SOLAS 2010 - More Classic Ships Headed to Alang?

 Mona Lisa at her Squamish, British Columbia dock.

Photo ©2010 Aaron Saunders

October 1, 2010 is a very important date for older cruise vessels and their many followers, but not for a positive reason.  This is the date that new requirements, called SOLAS 2010, come into effect - and render many classic vessels obsolete.

What is SOLAS 2010, exactly?  Well, SOLAS stands for Safety of Life at Sea and 2010 merely refers to the year of effect.  The governing body behind SOLAS actually dates back to 1914 and was formed in response to the Titanic disaster two years prior.

There have been successive versions of SOLAS intended to improve the saftey of passengers at sea, but these restrictions were normally only for newbuild ships and did not apply to existing vessels.  SOLAS 2010, however, is designed to bring older vessels up to the same high standards as new cruise ships, through the use of fire-resistant materials and other enhancements like the elimination of maze-like stateroom corridors, better emergency lighting, fire suppression systems, and the location and placement of alarm and sprinkler systems in passenger areas.

Interestingly, these amendments have been a long time coming: the initial laws were drafted back in 1994, on October 1st, to be precise.  All ships built prior to 1994 were given 16 years - or until October 1, 2010 - to comply.

Many newbuilds built in the early 1990s already complied and exceeded the new directives, but most classic passenger liners, and even some vessels built in the 1970's and 1980's, did not.  Classic liners tend to have lots of real wood panelling in public areas, maze-like cabin corridors, and spotty fire suppression systems, if any. 

In 2010, there are still a few of these vessels left - some are being refitted at tremendous expense to the cruise line, while others have sailed on with the full knowledge that, before the year is out, they will be withdrawn from service and find themselves headed for Alang, India - a place where ships are driven at full speed onto shore, and then cut apart piece by piece.

What ships are affected?  The Mona Lisa, for one.  Built in 1966 by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland as the MS Kungsholm, her most recent assignment has been as a floating hotel for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.  Still tied up in Squamish, British Columbia, she faces an uncertain future at the end of the month.  Potential plans are in the works for her to function as a floating hotel in Gothenburg, Sweden - but these have yet to be confirmed.

One ship with a less rosy outlook is the SS United States.  Once the pride of the United States Lines fleet and current holder of the Blue Riband for fastest transatlantic crossing in 3 days, 12 hours and 12 minutes, the ship has spent the better part of her life languishing at a dock in Philadelphia.  Stripped of her interiors and once top-secret engines, she experienced a brief ray of hope in 2003 when NCL purchased the ship outright, hinting at plans to refurbish and return her to service for their NCLA Hawaii brand.

Those plans never came to fruition, however, and earlier this year it was reported that NCL was entertaining bids from scrap merchants for the vessel, citing $800,000 per year upkeep costs.  The SS United States Conservancy has indicated they would like to purchase the vessel, but are financially unable to do so.  They were reportedly in talks with NCL, who did give them right of first refusal, but have yet to come to an agreement.

Many people would be thrilled to see the United States sail again.  However, with the state of the economy and the costs of transforming a half-century old vessel into a modern cruise liner, the chances of that happening look slim indeed.  Expect many watery eyes when the old girl is towed out into the Atlantic, and heads for India.

But the most frightening prospect for maritime buffs may be yet to come. 

Since being sold to Dubai interests in 2008, the Queen Elizabeth 2 has sat idle at her berth after plans to convert her into a floating hotel and convention centre stalled.  She then moved under her own power to drydock, with the hopes of sailing to Cape Town, South Africa to be used as a floating hotel for the 2010 World Cup Soccer season.  Despite undergoing an exterior repainting to freshen her up for this appearance, those plans have fallen through as well.  The QE2 has returned to her dock and tied up.

Rumors around the ship are swirling, with many expecting her current owners, Nakheel Properties, to want to offload the ship and her associated costs. 

The danger here is that QE2's plans to live on as a floating hotel may fall through.  While she comes closer to complying with the SOLAS 2010 regulations, without another substantial and costly refit, she will be inelegible to sail after October 1, 2010 - making a visit to Alang all the more likely - a move that would be devastating to maritime enthusiasts and historians everywhere.

We will of course keep you updated on the fates of all three of these unique and still glamorous vessels.

One Heck of a Shore Excursion

Today, we were originally going to do an entry on the state of the Mona Lisa.  That was until we ran across this press release from Crystal Cruises.

Passengers on Crystal Symphony heading to St. Petersburg, Russia this summer are in for a treat: an overnight excursion to Star City, Russia's former top-secret cosmonaut training facility located in the secluded forests outside Moscow.  Crystal guests have the ability to participate in some of the same training that present-day Russian cosmonauts have to go through.

Crystal has gone one step farther, and divided the program into four separate excursions:

The Hydrospace "Final Challenge": participants in this excursion will have the opportunity to partcipate in what is considered to be the most advanced cosmonaut training.  Guests will have to install an antenna on a replica of the international space station - while outfitted with full space suit - and submerged in 54,000 square feet of water!

Centrifuge G-Force Experience: this gives guests the ability to experience the same forces astronauts experience on blast-off, orbit, and re-entry in a specially-reserved, 300-ton centrifuge.

 Zero Gravity Weightlessness Adventure: exactly like it sounds, this gives guests the opportunity to experience full weightlessness at least ten times as they embark on a flight aboard the world's largest parabola aircraft.  A similar aircraft was used during the filming of Apollo 13 to provide weightlessness to the actors and crew.

Russia's Quest Beyond the Earth: this allows guests to pull back the 'iron curtain' for a detailed look at the Russian Space Program during the 1950's and beyond.

All shore excursions include roundtrip airfare from St. Petersburg to Moscow, overnight hotel accomodation and a full-day Moscow city tour that includes the Kremlin and Red Square.

John Stoll, Crystal's Director of Land Programs, states that the excursions have been two years in the making, and reflect Crystal's desire to provide guests with unique and innovative experiences.

As you might have guessed, these are going to be a little more expensive than your average excursion.  Cosmonaut Training Excursion fares start at $4,395 and run all the way to $32,995 US per person for "The Final Challenge."

While that puts the excursion in the realm of pure fantasy for a lot of cruisers (and, let's face it, myself!), Crystal should be applauded for offering a truly unique experience to those guests with the cash to burn - or are simply eager for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

For more information on these excursions, as well as Crystal Symphony's 2010 Baltic itineraries, visit the Crystal Cruises website.

The Death of West Coast Cruises?

While the market for cruises in places like Australia, Europe, the United Arab Emirates, and Asia is rapidly expanding, there is an area very close to home for many North American cruisers that has seen a substantial decline in rapid years: West Coast cruises, be they to Alaska, Hawaii, or the Mexican Riviera.

Alaska's problems started back in 2006 when the state announced an initiative to introduce a Passenger Head Tax to the tune of $50 per passenger, per ship.  The state also stipulated that a licensed environmental officer, picked by the State of Alaska, should sail onboard each vessel to monitor environmental issues and waste management (no waste water, regardless of treatment, can be pumped overboard while in state waters.)

The environmental concerns were laudable.  What was less palatable to the cruise lines, however, was the tax itself - which would have to be passed on to the customer - as well as the requirement that a certain portion of revenue from onboard casinos be turned over to the state.  All the major lines heavily protested this tax, which nonetheless was passed into law, to almost overwhelming public support.  Alaska remains unique as a cruise destination in that a majority of citizens don't really want - or even like - the average cruise passenger. 

Once 2007 rolled around, state lawmakers and citizens patted themselves on the back: all ships present for the 2006 season would return for the summer 2007 season.  What they failed to realize is that itineraries and fleet deployments are planned years in advance.  In 2009, the first of the cuts were announced:  Royal Caribbean would pull Serenade of the Seas from Vancouver, deploying her year-round in the Caribbean instead.  Then NCL pulled Norwegian Sun out, moving her to Dover to do Baltic cruises for 2010-2011.  Princess eliminated one ship.  Carnival repositioned one ship. 

Even as recently as last spring, lawmakers and public supporters dug their heels in: no way were they giving in.  This time, though, public support was not as strong after revealing that the head tax was used not to expand port-related infrastructure, but to build a new zoo instead.

Hawaii has had it even worse.  Many cruise ships used to swing by Hawaii several times either on their way to or from Alaska, and at one time no less than three lines continually offered roundtrip cruises from Los Angeles or San Diego to Hawaii.

That all changed in 2004 with the launch of NCLA.  An off-shoot of Norwegian Cruise Line, NCLA received special support from both the Hawaiian and United States Governments to operate cruises roundtrip from Honolulu, including re-registering Norwegian Sky in the United States and renaming her Pride of Aloha.

Roundtrip Honolulu cruises have been rarely done because of an obscure little law called the Jones Act.  Passed in 1920, at what could be termed the height of the transatlantic and transpacific trades, the act was designed to limit the influence foreign vessels had over United States vessels operating in US waters.  The law also stipulated that, unless a ship was built in the United States, it could not sail from one US port to another without stopping in a 'distant foreign port.'

This is why Alaska cruises departing from Seattle stop for about five hours in Victoria, BC - to clear the Jones Act, which is still enforced today.  Bypassing that requirement nets cruise lines - and potentially passengers - a hefty fine.

The only way to do a roundtrip Honolulu cruise with a foreign-flagged ship (of which all cruise ships are) is to stop at distant Fanning Island - something NCL did with the Norwegian Wind prior to 2004, but which was unpredictable at best and increased the length of the cruise to 10 days.

So most lines relegated themselves to sailing LA to Hawaii, and calling - very, very briefly - in Ensenada, Mexico on the way back.

When NCLA received special support to re-flag one of their ships, the other lines cried foul.  And why not?  They weren't just allowed to re-flag a ship registered in the Bahamas and built in Europe, so how could NCL?

NCLA responded by turning the screws on their political connections, who came down hard on the lines: not only were they not allowed to compete in the same market directly, the US Government announced it would be reviewing the 'service calls' being made to Ensenada, Mexico.  Several Senators made motions to pass laws requiring the lines to not only spend time in a foreign port, but a full twenty-four hours.  This would make a 14-day Hawaiian cruise almost impossible.

What the United States may not have fully grasped at the time was that this would decimate the Seattle-to-Alaska runs by requiring ships to overnight for 24 hours in Victoria, and would severely impact Canada/New England cruises operating out of Boston and New York.  Still, in 2007 and 2008, they stuck to their guns.

And it worked.

Most lines realized they couldn't compete with NCLA's back-door approach, and despite the fact NCLA was suffering from monstrously negative reviews regarding service (or lack thereof) from the all-American crew, the other lines pulled out. 

Today, only Princess and Holland America operate regular roundtrip cruises from LA and San Diego to Hawaii.  A host of other lines do between one and two cruises per year - and some not at all - between Hawaii and Vancouver, or Hawaii and Ensenada, but the latter is relatively unpopular due to the hassle of getting from the nearest airport - San Diego - to Ensenada, about two hours away.

NCLA's strategy, ironically, may have worked too well - the market in Hawaii wasn't enough to sustain three full-time ships dedicated to basically the same itinerary.  In 2008, NCL pulled Pride of Hawaii out of service, renamed her Norwegian Jade, and repositioned her to the more lucrative Mediterranean.
Pride of Aloha was also pulled and reverted back to her previous name, Norwegian Sky.  She currently operates three and four day Bahamas runs from Miami.

Currently, Pride of America is the only ship NCLA has doing the Hawaiian run from Honolulu.

Which brings us to the Mexican Riviera.  The decline here has been slower, and has seen some boosts, like Royal Caribbean repositioning Mariner of the Seas to LA to operate year-round trips to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta - marking the first time a Voyager-class ship had even been to the West Coast, let alone operate from there.

Celebrity used to deploy one ship to the Mexican Riviera, which stopped after the 2006 season.  NCL, which used to operate longer runs on the Norwegian Star before reverting to the standard 7-day run in 2009, has announced that in 2011 it will move Norwegian Star to the Caribbean, where she will do cruises out of Tampa.

Curiously missing from the announcement is which ship will replace the Star on the West Coast.  In this omission can be found the answer.

Is West Coast cruising dead?  Not yet, but the options are far more few and far between than they were even five years ago.  For now, the majority of West Coast passengers who want to do something more than Alaska or Mexico will have to fly farther and longer to be able to do so.

QM2 Goes Down Under in 2012

 

Queen Mary 2 at Sea.

Photo Courtesy of Cunard Line 

I love the QM2.

Frankly, I think it might just be the best and most exciting ship in the entire cruise industry - which is saying a lot.  And for 28 days in 2012, Australians get to claim the ship as their 'own' as QM2 circumnavigates the country as part of its World Cruise.

There are a lot of firsts on this Royal Circumnavigation of Australia: QM2 is still the largest ship to have visited the country, and this voyage marks the longest duration that QM2 has been based away from her homeports of Southampton, England and Brooklyn, New York. 

But the QM2 is known as a ship of many firsts, and this occasion proves that once more, with maiden calls to Cairns, Darwin, Melbourne and Brisbane.

While bookings for these exciting voyages won't be open until mid-2010, Cunard will be taking "expressions of interest" - which is a fancy term for mailing list - starting this Friday, March 12, at this site.

Considering that parent company Cunard hasn't even released full voyage and booking details from March 2011 and on, this tantalizing glimpse of a cruise that is still almost two full years off is clearly meant to drum up interest and enthusiasm from both worldwide cruisers and cruisers down under.

If this voyage interests you, start saving your pennies and be sure to complete the form listed above: this is one voyage that will sell out fast.

For more information, visit Cunard Australia.

Escape Completely...At Your Own Risk

The cruise industry can't seem to get a break.

We've been following a situation that has been developing since last week's devastating earthquake in Chile, resulting in hundreds of deaths and the closure or damage of much of the Chilean infrastructure, including Santiago International Airport.

The problem?  Star Princess was supposed to turn around in Valparaiso, Chile this week.  Many passengers on the March 2nd voyage assumed they would be diverted to another port, and waited to hear more from Princess Cruises.

The word from Princess: make your way to Santiago, and then on to Valparaiso.  The cruise is still on.

Santiago airport is operating at a very minimal level due to damage incurred in the magnitude 8.8 quake.  Most commercial flights into the airport were canceled outright.  Princess pushed the sail date from March 2nd to March 3rd, then to March 4th due to problems docking in Santiago, and disembarking current guests, many of whom can't go home either.

But Princess has a deal for them: pony up the cash.  Princess actually charged paying passengers money to stay onboard from March 2nd to March 4th. $50 per person, per day, for inside and outside cabins, $75 per person, per day for balcony cabins or higher.  In times of operational delays, most cruise lines usually take it on the chin as a gesture of goodwill. 

Their reasoning?  You'd be paying for a hotel anyway, so why not pay us?

In the meantime, reports on Cruisecritic have exploded with anger over Princess's handling of the situation, with many reporting finding out from their airlines first.  A few even report their flights being canceled, and Princess still reporting that flights were operating as normal.

The most troublesome posts come from those who purchased their airfare with the line.  Normally, the cruise line bears some semi-responsibility for getting your flights re-routed in order to join the ship.  Not so this time: many guests report complete radio silence from Princess, or misinformation altogether.  Some guests have been traveling since Saturday, reaching Santiago and Valparaiso after four to five days of air travel.

Princess says roughly 400 guests from the previous voyage elected to stay onboard for this voyage at the agreed upon daily rate being charged to their accounts in order to disembark in another port.  They say an additional 700 guests from the March 2nd sailing managed to reach Santiago - a number that seems excessively high when, in previous statements, they have said less than 300 passengers (out of 2,600) made it to Santiago.

Passengers also report their insurance companies are advising them not to travel to Chile, as there is a government advisory cautioning against all unnecessary or leisure travel to that country.  Which means if passengers do go, or attempt to go (as Princess wants them to), their insurance companies won't pay up.  This will come as very bad news to all those who tried desperately to make their way to Santiago via Buenos Aires or Rio, or those who chose to fly on to the next port of call - only to have that port dropped when Princess announced the itinerary change earlier this week.

While we understand that there are situations well beyond Princess's control, it is odd that they seem to have little recognition, caring, or understanding of the situations faced by their passengers who stand not only to loose their vacation, but their money as well.

The line posted a Q&A with CruiseCritic yesterday - rather than clearing the issue up, it seems to be damaging their credibility further.  Filled with boiler-plate responses and outright refusal to answer certain questions,  the line is digging its heels in.

Star Princess did sail yesterday - almost nine hours late, due to Chilean immigration problems.  No word on what effect this will have on the already-modified itinerary.

We've enjoyed - and will continue to enjoy - many wonderful vacations with Princess.  Their reaction to this unforseen force majeure, however, has many passengers questioning the strange and sometimes bizarre motivations of the line.

UPDATE: Louis Majesty - Video Posted

Update: 1:09pm PST

A blog containing an extended version of the footage shown on CNN is notable in that it shows the progression of the seas before the accident.  


It also shows the moments just before the wave hit the ship.  It looks as though the lounge is in the process of being evacuated when the wave crashes through - numerous passengers can be seen coming out quickly, and a crew member can be heard in the background just before the accident. 


Tomorrow, we will be resuming with our regular cruise coverage in an attempt to document the more enjoyable aspects of cruising.  This event is clearly a tragedy, and we wish the families of the victims, the passengers, and the crew and staff of Louis Cruise Lines all the best.  This is clearly a difficult ordeal for everyone involved.

CNN has now posted video footage taken by a passenger of the accident onboard Louis Majesty yesterday.

The footage shows the moment the waves slammed through the windows of the forward lounge, and the resulting wave that swept through the public spaces of the ship.  In one shot, water can be seen cascading down what is most likely the forward stairwell and elevator bank.

Editor's note: while there is nothing graphic about this video, it is disturbing to see, particularly as the water crashes through the lounge windows, causing people to scream and run away.  I think it is worth re-iterating that this is an extraordinary - and completely uncommon - incident for a wave to have caused such damage.

UPDATE: Next Louis Majesty Cruise Cancelled

The next voyage onboard Louis Majesty has been cancelled in the wake of yesterday's accident to allow for repairs to the windows on deck five, which broke yesterday after the ship was hit in quick succession by three large waves, resulting in the deaths of two passengers and injuring an additional fourteen.

Louis Cruises said in a statement that the work will be continued out in the port of Barcelona, with the ship sailing on to Genoa, Italy where she will resume her published schedule on March 12. 

The ship arrived safely last night in Barcelona, where the injured passengers were treated.  The remaining passengers are set to disembark this morning.

We will again keep you updated as the situation progresses.