Maybe its because we are getting close to the end of the year, but there seems to be a lot of big stories this week.
First off…The most tragic story of the week involved two separate cases of women going overboard, one on a P&O ship near Australia and the other on an MSC ship off the coast of Florida. On the 13th, a 23-year-old woman fell overboard the Pacific Explorer just before midnight. Despite the ship immediately beginning rescue operations, the woman’s body wasn’t located until just before 7am the next morning. A 36-year-old woman died after going overboard the MSC Meraviglia on Thursday. According to passengers, the woman went overboard around 5 in the morning off the coast of Florida and was located a few hours later. As in most cases, neither of these instances had a happy ending, which is what made the Thanksgiving Miracle such a unique outcome. My heart goes out to the family members of these women.
Lately it seems that every few days we are hearing about cruise lines raising costs in some way, cutting services in another, and now even laying off workers. Many who have never cruised before see cruising as a luxury vacation option, yet those within the cruising community have long known that cruising can be an affordable vacation option. If things continue the way they are going the days of cruising being cheaper than a land-based vacation may be over.
According to an SEC filing, Norwegian Cruise Line has reduced the size of their shoreside employee base by 9%. Imagine getting that news right before Christmas! In their statement NCL said they, “carried out a workforce reduction and rightsizing to better align the Company’s workforce with its strategic priorities and prepare for its future growth…” which is a pretty fancy way of saying they fired around 300 people. This comes right on the heals of Norwegian raising gratuities by around 20% and limiting crew access to guest areas on ship.
Royal Caribbean goes to one turn-down a day as a test run on at least one ship. Of course we all know how often these “tests” become standard procedure. Personally, I don’t know why people need their cabin cleaned twice in a day. That seems super bougie to me. There are people all bent out of shape about having to make their own bed after an afternoon nap. I just wonder how many of these same people even make their bed every single morning? Royal has also shut down Diamond Plus members’ access to the concierge lounge. Apparently there are just too many qualifying for the perk nowadays. Most likely this surge in numbers was partly the fault of double points being given to cruisers for a short time after cruising resumed post shutdown. The loss of perks and standard services is just one more example of how cruising is changing.
Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas had its floating out ceremony, which is a major moment in any ship building process. This is the first time a new ship touches water. Are you one of those who has already booked on this new massive, resort-style ship? The biggest ship I’ve been on so far is the Carnival Dream, which is a medium size ship at best. Our next 3 sailings are all on bigger and bigger ships, but none compare to Royal’s huge ships. Personally, I’m not sure that I would enjoy these mega ships, but many out there do. Are you one of them? Drop a comment below and let me know what is the biggest ship you’ve been on so far.
Royal Caribbean and Carnival both opened 2024-25 Caribbean cruises for booking this week. Carnival is now planning to sail from Norfolk Virginia year-round to the Caribbean. You can book a 6 or 8 day cruise on the Carnival Sunshine, which plans to begin sailing from the port in Norfolk on February 18, 2025.
Carnival has announced multiple cancelations on future sailings. The Vista will go into dry dock in early 2024, cancelling several weeks of cruises. Guests will be able to rebook with price protection at a later date, book on a different ship, or get a full refund. It’s not been announced what Carnival has planned for the Vista during its dry dock, but many suspect the propulsion system will go through an overhaul. The Vista entered service in 2016 and was last dry docked in July of 2019. This comes on the heals of the announcement that the Jubilee, Carnival’s next XL class ship, has had to cancel several of its sailings, including its transatlantic and inaugural sailings due to supply chain issues delaying completion. We are booked on both ships but so far are unaffected. We will be on the Jubilee at the end of January 2024, and I’m really hoping there won’t be any more delays. There were two reason why we chose to book when we did: 1. We didn’t want to be on an inaugural sailing or any of those in the first few weeks. And 2. I was afraid there would be a good chance that the ship’s launch could be delayed. And it was.
One of our “home” ports, Galveston, is looking at expanding and adding a fourth cruise terminal. Right now, Carnival and Royal Caribbean both regularly sail out of Galveston. Royal just recently opened their new $125 million dollar, energy efficient terminal there, and Norwegian is planning to begin home-porting the Prima in Galveston in 2023. While this fourth terminal isn’t going to be built in the next few years, MSC has shown interest in operating out of Galveston as it continues to expand operations in the US. For those of us located in the central part of the US, having more options within driving distance is quite the boon, and I for one am all for it!
We will end our week with a positive story.
Thursday, December 15, Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas rescued 22 refugees spotted on an over-crowded boat in the waters north of Cuba. The refugees were seen waving their arms indicating distress. It’s been reported that the small boat was taking on water and sinking. The refugees were brought aboard ship and given food and water before being handed over to the US Coast Guard. They may not have made it to their destination, but it looks like without the assistance of The Symphony, lives would have been lost. I think it’s an amazing how ocean going vessels work together whenever there is any sign of distress out in the open waters.
Cruising From The Ozarks 