Asbury Park Press
25 shows the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia off the Isola del Giglio. / ASSOCIATED PRESS | Associated Press NEW YORK — The year has barely begun, but it’s already a major disappointment for the cruise industry. It was supposed to be the year that prices stabilized following widespread discounting after the recession. But just two weeks into the year, 32 people died when the Costa Concordia sank off the coast of Italy. Then late last month, another Costa ship — the Allegra — caught fire and lost power, leaving passengers without working toilets, running water or air conditioning for three days.
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Carnival Cruises
Category
Carnival in rough seas as cruise season starts
Wall Street Journal
AP NEW YORK — Carnival Corp. cut its profit forecast nearly in half Friday, another sign of the challenges the company and cruise industry face after the capsizing of the Costa Concordia in January. Cruise line operators entered 2012 thinking they could start charging passengers more again after offering widespread discounts following the 2007-2009 recession. But just two weeks into the year, 32 people died when Carnival’s Costa Concordia sank off the coast of Italy.
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Costa Concordia owners consider six proposals to remove vessel
Fox News
ROME – The Italian owners of the Costa Concordia ship that capsized off the Tuscan coast are considering six proposals to remove the vessel — a massive, yearlong operation that may involve breaking up the massive liner. Costa Crociere SpA said in a statement Friday that each plan submitted for bidding consideration envisages a 10-12 month salvage operation. And each one focuses on ensuring the least environmental impact around the tiny island of Giglio, which is in a marine sanctuary, Costa said.
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Carnival and Royal Caribbean ships getting major makeovers
South Florida Business Journal
Shares of cruise companies may be in the doldrums, but that’s not stopping Carnival Cruise Lines from preparing its biggest ship makeover ever: a $155 million project that will add 182 cabins to the Carnival Destiny.The ship will be redubbed the Carnival Sunshine as the cruise line expands two decks and adds onto another one, according to a March 6 announcement.
NAVIGATING ROUGH SEAS
U-T San Diego
By AP & BLOOMBERG NEWS Several new incidents involving vessels of Miami-based Carnival Corp., parent of the Italian owner of the Costa Concordia passenger liner that ran aground off Italy in January, are clouding the world’s biggest cruise operator’s recovery as peak booking season enters its final leg. About two weeks ago, 22 passengers from the Carnival Splendor were robbed during a land excursion in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and two of the company’s British ships were turned away in Argentina after visiting the Falkland Islands, as part of a long-running dispute between the South American country and the United Kingdom.
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Sink or swim
Muse
The CBC acknowledged that the demand for cruises has dropped 15 to 20 per cent in the weeks after the cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground off Italy’s coast. A few weeks ago when passengers were enjoying Mexico’s scenery, 22 passengers were robbed by hooded gunmen, and three major liners—Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Sea and Princess Cruise lines’ Ruby Princess and Crown Princess—all experienced outbreaks of the Norwalk virus, causing some guests to have a pretty shitty time.
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Raw video: Helicopters deliver food to Costa Allegra passengers
GlobalNews.ca
Six weeks ago, Allegra’s sister ship, the Costa Concordia, hit a reef and capsized off Italy. Allegra arrived in the Seychelles after three days under tow. There were no injuries. In the raw video footage above, passengers look on as helicopters deliver boxes of food to those on Costa Allegra.
Read it on Global News: Global News | Raw video: Helicopters deliver food to Costa Allegra passengers
Europeans still think cruises are safe despite tragedy: poll
Yahoo! Philippines News
Most Europeans still think cruises are safe despite the Costa Concordia shipwreck tragedy on January 13 that claimed 32 lives, according to a poll by cruise ship operator MSC published on Tuesday. The poll by the Interactive Institute of 2524 people in France, Germany, Italy and Spain from February 3 to 14 found that 78.5 percent of respondents considered cruises a safe way to travel.
Nexus Consulting Advocates for Cruise Passengers Before the US Senate
PR Web)
The Costa Concordia lost only 32 lives because a few passengers and crew members were able to call loved ones and report distress,” said Doherty in his oral Senate testimony. “We are today calling for legislation to mandate Passenger Distress Systems on cruise vessels, to empower passengers to alert outside rescue authorities if they feel their lives are in danger and are not sure proper distress messages were sent – for whatever reason – by ship’s personnel.”
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Passenger ship safety review
Cruise and Ferry
The European Commission has invited the industry, represented by the European Cruise Council (ECC) and Interferry, to participate in the review, which is already underway but has been accelerated by the recent Costa Concordia accident. Interferry said that the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) had already completed two studies that analyse shortcomings in the current regulatory frameworks. One of the major issues is the reconciliation between SOLAS 2009 and the Stockholm Agreement.
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