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A Guide to Intelligent Travel

Today's Cruise News from Cruise Industry Wire

A Guide to Intelligent Travel

Coverage of the hottest trends in cruising, descriptions of major cruise ships, and tips on how to get the most out of your trip from Frommers.com's resident cruise expert.

Ugly news from Alaska: Earlier this week, near Tracy Arm fjord, crew aboard Princess Cruises' 2,670-passenger Sapphire Princess discovered a dead 43-foot humpback whale wedged between the vessel's prow and its underwater bulbous bow. The Coast Guard and National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were notified, and briefly detained the ship while the whale's body was removed.

Originally, the whale was thought to be a juvenile, but tests conducted yesterday determined that she was in fact an adult female.

At present, it's not clear whether the whale was struck and killed by Sapphire Princess or was already dead when she became lodged in the bow. According to the Juneau Empire, the NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement is conducting an investigation of the incident to determine if the vessel was at fault.

This is the third time in a decade that a Princess ship has been involved in a whale strike, following incidents in 2007 and 2009. The 2009 incident also involved Sapphire Princess.

Princess has released the following statement on the incident:

We were surprised and concerned by this discovery, as the ship felt no impact. It is unknown how or when this could have happened, as we were not aware that any whales were sighted in close proximity to the ship when the whale was discovered.

We have strict whale avoidance procedures in place when our ships are in the vicinity of marine life. Upon discovering the whale, we immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Marine Fisheries Service for further assistance. Under their direction and assistance, the whale was removed and taken ashore inside Stephens Passage, south of Douglas Island. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will now conduct a necropsy and further examination of the mammal. We are fully cooperating with the investigation into this incident.

The arrival of Sapphire Princess into Juneau was delayed two and half hours and the ship arrived at 4:30 p.m. local time.

We take our responsibility to be good stewards of the marine environment very seriously, and have clear guidelines for our ships on how to operate if whales are sighted nearby, which include altering course and reducing speed as required.

Yesterday I wrote about the feasibility study being conducted by Brownsville, Texas, to determine if its commercial docks can support a viable cruise ship homeporting operation. Today comes word that another southerly town, lovely Savannah, Georgia, is also looking into the possibility of becoming a homeport.

According to the Savannah Morning News, the city council has just approved $129,500 for a feasibility study to suss out the upsides and downsides to revving up a cruise operation out of the historic city. Savannah is already a huge tourist draw for its lovely, walkable historic district, its distinguished architecture, its lush parks, and its great Riverwalk along the Savannah River — not to mention the fantastic Saint Patrick's Day Parade it puts on every year (the nation's second-largest, FYI, after New York).

Nearby and equally lovely Charleston, SC, reportedly sees about $1 million in economic benefit every time a large cruise ships calls — a fact that can't help but have figured into Savannah's new cruise interest.

The feasibility study is expected to take about six months to complete, so we'll see. Personally, I think the city would make a fantastic port — not just for homeporting but for port calls on cruises sailing from elsewhere.

Something's going on in Texas. I don't know what it is, but all the recent "Best Cities for New Grads" type lists seem to have three or four Texas cities on them, and even my toddler son's first nanny skedaddled down there a few months ago, seeking bigger, greener pastures. In the context of this blog, we have to wonder, "What does this mean for cruising?"

Of course we have an answer, and the answer is "Brownsville."

Seems the southernmost city in Texas, located on the banks of the Rio Grande and so just steps from Mexico, is beginning a feasibility study to determine its potential as a cruise port of embarkation. This makes some sense, since the city's existing commercial port lies only 17 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, at the end of a long, straight channel. Brownsville itself is located two miles from the channel's western end, while the popular resorts of South Padre Island lie at its eastern end, on the Gulf. The town of Matamoros, Mexico, lies just across the Rio Grande. The area's climate is semi-tropical, and the local culture is a mix of Texan and Mexican.

According to Deputy Port Director Donna Eymard, construction of a cruise port and infrastructure has been under consideration for some time. "We believe that the District is well positioned geographically to attract cruise ship operations," she said this week via a media statement, "and we are prepared to make it happen."

The Port of Brownsville is currently all cargo and industry, acting as a link between Mexican land routes and U.S. inland waterways. It's also home to some 230 companies engaged in ship and railcar repair, boat and offshore oil rig construction, storage and distribution, and waste oil recovery, among other things.

This morning, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010 (H.R. 3360), designed to enhance the personal security of American passengers aboard cruise ships.

"We have a responsibility to ensure the safety of the millions of Americans who will board cruise ships this year," said Sen. Kerry in a statement released today by his office. "This law will finally do away with the murky lines of jurisdiction that have put American cruise ship passengers at risk in the past."

Most cruise ships are not registered in the United States, so crimes committed aboard ship in international waters fall under the jurisdiction of the ship's country of registry.

Specifically, the act:

• Requires cruise lines to install 42-inch guardrails on open decks, peep holes in the doors or all passenger and crew cabins, on-deck video surveillance systems, and emergency sound systems, if their vessels are not currently so outfitted.
• Establishes a structure between the cruise industry, the FBI, and the Coast Guard, including requirements that each ship maintain a log book to record all deaths, missing persons, alleged crimes, and passenger/crewmember complaints regarding theft, sexual harassment, and assault.
• Requires cruise ships to carry rape kits, anti-retroviral medications, and a trained forensic sexual assault specialist.
• Establishes a program designed by the Secretary of Transportation and the FBI to train appropriate crew members in crime prevention, detection, evidence preservation, and reporting of criminal activities in international waters. 
• Mandates that cruise lines make available a printed security guide that describes the jurisdictional authority for crimes committed onboard and provides contact information for medical and security personnel on board. Ships must also keep a document in each stateroom listing the locations of the U.S. embassy/consulate in each country to be visited on the cruise itinerary.
• Mandates creation of a publicly accessible website that will keep a tally of crimes committed aboard ship, aggregated by cruise line and noting whether the crime was committed by a passenger or crewmember.

The act applies to all cruise ships that carry 250 passengers or more, has overnight passenger accommodations, embarks or debarks from the U.S., and "is not engaged on a coastwise voyage." Guidelines, training curricula, and other details will be provided to the cruise lines with six months, and most provisions of the act will go into effect in 18 months. Any vessel found to be in contravention of the new law can be barred from entering the U.S.

"The President’s signature on this legislation is a significant milestone for American consumers and the traveling public," said Congresswoman Matsui in her own statement.  "H.R. 3360 will improve the safety and security of all cruise ship passengers traveling in and out of U.S. waters, and provide common-sense security measures to prevent crimes from occurring—and protections and support for victims and their families if and when they do."

Officially, the cruise lines are OK with the act too, with Cruise Lines International Association President and CEO Terry Dale quoted in the Kerry press release as saying that "the new law [will] bring greater consistency and clarity of security laws and regulations for our industry."

It nearly came to that on Sunday for passengers aboard Princess Cruises' Emerald Princess. About 90 minutes after departing Ft. Lauderdale for a weeklong eastern Caribbean cruise, the 113,000-ton, 3,070-passenger vessel lost all power, leaving it essentially dead in the water. Navigational equipment and engines went dead, as did lighting and air-conditioning. Power reappeared sporadically over the next four hours before being restored fully around 11pm, but by then the night's dinner and entertainment had gone irrevocably FUBAR, and the next day's planned call to Princess Cays, the line's private Bahamian resort, had to be cancelled.

A steamy and inconvenient way to start a cruise, but at least it gives the passengers a good story.

According to Princess's official statement on the incident, "At no time was there any danger to the ship or its passengers and crew, and the ship has been given clearance from the United States Coast Guard" to continue its planned itinerary. Princess is still working to determine the exact cause of the outage, though a computer malfunction is suspected. The line is also still working up a plan to compensate passengers for the Princess Cays cancellation.

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