Royal Caribbean unveils Quantum schedule from Bayonne, N.J.

Posted on 19 April, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Royal Caribbean unveils Quantum schedule from Bayonne, N.J.

By Tom Stieghorst

Royal Caribbean International’s next ship, Quantum of the Seas, will sail four itineraries from Bayonne’s Cape Liberty terminal after debuting in late 2014.

According to Royal Caribbean’s website, Quantum will do a seven- or eight-day base itinerary that includes Port Canaveral, Coco Cay and Nassau.

There will also be an eight-day Eastern Caribbean itinerary with stops in Labadee, Haiti; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Samana, Dominican Republic.

Longer itineraries include an 11-day trip that includes the three stops on the shorter Eastern Caribbean trip plus St. Thomas, St. Maarten and St. Kitts, and a 12-night Southern Caribbean voyage that will stop in Barbados and Martinique.

Quantum cruises are scheduled to go on sale June 4.

Letter to Agents from Carnival Corp.

Posted on 17 April, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Dear Valued Travel Partner,

Our goal is to drive continual improvement across all aspects of our customer experience. To that end, we launched an operational review this February to learn all that we could from recent incidents and find new solutions. Today, we are announcing a fleetwide enhancement program and will be investing more than $300 million to expand the availability of hotel services in the rare instance of a shipboard event that involves the loss of primary power. Please see attached for the Press Release. In addition, we will also reinforce key shipboard operating systems and add new technologies to further prevent a potential loss of primary power. Work is underway and you can learn more about these initiatives in this brief video.

It’s important to note that all of our 24 vessels operate safely today, and have strong systems in place to prevent, detect and respond to emergency situations. We meet or exceed all current regulatory requirements and are committed to delivering our guests a safe, reliable and enjoyable holiday experience.

With our investment, we will introduce new technologies and enhance current systems to our fleet. Additionally, we are forming a new Safety & Reliability Review Board comprised of leading third party experts from organizations such as United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, as well as leading airlines and equipment manufacturers. The addition of external experts to our new Safety & Reliability Review Board will provide us with further expertise and perspective in support of our goal of continuing to drive constant improvement.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your loyalty to Carnival Cruise Lines. My goal as the leader of Carnival Cruise Lines is to improve everyday across all aspects of your experience with us. I want to assure you that we will do everything we can to continue to improve our product and provide your clients with a fun and memorable cruising experience.

Sincerely,

Gerry Cahill
President and CEO
Carnival Cruise Lines

Carnival to reimburse federal government for rescues

Posted on 16 April, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Carnival to reimburse federal government for rescues

By Tom Stieghorst

Carnival Corp. has decided to reimburse the U.S. government for the costs incurred by the Coast Guard and Navy in coming to the aid of two of its cruise ships that had engine fires.

Carnival will pay back the expenses related to the Carnival Triumph rescue in the Gulf of Mexico in February and a similar event off the California coast in 2010 involving Carnival Splendor.

In a prepared statement, Carnival said, “It should be clearly noted that at no point in time has Carnival stated it would refuse to reimburse federal agencies if they sought remuneration.”

The Coast Guard has calculated its cost related to Carnival Triumph at $779,000 and the Splendor at $1.5 million. The Navy spent another $1.9 million, according to U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who has pressed Carnival as to whether it would pay for the help it received.

In its statement, Carnival said that although no agencies have requested remuneration, “the company has made the decision to voluntarily provide reimbursement to the federal government.”

Previously, Carnival had responded to Rockefeller in a letter from James Hunn, Carnival Corp.’s senior vice president of maritime policy. Hunn said that help for ships in trouble at sea is the universal obligation of the entire maritime community.