Carnival to leave Norfolk in 2014

Posted on 28 June, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Carnival to leave Norfolk in 2014

By Tom Stieghorst

The Carnival Glory will be homeported in Miami

Carnival Cruise Lines is shuffling several of its ships in 2014, and one result is that Norfolk, Va., will no longer serve as a cruise ship homeport.

The Carnival Glory will stay in Miami year-round after November. It had been originating cruises in Norfolk in the spring and fall seasons out of a $36 million terminal opened in 2007.

The switch would leave the terminal largely unused by the cruise industry. Glory became the only ship homeported in Norfolk after Royal Caribbean International relocated a ship from Norfolk to Baltimore three years ago.

Carnival’s decision to keep the Glory in Miami also means it will not return to Boston, where it is currently offering a series of voyages through July.

In other deployments, the newly refurbished Carnival Sunshine will only stay in New Orleans for the upcoming winter, rather than year-round. It will move to year-round sailing from Cape Canaveral in April 2014, bumping the Carnival Dream to do seven-day cruises from New Orleans full time.

The Carnival Liberty, currently based in Miami, will shift in April to do year-round five- and eight-day Caribbean cruises from Cape Canaveral, as well.

The Carnival Pride moves from Baltimore to Tampa for seven-day cruises from December 2014 to April 2015, replacing the Carnival Legend, which departs from Tampa for Australia next August.

Norwegian Cruise Line unveils magic-themed dinner theater

Posted on 14 March, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Norwegian Cruise Line unveils magic-themed dinner theater

By Tom Stieghorst

MIAMI BEACH — Norwegian Cruise Line unveiled a magic-themed dinner theater called Illusiionarium for the Norwegian Getaway ship, a ship that will debut in Miami in early 2014.

Speaking at the Cruise Shipping Miami conference, Norwegian CEO Kevin Sheehan said the concept was inspired by magicians, the science fiction of Jules Verne and popular blockbuster movies featuring supernatural characters.

Illusionarium will replace the space occupied by Cirque Dreams on Norwegian Epic and Breakaway. It will have between 230 and 240 seats and the charge will be in the range of $35.

The centerpiece of the restaurant will be a video dome 30 feet in diameter that will serve as a projection screen for mystical places and scenes.

“When we saw some depictions of this, it was unbelievable to me that we could actually pull this off,” Sheehan said.

The Illusionarium will offer 12 shows a cruise, two shows a night.

Norwegian also announced it will feature a fireworks show on each Getaway cruise.

American-US Airways merger deal valued at $11 billion

Posted on 15 February, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

American-US Airways merger deal valued at $11 billion

By Jerry Limone

American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and US Airways Group made their merger agreement official on Thursday, with the airlines valuing the deal at $11 billion based on the price of US Airways stock on Feb. 13.

The combined carrier will fly as American Airlines, with headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas.

US Airways stockholders will end up owning 28% of the combined airline. The remaining 72% will be owned by stakeholders of AMR and its debtor subsidiaries that filed for relief under Chapter 11, American’s labor unions and current AMR employees.

The merger is conditioned on approval by the bankruptcy court overseeing American Airlines’ Chapter 11 reorganization and US Airways’ shareholders. The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division also needs to review the deal.

The airlines expect that the merger deal will be completed in the third quarter of 2013. During the period between the signing and closing of the transaction, a transition-planning team made up of leaders from both companies will develop an integration plan.

US Airways CEO Doug Parker will become CEO of the combined airline, which would be the world’s largest, edging out United.

American CEO Tom Horton will become nonexecutive chairman through the combined airline’s first annual meeting of shareholders. Parker will assume the additional position of chairman after Horton’s tenure concludes.

The board of directors will initially be made up of 12 members: three from American, including Horton; four from US Airways, including Parker; and five representatives of AMR creditors.

The new American Airlines will maintain all hubs currently served by both airlines, the carriers said. These include American hubs Chicago O’Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami and New York Kennedy, and US Airways hubs Philadelphia, Washington Reagan National, Phoenix and Charlotte.

US Airways and American say that their combination is expected to generate more than $1 billion in annual net synergies in 2015. The airlines expect transition costs of approximately $1.2 billion, spread over the next three years.