CLIA Blasts New CDC Cruise Program as Discriminatory

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has voiced its displeasure with the CDC's new COVID-19 cruise program.

"Regrettably, upon initial review, the latest CDC guidance appears out of step with the actual public health conditions on cruise ships and unnecessary in light of societal trends away from more restrictive measures," the association said.

"We are confounded by the CDC’s imposition of even more complex and unwarranted measures which ignore empirical evidence that the industry’s protocols have provided a greater level of COVID mitigation than most any other setting. The CDC’s guidance for multitiered cruises is counterproductive to consumers, creating market confusion between the various tiers, and potentially unworkable in practice.

"CLIA and its members are fervently devoted to preventing the spread of COVID-19 and protecting passengers, crew, and the public against any adverse health consequences.  The record of this unwavering commitment is extensive and irrefutable. 

"Against this backdrop, we continue to be dismayed by the CDC’s decision to maintain any Travel Health Notice for the cruise. CDC has long recognized the paramount importance of vaccination in protecting against COVID-19 and the vaccination rate on cruise ships is close to 100%, whereas on land it is only about 63%. It seems unnecessarily discriminatory against cruise to maintain that the chances of getting COVID-19 on a cruise “are very high” even if you are up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines. This discounts the importance of what the CDC has otherwise promoted as the single most important touchstone for public health and safety."

 

CMV Targets French Market with New Brand

Launching a new French brand, Cruise & Maritime Voyages is targeting 10,000 guests per year aboard the Jules Verne which currently operating as the Astor. Service is set to begin in early 2021 following a recent announcement at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Clement Mousset and Cedric Rivoire-Perrochat are at the helm of the new French brand which will operate under Croisières Maritimes and Voyages banner.

The timing may be ideal, as there is no current mainstream French cruise brand following the demise of Croisières de France.

Mousset has been named general director and was previously heading up Celestyal Cruises’ efforts in the French market. Rivoire-Perrochat has been named marketing and operations director and is the former director of France for CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association).

The brand will build a 10 to 15 person team based in a Marseilles office, according to the company executives.

The plan is to offer a premium product to the French market on a year-round basis on the 550-guest ship.

"On our ship, you will find no shopping complex, no climbing wall, no circus. You will feel like you’re on a ship,” Mousset said.

The French product will also feature select adults-only departures, while six per cent of staterooms will be for the solo traveller market.

Cruises will run an average of 12 nights with a target price of 190 euro per person per day. 

The ship will arrive in Le Havre for a two-night preview cruise next April, while an inaugural cruise will sail from Le Havre to Marseilles with stops in various French ports.

Other itineraries will be far-ranging, including sailings to the Baltic, Black Sea, Mediterranean, and a long world cruise in early 2022. Sales are expected to open in early 2020. The first revenue sailing is scheduled for May 1, 2021

The Cruise Industry Remains Committed to the Environment

PHOTO: Holland America Line's Westerdam in Alaska. (photo by Jason Leppert)

President Donald Trump may have announced that he will be pulling the US out of the Paris climate accord, but the worldwide cruise industry remains committed to environmental protection.

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) recently outlined the many ways conservation is promoted within.

“The cruise industry recognizes the importance of taking active measures to preserve our environment and we are constantly striving to develop more eco-friendly practices that enable travelers to stay green’ while traveling,” said Cindy D’Aoust, president and CEO, CLIA, in a press release. “Cruise lines have continued to offer new incentives for earth-friendly travel and know that this attention to our own environmental impact is not only beneficial, it is vital.”

The following are among the many eco-friendly programs and incentives:

Green Policies

Lots of cruise ships partake in recycling and waste treatment at sea as well as on land. Seabourn, for example, specifically utilizes advanced wastewater treatment systems and environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies. It also recycles and donates reusable items.

It continues to increase fuel efficiency every year with new ships including low-flow passenger toilets, sinks and showers.

Dedicated Officers

Many CLIA Members employ dedicated officers charged with daily environmental program oversight. Each Disney Cruise Line ship stations Environmental Officers to check water quality and supply. It trains these officers and crew on waste minimization and environmental safety while supervising initiatives such as recycling.

Sustainable Practices

Cruise lines frequently collaborate with eco-friendly vendors and destinations that seek to reduce their carbon footprint. For one, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection works with environmentally-conscious businesses like organic wineries.

Smart Ships

Smart technologies allow modern ships to conserve energy, water and fuel. Examples include Carnival Cruise Line’s partnership with the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the City of Long Beach, California, and Southern California Edison on shore power.

Similarly, Royal Caribbean International’s Quantum-class and Harmony of the Seas smart HVAC have dropped cooling energy consumption by a quarter.

Waste Minimization & Creative Composting

Up front, cruise lines work to reduce supply packaging and then compost food waste. In fact, MSC Cruises uses incinerators, food pulpers, grinders and compactors for garbage processing while Costa Cruises was the first travel company to sign the Milan Protocol.

Solar Sailing

For ships that can, energy waste is reduced by utilizing renewable battery power and solar energy for some systems. AmaWaterways’ Zambezi Queen employs low-emission generators by day and batteries by night, using solar heating for its hot water supply.

Cruise for the Earth

Green voluntourism is available to guests who want to travel and better the world. Azamara Club Cruises has partnered with World Wildlife Fund, and WWF guest speakers are featured on some sailings.

Corporate cousin Celebrity Cruises also encourages Celebrity Xpedition guests to plant trees in Galapagos National Park in support of the Scalescia reforestation effort.

Wildlife Conservation

The environment’s inhabitants are just as important to cruise lines, and Holland America Line has an "Avoiding Whale Strikes" training program in cooperation with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) and the National Parks Service.

All the company’s deck officers have gone through the course, which is also being shared broadly with the cruise and maritime community.

Proper Disposal

Another crucial element of environmental protection is for crew members and guests to remove garbage responsibly. Crystal Cruises, for instance, promotes its “Crystal Clean” initiatives to communicate environmental education. Of course, it’s important to properly recycle and reuse not only paper and plastic but also glass, aluminum, scrap metal, cooking oil, petroleum oil, toner cartridges, electronics and certain chemicals.

Smarter Sewage

Lastly, technology can also assist in lessening the impact of sewage and water waste, as Avalon Waterways has found with its multi-step procedure and specialized onboard sewage treatment system.

Lifeboat Drill Accident: One Killed, Four Injured in Fall Aboard Harmony of the Seas

The Harmony of the Seas (Oasis 3) class ship leaves the STX Les Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard site in Saint-Nazaire, France, May 15, 2016. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Story by: https://gcaptain.com

One crew member was killed and four others were injured Tuesday in an accident during lifeboat drill aboard the world’s largest cruise ship.

Royal Caribbean confirmed that a Harmony of the Seas crew member had died of injuries sustained during a lifeboat drill conducted in Marseille, France. For other Harmony of the Seas crew members are receiving medical treatment, the cruise company said.

BBC reports that the five crew members were inside the lifeboat when it became detached from the fifth deck during a safety drill and fell 10 meters into the water below. Two of the injured suffered life-threatening injuries, BBC reported.

Harmony of the Seas is the world’s biggest cruise ship at more than 227,000 gross tons. The ship has capacity to carry 5,479 guests and is home to about 2,100 crew.

The cruise ship was delivered in May following 32 months of construction at the STX France shipyard in Saint Nazaire, France.

“We’re keeping our colleagues & their families in our thoughts & prayers,” Royal Caribbean said in a statement posted to Twitter.

The incident is the latest accident to occur during lifeboat safety drills on board cruise ships. In July, one crew member was killed and three others were injured aboard the Norwegian Breakaway were injured during a rescue boat drill in Bermuda. In 2013, five crew members died and three were injured during a drill aboard the cruise ship Thomson Majesty in the Canary Islands.

Accidents such as these have prompted the Cruise Lines International Association, the largest trade organization serving the international cruise industry, to adopt a policy requiring that “the loading of lifeboats for training purposes is to be performed only while the boat is waterborne and the boat should be lowered and raised with only the lifeboat crew onboard.”

The policy calls for at least one lifeboat on each ship to be filled with crew members equal in number to its certified number of occupants at least every six months for ships with more than 300 crew members.

Could LNG controls spell trouble ahead for Aida Cruises?

AidaPrima refueling in Hamburg

Aida Cruises faces LNG challenges due to local restrictions and regulations. Its LNG-fuelled AidaPrima cannot receive this fuel at Rotterdam port, while the LNG-power supply barge used by AidaSol for cold ironing is battling bureaucracy in Hamburg.

First LNG dual-fuel cruise ship AidaPrima can use LNG in all its ports of call except for Rotterdam, where it is still awaiting approval from regulatory authorities.

Carnival (Aida Cruises' parent company) senior vice president for maritime affairs Tom Strang, told PST at a small press gathering after a recent Cruise Lines International Association regulatory briefing: “That is a little bit more challenging, mainly because Rotterdam has a different set of regulatory requirements, as the port is right in the centre of the city.”

However, he seemed optimistic that this obstacle would soon be overcome, and pointed out that while there were a number of steps to go through to reach approval, Carnival has “a great relationship” with the Port of Rotterdam.

But challenges are also afoot in Hamburg. AidaSol is supplied with electricity when in port from an LNG power supply: Becker Marine Systems (BMS) offers electric power generated using LNG-fuelled diesel engines mounted on an unpowered barge at Hamburg’s HafenCity cruise terminal. AidaPrima is also equipped for this cold ironing.

BMS’ barge Hummel has been contributing to improved air quality in Hamburg for more than a year, BMS managing director Dirk Lehmann said in a statement.

But he said: “Due to some restrictions making the work more difficult, we are continuing to seek a mutual solution together with the relevant authorities.”

Mr Lehmann told PST’s sister publication LNG World Shipping that the most severe restrictions are due to the conditions set out in the barge’s operating permit, notably “the condition to have an expensive harbour tug with running engines on standby during energy supply for cruise ships, and the condition to move the barge back to a night-time berth outside the Hafencity area after every energy supply operation”. This last also requires tug operations.

BMS is negotiating with the authorities to try to improve this situation and Mr Lehmann’s statement showed a very clear warning and emphasised just how crucial these talks were: “This would then enable Hummel to supply environmentally friendly power to cruise ships during their layovers at port beyond the current year.”

These teething difficulties will no doubt get solved – but the cruise sector will be watching with interest as Carnival and its company Aida Cruises pioneer the use of LNG both as a fuel and for cold ironing.