Costa accident hurts Royal Caribbean’s booking levels

Posted on 4 February, 2012 by Spacejunkie2

Costa accident hurts Royal Caribbean’s booking levels

By Donna Tunney

The Costa Concordia accident on Jan. 13 has had a “significant impact on bookings in the near term,” said Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. in its 2011 financial report on Thursday.

RCCL’s U.S. brands are Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity and Azamara.

“Overall booking volumes from North America have fallen by low to mid-teen percentages versus same time last year for the last few weeks. In Europe, where media coverage hasbeen more extensive, the decline has been higher, though results vary significantly by country. In aggregate, the company’s other markets, including Asia-Pacific and Latin America, are down slightly,” the company stated.

The impact on bookings has been greatest in the first three quarters and “wanes as the year progresses,” the company said.

RCCL, the world’s second-largest cruise operator after Carnival Corp., said there has been “no material change” in cancellation activity, but that new bookings have been affected.

Carnival Corp., in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Jan. 30, reported that booking levels across its brands, not including Costa, had dropped by a “mid-teen” percentage.

RCCL’s net income for 2011 was $607.4 million, up from $515.7 million in 2010.

Revenue rose to $7.5 billion, up from $6.8 billion.

For the fourth quarter, net income was $36.6 million, up from $31.9 million in 2010. Revenue increased to $1.8 billion, up from $1.6 billion. Net yields increased 3.5%.

To find your perfect cruise

Norwegian Breakaway to spend first winter in Florida, Caribbean

Posted on 5 January, 2012 by Spacejunkie2

Norwegian Breakaway to spend first winter in Florida, Caribbean

By Donna Tunney

Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Breakaway will sail a series of cruises roundtrip from New York to the Bahamas, Florida and the Caribbean during the 2013-14 winter season.

The 4,000-passenger ship is under construction at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. It will enter service in April 2013 and sail seven-day Bermuda cruises from New York in the spring and summer.

A series of 25 seven-day cruises to the Bahamas and Florida will begin Oct. 13, 2013. The ship also will sail two 12-day Southern Caribbean itineraries on Jan. 5 and 19, 2014, along with two Weekend Escape cruises on Jan. 17 and 31, 2014.

Through April 27, 2014, the ship’s Bahamas & Florida cruises will depart New York on Sundays and include stops in Nassau, Bahamas; Great Stirrup Cay, and Port Canaveral, Fla.

The 12-day Southern Caribbean cruises will call at San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados and St. Kitts.

The cruises go on sale to Norwegian’s top travel partners and Latitudes Rewards members on Jan. 4 and to the general public on Jan. 6.

A sister ship, the Norwegian Getaway, is slated to enter service in 2014

Cruise lines stop offering parasailing after tourist dies

Posted on 30 November, 2011 by Spacejunkie2

Cruise lines stop offering parasailing after tourist dies

By Donna Tunney

A parasailing accident in which one cruise passenger was killed and another injured prompted Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean International to indefinitely suspend the activity as a cruise line-sponsored shore excursion.

The suspension applies to the entire Caribbean. Norwegian Cruise Line also suspended the activity.

Carnival Cruise Lines suspended parasailing excursions following the death, but only on St. Thomas, where the accident happened.

The 60-year-old passenger who died had been sailing on the Celebrity Eclipse last week and was participating in a Celebrity-sponsored parasailing excursion. Her 34-year-old daughter was injured in the Nov. 15 accident.

The excursion crew provided initial care until both guests were transported by ambulance to the Roy L. Schneider Hospital in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Celebrity said in a statement. The injured guest is still being treated at the hospital.

“A member of our care team is providing support and assistance to the hospitalized guest and her family. Our thoughts are with their family and friends, and we will continue to do our very best to assist them,” Celebrity said.

According to USA Today, the St. Thomas parasailing death is the third this year involving North American tourists. In June, a California newlywed was killed and her husband seriously injured off Grand Bahama Island, and a South Carolina man died off Florida’s Longboat Key after the tow boat’s propeller failed and the parachute lost buoyancy, plunging him into the water.

The 2,800-passenger Celebrity Eclipse departed Miami Nov. 12 for a seven-night sailing visiting San Juan, Puerto Rico; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; and Philipsburg, St. Maarten.

The Virgin Islands Department of Tourism said that the circumstances surrounding the incident are being “actively investigated and additional details will be shared as soon as they are available.”