Cruise companies to commit to shore power in the Baltic Sea

Posted on 1 April, 2022 by Spacejunkie2

MSC Virtuosa Photo credit SpaceJunkie2

Five major cruise companies will commit to using shore power on all cruises in the Baltic Sea from 2024 at the Sustainable Cruising conference hosted by business-to-business network Cruise Baltic, to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 5 April.

Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Group, MSC Cruises, Viking Ocean Cruises and Ponant will sign a memorandum of understanding at the conference, with the Danish minister for environment Lea Wermelin in attendance.

“We are extremely proud that these cruise lines now commit to shore power in the region, and it shows that the cruise industry is taking an important responsibility when it comes to sustainability,” said Claus Bødker, director of Cruise Baltic.

The Sustainable Cruise conference will take place at the Copenhagen Marriot Hotel and will feature talks by representatives of cruise lines and Baltic ports and destinations, along with Wermelin and the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen Sophie Hæstorp Andersen.

CDC Scraps Cruise Ship COVID Warning After 2 Years

Posted on 31 March, 2022 by Spacejunkie2

Norwegian Jade photo credit Spacejunkie2

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday removed its COVID-19 notice against cruise travel, around two years after introducing a warning scale showing the level of coronavirus transmission risk on cruise ships.

The move offers a shot of hope to major U.S. cruise operators such as Carnival Corp, Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd that have struggled to bring in revenue since the pandemic started.

Cruise operators had also said the health agency was discriminating against the industry when hotels and airlines could operate with limited or no restrictions.

“While cruising will always pose some risk of COVID-19 transmission, travellers will make their own risk assessment when choosing to travel on a cruise ship, much like they do in all other travel settings,” the CDC said in a statement.

The guidelines for travelling on cruise ships on the health agency’s page no longer shows a scale for its warning. Instead, it now only says guests should make sure they are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines before boarding the ships.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

Carnival: 3.8 Percent of Capacity Was Set to Call in Russia

Posted on 24 March, 2022 by Spacejunkie2

Carnival Corporation had 3.8 per cent of its 2022 cruise capacity calling on Russian ports before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, leading the company to cancel and replace calls to Russian ports.

“We have decided to totally withdraw from Russia and have found attractive alternatives,” said President and CEO Arnold Donald, speaking on the company’s first-quarter earnings call.

“That said, Saint Petersburg was a marquee port for us. And while there have been times where we were unable to offer certain itineraries, in this instance, the close end nature of the deployment change does lead to some regional disruption in recent booking patterns.”

Donald admitted the war had added some volatility to Carnival’s business and had impacted consumer confidence.

“With 50 years under our belt, we have successfully managed through a plethora of headwinds like spikes in fuel prices, the Gulf War, Arab Spring, September 11, Ebola, Zika, SARS, MERS and more,” Donald said. “And once again, the mobility of ships continues to be an asset. Time and time again, we have seen guests travel through challenges. In fact, Carnival Cruise Line turned 50 this month and recently enjoyed its three best weeks of bookings since resuming operations.”