August 1 Carnival Cruise Lines will further toughen its own anti-rebating stance. From that date, agents may only offer clients non-cash value-add-ons equivalent to a maximum of $25 per person.

Non-cash equivalents means bags, hats, beach towels, memory books, sunglasses or Carnival favours delivered on board, and on-board credits will no longer be allowed. Carnival first introduced level pricing in 2003, then an advertised price policy in 2005.

Last week, Carnival president Gerry Cahill visited London in anticipation of the Carnival Magic sailing from Dover next year. Illustrating the dichotomy on commiassion policies within the Carnival group, Cahill told the UK’s Travel Trade Gazette “we have our own commission structures, ranging from 10-15%. We want to make sure that we’re different to our sister brands as sensitively as we can. Each brand makes its own decisions.”

P&O’s commission cuts seem to have had some effect, however. Cahill’s ultimate boss, Carnival Corp & PLC ceo Micky Arison seemed to be supporting P&O’s stance when he told the UK’s Travel Weekly last week that “The reality is that the ones who were the biggest screamers were the biggest discounters. They lost their competitive advantage as they could no longer give their commission away and found they couldn’t make a living.”
Meanwhile, there was a lot of collateral damage among agents who were not rebating.

Royal Caribbean has also been tough on North American agents who rebate and at one stage even put a stop-sell on Vancouver-based CruiseShipCenters, now Expedia CruiseShipCenters. But Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises also continue to offer normal commission levels in the UK market, leaving P&O, Princess and Cunard somewhat isolated.

Indeed, it was Royal Caribbean Cruises’ ceo Richard Fain that told a London audience in April that the agency distribution system “is not broken” and that Royal Caribbean would take “no precipitate action” on commission levels.

How different things are on the two sides of the Atlantic!

Miami Lands Yet Another Cruise Line

by Kevin Griffin of The Cruise People writing in cybercruises.com

MSC Cruises will change its Florida seasonal base port from Fort Lauderdale to Miami for the cruise season starting in late 2013. The Italian-based line will operate its newest ship, the 3,500-berth MSC Divina, from Miami between November 2013 and May 2014, although MSC Poesia will still sail from Port Everglades in 2012-13.

In announcing the move last week, MSC Cruises’ US president Rick Sasso also intimated that another MSC ship could well follow and that having a year-round MSC ship in North America was not entirely out of the question.  MSC Divina will become the largest ship in the MSC Cruises fleet when she delivers in Marseilles on May 26, featuring a separate 69-suite first-class zone called The Yacht Club, with exclusive forward views from its lounge atop the bridge.

This is the second such announcement in two weeks as earlier this month Norwegian Cruise Line revealed that it would be basing its own new 4,000-berth Norwegian Getaway at Miami year-round from her introduction in 2014. When she arrived, the 144,000-ton ship will become the largest ship to use Miami as her home port. Sister ship Norwegian Breakaway will be based at New York year-round from spring 2013.

Since losing Oasis and Allure of the Seas to Fort Lauderdale in 2009, Miami has been striving hard to make up for the loss of the world’s largest cruise ships. Even so, it has handled more than four million passengers for four years in a row now, a number that is expected to reach four and a half million by 2014.

Royal Caribbean’s choice of Fort Lauderdale as base port for its Oasis and Allure of the Seas ended the decades-old rule that Miami, with its 3-, 4- and 7-day cruises, was mass market while Fort Lauderdale, with its Round-the-World and Transatlantic liners, was upmarket. And the recent changes have only served to change this even more.

Three brand-new ships are set to start sailing from Miami later this year – the 3,030-berth Celebrity Reflection and 3,690-berth Carnival Breeze, operated by lines that are indicated in their names (echoing the days when tankers were all called Esso this or Texaco that), as well as Oceania Cruises’ new 1,259-berth Riviera. All three will sail from Miami this winter, and with Carnival Breeze becoming the largest ship to be based in Miami, at least until Norwegian Getaway arrives in 2014.

Also new to Miami will be Regent Seven Seas, which will bring two ships to the port next winter. Regent previously sailed from Port Everglades, but they will now share a dedicated Miami terminal with stable mates Oceania Cruises. Disney Cruise Line will also base its 1,750-berth Disney Wonder in Miami for the first time from December through May 2013, operating on 4- and 5-night itineraries. And Crystal and Cunard made the move to Miami some time ago now.

One thing going in Miami’s favour of course is that all of Carnival Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean Cruises are based there, as are Prestige Cruises’ Oceania and Regent brands.

LiveJournal Tags: Oasis of The Seas,Allure of The Seas,Carnival Breeze,Disney Wonder,Riviera,Celebrity Reflection,Norwegian Getaway,MSC Divina,MSC Poseia