Windjammer cancels more cruises

Windjammer Barefoot Cruises’ ongoing financial problems have forced it to cancel more sailings.
In a message posted on a Windjammer online message board Tuesday night, Windjammer Operations Manager Danny Walsh said it canceled sailings on the Legacy for Saturday, Nov. 24 and Dec. 3.
The Miami Beach company now aims to sail Dec. 8, but it’s [...]

St Thomas to St. Johns might be a problem!

ST THOMAS, USVI: Two US Virgin Islands ferry companies, Varlack Ventures and Transportation Services, have issued a statement indicating that they plan a major reduction in the number of daily runs between St Thomas and St. John “within days.”
Particularly hard hit would be shift workers who travel back and forth between the two islands, and St John [...]

Libya shoots itself in the foot? cruise passengers refused!

From the evening of 11 November, visitors without an Arabic translation of their passports have been denied entry, even if they have valid visas.
Libya is the only Middle Eastern country to take such a step.
Correspondents say the sudden change of policy appears to go against Tripoli’s recent attempts to promote itself [...]

Spirit of Nantucket….. the cause displayed!

It measures 40 feet in length and is 7 to 8 feet tall, and is about 13 feet wide and estimates are that it weighs 30 to 40 tons. It appears to be mostly of solid timber and has the remnants of metal plates and spikes in it.
“It looks like a section of [...]

Sad end for the once famous SS Norway

Found this article in Malayasian “The Star”
“ON A stretch of beach in the state of Gujarat, western India, impoverished Bhojpuri- and Oriya-speaking workers are salvaging whatever valuables they can find from an 11-deck cruise ship.
Anchored in Alang waters since June 2006, the 46,000-tonne Blue Lady (formerly the luxurious trans-Atlantic liner SS Norway) has been embroiled [...]

MSC to target the UK

Private Italian line MSC Cruises is to expand its ex-UK presence over the next three years.
The line’s CEO Pierfancesco Vago revaled that 2,000-passenger MSC Lirica would be deployed in Dover in 2009 after the company makes its ex-UK debut next year with MSC Armonia.
This will be followed in 2010 with a “larger new ship”, according [...]

Grand Cayman tourism woes?

A recent letter to the Cayman Island News by a concerned local
“Dear Sir,

Constructing a massive, imposing Ritz monstrosity right in the middle of once-tranquil Seven Mile Beach was the straw that broke the back of Cayman’s dwindling visitor market. Not only do all of the decades of loyal visitors loath the imposing structure but more [...]

Majestic America Line -New website

Majestic America Line, one of the world’s premier river cruise lines and the largest river and coastal cruising company in America, today unveiled a new microsite
http://www.majesticamerica.com/mississippi
that provides discerning guests with an intimate look at virtually every aspect of life on the Mississippi River aboard the grand American Queen, the world’s largest riverboat. Guests will [...]

Regal Princess becomes the Pacific Dawn

THE final touches have been added to Australia’s new resident cruise ship Pacific Dawn for its gala christening in Circular Quay.
Officers and crew have worked tirelessly to ensure the former US-based 2050-passenger superliner, previously called the Regal Princess, is ship-shape for party celebrations which will include a light and sound spectacular.
Olympic gold medallist Cathy [...]

Nantucket re-floated and off for repair

VIRGINIA BEACH
The Spirit of Nantucket is in a Norfolk shipyard for repairs, and the obstacle it may have hit has been lifted from the Intracoastal Waterway.
A crane placed the debris – apparently a discarded bulkhead – onto a barge about 9:30 p.m., clearing the way for an inspection of the channel.
If no more obstructions are [...]