Tag Archives: Miami

Cuban protesters picket Carnival headquarters

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A group of about 30 to 40 protesters marched outside Carnival Corp. headquarters in the Doral section of Miami, concerned about next month’s groundbreaking Fathom voyage to Cuba.

The protesters held placards accusing Carnival of “apartheid” because Cuban-born U.S. residents and citizens aren’t permitted on the Fathom trip to Cuba.

The protest was organized by the Movimiento Democracia, headed by Ramon Saul Sanchez, a long-time anti-Castro activist.

Cuban regulations stipulate that anyone born in Cuba cannot reenter the country by ship. Carnival released a statement saying it was sympathetic to the protest but that “we must comply with the visa, entry and exit policies of each country.”

Carnival said it is requesting that the Cuban policy be changed. “There has been a policy change with air travel to Cuba, so we are hopeful that a similar change can also happen with travel by sea,” the statement said.

In addition to picketing Carnival, the Sanchez group plans a flotilla of small boats in Biscayne Bay on May 1 when the first Fathom cruise to Cuba is scheduled to depart. In a website posting, Sanchez said he planned a meeting with the Coast Guard to discuss the idea.

In January, a flotilla of small protest boats at Labadee, Haiti, led Royal Caribbean International to cancel several calls at its private beach destination there.

Storm that rocked Anthem of the Seas called a ‘weather bomb’

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Weather Bomb

ABOARD THE AZAMARA JOURNEY — The Feb. 7 storm that rocked Royal Caribbean International’s Anthem of the Seas and forced it back to Cape Liberty in New Jersey 10 days ago was likened to a “weather bomb” by a captain on Royal’s sister line, Azamara Club Cruises.

Magnus Davidson, captain of the Azamara Journey, said that based on what he’d heard from headquarters in the days after the storm, winds of 75 knots were forecasted but Anthem actually encountered gales of twice that velocity.

“The storm intensified very rapidly,” Davidson told a group of journalists on one of the Journey’s first cruises after an extensive drydock. But, he added, at no time was the ship in danger or unsafe.

The storm, off the coast of North Carolina, battered cabins and public areas and frightened guests. After assessing the damage and the likelihood that further bad weather was waiting as the ship continued on its planned itinerary, Royal Caribbean decided to abort the cruise and return to Anthem’s homeport.

Davidson said captains consult a variety of standard weather sources used by mariners, such as Passageweather.com, to decide how to proceed when storm conditions threaten.

Decisions are made in consultation with weather experts at the Miami headquarters of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., the parent of both Royal Caribbean International and Azamara Club Cruises.

In the case of the Carolina storm, Davidson said it was several hundred miles wide so it was not possible to simply go around it, as he said some Internet commenters had suggested.

However, he said that Anthem’s captain did make a course adjustment intended to take it more toward the edge of the storm.

Miami port parcel is ideal for proposed Cuba ferry

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At this point, it is anybody’s guess who will be sailing to Cuba from Miami this year.

The Cuban government has issued no approvals for cruise lines, and several of the companies that have been selling cruises to Cuba have not done anything to reserve berth space at PortMiami, according to a Miami Herald report.

But one piece of nonsense ought to be easy to clear up. A proposal by the city of Miami to build a terminal to accommodate a ferry service to Havana ought to be pursued. Unlike cruises, several ferry licenses have been granted by the Cuban government. Miami is the port that makes the most sense for quick and comfortable ferry service to Cuba.

The hitch? Some Miami-Dade County commissioners want to stick with a 2011 master plan that calls for hotel and office development at the port.

The land to be used for either proposal is at the southeast corner of the port adjacent to the headquarters of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. It is the same parcel that was briefly considered as a stadium site for a professional soccer team dreamed up by star player David Beckham.

That died, due in part to opposition from Royal Caribbean. The ferry terminal is a much better idea on the face of it, and if it proves itself it would at least fit with the port’s purpose.

Some at the county like the idea of developing the real estate because the port is in significant debt and office rents and hotel revenues could improve cash flow.  But there are more convenient places to have an office than at a working port. More importantly, the office and hotel can be built anywhere, while the ferry terminal can’t.

The most fitting application for scarce port real estate is for maritime uses. The county should investigate other ways of restoring the port’s finances to firmer footing.