Tag Archives: Canada

New speed limits force cruise lines to revise Canada sailings

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Image result for cruise ship in gulf of st. lawrence

New speed restrictions on ships sailing waters in eastern Canada where North Atlantic right whales have been congregating have forced cruise lines to shorten port stays and drop some calls.

For example, Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 will call at Sept-Iles on Oct. 2 due to speed limits implemented for the west section of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The 151,000-gross-ton liner is one of the largest ships to visit the fishing and mining town of 26,000 people.

Emergency rules adopted in mid-August limit all ships over 20 meters long to speeds of 10 mph or less in a vast swath stretching from the northern shore of the St. Lawrence River south to near Prince Edward Island.

Cruise ships, which typically motor at 17 or 18 mph in the area, now face fines of up to $25,000 for exceeding 10 mph in the restricted zone.

Canadian minister of transport Marc Garneau said the slowdown will stay in place until the endangered whales migrate out of the region, which could be sometime in September or October.

But a half-dozen cruise lines have already adapted their schedules to the slower cruising speeds, shaving hours off of stays in ports to make up the difference or moving their ships to spend more time out of the restricted zone.

“The problem is twofold,” said Donna Spalding, director of administration, CLIA Northwest and Canada. “We recognize the speed restrictions were put in to protect the species at risk. The short notice is an issue for cruise lines, because they have guests who were expecting a certain product, but it’s also a significant liability for the small communities on the East Coast that rely very heavily on the fall season. For those communities that were geared up for the business, it is a huge blow.”

One port that has been impacted is the small Canadian town of Gaspe on the western shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Cruise lines that have dropped calls there include Norwegian Cruise Line and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Gaspe mayor Daniel Cote estimated that the town of 15,000 will lose about $2.5 million as a result.

The port of Sept-Iles in Quebec.

Also affected has been the Port of Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island, which will lose an estimated 8,000 cruise passengers this season as a result of 10 canceled calls from several cruise lines.

But some communities are benefitting. As cruise lines revised their itineraries, Sydney, Nova Scotia, gained two calls from the Norwegian Dawn, two from the Seven Seas Mariner and one from the Silver Whisper, said Nicole MacAulay, acting manager of cruise marketing for the Port of Sydney. “We’re well outside of the [slow-speed] zone,” MacAulay said.

Last year, Sept-Iles had a total of four cruise ship calls. Cunard’s first call there was scheduled to happen in 2018, but the line requested to go there at the last minute to limit the impact of speed restictions.

Most cruise lines say their primary response has been to shorten port calls to gain added cruising time. Holland America Line, for example, has shifted departure or arrival times by about an hour on either end of stops for its four ships that sail itineraries between Quebec City and Charlottetown.

Transport Canada and the Canadian Department of Oceans and Fisheries announced the reduced-speed zone on Aug. 11 after 10 whale deaths in the gulf since June 7. Fishing gear entanglements and ship strikes were the apparent causes.

Spalding said the migratory pattern for the whales appears to be changing. Previously, they spent more time off the coast of Maine, where there is a defined sanctuary and detection buoys with hydrophones provide real-time information to ship captains about the presence of whales, she said.

Ships slowed down when whales were detected. “Once sounds confirm the whales have moved, the restrictions are lifted,” Spalding said.

If the migration pattern has changed permanently, a high number of whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence pose problems for future cruise seasons there, Spalding said. CLIA is working with the Canadian government to address the issue.

“We believe there are other ways to be sure ships have better information about where the whales are,” she said.

Liverpool cruise liner Black Watch scoops string of awards ahead of first transatlantic sailings to Canada in decades

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Fred Olsen cruise liner, MS Black Watch at the Pier Head, Liverpool

Fred Olsen cruise liner, MS Black Watch at the Pier Head, Liverpool

Fred Olsen’s transatlantic Liverpool cruise liner Black Watch has scooped a string of awards voted for by passengers.

The ship, which will undertake a record 14 cruises from Liverpool’s Pier Head this year, topped three small ship categories in Cruise Critic’s prestigious UK Cruisers’ Cruise Awards 2015.

The 28,631 gross tons liner, which carries 804 passengers, was named best for service, best for shore excursions and best for value.

The awards are based on reviews submitted on the Cruise Critic website by UK-based holidaymakers who cruised during 2014.

Black Watch was built as Royal Viking Star for the now defunct five star-rated Royal Viking Line’s long distance ocean cruising, and will sail the first Liverpool – Canada transatlantic crossings since 1971 this year.

The spacious liner will undertake two return voyages from Liverpool Cruise Terminal to Canada in May and August, the first direct sailings to Canada since Canadian Pacific’s flagship SS Empress of Canada closed ocean liner services from her Liverpool homeport 43 years ago.

Nathan Philpot, sales and marketing director for Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, said: “At Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, we believe in providing the very best customer experience that we can on our cruise holidays, from start to finish. We are renowned for our ‘service with a smile’ on our smaller, more intimate ships, which is why 58% of cruise guests choose to return to the ‘friendliest fleet afloat’ each year – one of the highest repeat rates within the travel industry.

“We would like to thank all those valued cruise guests who voted for Fred Olsen, and we look forward to welcoming you on board with us again in the very near future.”

Black Watch’s cruise season from Liverpool begins next month with a 13-night sailing to the Canary Islands at Easter followed by a further 13 cruises, including a two-night Dublin mini-cruise in December, a 25 night voyage to the Adriatic and a journey through the Norwegian Fjords in May.

Her sister ship Boudicca was Fred Olsen’s previous Liverpool cruise liner.

Cuba cruise operator sees doubling of inquiries since rules relaxed

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The Louis Cristal sailing for Cuba Cruise in Havana.

The No. 1 operator of cruises to Cuba reported last week that phone inquiries had doubled since new U.S. regulations regarding travel to Cuba were issued two weeks ago, and 50% of the calls were coming from U.S. citizens.

Website traffic has tripled, said Dugald Wells, president and CEO of Calgary, Alberta-based Cuba Cruise.

Wells said that immediately following the surprise announcement of a thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations, Cuba Cruise also saw an uptick in bookings from residents of Canada, its top market.

“In some part, we attribute that to people saying, ‘I want to see Cuba before it changes,’” Wells said.

Cuba Cruise is in its second season of sailings around Cuba, using the 35-year-old Louis Cristal, a ship it chartered from Cyprus-based Louis Cruises. The Cristal carries some 960 passengers at double occupancy. It is currently running about 60% capacity, which Wells described as “break-even territory in our second year of operations. Obviously we’d love to sail full.”

(At least one other cruise operator, Star Clippers, offers sailings from Cuba, but a  spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.)

Cuba Cruise has a jump on numerous U.S.-based cruise companies that have to varying degrees expressed interest in sailing to Cuba, but until the U.S. government-imposed embargo is lifted, those lines have no immediate plans to start going there.

In a recent forum for travel agents on the Freedom of the Seas, Michael Bayley, president of Royal Caribbean International, said, “Obviously, the latest announcement about the liberalization of relations is of interest to us.”

But speed bumps lie ahead.

Bayley said Royal has a team studying the possibilities, but most of the ports in Cuba are incapable of handling ships of the size of the Freedom of the Seas. The one exception, he said, is Havana, but that port has serious infrastructure issues.

“At the moment, there’s effectively been no change for our industry,” said Bayley who estimated it might be three to five years before major cruise companies go to Cuba.

Operators of smaller ships are somewhat more optimistic. Edie Rodriguez, president of Crystal Cruises, said that if conditions were right, it would be relatively easy to add a port call in Cuba.

Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean’s president, said that most of the ports in Cuba are incapable of handling ships of the size of the Freedom of the Seas. The one exception, he said, is Havana, but that port has serious infrastructure issues.

“We’re able to switch itineraries very quickly,” Rodriguez said. “We’ll just swap out a port.”

But like other cruise executives, Rodriguez said the Cuban infrastructure was an obstacle. “The roads are so bad you’d have to go very slowly,” she said. “Our guests would not be happy about that.”

Wells agreed that the infrastructure lags. “Cristal is the biggest ship we can safely maneuver into and out of these ports we go to,” he said. “So we’re kind of limited in our future growth by the infrastructure.”

But some facilities are good, including a terminal in Havana that was upgraded for Pullmantur before the Spanish line was acquired by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and stopped sailing into Cuba.

And all the terminals in Cuba are well located, Wells said.

“These passenger terminals may be dated and frayed, but they’re right in the middle of town,” Wells said. “You walk off the ship and cross the road and you’re in that postcard with the cobblestone streets and the old American cars and the big churches. It’s fantastic.”

Currently, fewer than 5% of the passengers sailing with Cuba Cruise are U.S. citizens. Those who are come through two tour operators, Road Scholar and Insight Cuba, which have Treasury-approved people-to-people programs in one of 12 travel categories, such as education or athletics.

Previously, such trips involved detailed documentation, reporting and approval from Treasury officials. Now, under general licenses, there is less paperwork required.

“It’s much less onerous than it was, but you still need to be part of a group that is under the auspices of a [company] that operates such tours,” Wells said.

Cuba Cruise does offer a way to book directly through its website. However, after booking, travelers must register with the nonprofit Fund for Reconciliation and Development and receive back a participant letter of authorized travel. The cost is $75.

For agent bookings, Cuba Cruise has been paying 12% commission, but it is increasing that to 15% for the balance of its season through mid-March. It pays 8% on shore excursions.

Wells said he expected to be competitive even if Cuba opens to larger cruise companies.

“We’re focused on the destination,” he said. “We’re going into smaller ports. Our entertainment program is 90% Cuban and a couple of Canadian acrobats from Cirque du Soleil. We’re really working hard to present a program that is an authentic, somewhat in-depth exploration of Cuba as a destination.”