Norwegian Prima is to sail from Southampton in 2025

Norwegian Prima is to sail from Southampton in 2025

The ship, launched this summer as the first of six Prima-class vessels will operate a series of 10 and 11 “open jaw” cruises between Southampton and Reykjavik from May to September 2025.

 

The news comes after Norwegian Cruise Line president and chief executive Harry Sommer confirmed in August that a Prima-class ship would be based in Southampton.

 

Norwegian Prima’s 2025 itineraries from Southampton will include trips to Geiranger in Norway’s fjords, as well as ports such as Alesund, Flam and Bergen, plus Iceland, Zeebrugge in Belgium and Amsterdam.

 

The ship, which will sail from the US in 2023 and 2024, offers attractions such as the largest racetrack at sea, increased deck space and a three-deck theatre that converts to a nightclub.

 

NCL made the announcement as part of the release of its winter 2024/25 and summer 2025 programmes in Europe, the Caribbean and Alaska.

The line’s European deployment plans also include basing Norwegian Viva from Athens between May and November 2025. Viva will be the second Prima-class ship when it debuts next summer.

 

Meanwhile Norwegian Breakaway will sail a series of round-trip itineraries from Barcelona between April and October 2025.

 

Sommer said: “Our itineraries are designed to provide longer port hours and fewer sea days to truly allow our guests the opportunity to dive into the cultures and destinations they are visiting.”

 

Before heading to the UK in 2025, Norwegian Prima will operate a series of round-trip itineraries from New York to the Caribbean in winter 2024/25.

CANADA TO CONDITIONALLY ALLOW RETURN OF CRUISE SHIPS IN NOVEMBER

Canada to Conditionally Allow Return of Cruise Ships in November

Canada will allow cruise ships back into its waters starting in November as the COVID-19 pandemic fades, but they must fully comply with public health requirements that have yet to be finalized, Ottawa said on Thursday.

Earlier this year, Canada extended a ban on cruise ships until February 2022, citing the need to protect public health. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in a statement that the restriction would now be lifted on Nov. 1, 2021.

“We will welcome cruise ships – an important part of our tourism sector – back in Canadian waters for the 2022 season,” he said.

The news should please major operators who complained that Canada’s ban was hurting their business on the West Coast. U.S. law obliges foreign-flagged cruise ships sailing from Washington state to Alaska to make a Canadian stop.

Canada, however, has not yet lifted a ban on non-essential travel with the United States. A Canadian government official said Alghabra’s announcement would allow both countries to work on ways of safely managing the cruise sector.

“We’re working hard through our embassy, through our officials, myself, through our department, and ensuring that we maintain business as usual,” Alghabra told reporters.

He gave no indication of when the border between the United States and Canada would reopen to tourists.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Montreal on Thursday that Ottawa would make an announcement on the next steps to reopening the border in the coming weeks.

A day earlier he had said it “would be catastrophic and heartbreaking to have to go back into lockdown, as some countries are now looking at with surges in the Delta variant because we were overly eager to reopen by a few weeks.”

Norwegian Alters Cuba Itineraries, Quantifies Financial Impact

Norwegian Sky cruise ship in Havana Cuba. (Photo by Brian Major).

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has updated its itineraries across all brands and estimated the financial impact the changes will have on its 2019 financials.

Currently, the company is working to modify all of its itineraries that included Cuba to reflect the ban on ships calling on the island.

“Our three brands are working diligently to accommodate the needs of our guests and travel partners as we quickly modify itineraries to meet the new Cuba travel regulations,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.

“We share in the disappointment that comes with these changes especially on such short notice and sincerely appreciate the cooperation and understanding of our guests for this inconvenience. Our brands have put in place generous compensation programs that offer guests and travel partners a compelling, value-packed alternative.”

Norwegian also pointed to the financial impact these changes will have given the “extremely abbreviated timeframe” the cruise line had to make modifications.

The new restrictions will impact all of Norwegian’s brands, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Sailings that included a Cuban port of call represented slightly more than 3 per cent of the Norwegian’s remaining sailings in 2019 for all three brands.

This impact will result in an adjustment to the company’s earnings for the year. According to Norwegian, the modification of these itineraries, the substantial discounts offered to guests for them to remain on their booked cruise, the accommodation of cancellations and changes to reservations, incremental marketing investment to support the compressed sales cycle for the modified voyages, along with the protection of travel agent commissions will result in an estimated impact to Adjusted EPS for full-year 2019 of approximately $0.35 to $0.45.

Cuba Travel Ban Could Ignite Secondhand Ship Market

The secondhand cruise ship market could pick up steam following recent Cuba restrictions.

With nautical and infrastructure restrictions in Havana, cruise lines calling on the Cuban city have been using older, medium-sized vessels that may not have fit into their traditional fleets.

Industry sources said they expect some pick-up in the secondhand market with Cuba now off limits, as the now less-competitive tonnage could find new owners, or become ships in new ventures.

Among the players, Carnival Corporation sold multiple ships in 2018 but has not announced any transfers or sales thus far in 2019.

Last year, it was announced that the Pacific Eden was sold to Cruise & Maritime Voyages while the Pacific Jewel was sent to Indian start-up Jalesh Cruises.

Holland America Line sold the Prinsendam, which will become the Amera this summer for Phoenix Reisen.

P&O Cruises UK also announced the Oriana will leave the fleet in 2019, joining the Piano Land startup in China.

Royal Caribbean Cruises has not announced any significant fleet changes in some time, nor has Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

In December, on an earnings call, Carnival Corp. President and CEO Arnold Donald said that if a ship is earning and relevant, that is most key.

Norwegian Joy Departs Drydock Bound for Alaska Market

Norwegian Joy Departs Drydock Bound for Alaska Market

The Norwegian Joy is out of the drydock in Singapore and heading for the West Coast ahead of her debut into the booming Alaska cruise market.

After a year-and-a-half in the Chinese cruise business, the ship has been Westernized and will sail from Seattle for the summer season.

MJM Marine was appointed as the main outfitting contractor by Norwegian Cruise Line for the refurbishment of Norwegian Joy as the company played the lead role in the design, manufacture, installation and project management of the interior refit of the ship.

While work began in early March in China, the ship's Pacific crossing will be a working event with no guests, with interior renovations set to conclude later this month as the ship reaches Seattle.

Among new shows for guests will be Footloose along with the aerial acrobatics show, Elements, and the wine-tasting comedy, Wine Lovers: The Musical.

Photos: Singapore Cruise Society

Venice to charge tourist entry fee for short stays

Venice to charge tourist entry fee for short stays

For most of the year, Venice's canals are crowded with boats

Venice has won approval to introduce an entry fee of up to €10 (£9; $11.50) for short-stay tourists.

Italy's budget for 2019 has a clause enabling Venice to impose the fee, which will especially target day-trippers arriving on cruise ships.

Tourists already pay a similar "landing tax" when they visit Italy's tiny Aeolian Islands.

Venetians have long complained that mass tourism is swamping the city, adored for its picturesque canals.

Hundreds of cruise ships moor in Venice every year, allowing over a million passengers to see the city's sights.

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said the "landing tax" would generate much-needed income to keep the city clean.

It is expected to be set at €2.50 to €5 per person, but at peak times in the summer it could rise to €10. Venice plans to have the tax in place for the 2019 high season.

It will apply only to tourists, but it is not clear whether it will replace a city tax already levied on hotel occupants. That tax brings in about €30m annually, but the "landing tax" could generate more - an estimated €50m.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/embed/p06npwsb/46721456

Media captionVenetians are trying to find solutions to stop the exodus from their city

Cruise passengers are easily identified, Italian officials say, but it may prove harder to tax day-trippers arriving by air, road or rail.

Local residents, workers and students will be exempt. For years there have been protests by Venetians who say mass tourism is spoiling the city's character.

Claudio Scarpa, head of the Venice hotel managers' association Ava, said: "the principle is that whoever visits from morning to evening, contributing just a tiny amount to the revenue from tourism, but imposing costs on our services, must understand that it's not all there for free".

Norwegian Jade cruise interrupted by a mechanical problem

Norwegian Jade cruise interrupted by a mechanical problem

 Norwegian Jade by Dave Jones

Norwegian Cruise Line has cancelled a 10-day Norwegian Jade cruise that departed Miami on Nov. 16 because of a mechanical issue.

The ship is in San Juan, where it will disembark passengers on Tuesday, Nov. 20.

It had been scheduled to depart San Juan on Sunday night for St. Thomas on a cruise that was to include St. Kitts, Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Maarten.

After disembarking passengers, the Jade will sail back to Miami for repairs.

A Norwegian spokeswoman said the line is working to fly guests back to Miami and to points beyond, helping to modify travel arrangements to their final destinations.

Norwegian said guests will get a full refund of the fare for the abbreviated cruise and a 100% credit toward a future cruise.

"We are very sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment this unexpected situation has caused," a statement said.

A Plethora of Norwegian Ships

Norwegian Dawn on schedule for next voyage

Norwegian Dawn

The Norwegian Dawn is structurally sound and will sail its next scheduled cruise from Boston on May 22, Norwegian Cruise Line said on Wednesday.

The Dawn ran aground on the sea bed near Bermuda after departing King’s Wharf on Tuesday. Norwegian Cruise Line said there was a temporary malfunction of the steering system.

Later on Tuesday, the ship was refloated to Heritage Wharf in Bermuda to be assessed by a team consisting of cruise line personnel; an independent dive team; and inspectors from the Dawn's classification society, DNVGL.

“The team confirmed the structural integrity of the ship, and the technical issue which caused the steering malfunction was identified and corrected,” Norwegian said Wednesday on its Twitter account.

The ship is expected to depart Bermuda at 3 p.m. on Wednesday and resume sailing to Boston.

All guests on the current voyage will receive a credit of 15% of their cruise fare to use toward a future sailing.

Cruise ship cocaine smuggling racket uncovered

By Phil Davies 

A sophisticated system of smuggling cocaine from Latin America and the Caribbean to Europe via cruise ships is reported to have been uncovered by Italian investigators.

Costa Concordia, which capsized killing 32 passengers, was said to have been used by the mafia to smuggle large amounts of the drug, the Times reported.

Police stumbled on the smuggling operation during an investigation into the ’Ndrangheta mafia that led to 20 arrests.

In one overheard conversation, two mafia members discussed “the ship that made us look ridiculous all around the world”.

Prosecutors said there was no doubt that the men “were referring to the Costa Concordia and the shipwreck of January 13, 2012”, court documents cited by La Repubblica stated.

Police monitoring internet chat recorded them discussing a large quantity of cocaine they believe was destined for Costa Concordia.

The organisation has relied on Spanish ports to bring cocaine into Europe, as well as the Italian port of Gioia Tauro in the mafia branch’s home region of Calabria.

It is believed that cruise ships have become a useful conduit, with drugs either smuggled on board with supplies or taken by couriers posing as passengers.

The smugglers also allegedly used cruise ships operated by MSC and Norwegian Cruise Line, investigators discovered.

It was not clear whether cocaine was being transported on Costa Concordia on the night it hit rocks off the island of Giglio, nor have authorities reported finding drugs as they searched the ship for bodies. The ship is being broken up after being towed last year to the port of Genoa.

A spokesman for Costa Cruises declined to comment.

Five staff with Norwegian Cruise Line were arrested in Florida this month after allegedly smuggling 5kg of cocaine from Honduras in their spandex underwear aboard the Norwegian Sun, the newspaper reported.

Customs officials in Argentina seized cocaine worth more than $1 million from two crew members who allegedly attempted to board Royal Caribbean International’s Splendour of the Seas with the drug taped to their bodies.