Tag Archives: cruise ships

Cruise ships docked in Bermuda permitted to open casinos at night

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Cruise ships docked in Bermuda permitted to open casinos at night

By Tom Stieghorst
Ministers in Bermuda approved legislation allowing cruise ships to open their casinos during the evening while still docked.

In exchange, the government will get a license fee for ships that carry more than 2,000 passengers.

Casinos could only open between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. and only for passengers, not for residents of Bermuda.

Proponents argued that most cruise ship passengers are back on the ship after 9 p.m., so the casinos do not compete with local attractions. They also argued that the change will help keep Bermuda competitive with other cruise ports.

Opponents said local bars and restaurants will suffer as fewer people leave the ship in the evening, and that the decision should have been put off until after a promised referendum on gaming in Bermuda.

Key West voters say no to large cruise ships

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Key West voters say no to large cruise ships

By Tom Stieghorst
Key West residents have voted against asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study widening the ship channel to accommodate larger cruise ships.

The vote was 4,531-1,630 against the study, according to newspaper reports.

Dredging the channel from 300 feet to 450 feet in width would displace 150,000 cubic yards of seafloor protected by the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

The $3 million study would lay out the economic benefits and environmental costs of the project.

Cruise passengers spend about $80 million annually in Key West.

The vote pitted some business interests against a group called Key West Committee for Responsible Tourism, which opposes the project.

Cruise ships could be barred from central Venice

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Cruise ships could be barred from central Venice

By Phil Davies

Cruise ships could be barred from central Venice
Image via Shutterstock
Cruise ships face the threat of being banned from Venice following a crackdown on water traffic after the death of a German tourist two weeks ago.The new proposals have been suggested by Italy’s environment minister Andrea Orlando.

He told the Italian daily Il Gazettino: “There will always be a margin of risk and even that margin is too high a risk.

“The problem is not just the presence of large ships in St Marks basin but in general the presence of ships in the lagoon.”

He expected a “concrete response that could be translated into immediate action”, as the problem is getting worse all the time, he said.

“The number of cruise ships passing in front of St Marks’s Cathedral has grown by seven per cent this year alone.”

Orlando said he would put the proposals in front of cross party parliamentary committee next month, according to the Daily Mail.

His comments follow the death of Joachim Vogel, 50, a professor of criminal law, who was crushed against a dock by a reversing water bus as he took a tour with his family by gondola near the Rialto Bridge.

The mayor of Venice reportedly wants to see cruise ships dock at Porto Marghera. Other suggestions have included a floating off-shore port.

Alternative solutions would see the number of cruise ships allowed to enter the lagoon severely limited, or the dredging of a new approach to the main cruise passenger terminal but avoiding the channel which passes St Marks Square.

The proposals would essentially put in action emergency legislation drafted after the Costa Concordia tragedy that would prevent ships of more than 500 tonnes coming within two nautical miles of landscapes of value such as the Venice lagoon or fragile environments such as the marine sanctuary between Sardinia and north-east Italy, the newspaper reported.