Top Stories
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Rising number of U.S. cruise ships cited for sanitation violations
TransportMore cruise ships are being hit by federal inspectors with unsatisfactory ratings for sanitation, and for the first time in recent memory, the majority of the cited vessels are operated by major U.S. cruise lines. Already in the first quarter of this year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vessel Sanitation Program has [...]
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UK investors make last-minute bid to buy iconic cruise liner QE2
DestinationsUK investors aiming to bring the QE2 cruise liner back to London have not given up hope of making it part of a tourist attraction on the banks of The Thames. Recent reports suggest the ship is to leave for Singapore in September but sources in the UK claim they are still in contact with [...]
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Norwegian Cruise Line’s first quarter as a public company sees revenue improvements
TransportIn its first quarter as a publicly traded company, Norwegian Cruise Line saw revenues grow thanks to higher ticket prices and increased onboard spending. One-time expenses related to the company’s initial public offering in January and prepayment of debt left the Miami-based cruise operator with a net loss of $96.4 million. But excluding those expenses, [...]
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Sen. Rockefeller puts more pressure on the cruise industry’s safety practices
TransportThe cruise lines’ least-favorite pen pal, Senator Jay Rockefeller, is at it again: He fired off letters to the CEOs of Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Line, pressing them on their cruise lines’ safety records and practices. Citing the structure of the cruise industry, with companies technically headquartered outside the U.S., the prevalence [...]
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Alaska’s interior cruise tourism turns from rail to bus to speed visits
TransportTwo tour companies are changing how they will move tourists in and out of Fairbanks. Princess Alaska Tours and Holland America told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner that visitors to Denali National Park will cover the trip north to Fairbanks by bus rather than rail car starting in 2014. Princess will begin the change this year. Spokesman [...]
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North America’s oldest farmers’ market gets new boost from cruise passengers
TransportVisitors from all over the world are descending on the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market these days, climbing down cruise ship gangplanks into the bustling market that hugs the waterfront. Indeed, more than 130 cruise vessels are expected this year to deliver some 250,000 people from across North America, Europe and Asia to Halifax and the [...]
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Native Alaskan tribes use tourism to turn a profit and keep traditions alive
TransportAn Alaska Native village corporation that operates a popular cruise ship destination has launched a commercial consulting service for others seeking help developing their own cultural tourism ventures. Huna Totem Corp. opened Alaska Native Voices on Wednesday. Huna Totem is the village Native corporation for Hoonah — a largely Tlingit community of 775 in southeast [...]
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TripAdvisor acquires cruise online-booking site CruiseWise
DigitalAre cruise transactions in TripAdvisor’s future? Probably not, but TripAdvisor has acquired CruiseWise, an online cruise-booking startup that was founded in 2010. And, TripAdvisor plans on integrating CruiseWise’s tech talent and some of its content into TripAdvisor’s CruiseCritic unit, a leading cruise news and user generated content site. You can expect that a major overhaul [...]
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Alaska’s first cruise season with tougher emissions laws begins now
TransportMore than 1 million cruise ship passengers are expected to visit Alaska this year, but industry officials fear new fuel standards intended to limit pollution from large ships could drive vessels away and lower that number later. This will be the first full cruise season in Alaska under rules that require cargo carriers and cruise [...]
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Carnival wants Miami court to toss Triumph-related passenger lawsuits
TransportCarnival Corp. is seeking dismissal of lawsuits filed by passengers who endured days of difficult conditions aboard the disabled Triumph cruise ship. The biggest case is a potential class action seeking to represent about 3,000 Triumph passengers. Carnival said in a motion filed last week in Miami federal court that its cruise tickets clearly state [...]
