Royal Caribbean takes more relaxed stance on discounts

Posted on 28 February, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Royal Caribbean takes more relaxed stance on discounts

By Lee Hayhurst

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line has told agents it has decided to “relax its approach” to policing discounting after feedback from the trade.

Travel Weekly understands that since the start of the year the operator had been closely monitoring pricing and threatening to act against agents who continued to discount.

Questions have been raised about the legality of this sort of approach, as Travel Weekly reported on January 24.

One cruise agent, who asked not to be named, said: “Royal Caribbean has relaxed the rules and are no longer policing what people do.”

She added: “I’ve not noticed any immediate upturn in discounting levels.”

Another claimed the change came after an agent challenged Royal Caribbean over the legality of its attempt to maintain prices in the market. Royal Caribbean denied this, saying  the change was part of its “consultative approach” to trade relations after it reduced commission to  10% in January.

A spokeswoman said: “Based on some agency feedback we have decided to relax this approach.

“We have advised our agency partners and continue to work closely with them on promoting our brands.”

She added: “We encourage agents to continue to sell on value and maximise their earning potential. We are impressed with the results that our marketing campaigns, training and incentives have delivered and the enthusiasm from the trade.

“We will continue to invest significantly in driving consumer demand to agency partners, in addition to incentivising them directly.”

– See more at: http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2013/02/28/43305/royal-caribbean-stops-policing-cruise-discounts.html#sthash.JgoMcVcg.dpuf

Prosecutors request manslaughter charge against Concordia captain

Posted on 26 February, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Prosecutors request manslaughter charge against Concordia captain

By Phil Davies

Italian prosecutors have formally requested a manslaughter indictment against Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino following last year’s disaster in which 32 people died.

Prosecutors in Grosseto, Tuscany, are also seeking the trial of Schettino on charges of causing a shipwreck and abandoning the vessel during the frantic and confused evacuation of passengers and crew.

The prosecutors said Costa Concordia was conducting a publicity stunt off the coast of the island of Giglio on the night of January 13 when the ship ran into a jagged reef, which left a 70-metre-long gash in the hull.

The vessel quickly took on water and capsized, ending up on its side near the island’s port.

Prosecutors also requested the indictment of five other crew members, including two officers who were on the bridge that night.

The proposed charges against them vary, but all are accused of manslaughter, according to theAssociated Press.

Chief prosecutor Francesco Verusio said that after a sophisticated scientific and technological investigation, “the determining cause of the events of the shipwreck, deaths and injuries, is, unfortunately, dramatically due to the human factor”.

Prosecutors said ship owner Costa Crociere has asked for a plea bargain agreement. If accepted, this could see the Italian line pay a €1 million (£877,000) fine. The company has blamed Schettino for the incident.

Schettino has repeatedly claimed it was his clever steering after the collision that allowed the ship to move closer to the port and help save lives. He has also said the reef was not marked on the ship’s navigational charts.

Man arrested for cruise ship murder seven years after the fact

Posted on 26 February, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Man arrested for cruise ship murder seven years after the fact

A man has been arrested for strangling his ex-wife onboard a Mediterranean cruise after seven years.

A man from California has been arrested in Florida for the murder of his ex-wife, whom he allegedly threw overboard during an Italian cruise seven years ago.

Lonnie Kocontes, 55, was remanded into custody by federal marshals and is now being held without bail, on a charge of ‘special circumstance murder for financial gain”, the Associated Press reports.

The cruise industry was rocked in 2006 when his ex-wife Micki Kanesaki fell into the Mediterranean from the Island Escape, which was sailing along the coast of Italy.

She had been sharing a cabin with Kocontes despite the pair divorcing in 2002 and continuing to live together until 2004.

She was last seen alive at approximately 11pm on May 25th, and was not seen again until her body washed up on the shore at Calabria. At the time, Kocontes said he had awoken in the middle of the night to find her missing from the room, prompting a full search of the vessel.

According to prosecutors, Kocontes, a lawyer, strangled Kanesaki to death and then threw her overboard.

FBI investigators launched a new criminal probe in 2008 after new evidence came to light alleging that Kocontes had transferred more than $1 million of his ex-wife’s money into joint accounts held with his new wife.