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Carnival and Royal Caribbean join forces to develop St Lucia cruise facilities

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Image result for St Lucia cruise terminal

Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises have signed an agreement to construct a new cruise terminal on the island and manage its existing facility.

The cruise giants signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saint Lucian government on Tuesday to form a joint venture for the project.

The cruise line brands account for 75% of all cruise ship deployment to the island.

The joint venture will manage and operate the current cruise pier and terminal facilities at the Port of Castries and design, finance, build and operate a new cruise port in Vieux Fort on the southern part of the island.

Prime minister of Saint Lucia Allen Chastanet said the agreement marked “a major step towards enhancing” the country’s tourism offering.

He said: “Saint Lucia has had record-breaking cruise arrivals over the past few years and we thank our partners Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean for their continued confidence in our amazing destination.

“It is essential that we continue to diversify what we have to offer, grow our brand and ensure that different sectors in our island’s economy benefit from the growth in cruise tourism and that Saint Lucians can benefit from the opportunities which arise from the increased numbers; which means we have to improve our capacity.

“This signing is historic, as this project will have a major impact on the sustainability of the cruise sector and the reach of cruise tourism to the south of the island. This will also mean employment at several phases of the project, the expansion of existing businesses and the formation of new enterprises.”

Giora Israel, senior vice president of global port and destination development for Carnival Corporation said: “This is an exciting day for our guests who already love the beauty and deep culture of Saint Lucia and an important step in sustaining cruise tourism growth for the island.”

Michael Bayley, president and chief executive of Royal Caribbean International said the cruise market is the fastest-growing sector of tourism and in the next decade cruising in the Caribbean is anticipated to grow by 40%.

Celebrity Edge Delivered

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The Edge is Delivered

After four years of planning and a 23 month construction period, the 2,900-guest Celebrity Edge was delivered today at Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. At the same time, the yard laid the keep for the next Edge-class ship in the Celebrity Apex.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.’s Chairman and CEO Richard D. Fain and Celebrity’s President and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo hosted a ceremony aboard Celebrity Edge, while docked in the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. The Celebrity Executive Team were also in attendance along with shipyard officials, including General Manager Laurent Castaing, and 1,377 crew members from 72 different countries.

“The Celebrity team has done an outstanding job and I cannot thank the Chantiers de l’Atlantique team enough for delivering this game-changing ship and for their ongoing partnership,” said Fain. “Their work continues to transform the way our guests experience the world.”

“Today is a very special day for all of us as we have been eagerly anticipating this moment for more than four years,” said Lutoff-Perlo. “There are so many aspects of Celebrity Edge that are more groundbreaking than we could have ever imagined, and it is all a testament to the hard work, creativity and talent of everyone who helped bring this magnificent ship to life.”

“Thanks to the confidence Celebrity Cruises granted us and to the exceptional level of cooperation between our respective teams, we are proud to have designed and built one of the most innovative cruise ships ever,” added Castaing. “This achievement demonstrates once again our capacity to deliver right on time ships of the highest quality to our most demanding customers.”

Following the Celebrity Edge check-signing and delivery ceremony, attendees made their way across the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard for the ceremonial keel laying of Celebrity Apex, where a 762-ton block was lifted in the air and a lucky coin was placed on the dock before the block was lowered into position.

On November 6, 2018, Celebrity Edge will begin her transatlantic voyage to her home port at T25 at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Her inaugural season will be spent sailing alternating seven-night eastern and western Caribbean cruise itineraries.

Major emergency at sea as Navigator of Seas cruise liner takes on water after leaving UK

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Photo of the Navigator of the Seas leaving Southampton, by Dave Jones

PANIC engulfed a cruise liner when staff wearing life jackets rushed to deal with a flood after the ship began taking on the water in the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Passengers onboard the Navigator of the Seas vessel, part of the Royal Caribbean International company, described hearing a “loud bang” at about 3am on Sunday before the ship began to take on water.

A crew member onboard said a “Bravo code” was used, which many cruise lines use to alert the crew to a fire or other serious incident on board without alarming passengers.

The crew member told site Crew Centre: “Captain announced bravo code at night, the crew bar was full and suddenly everyone started running.

“One of the stabilisers on the Navigator of the Seas broke and made a hole at the hull, they had to close an entire fire zone because it was leaking water like crazy.

“They sounded the alarm and there was crew walking around with life jackets.”

The ship, which had set sail from Southampton on October 26 for a 10-night tour to the Canary Islands, was forced to make an emergency stop at the nearest port.

Crew members had managed to make a temporary repair until it arrived at the port of Vigo, north-west Spain.

Passenger Paul Edwards from Worcestershire said: “We were experiencing rough sea last night, and then in the early hours last night we heard a bang.

“We were told there was a minor technical fault with the stabilisers and we had to dock in the Port of Vigo, Spain for 24 hours while they fixed it.

cruise southampton canary islands Navigator of the Seas floods Royal Caribbean

Passengers onboard described hearing a “loud bang” (Image: Paul Edwards – GETTY

cruise southampton canary islands Navigator of the Seas floods Royal Caribbean

Passengers onboard described hearing a “loud bang” (Image: Paul Edwards – GETTY)

cruise Southampton canary islands Navigator of the Seas floods Royal Caribbean

Crews pump water out of the Navigator of the Seas (Image: Paul Edwards)

“But, it was a major problem and we were on a ship hundreds of miles from land taking on water.

“But what I am really angry about is that they are trying to keep it hush, hush.”

The vessel was due to arrive in Vigo on November 3 as a final port of call before heading back to the UK.

Guests onboard were told the Captain is due to make an announcement about the rest of the scheduled cruise.

cruise Southampton canary islands Navigator of the Seas floods Royal Caribbean

Guests onboard were told the Captain is due to make an announcement about the rest of the scheduled (Image: GETTY)

The ship is still docked in Vigo with passengers offered only a 25 per cent of their fare to spend on board the ship and 25 per cent off any future fare with the company as compensation.

Some fear they could be charged for extra days, with passenger Tina blasting on Twitter: “Currently on Navigator of the Seas, can totally appreciate the ‘technical problems’ but this change of itinerary is a joke!

“Just seems like a money maker for Royal Caribbean to me with the extra days at sea. 25 per cent onboard credit?!”

Mr Edwards added: “It feels like being in prison. Can’t do anything, can’t go anywhere.”

Royal Caribbean said in a statement: “Navigator of the Seas is making repairs to resolve a technical issue. The ship is fully operational with no impact on its manoeuvrability or the safety of our guests and crew. However, because of time needed to make the repair, it was necessary to modify her current itinerary.

“Navigator will now call on Vigo, Spain for an overnight stay on Sunday, October 28. It will then sail on to Gran Canaria, the Canary Islands on Wednesday, Oct 31 and Tenerife, the Canary Islands on Thursday, November 1. The ship will return to Southampton, England on Monday, November 5 as scheduled.”