Tag Archives: California

Carnival Cruise Line to Operate Full Ships this Summer at 110 Percent Occupancy

Posted on by
Reply

With its full fleet sailing as of May, Carnival Cruise Line is helping lead the comeback for Carnival Corporation.

The brand is expected to operate at 110 per cent occupancy for the all-important summer season, according to Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corporation.

“Carnival Cruise Line, our largest brand, achieved consistently positive adjusted EBITDA beginning in March. Carnival Cruise Line also became our first brand to sail its entire fleet in May and is expecting occupancy to approach 110 per cent during our third quarter,” he said.

Donald, on the company’s second-quarter and business update call, noted these “close-to-home” cruises, where guests perceive far less friction travelling than going abroad.

With a strong North American cruise market, Carnival is pivoting to add more capacity in the form of two redeployed Costa Cruises vessels under the Costa by Carnival umbrella. The Costa Venezia will sail from New York starting in 2023 while the Costa Firenze will homeport in California beginning in 2024.

Carnival Panorama Marks Carnival Return to the West Coast

Posted on by
Reply

Carnival Cruise Line is returning to the West Coast this Saturday, as the Carnival Panorama resumes service in California.

Based in Long Beach, the 2019-built vessel is departing today on a seven-night cruise to the Mexican Riviera.

The sailing marks the return of the brand to the region after a 17-month operational pause.

One of Carnival’s newest and biggest ships, the Panorama will visit three different destinations in Mexico, including Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta.

Before returning to Long Beach, the vessel also visits Cabo San Lucas, a city known for its rock formations and beaches.

Sailing from Long Beach every Saturday, the ship is set to repeat the itinerary through December.

Built-in Italy, the 4,000-guest Carnival Panorama is the last in a series of three ships known as the Vista Class. Larger than its predecessors, these ships introduced several new features for the Carnival brand, such as the SkyRide a twin-track suspended bike course.

The Vista-class also debuted the Havana Staterooms, Carnival’s first cabin enclave, complete with its own private pool deck and lounge and lanai balconies.

Other highlights are the Sky Zone, a trampoline park and the Carnival Kitchen program, a hands-on culinary experience led by the line’s chefs. Both attractions were first introduced by the Carnival Panorama.

With the Panorama back in action, Carnival has eight cruise ships in revenue operations, including the new Mardi Gras – which entered service from Port Canaveral, on July 31.

In August a total of three vessels resumed operations for the company. In addition to the Carnival Panorama, the Carnival Magic welcomed guests back on August 7 and the Carnival Sunrise did the same on August 14. The ships are now sailing from Port Canaveral and Miami, respectively.

In September and October, seven more ships are set to resume operations, launching service from additional homeports, such as Baltimore and New Orleans.

San Francisco Group Blames Ships For Dead Whales

Posted on by
1

A diseased subadult male grey whale lies dead on a beach at Angel Island State Park near San Francisco, California, Picture was taken April 8, 2021. Photo by The Marine Mammal Center/Handout via REUTERS

by Rich McKay (Reuters) – Four dead gray whales washed ashore on San Francisco Bay area beaches in nine days, with experts announcing that two of the giant aquatic mammals died from ship strikes and an investigation is ongoing Saturday on the other two.

Biologists with the non-profit Marine Mammal Center in California said in a release Saturday that two dead whales washed ashore in the Bay area on Thursday, joining two more that were discovered dead in area beaches since March 31.

Of the four animals, two died from blunt force trauma from ship strikes, the center said.

“It’s alarming to respond to four dead gray whales in just over a week because it really puts into perspective the current challenges faced by this species,” Padraig Duignan, director of pathology at the center said in a news release.

Other common causes of gray whale deaths include starvation and complications from becoming entangled in deep sea fishing lines nets and other equipment, the center said.

The center’s experts were joined by biologists from the California Academy of Sciences to perform the necropsies.

Climate change can affect water temperatures which impacts on the availability of food for the whales, which can grow to nearly 50 feet long and migrate about 10,000 miles every year between feeding grounds in the cold, north Pacific waters and breeding grounds in warm-water lagoons of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula.

The species is not currently considered endangered but is protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the United States.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries division track whale populations. Its last published study in 2016 found a population of 27,000 gray whales. Data from a 2020 study is still being analyzed, according to the NOAA website.

Related Book: Handbook of Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the World by Mark Carwardine