Cruise lets off passengers to avoid pirate threat
A cruise ship headed for the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden docked Wednesday in Yemen to let off hundreds of passengers so they could bypass the dangerous waters by plane before rejoining the ship at its next port of call. The M/S Columbus arrived in the western Yemeni port of Hodeida, where 420 passengers and crew were taking charter flights to Dubai on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula. The ship... [Read more]
Britain’s cruise ship QE2 arrives to Dubai
Britain’s most famous luxury cruise ship, the Queen Elizabeth 2, arrived to Dubai on Wednesday to begin a new life as a floating hotel moored off an artificial island. More than 60 naval vessels and private boats, led by a mega-yacht owned by Dubai’s ruler, met the 70,000 ton ship in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday. In the city’s Rashid port, the legendary cruise ship was greeted by... [Read more]
Cruise lines drop fuel surcharges
Finally some good news for travelers with regard to fuel surcharges. Or is it? Carnival and Royal Caribbean announced recently that they are rolling back fuel surcharges in response to falling oil prices. Starting this fall, both cruise lines said they would eliminate the surcharge for all new bookings for 2010. The companies also said they would refund guests the fee for sailings in 2009 if the price... [Read more]
Thanks to the flat economy, travel deals abound.
Vacation, tours, cruises, Hawaii — they’re all within reach this fall and winter. The stock market is swooning. The economy is wobbling. An election is pending. The future is foggy. Sounds like a great time to take a vacation. What better way to relieve stress? In fact, tourists who scrape up the cash this fall and winter will find some of the best bargains since the Sept. 11 terrorist... [Read more]
Cruise industry maintained growth in early 2008
The cruise industry grew in 2007 and the first half of 2008, according to an industry report, but U.S. consumers’ spending cuts and the global economic downturn are creating rougher seas ahead. The Cruise Lines International Association, or CLIA, said in a report released Wednesday that about 12.6 million passengers took cruises worldwide in 2007, a 4.7 percent increase over 2006. In the first... [Read more]
Celebrity Solstice launches Nov. 23 with real lawn
The new Celebrity Solstice cruise ship with a half-acre lawn of real grass on the top deck is scheduled to launch Nov. 23 from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on a cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. The seven-night itinerary includes port calls in San Juan, St. Maarten and St. Kitts. Rates start at $899 per person, double occupancy, and rooms were still available as of mid-October. The Solstice will continue... [Read more]
Cruise lines change course to cut fuel
When the 1,020-foot Explorer of the Seas cruises through North Atlantic waters next year, it’ll spend more time off the coast of New England and less time near Canadian shores, and it’s not because of better vistas. Royal Caribbean International and other cruise lines have begun charting a new course in search of routes that eat up less fuel. Already one of the industry’s biggest... [Read more]
Carnival putting bigger ship in New Orleans
Carnival Cruise Lines will move the Carnival Triumph to New Orleans when the smaller Carnival Fantasy moves to Mobile, Ala., in 2009, officials announced Tuesday. The Triumph, which carries 2,758 passengers — about one-third more than the Fantasy — also will add two one-week Caribbean cruises a month to the Fantasy’s current rotation of four- and five-day cruises to Mexico. “We’re... [Read more]