China appears to be the new epicenter of the global cruise industry as rivals Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) both boost capacity out of Shanghai.

Carnival Corp. announced on May 12 that it will deploy four ships in Shanghai in 2015, increasing its cruise capacity in China by 140 percent from 2013.

The move follows RCCL’s surprising announcement last month that the splashy new 4,180-guest Quantum of the Seas would move to Shanghai in May 2015 after operating just six months from New Jersey’s Cape Liberty. What’s more, RCCL on May 9 revealed plans for a fourth Oasis-class vessel, leading industry observers to speculate that one of the world’s largest cruise ships would set sail for Asia soon.

Here’s how Carnival’s China deployment shakes out: The 3,780-passenger Costa Serena, part of Carnival’s Italian cruise brand Costa Cruises, will be based in China year-round starting in April 2015, joining two fleetmates — the 2,680-guest Costa Atlantica and 2,394-passenger Costa Victoria. Carnival’s Princess Cruises brand also will operate the 2,670-passenger Sapphire Princess out of Shanghai from May 21 through September. Princess will return to China in 2015, but the exact deployment won't be announced until the fall.

“We have never been more committed to China as a market of great strategic importance for our company, and with today’s news we will be the only global cruise company to have four ships operating out of China,” Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald said in a press release.

What’s prompting this growth? Carnival Corp. says China is expected to become the second-largest cruise market in the world by 2017. Currently, the U.S. is the biggest cruise market by far, generating more than half of the estimated 21.7 million passengers who sail on ships operated by members of the Cruise Lines International Association this year.

Carnival’s Costa brand began sailing from China in 2006. The corporation now operates 10 offices in Asia, including five locations in China — Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, and Chengdu. Carnival also is growing in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea.

Meanwhile, RCCL’s newbuild plans include a third 5,400-passenger Oasis-class ship for delivery in spring 2016 followed by the fourth in 2018. They join the 225,282-gross-ton Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, which entered service in 2009 and 2010 and share the title of the world’s largest cruise ships. Operating out of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, they continue to generate premium fares and are especially popular with families.

So where will the third and fourth Oasis-class ships operate? “We believe that over the next 12-18 months, RCL could announce the movement of an Oasis-class ship to Asia (at least for part of the year),” Timothy Conder, a financial analyst with Wells Fargo Securities, wrote in a research note.

Rod McLeod, a veteran cruise executive who now consults in the industry, said an Asia deployment for an Oasis-class ship is likely under consideration, although he thinks Europe might come first, possibly with a homeport in the U.K. The company is testing Europe this fall when the Oasis of the Seas offers a few cruises as it heads for a dry dock in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. And next summer, Allure of the Seas will sail in Europe, offering round-trips from Barcelona and Civitavecchia near Rome.

“Knowing what I know today and what I’ve seen over the last couple of years, I would say Europe is the logical next step for them,” McLeod said. “However, I wouldn’t be shocked — I’d be surprised but not shocked — to see them move one (Oasis-class ship) over to Asia. … The Quantum is a significant commitment to the Asia market.

They still have another card up their sleeve, if they choose to use it, and that is to put an Oasis-class ship over there. I’m not saying it’s going to happen anytime soon, but as an option down the road, it’s has to be there.”

By Theresa Norton Masek, Travel Pulse

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Fewer cruise ships could mean fewer dollars in the bank for local businesses in the coming tourism season.

Though the V.I. Port Authority has yet to release the number of cruise ship calls expected during the 2014-2015 cruise ship season, the West Indian Co. reported last week that they are expecting a three-percent drop in the number of ships visiting its dock.

Since last week, WICO has booked three more calls for the season, reducing the 13-ship difference between this season and next to a 10-ship difference, according to WICO President and CEO Joseph Boschulte.

Instead of seeing 416 ships dock at WICO, as it did in 2013-2014, this upcoming year the dock expects 406 port calls.

The drop in ship calls is expected to equate to a loss of about 31,000 visitors, Boschulte said.

Each passenger is estimated to spend about $230 during their time on-island, Boschulte said, which equates to about $7.1 million in tourist spending lost to the territory.

For local businesses, that means a painful loss of income.

"In the last three or four years, the business already has declined. Every one knows that," said Pash Daswani, owner of Lucky Jewelers on Main Street. "Our neighboring islands are gearing up much better and faster than us."

Daswani, who recently went on a cruise himself, saw that competing islands have a greater cruise ship capacity and also a more sophisticated layout to allow for easy pedestrian and vehicle traffic.

While Daswani feels that local tourism officials are making efforts to bring the territory up to speed with competition, the quicker it happens, the better, he said.

"That is a lot of money," he said of the forecasted loss in ships and passengers at the WICO dock.

Aside from merchants selling goods, a lot of the companies that thrive on offering services to the passengers also hope that the territory can maintain, if not boost, the steady stream of cruise ships that pass through the territory's ports, most of them through those on St. Thomas, since they rely greatly on their dollars.

"We have contracts with some of the cruise lines," said Christy Walker, manager at the Tree Limin' Extreme zipline facilities on the north side of St. Thomas. "During the slow season, it's really beneficial."

During the slow season, Tree Limin' Extreme also reaches out to hotel guests and locals, though it is not the same as the flux of tourists they see from the cruise ships.

"During the summer, we kind of reach out," Walker said.

The V.I. Department of Tourism admitted concern about the decrease in ships and passengers, though the effect should not be detrimental, according to Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty. The territory still is better positioned than it was several years ago, she said.

However, the department is beginning a campaign this summer to encourage businesses to strategize ways that they can increase the amount of money spent per visitor and ways to appeal to more overnight visitors.

The islands could do well to attract more non-cruise ship visitors, who generally spend more money during their stay because they need more amenities, including a place to stay.

The average visitor spends about 4.2 nights in the territory, Nicholson-Doty said, noting that the territory welcomes about 1.8 million cruise ship visitors and about 800,000 visitors annually.

The Tourism Department recently has been working with local businesses to increase the amount of discount certificates given to tourists because they typically spend two to three times what the certificate actually is worth, Nicholson-Doty said.

One of the entities that has been working with the department to make the territory more attractive to visitors is the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce.

"The opportunities, the critical opportunities before us are the capital projects related to the revitalization of Charlotte Amalie," said Sebastiano Paiewonsky Cassinelli, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce.

The projects that will help to keep St. Thomas relevant in the Caribbean region will be renovations to Main Street, the waterfront, the harbor and the nearby side streets, Cassinelli said, noting that such renovations already are being planned and executed.

On Main Street - one of the streets most heavily overrun with tourists on St. Thomas - businesses rely on cruise ship guests for about 60 to 70 percent of their revenue, according to Cassinelli. The remaining 30 to 40 percent of business comes from hotel guests, he said.

"If we can execute those projects, that will help Charlotte Amalie restore its competitive advantage," he said. "It will improve the quality of life. It will have a stimulative effect."

By Jenny Kane, Virgin Islands Daily News

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A dead 30-foot whale found on the Brooklyn side of New York Harbor Monday morning may have gotten tangled in the steering system of a cruise ship, disabling the boat for several hours, authorities said Tuesday.

The 45-year-old whale was found near Pier 4 on Monday, and towed to the New Jersey side of the harbor. It was found during a necropsy Tuesday to have blunt force trauma and broken ribs.

The NOAA Fisheries Service said it is believed to have been struck by the Norwegian Cruise Lines ship, which then stalled for several hours in the Hudson River as it was preparing to dock in Manhattan Sunday.

The fisheries service said it's not known if the whale was killed by the ship or if it was already dead when it was hit.

The Coast Guard had to help tug the ship, which was returning from a seven-day Caribbean cruise, to Pier 88 on West 48th Street.

The 144,000-ton ship, called the Breakaway, accommodates more than 4,000 passengers, according to the cruise line.

By NBC New York

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About 850,000 cruise ship passengers are expected to visit Ketchikan this season. And the first mega ship of the year – Holland Cruise Line’s Volendam – docked in the city yesterday. The cruise started in Japan and Ketchikan was the final stop before the cruise ends in Vancouver.

An employee at the Ketchikan Visitor Center is explaining the city’s bus system to a tourist couple wearing rain gear. The center is filled with tourists from the Volendam who are taking shelter from rain and asking questions about Ketchikan.

Kerry is the visitor services coordinator here.

“I think we’re off to an okay start,” she said. “It’s always exciting, the first ship is always kind of exciting. There’s a lot of energy in the air.”

Bill and Terri Heaver from Williamsburg, Virginia, were heading out of the center and into town. They were on the cruise for their 50th anniversary. Terri said she was hoping to see eagles.

“I had no idea Alaska was so vast,” said Bill.

Outside of the visitors center, it’s cold and rainy. But that’s driving people into the shops lining downtown Ketchikan. A lot of those shops have been closed all winter, and are just opening for the season today.

“It’s really exciting because when the winter’s here it’s kind of like a ghost town downtown,” said one employee at the jewelry shop Alaska Bear Company. “So when the cruise ships come in it’s like the downtown is really alive.”

A tourist named Corrine from Singapore said it was her second time in Ketchikan.

“[it's a] fantastic place, magnificent glaciers, scenery,” she said. She was on the cruise with her father.

While most tourists were positive about Alaska, some had criticism.

“I just want to say, Juneau, for being the capital of Alaska, needs to improve itself a lot,” said a tourist name Kel, who is from Calgary. “It left a really bad impression on people on the ship because it’s so run down, a lot of intoxicated people on the streets.”

The only complaint tourists seemed to have about Ketchikan was the rain. The next cruise ship docks in town May 4th. About 850,000 cruise ship passengers are expected to visit Ketchikan this season.

By Emily Files, KRBD - Ketchikan

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The number of cruise ship passengers who visited the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico has jumped more than 15 percent in nearly one year.

Port Authority Director Victor Suarez says an additional 124,619 people visited the island in the past nine months compared to the same period in the previous year.

Suarez said Wednesday that more than 946,000 passengers visited from July 2013 to March 2014.

He attributed the increase in part to 28 new cruise ship visits during that period for a total of 367 visits.

The announcement comes as Puerto Rico prepares for the first visit of Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas, capable of carrying more than 6,000 passengers. The government is expanding a pier in historic Old San Juan to accommodate ships of that size.

By Associated Press

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Royal Caribbean Cruises and its allies have formed an organization to oppose a Major League Soccer stadium at PortMiami, marking the first coordinated resistance to David Beckham’s waterfront dream.

The Miami Seaport Alliance took out a full-page advertisement in Monday’s Miami Herald, titled “Here We Go Again,” to launch its campaign against the 25,000-seat, open-air stadium that Beckham and his representatives have proposed for the port’s shallow-water southwest corner.

“The Alliance wholeheartedly supports a soccer franchise in Miami and believes there are other sites that would benefit greatly from a stadium,” the ad said. “However, PortMiami is not one of them, due to the risks a port stadium would pose to jobs, cruise and cargo operations, security, and the port’s promising future.”

A Coral Gables public-relations firm, Kreps DeMaria, registered the alliance’s website last week, records show, on the same day that several Miami-Dade County commissioners — who voted unanimously in December for Mayor Carlos Gimenez to begin negotiations with Beckham’s team — cautioned that they might not be on board with a stadium at the port.

“People are responding to speculation,” John Alschuler, Beckham’s real-estate adviser, said Monday. “I’ve got confidence that commissioners, when presented with a formal recommendation by the mayor — and a full, factual briefing — will respond to the facts.”

Other stadium locations, including next to the Miami Marlins’ Little Havana ballpark, are also under consideration, though Beckham has said PortMiami, with its views of the downtown skyline, is his top choice.

Gimenez has vowed to charge “fair” rent for any stadium on county-owned land. Beckham has pledged private funding for stadium construction, though his franchise is seeking a state subsidy that could amount to $40 million over 20 years.

Heading the anti-port stadium group is John Fox, former vice president for governmental relations of Royal Caribbean, the only major cruise company with headquarters at the port that had already voiced its opposition. Royal Caribbean’s campus overlaps part of the proposed 12-acre stadium site.

In addition to Royal Caribbean, Fox said another cruise company is taking part in the alliance, though he declined to name it. Carnival Corp. and Norwegian Cruise Line, the two other big companies operating in Miami, said they are not involved. Several other companies have a smaller port presence.

Other alliance members include two stevedoring companies that load and unload cargo from ships and two local unions representing longshoremen, Fox said.

Jorge Rovirosa of Florida Stevedoring, one of the alliance members, said that if PortMiami wants to meet its goal of doubling cargo traffic in the next 10 years, as proposed by the port’s former director, it needs to protect its space and road access.

“That’s the only location we have for the port,” he said. “There are many locations for soccer.”

He added that just because the port’s southwest corner is too shallow to accommodate cargo or cruise ships doesn’t mean the area couldn’t be dredged in decades to come to make room for larger vessels.

But the debt-laden port hasn’t even considered that scenario. Instead, its master plan — created before any talk of a stadium arose — envisions a massive development of office highrises on the entire, 36-acre southwest corner, to bring in much-needed revenue from non-maritime sources. Downtown interests on the mainland have criticized that plan and, as an alternative, support the stadium.

Neither Fox nor Rovirosa explicitly opposed the port’s broader development plan. But, Fox said, “What the alliance thinks is that port property should be used for port purposes.”

Alschuler dismissed Royal Caribbean as a reliable naysayer on port projects, noting that it and others declared themselves against a port tunnel when it was first proposed. Fox countered that the cruise company backed off after some of its concerns about the tunnel — which is scheduled to be inaugurated next month — had been addressed.

According to Alschuler, in three meetings with Richard Fain, Royal Caribbean’s chief executive, the company had not articulated concrete reasons for opposing a port stadium. Beckham’s representatives have said traffic and parking concerns are misleading because a study they commissioned, which has not been made public in its entirety, showed peak cruise-passenger traffic would not coincide with soccer games.

Gimenez said Royal Caribbean hasn’t raised any new concerns that he didn’t already bring up to Beckham’s group — for the port site and other locations.

“All sites will have some issues,” Gimenez said. “Any time Mr. Fox would actually like to see me, which he hasn’t about this issue, then I’d be happy to sit down with him.”

By Patricia Mazzei, Miami Herald

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Venice has been ordered to allow large cruise ships back into its lagoon, months after the Italian government decreed that they should be banned because of the environmental damage they do to the World Heritage-listed city.

A regional tribunal overturned a law introduced last November which reduced the number of cruise liners of more than 40,000 tons permitted to enter from the Adriatic and plough their way towards Venice’s cruise ship terminal.

More stringent rules, which would have banned outright ships of more than 96,000 tons – some of which are twice as long as St Mark’s Square and dwarf Venice’s centuries-old spires and domes – were to have been introduced in 2015.

But the law has been suspended by a regional court in the Veneto region, which ruled that alternative routes for the ships to reach the terminal have not yet been agreed on and that the risks posed by the vessels had not been proven.

The decision is a victory for the cruise ship industry, which has dismissed concerns that cruise liners cause damage to Venice’s delicate foundations and scoffed at suggestions that another Costa Concordia-style disaster could occur if a passenger liner strayed off course.

Gian Luca Galletti, the environment minister, said that while the tribunal’s ruling would be respected, there was an urgent need to find a solution which would prevent giant cruise ships from “continuing to pass along Venice’s ancient canals”.

One of the largest cruise ships to visit the lagoon city, the MSC Divina, has a gross tonnage of nearly 140,000 tonnes, is more than 1,000ft long and carries nearly 5,000 passengers and crew.

Dario Franceschini, the culture and tourism minister, said it was “unimaginable that such giants should be allowed to pass right in front of St Mark’s Square. Nobody with an ounce of common sense can understand it.”

The suspension will last until June, when the issue will be discussed again.

The more stringent regulations had been introduced in response to the Costa Concordia disaster of Jan 2012, when the 115,000-ton cruise liner rammed into Giglio, off the Tuscan coast, after its captain apparently misjudged a sail-past of the island.

By Nick Squires, The Telegraph

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Three bogus taxi drivers who targeted cruise ship passengers arriving in Cornwall have been handed fines.

The men, all from the Truro area, admitted various fraud and consumer protection violations when they appeared at the city’s magistrates court.

Michael Ian Inglefield of Treyew Road, Truro, was fined £1,500 plus a total of £1,223 in costs.

Gideon Watson of Polglaze Walk, St Erme, Truro, and Glyn James Mainwaring of Langarth Close, Threemilestone, Truro, were each fined £750 plus £1,148 in costs for similar offences.

The court was told that an investigation was launched in May last year after Cornwall Council officers received information that an illegal taxi private hire company was collecting fee paying passengers from cruise ships docking at Falmouth Docks.

Licensing officers conducted an investigation with Trading Standards into the allegations and found that Inglefield was operating an unlicensed private hire taxi business from his home address in Truro.

Watson and Mainwaring were employed as his drivers. The business comprised of airport transfers and tours of Cornwall for fee paying passengers.

Most of the vehicles used were unlicensed and these also included vehicles hired fraudulently from local hire companies.

Following the court hearing, Andrea Carter, investigating licensing compliance officer said: “This has been a long and protracted investigation which has resulted in the successful prosecution of these individuals.

“The majority of the law abiding taxi trade work very hard to run and maintain their businesses and the licensing service are doing their utmost to support them.

“In light of this successful prosecution I hope that this sends a message out to any unlicensed business that serious action will be taken against them.”

Cornwall Council cabinet member for homes and communities Geoff Brown said: “It is essential for the safety of the public and to support responsible taxi operators that we have a robust licensing system in place and I commend the actions of our team in addressing this issue.”

By Western Morning News

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Norwegian and Royal Caribbean cruise lines have reached deals to expand their operations at Port Canaveral.

“It’s exciting. We’re thrilled,” Port Canaveral Chief Executive Officer John Walsh said, after announcing the agreements at Wednesday’s Canaveral Port Authority meeting.

The deals will boost Brevard County’s seaport in its effort to become the world’s busiest, based on the number of cruise passengers, ahead of the Port of Miami and Port Everglades near Fort Lauderdale.

Walsh said the deal with Norwegian calls for the company to base a cruise ship at Port Canaveral, starting in the winter of 2015. Norwegian is likely to announce which ship during a cruise industry conference next month.

In addition, Walsh said, Norwegian agreed tocontinue making port-of-call stops at Port Canaveral with two of its New York-based ships for at least the next three years.

Norwegian currently has no ships based at Port Canaveral, and had no long-term commitment for port-of-call stops for the New York ships.

Meanwhile, Walsh said, Royal Caribbean has agreed on a 10-year contract that will more than double the guaranteed annual revenue to Port Canaveral. In 2013, the company guaranteed $7 million to the port. That number will grow to $18.4 million in 2024.

Royal Caribbean also will provide an additional $48 million to the port over the next decade as part of an agreement to become the primary user of the new Cruise Terminal 1, scheduled to open in November. That revenue will come from a $4 to $5 fee on tickets for Royal Caribbean passengers using Port Canaveral. The port plans to use the $48 million to help pay for construction of the $68.5 million terminal complex, which is just east of the Cove restaurant district. That cost includes site work, the gangways and an adjacent 1,000-vehicle parking garage.

Royal Caribbean currently has two ships based at Port Canaveral, and will base a third ship here starting in November for 26 voyages. It also will have port-of-call service by two other ships — one sailing from New Jersey, the other from Baltimore.

The deal gives Royal Caribbean the flexibility to move ships into Port Canaveral, and could open up the possibility for Port Canaveral to attract Royal Caribbean’s largest ships.

“I’ve literally heard four or five scenarios” on how the shifting of Royal Caribbean ships could affect Port Canaveral, Walsh said. “For us, it’s a win-win, without tying their hands on flexibility.”

Royal Caribbean will get preferred scheduling at the 188,514-square-foot Cruise Terminal 1, which is being designed to accommodate the world’s largest cruise ships. But other cruise lines also will use the terminal, Walsh said.

Walsh said port commissioners likely will vote on the Norwegian and Royal Caribbean deals next month.

By Dave Berman, Florida Today

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Colombia’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism announced Friday that cruise ship tourism to the country rose by 26.6% between January and November 2013.

Minister of Tourism Santiago Rojas Arroyo claimed in the report that Colombia received 259,805 tourists by cruise ship between January and November 2013, with an increase of 32.3% in November, during the height of travel season, as compared to the previous year.

The popular Caribbean entry points of Cartagena and Santa Marta in northern Colombia and San Andres Island, 435 miles off the mainland, reportedly received a total of 186 cruise ships from January to November 2013.

“Between January and November 2012,” the reports reads, “Santa Marta only received one cruise ship with 80 passengers on board. Over the same period of 2013 they received five ships with 1,716 tourists aboard.”

In the first half of 2014 alone, 210 cruise ships are scheduled to dock in Colombia, bringing with them 570,000 visitors and an estimated $47 million in revenue, according to the ministry.

Deputy Minister of Tourism Sandra Howard Taylor said that the increase in cruise ship tourism was due to the growth of important business links with companies such as the Florida and Caribbean Cruise Association, which hosted its annual conference in Cartagena last fall.

Speaking at the conference in October, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos told industry leaders that Colombia hopes to receives one million passengers by 2017 and that the country is “truly ready to invest in the cruise ship industy.”

Santos went on to discuss how “Colombia has, to date, invested about $4 million to create the necessary infrastructure” for cruise ships to dock, and that the industry “has a positive impact on the lives of those who work in its chain; be it taxi drivers, port operators or traders.”

The true implications of the tourist industry, however, on Colombia and the greater Caribbean, are not necessarily so positive.

Cruise ships have been linked to any number of environmental issues, as explained by Slate.com. Many drop anchor in close proximity to coral reefs, damaging one of the key attractions that brings their passengers to the Caribbean in the first place. Ambiguities in international environmental laws allows the ships to dump waste overboard, contaminating warm, nutrient-poor Caribbean waters with heavy organic material. The fuel used by the ships is among the dirtiest in the world, and embarking passengers can overwhelm the local ecosystems of the beaches the ships take them to.

In economic terms, as well, the cruise industry raises concerns. Reports from the BBC and ResponsibleTravel.com, for example, explain that cruise ship employees are paid substandard wages, forced to remain on the boats at port, and work up to 18 hours or more per day.

Furthermore, while the economic advantages of cruise ship tourism are often toted by local and national governments, the cruise industry’s well-documented practices of offering all-inclusive packages and actively discouraging spending on land undermine those benefits. Infrastructure accommodations tend to be paid using public funds, but, as Global Travel Sector News has reported, 82% of cruise profits are retained by the ships themselves, which pay minimal or no taxes at port, while only 18% is dispersed on shore.

By Alexandra Jolly, Colombia Reports

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Cruise lines are being invited to begin “formal talks” with government over the development of new berthing facilities in George Town harbor.

In this instance, the companies are being approached in their role as the key users of the new docks rather than as potential business partners in building the facility.

The government says it wants to ensure that the scope of the development fits with what cruise lines expect from the ports they visit before it goes out to tender later this year.

It is likely that one or more of the cruise lines will ultimately be involved as a partner to government in building and running the port, but this latest round of talks over the much discussed project will focus largely on their role as users of the planned facility.

“Government has approached the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association and cruise lines as they will be the prime users of the berthing facility, and it is important that any specific user requirements they might have are determined early on in the process,” said Moses Kirkconnell, minister of tourism.

“Once this has been accomplished, we will then look at the best ways to incorporate those needs, while ensuring value-for-money for the Cayman Islands,” he added.

A request for proposals has already gone out, with a deadline of Wednesday this week, to find consultants to prepare an environmental impact assessment on the project.

That assessment will take place this year while government simultaneously works towards an request for proposals for the construction of the facility. Work is expected to begin on the project in 2015, with an estimated cost of between US$100 million and US$200 million, according to the business case produced by PwC.

By James Whittaker, Caymanian Compass

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A coveted window-seat at some of Sydney's most popular restaurants overlooking the Opera House and Circular Quay may not be quite the best table in town next month, with the host venue, the Overseas Passenger Terminal, set to welcome nearly as many passenger cruise ships as there are days in February.

Sydney will get a record 39 visits by 25 cruise ships during "Super February", up from 36 visits last February, with 21 of them involving a ship berthing at the OPT, a terminal that Brett Jardine, general manager of Cruise Lines International Association Australasia, describes as "one of the most desirable ports in the world".

The terminal is one of a select number of cruise ship ports globally, including those of Hong Kong and Cape Town, to offer direct cruise liner access to a dazzling central city location.

But with so many ships staying in the terminal, that leaves just three nights in February when a cruise liner won't be blocking or obscuring the view of patrons at OPT restaurants Wildfire, Ocean Room, Cruise Bar and Peter Doyle at the Quay, although the three-hatted Quay is less subject to impeded views because it is on the terminal's high level.

Anthony Tam, general manager of the Ocean Room, said that because February was peak season for cruise ships docking at the OPT, it was not ideal. "When a ship comes in, it blocks the view, which is what many of our customers come here for, especially if they're here with clients," he said.

"On days when there's a ship here, there can be up to a 50 per cent drop in capacity."

Catriona Parsons, general manager of the Cruise Bar, said that while having a ship berthed at the terminal "obviously does take away from the views of the harbour and the Opera House", the Cruise Bar "heavily promote" the fact it is part of a working shipping terminal.

"I think less people these days decide not to come when a ship's here," she said. "With the massive boom of the cruise ship industry over the past five years, more people are aware of it and interested, so it makes for quite an amazing sight to see a cruise ship up so close."

Mr Jardine said the Overseas Passenger Terminal had been operating with ''the primary purpose of processing passengers travelling by sea'' since 1960, and that its tenants were fully aware they were leasing space at a working cruise terminal, with the ship schedules planned and published several years in advance.

But most, if not all, of the leases predate the boom in cruising among Australians, with the OPT's impending upgrade designed to cater for the increased demand for berths. The announcement of the major refurbishment was meant to happen between April and September, the low season for cruise visit to Sydney.

By Nina Karnikowski, The Sydney Morning Herald

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The British Virgin Islands signed an agreement Friday with two major cruise ship companies expected to help boost the territory's sluggish cruise tourism sector.

Norwegian Cruise Line and Disney Cruise Line promised to deliver a total of 425,000 passengers yearly beginning in 2015 for the next 15 years or pay for lost tax revenues if the quota is not met.

The deal also gives preferential berthing to both cruise lines, a move that angered Carnival. Last year, that company delivered some 53,000 passengers to the territory of 30,000 residents. Carnival said in October that it would cancel its British Virgin Islands itinerary in 2015, but it has since rebooked some of those trips.

Some 340,000 cruise ship passengers visited the territory last year, compared with 571,000 in 2008. Officials blame the decrease partly on an existing dock unable to accommodate larger ships that have gone elsewhere.

The government said the deal could help them obtain funds to lengthen the dock. The bidding process to select a contractor is ongoing and construction is expected to start in upcoming months.

By The Associated Press

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Construction has started on a $3.7 million project to upgrade the cruise facilities in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. The work will upgrade the cruise ship terminal and the parking area. New kiosks will be installed for use by a rotating group of craft vendors.

The project also includes a major reconstruction of Turtle River Road between the pier and Main Street, adding a pedestrian-only section and landscaping the entire road. The first phase is expected to be completed by the end of February.

Dr. Wykeham McNeill, the minister of tourism and entertainment, recently toured the project and addressed concerns raised by business people and tour operators about the timing of the project during the peak winter tourist season. McNeill said he will work to make sure there is a minimum of interruption and that the project will be completed in timely fashion.

“We are confident that we are on the right track and when it is finished, it will be something everyone will be proud of and it is going to be a huge enhancement for Ocho Rios,” he said. “We are putting up a lot of signage so that visitors coming off the ships do not feel that they are coming on to a construction pier. We will put in place signs that will say we are doing major work to make Ocho Rios even better.”

The next phase will upgrade the main street and promenade from the cruise ship pier to the Ocean Village car park. The project is being funded by the Tourism Enhancement Fund and the Port Authority of Jamaica. Partners are the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment, the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, and the Urban Development Corporation.

By Theresa Norton Maesk, Travel Pulse

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Super Bowl-goers will have their tailgate parties, come hell or high water.

Organizers may have banned tailgating at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Feb. 2, but thanks to a beer-themed, 4,028-person cruise ship, the riotous pregame binge-drinking has been relocated to Hell’s Kitchen, much to residents’ dismay.

A Norwegian Getaway cruise ship will be temporarily converted into an enormous floating frat party from Jan. 30 to Feb. 3, DNAinfo reports. Renamed the Bud Light Hotel, this nautical beer-topia is scheduled to dock at Pier 88 alongside Hell’s Kitchen, where it will host concerts from bands like the Foo Fighters, Imagine Dragons and The Roots.

Ticket-holders and V.I.P. guests can expect a boozy, multiday Super Bowl bash. Hell’s Kitchen residents are less than excited about their new neighbors.

“We’re concerned about the diversion of our fire people, our police officers, as well as the noise that will inevitably irritate people,” resident Jean-Daniel Noland said at a recent Community Board 4 meeting. The relations between Hell’s Kitchen residents and incoming partiers are already strained. Following complaints from neighbors, Hell’s Kitchen gay bar Fairytale Lounge was raided and temporarily closed last month. Noise complaints also brought an early end to Pier of Fear, an electronic music festival hosted in Hell’s Kitchen over Halloween weekend last year.

Not only are locals concerned about possible disturbances from the Bud Light Hotel, but community board members claim they received no notification of the party destined to land on their shores. ”We are upset that we never heard of this,” board chairwoman Christine Berthet said at Monday night’s meeting. She and other officials learned of the event through media reports and have been forced to play catch-up with pier managers to obtain more details.

“One of the problems is that we don’t know much,” Elke Fears, president of the 47th/48th Streets Block Association, told DNAinfo. “If you know what to expect, you can prepare.” She, as well as other officials, residents and local businesses, may soon face the unwanted task of managing an influx of partygoers over Super Bowl weekend.

“Noise, noise, noise—it’s the fear that we have with any of these clubs that open up; it’s people going, getting drunk, making a lot of noise late at night. If the concert is open-air, it’s even worse than if it was on the pier,” Ms. Fears said. “It could be a long four days.”

By Kelly Weill, New York Observer

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The cruise ship LV Louis Cristal set sail from Havana on the first of its round-the-island trips, marking yet another effort to establish Cuba as an attractive and profitable cruise industry destination.

Cuba Cruise, based in Calgary, Canada, chartered the vessel this year for weekly sails through March 24 that will take on passengers in Havana or Montego Bay, Jamaica, for seven-day circumnavigations of the island for $746 and up.

The 1,200-passenger vessel will make stops in Havana, Holguin, Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos and Punta Frances on the Isle of Youth, and offer tours of beaches, nightclubs and colonial-era fortresses and architecture.

The Cristal, built in 1980, is owned and operated by the Cyprus-based Louis Cruises, which operates largely in the Mediterranean. Cuba Cruise was founded in January by cruise businessman Dougald Wells.

Several previous attempts to establish Cuba as a regular cruise destination have failed, in large part because of economic sanctions by the United States, which forbids U.S. tourism in Cuba and bars any ship that docks at Cuban ports from entering the U.S. for six months thereafter. The U.S. and Canada are the source of an estimated 70 percent of Caribbean cruise passengers, and most cruise ships plying Caribbean waters are based in South Florida.

Asked if Cuba Cruise would allow U.S. tourists to board the ship in Jamaica, Melissa Medeiro, media coordinator for Bannikin Travel and Tourism, a Canadian consultancy representing the company, said it was not up to Cuba Cruise to check on passengers.

"We encourage everyone to check with their local authorities," Medeiro said. "But Cuba does not impose any restrictions (on U.S. tourists), and Cuba Cruise does not discriminate against any nationality boarding the ship."

After decades of rejecting mass tourism, Cuba began opening its doors in the early 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and its massive subsidies to the island's communist government.

Spain's Sol Melia company launched one attempt in 1996, using the 840-passenger Melia-Don Juan for sailings from Cienfuegos on the south-central coast. The ship's Cuba itineraries appear to have stopped in late 1997.

The Russian-operated cruise ship Adriana, capable of carrying up to 300 passengers, sailed around the island at least four times in 2011. On one stop in Santiago, it disembarked 62 passengers, according to a Cuban news media report. There has been no mention of further dockings since then.

The 54,000-ton Thomson Dreams, capable of carrying up to 1,132 passengers, has made several ports of call in Havana in recent years with mostly British and other European passengers.

Cuba's cruise tourism business peaked in 2005 with 122 ships reportedly delivering 102,440 visitors _ an average of 840 per ship. But it has been in steady decline since then, according to the National Office for Statistics.

The office reported 30,000 cruise ship arrivals in 2006, 7,000 in 2007, 5,000 in 2008, 4,000 in 2009, 2000 in 2010, and a mere 1,000 in 2011.

Cuban officials have never explained the plunge in cruise arrivals. But Fidel Castro's comments in 2005 that cruise visitors spent little and left behind "rubbish, empty cans and paper" may have made Cuban officials less interested in dealing with cruise lines.

Jose Antonio Lopez, then-general manager of the state company that runs the country's four cruise terminals, told the Reuters news agency in 2008 that Cuba has the port capacity to receive 1 million cruise ship passengers and 600 ships a year. Havana alone can dock several ships of up to 70,000 tons, he added.

U.S. cruise industry officials have estimated it could take at least four years to update Cuba's ports so they can handle today's 150,000-plus-ton mega-cruise ships. The world's largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, weighs in at 225,000 tons and carries up to 5,400 passengers.

By CubaHeadlines.com

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The bay area faces three options that will decide the fate of its cruise ship industry: raise the Sunshine Skyway Bridge to allow megacruise ships of the future to pass beneath; build a new cruise terminal west of the bridge for megaships without having them go under the bridge; or do nothing and watch Tampa lose its cruise ship business to ports in New Orleans, Galveston, Houston and Mobile.

"Of course, if we do nothing," said Richard Biter, "eventually in 10 to 15 years, it's going to have a significantly negative impact on the cruise ship industry."

Biter is the Florida Department of Transportation's assistant secretary for intermodal systems development. His agency has undertaken two studies to look at the future of Florida's cruise ship market — and Tampa Bay's slice of that market.

The statewide study was completed in November. The second Tampa Bay-centric study, which was requested by the Port of Tampa, is expected to be finished by month's end.

But all the state can do is study these issues, Biter said. It is up to local authorities to decide the fate of cruise ships here, including the Tampa Port Authority, the Manatee County Port Authority and officials in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.

"The bottom line is it's got to be a local effort," Biter said. "The state is ready and willing to step up and see what we can do. But it's not going to be until everyone here comes together and says we do or don't want (cruise ships)."

According to the state, more than half the world's cruise ship fleet will switch to the megaships by 2016-17. The Skyway can handle cruise ships that measure 179 to 181 feet from top to the waterline. But megaships can sit as high as 225 feet above the waterline.

"The point is the ships that are currently serving Tampa are eventually going to be rotated out of the fleet," Biter said. "If we look at the market trends throughout the major part of the cruise industry, where they get the greatest return is on the megaships."

But one of those options isn't an option: The Skyway cannot be raised. Though some states are raising bridges to accommodate the massive cargo ships of the future, like the Bayonne Bridge in New Jersey, that can't happen here. The Skyway would have to be rebuilt, an incredibly expensive and highly unlikely option that is already off the table.

The second option would be to build a cruise ship terminal for the megaships west of the Skyway off the coast of Pinellas or Manatee counties. But that project would require major funding and have to clear numerous environmental hurdles.

"Can you do it? Yes," Biter said. "But is it the right thing to do?"

Or the bay area could do nothing, Biter said, and try to exist as a niche cruise ship market handling older, smaller ships sailing around the Caribbean.

But the megaship problem could still hurt Tampa Bay in the future, Biter said, if the federal government ever allows cruise ships to sail from the United States to Cuba. The Port of Tampa would also be shut out of that potential market as well because of the bridge height issue.

Despite the dim future, the local cruise ship market is actually growing. The Tampa Port Authority is adding cruise ships to its portfolio, extended its contract with Carnival Corp. and hopes to surpass 1 million passengers in fiscal year 2015.

By Jamal Thalji, Tampa Bay Times

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The tranquil waters of Key West have become the subject of a murky debate between locals and state officials who recently suggested that the city's port undergo major improvements to fuel tourism.

The Florida Department of Transportation released a 29-page report last week that stated, among other recommendations, that upgrades must be made to Key West's port in order to maintain cruise ship business.

The city has long been a popular port. It made $5.3 million in disembarkation fees in 2012 and has received 546,004 passengers from 215 port calls this year through September, according to the Port Operations Department.

Titled "Florida's Cruise Industry: A Statewide Perspective," the state report asserts that "improvements are needed to widen and deepen berth and channel areas, and such improvements have yet to enter the feasibility study stage. This is being viewed by cruise lines as a lack of commitment on the part of Key West to encourage cruise business, as it is difficult for cruise lines to make deployment decisions and commitments without knowing if their ships will be able to be accommodated."

It is unclear which cruise lines the report is referencing. The port is serviced by Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International.

New York-Themed Ship Takes Top Honors in Cruise Awards

"I can tell you that all Carnival Cruise Lines ships currently fit in the Key West channel," Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz said, adding that company officials had not read the state's report.

Other cruise lines did not respond to ABC News' requests for comment.

But the president and CEO of the Cruise Lines International Association, Christine Duffy, did make a general statement in support of the report upon its release.

"As this report highlights, Florida and the cruise industry share a unique relationship in furthering the state's economic development and prosperity," she said. "The cruise industry is proud of the contributions it makes to Florida and we look forward to continuing to work with the state and numerous local stakeholders to advance mutually beneficial and sustainable growth."

Whether that growth will include the changes to Key West's port remains uncertain.

Voters shot down a referendum last month to conduct a study on the feasibility for dredging and widening the channel. The Key West Committee for Responsible Tourism opposes such an endeavor, citing the potential ecological impact.

The state Department of Transportation analysis was "trite and tired," committee spokesman Jolly Benson told KeysNet.

By Joanna Prisco, Good America America

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Dozens of cruise ship passengers were stranded in Miami after their car keys were lost after paying valets for three days of parking.

The passengers were greeted by a stunning site at the Premier Parking Ventures parking lot at Northwest 8th Street and 1st Court on Monday. Dozens of keys were strewn around the lot and dozens of people said they were not able to find their keys.

It was not clear what caused this confusion. Some passengers said they had heard that some valets were upset because they had not been paid and had intentionally misplaced keys.

“It’s exhausting,” said Maria Perez of Tampa. “Getting off a cruise after having a wonderful week and coming back and dealing with a headache of an unorganized, irresponsible and ridiculous company.”

Perez told CBS4’s Peter D’Oench, “We would like our car keys to get home to our families.”

Perez and her friend Yvonne Fernandez told D’Oench they had been on the 3-day Aventura Dance Cruises to the Bahamas that left on Friday and returned Monday.

“I am unhappy because now I have to pay $400 to get my key copied because I have a computerized key,” said Fernandez.

“So I am not happy. I will be visiting the corporate office at Premier Parking Ventures in Tampa when I get back and I will be looking for a refund and other stuff.”

Perez and Fernandez had to leave their white Jeep Cherokee behind. Stranded passenger Scott Wierzbinski and his family from Stuart were not able to get into their silver Hyundai.

“I’m really upset,” said Wierzbinski. “I want to get my car keys so I can go home. This is supposed to be a secure lot where cars are protected and safe and they were not.”

D’Oench tried to get a comment from valets on the lot but he was told to contact the corporate office for the company and was told to leave the parking lot.

CBS4 made several calls to the company’s corporate office in Tampa but was not able to reach anyone for a comment on this Veteran’s Day.

D’Oench reported that there could be additional problems on Tuesday as additional cruise ship passengers will return to the parking lot.

By CBS4 Miami

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The Carnival Conquest left the Port of New Orleans for the eastern Caribbean on Saturday.

It won't be coming back.

The Times-Picayune Item reports (http://bit.ly/1axw000 ) that Carnival Cruise Lines is repositioning the 2,984-passenger Conquest from New Orleans to Miami, making way for the Carnival Sunshine to arrive in New Orleans on Nov. 17.

The Sunshine, formerly known as the Destiny, recently underwent a $155 million, 75-day makeover in dry dock. The 3,002-passenger ship is on a trans-Atlantic journey now from Barcelona, Spain to New Orleans.

The Sunshine's stay in New Orleans is temporary. In April, the company is bringing in the larger, 3,646-passenger Carnival Dream from Port Canaveral, Fla. It will offer year-round, seven-day Caribbean trips from New Orleans.

The Sunshine will move to its new home at Port Canaveral.

By Associated Press

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