Missing Crew in NYC Force New Rules

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has put in a new temporary restriction regarding crew shore leave in New York and New Jersey following a recent spike in desertions, according to a statement.

“During a two-week period in September 2019, seven crewmembers deserted after being granted shore leave while in the New York/Newark seaport,” a spokesperson said.

The new rules also coincide with the spike in cruise traffic in the Northeast with fall foliage season.

“Crewmembers must now complete five contracts prior to being eligible for shore leave,” the spokesperson said. “CBP recognizes the hardship this may place on crewmembers; however, this protocol is necessary to address the increase of desertions at this port.”

On a recent call overnight call in New York, a senior officer told Cruise Industry News that only 9 per cent of his ship’s crew met the new criteria, which is not in place in other U.S. ports.

Passengers Injured as Norwegian Escape Hit by ‘100 Knot Wind Gust’ Off U.S. East Coast

Several passengers aboard the cruise ship Norwegian Escape were reported injured after a freak gust of wind reportedly caused the ship to list as much of 45 degrees, causing chairs, tables and pretty much anything unsecured to go flying.

A statement from Norwegian posted to its Twitter account said the incident took place just before midnight on Sunday, March 3, when Norwegian Escape encountered what the cruise line said was an “unexpected weather in the form of a sudden, extreme gust of wind, estimated at 100 knots,” or 115 mph, as the ship was underway off the U.S. east coast.

“Several injuries were reported and those guests and crew received immediate attention or are being treated by the ship’s medical staff. There was no damage to the ship; she remains fully operational and continues her scheduled itinerary,” Norwegian Cruise Line said.

The Norwegian Escape is currently on a voyage from Port Elizabeth, New Jersey to the Bahamas with a stop over in Port Canaveral, Florida.

Media reports say at least eight passengers were treated for injuries when the ship arrived in Port Canaveral on Tuesday.

“Neither the current itinerary, nor the next sailing are expected to be impacted,” the cruise line said.

Meteorologists had forecasted some weather but nothing near the 100 knots that was reported by the cruise line.

Delivered in 2015, the 164,600 gross ton Norwegian Escape is the former flagship of the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet and the first of the company’s Breakaway Plus-class.

More from ABC News below: 

Anthem of the Seas Cruise Cut Short to Avoid Storm

Anthem of the Seas

Royal Caribbean isn’t taking any chances when it comes to weather following its nightmare cruise into a hurricane force storm earlier this month, cutting Anthem of the Seas’ latest voyage short to avoid a storm off the mid-Atlantic seaboard.

The cruise ship giant said Saturday that it was closely watching a “large storm” off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, making the decision to head back to its homeport in Cape Liberty, New Jersey immediately to avoid the storm and provide guests “with a comfortable journey back home”. An update on Monday said Captain was following the company’s new storm avoidance policy and that the decision was made after the Captain consulted with shoreside experts.

RCLcorp ‎@RCLcorp

#AnthemoftheSeas will head back to Cape Liberty immediately to avoid a severe storm & provide guests with a comfortable journey back home.

10:18 PM - 27 Feb 2016

 
•  4949 Retweets
 
•  5151 likes

As you’ll recall, Royal Caribbean found itself in some hot water earlier this month after the Anthem of the Seas with more than 6,000 people on board sailed into the a hurricane-force storm off the Cape Hatteras that damaged part of the ship’s propulsion and left passengers shaken as they took to social media to post about the nightmare conditions.

Royal Caribbean has insisted that the storm in that case was worse than forecasted, but nonetheless the company said it identified gaps in its planning system that would be addressed to prevent a similar occurrence in the future. Within days of the event, Royal Caribbean made moves to strengthen its storm avoidance policy, supposedly adding shoreside resources at its Miami headquarters to provide additional guidance to our ships’ captains.

But looking at marine charts from this past Saturday, it seems Royal Caribbean’s decision to cut the latest cruise short may have been out of an abundance of caution or perhaps to avoid the inevitable bad publicity that would come with any Royal Caribbean ship sailing in any storm at the moment.

NWS OPC 24 hour forecast issued Saturday night. 

A 24 hour forecast chart issued Saturday night by the National Weather Services Ocean Prediction Center predicted a relatively modest 993 mb low over the Great Lakes moving ENE with gale force conditions forecast off the Mid-Atlantic and New England coast by Sunday evening.

“What Storm? The low moving across the Great Lakes was forecast to produce near gale to gale conditions from Hatteras northward (mostly 30-40 knots). Might be a bit rough but hardly storm conditions,” marine meteorologist and ship routing expert with Ocean Weather Services, Fred Pickhardt, commented to gCaptain.

In other Anthem of the Seas news, Royal Caribbean said Monday that about 10 guests per day were reporting symptoms of norovirus during the cruise, but the company insists that the outbreak didn’t impact the decision to return to port early.

U.S. senator calls for probe of storm damage to Anthem of the Seas

MIAMI (AP) — Federal transportation officials might soon be looking into a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that ran into high winds and rough seas in the Atlantic Ocean over the weekend.

Sen. Bill Nelson has called for the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the voyage that forced frightened passengers into their cabins overnight Sunday as their belongings flew about, waves rose as high as 30 feet, and winds howled outside.

"The thing about this storm was that it was forecast for days. So why in the world would a cruise ship with thousands of passengers go sailing right into it?" Nelson said Monday on the Senate floor, according to a news release from his office.

The National Weather Service's Ocean Prediction Center had issued an alert for a strong storm four days in advance, Susan Buchanan with the weather service said. The first warning was issued Saturday for possible hurricane-force winds in the area the ship was scheduled to sail through.

Royal Caribbean announced Monday that the ship was turning around and sailing back to its home port in New Jersey. No injuries were reported, and the ship suffered only minor damage.

"I was shaking all over," passenger Shara Strand of New York City wrote to The Associated Press via Facebook on Monday. "Panic attack, things like that. ... I've been on over 20 cruises, I've been through a hurricane, it was never like this. Never."

Sixteen-year-old Gabriella Lairson says she and her father, Sam, could feel the ship, Anthem of the Seas, begin to sway by 2:30 p.m. Sunday. The captain directed passengers to their cabins. There, the Lairsons heard glasses shatter in the bathroom, and they put their belongings in drawers and closets to prevent them from flying across the room. They ventured to the balcony, where Sam Lairson shot video of wave after wave rising below.

"The winds were so strong that I thought the phone would blow from my hands," Sam Lairson, of Ocean City, New Jersey, said in an email. "After that we had to keep the doors to the balconies sealed."

The ship — with more than 4,500 guests and 1,600 crew members — sailed Saturday from Cape Liberty, New Jersey. It was scheduled to arrive for a stop at Port Canaveral, Florida, at noon Monday, then move on to other stops in the Caribbean. But Royal Caribbean said on its corporate Twitter account that the ship would turn around and sail back to Cape Liberty.

"This decision was made for guests' comfort due to weather forecasts" that would continue to affect the ship's itinerary," Royal Caribbean tweeted.

Guests will get a full refund and a certificate toward a future cruise. Passengers onboard buzzed happily about that news, Strand said.

Gabriella Lairson said that by early Monday morning, people were out and about on the ship, checking out the minor damage in some public areas.

Lairson praised the crew and captain. "They did everything they could to make us feel comfortable," she wrote to the AP on Facebook. She said she and her father were a little disappointed the ship was turning around, but she called it "the best thing for the safety of everyone."

Fellow passenger Jacob Ibrag agreed. "I can't wait to get home and kiss the ground," said Ibrag, who saw water flowing down stairs and helped some people who were stuck in an elevator Sunday as he made his way to his cabin per the captain's orders. The 25-year-old from Queens, New York, then stayed in his cabin until noon Monday, at one point filling his backpack with essentials in case of an evacuation.

Robert Huschka, the executive editor of the Detroit Free Press, was onboard and started tweeting when the inclement weather hit. He told USA Today that the ordeal was "truly terrifying." He described the cruise director nervously giving updates, and he later posted photos of shattered glass panels on a pool deck.

But Huschka was among passengers who found a silver lining in the storm. On Monday, he posted: "The good news? They never lost the Super Bowl signal. Perfect TV picture throughout storm!"

Royal Caribbean gave guests free Internet access and a complimentary cocktail hour, spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said in an email. "Feeling better after the happy hour they just put on for the guests," Sam Lairson joked.

And despite her own worries, Strand said her daughter, 8-month-old Alexa, slept through the entire episode.

British travel agent to be Anthem godmother

Emma Wilby will christen the Royal Caribbean ship and sing for an audience of about 1,300.

Royal Caribbean International picked a 27-year-old travel agent to dedicate Anthem of the Seas in Southampton, England, later this month, underscoring the cruise line's connections to the trade and to young travel agents in particular.

Emma Wilby, an agent at Thomson Holidays, is from Sunderland, near Newcastle in the North East of England. She will christen the ship and sing for an audience of about 1,300 invited to the April 20 event.

Royal Caribbean said Wilby is a military wife and budding singer who performs in the Military Wives Choir in Kinloss, Scotland, where she is based with her husband, a Royal Engineer for the British Army.

She was picked from a large group of agents who applied for the honor, Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fain said.

"We thank all travel agents, who we value and are honoring by naming a fellow travel agent as the godmother of our newest ship,” Fain said.

Anthem will sail in Europe from April through the fall before moving to its permanent home port at New Jersey’s Cape Liberty.

Royal's Quantum heads to UK for trade preview

Royal Caribbean International took delivery of new ship Quantum of the Seas ahead of a trade preview sailing from Southampton at the weekend.

The formal handover in Bremerhaven from its German shipyard came ahead of the 4,180-passenger ‘smart ship’ arriving in the UK on Friday.

More than 500 agents have been invited on a two-night inaugural sailing before Quantum of the Seas accepts its first passengers on Sunday for a transatlantic crossing to Bayonne, New Jersey.

Quantum of the Seas will then sail from New York to the Bahamas and the Caribbean for her inaugural season before departing for her new homeport of Shanghai (Baoshan) in China next May.

This weekend’s preview will allow agents to gain an insight into the facilities to be offered by sister ship Anthem of the Seas which will be based in Southampton from April 2015 for a summer of Mediterranean itineraries.

The Quantum-class ships feature the line’s largest cabins, including interior accommodation with virtual balconies offering real-time views of the ocean and destinations.

Additional bandwidth allows the ships to offer 500 times more connectivity than any other cruise ship, Royal Caribbean claims, in addition to technology designed to speed up the boarding process with passengers able to track their luggage.

Other features include the first skydiving simulator at sea, a viewing pod that lifts passengers more than 300 feet above the ocean, the SeaPlex indoor sports and entertainment complex with bumper cars and roller skating, and a Bionic Bar featuring the world’s first robotic bartenders.

Royal Caribbean accepts delivery of Quantum of the Seas

Royal Caribbean accepts delivery of Quantum of the Seas

Oct2014

Royal Caribbean accepted delivery today of its newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas, from ship builder Meyer Werft.

The ceremonial exchange occurred at Bremerhaven, Germany where officials from Royal Caribbean met with Meyer Werft officials to officially welcome Quantum of the Seas into Royal Caribbean's fleet.

Quantum of the Seas will depart from Bremerhaven to Southampton, England later today, October 28, 2014.  Once she reaches Southampton, she will set off to her Atlantic crossing on November 2nd.

Royal Caribbean has scheduled her official maiden voyage for November 23 from Cape Liberty, New Jersey to the Bahamas.

Quantum of the Seas headed to China after inaugural season

By Tom Stieghorst

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will take the unprecedented step of putting its newest ship in China, following a 2015 winter season of cruising from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, N.J.

Starting in May 2015, Quantum of the Seas will be repositioned to Shanghai, where it will offer a series of three- to eight-day cruises to Korea and Japan.

“Every trend we are seeing in China tells us we can achieve real long-term competitive advantage and appealing returns on our investments in this fast-growing market by accelerating our presence there,” said RCCL President Adam Goldstein. “We will have to be nimble, but the ability to move fast is one of our strengths.”

Quantum will join Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas, increasing capacity in the region by 66%.

To fill the void left by Quantum’s departure from New Jersey, Royal Caribbean will move Liberty of the Seas to Cape Liberty for the 2015 summer schedule of sailings to Bermuda, the Caribbean and Canada/New England.

Quantum’s sister ship, Anthem of the Seas, will reposition to New Jersey after an inaugural summer season sailing from Southampton, England. It will begin cruises from Cape Liberty in November 2015.

Goldstein said that consumers in China have grown to expect the best the world has to offer, and Quantum of the Seas meets that standard.

“We are ready to accelerate the growth of this vital market with a ship that will capture the imagination of travelers looking for a one-of-a-kind vacation experience,” he said. 

Illness outbreak affecting 300 passengers on Explorer of the Seas

By Phil Davies

Ten per cent of passengers on a Royal Caribbean International ship in the Caribbean are reported to have fallen ill with symptoms including vomiting and diarrhoea.

US health officials boarded 3,505-passenger Explorer of the Seas in the US Virgin Islands yesterday to investigate the outbreak of gastrointestinal illness affecting at least 300 people. Twenty-two crew members also reported feeling ill.

The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said 281 of the 3,050 passengers on board the ship had reported getting sick during a Caribbean cruise that left Cape Liberty, New Jersey, last Tuesday.

The ship underwent "extensive and thorough sanitising" to help prevent more people getting sick during a previous call in Puerto Rico, a company spokeswoman said.

The vessel bypassed a scheduled stop at the company's beach destination in northern Haiti to sail directly to San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital.

"This was a difficult decision to make; however, we feel it is best to make this itinerary modification to help prevent any more guests from becoming ill," the spokeswoman told The Guardian.

She added that special cleaning products and disinfectants that are proven to kill norovirus were being used to clean the ship.

The passengers and crew who fell ill have "responded well to over-the-counter medication being administered on board the ship," she said.

At least two CDC officials, an epidemiologist and an environmental health officer, were expected to investigate and evaluate the response to the outbreak on the cruise liner.

Cruising said to be a $42 billion business in U.S.

By Tom Stieghorst

The U.S. economic impact of the cruise industry grew 4.6% last year to $42 billion, according to a study done annually for CLIA.

That compares with an increase in the U.S. gross domestic product of 2.2% in 2012.

Direct spending by the cruise lines was pegged at $19.6 billion, up 4%, according to the study by Business and Economic Research Associates.

The study said the cruise industry generates 356,311 jobs in the U.S with wages of over $17 billion.

North American cruise lines carried 16.95 million passengers last year, a 3.8% advance over 2011.

Florida, which accounted for 60% of cruise embarkations, benefited the most from the cruise industry, garnering 36% of all spending.

Ten states account for 80% of the cruise industry's economic impact: Florida, California, Texas, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, Alaska, Georgia, Washington and New Jersey.