The CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association) announced today that their member cruise lines have adopted a Bill of Rights applicable to all pax on all their ships.

Its important to note when comparing these to the actual events, this establishes the absolute minimum that the lines are obliged to give to you. It’s a trend that started with jetBlue and their Customer Bill of Rights after the Valentines Day storm troubles.

Based on recent events, lines have traditionally gone above and beyond these requirements.

Not a bad PR move by CLIA, but people will be scrutinizing every clause in these.

The official statement can be found here (link PDF).

According to Steamboats.org (and reiterated on CruiseTalk) the paddlewheel ship may have been purchased by Asian partners with the intent to convert her into a gambling ship. She would then be placed in Asia.

The 360ft, former Majestic America Line, US flag vessel has been laid up on the West Coast since the cruise line went bankrupt. Since she was built with funds from the US Maritime Administration (MARAD), and being US Flagged, she was then taken over by the US Government. MARAD has been in possession of the ship ever since.

Peter Knego, of Maritime Matters, reports another rumor that American Queen Steamboat Company is looking at purchasing the vessel. If successful, she’d be the future fleetmate of the paddlewheeler American Queen.

When Royal Caribbean announced in detail more about the Quantum, they dropped that she will be homeported in Bayonne, essentially replacing the Explorer of the Seas and directly competing with the Norwegian Breakaway.

The Quantum will feature 7-12 night Caribbean routes starting with the maiden voyage of November 23, 2014.  The 7-Nights go to the Bahamas, the 8-Nights go to either the Bahamas or Eastern Caribbean, the 11-Night go to either Eastern or Southern Caribbean, and the 12-Night goes to the southern.

Full presser after the break

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Team Black Sheep are a group of people that specialize in Quadrocopter photography. They recently released the below video to showcase the vessel like never before. Make sure to put it in HD and fullscreen it. Its not everyday you get to see a partially capsized cruise ship.

The Youtube page states the following:

This video was shot at the location of a tragic accident. It is not our interest to gain attention on the backs of those who have lost loved ones. This video is supposed to be a showcase for possible UAV applications. Our goal is to display the stranded ship in a never-before seen way. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who drowned on this day and we are hoping for a swift removal to reveal again the underlying beauty of Giglio Island, Italy.

Today, Cruiselaw is reporting that several members have been arrested by the Italian government because apparently: “videoing or photographing the area is now banned.” Can the Italian government censor the site like that? What about mainstream media and large news sites? We’ve all seen stories about the recovery of the ship. What about this webcam?

According to a financial review of TUI AG, the German arm of TUI group will make some changes to its Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten. The German live has seen a reduction of passengers with the average ship sailing at 70% occupied.

Its not all bad news as TUI Cruises, the joint venture between TUI and Royal Caribbean, has been sailing their ship at full capacity.

However for the 6 months ending in March 2013, Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten saw a deficit of usd$14 million.

Norway’s Hurtigruten (the forever Norwegian Coastal Voyages) have reported a loss for the first quarter of 2013. However they were able to reduce their loss compared to other quarters.

The loss was reduced to NOK133.0 million compared to NOK171.9 million this time last year. Revenues increased in Q1 to NOK754.5 million compared to NOK723.3 million.

Britain’s Fred Olsen Cruise Lines suffered a bit worse. Their losses increased to almost usd$8 million in Q1 2013, compared to usd$7 million in Q1 2012.

Norwegian Cruise Line posted a loss of $96 million, or $0.49 per share, on revenues of $527.6 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013, compared to net income of $3.2 million, or $0.02 per share, on revenues of $515.4 million for the same period last year.

Operating income was $31 million this year, compared to $46.4 million last year.

Viking Ocean Cruises held an even last night in Los Angeles to announce and reveal‎ details about their newest ship; the Viking Star.

Set to debut in May 2015 the 928 pax vessel will spend the season in Europe in the Med and the Baltic.

USA Today has a gallery of the sneak peak.

via cruise critic UK

“There will be a certain elitism to say you’ve worked on Titanic II.”

Pretty sure the entire industry is laughing at the Titanic II. Having that on your resume may not be the highlight everyone thinks it would be.

The keel for P&O’s newest ship has just been laid down in a drydock in Monfalcone, Italy. Fincanteri will now start assembling what is essentially a sister to the Royal Princess, just tamed down a bit.

She is on schedule to be delivered in 2015.

photos via Blogspot/picasa

via Royal Caribbean:

Royal Caribbean International’s Brilliance of the Seas has reemerged from a $30 million drydock ready to WOW guests.  The 2,100 guest ship will now offer vacationers signature Royal Caribbean amenities first introduced aboard Oasis-class ships including five new dining concepts, an exhilarating aerial entertainment experience and technology advancements allowing guests to stay more connected than ever before. Brilliance of the Seas will debut her newest innovations this summer as she sails from Harwich, England, offering Northern European itineraries that visit some of the Baltics’s most sought after destinations such as Copenhagen, Denmark; Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland.

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