Cruising news

By: John Hinnen

Dec 9, 2008

We may be in an economic downturn, but it certainly looks like cruise ships will be well occupied over the Christmas holiday period. Checking online I could only find a few ships that still have space left.  MSC’s Lirica has some inside and outside rooms available starting at $499 (U.S.) per person. MSC also has a ship that’s making its maiden voyage beginning on the 20^th out of Genoa Italy. The 133,000-ton Fantasia will carry nearly 4,000 passengers. Costa also has a few inside cabins left out of Fort Lauderdale. Princess has some space on a ship out of San Juan, but outside of that, there’s little room left.  

Looking ahead to 2009 there will be another nine new ships in the water. 

            Costa Luminosa – May 5 – Mediterranean

            Costa Pacifica – June 6  - Mediterranean

            Seabourn Odyssey – June 24 – Greek Isles

            MSC Splendida – July 13 – Mediterranean

            Celebrity Equinox – Aug 8 – Mediterranean

            Carnival Dream – Sept 21 – Mediterranean

            Ocean Princes – Dec 2 – Asia

            MSC Magnifica – Dec 7 – Repositioning

            Oasis of the Seas – Dec 12 – Caribbean

The last ship in this list “Oasis of the Seas” will be the largest ship ever built. It’ll wiegh 220,000 tons.  Compare that to the Queen Mary which when it was built was the largest at 150,000 tons. Oasis will carry over 5400 passengers. This ship will be a destination in itself with 18 decks, a zip line, a bar that will levitate and will actually move up three stories. It is going to be a sight to behold.

The other major story for 2009 will probably be the pirate issue. Who would have thought that in this day and age we’d have to deal with them, but here we are. Just a week ago Oceania’s Nautica was pursued by pirates. Only because the ship is fast was it able to evade these pirates off the coast of Somalia. Mind you this is the third time in the last three years that pirates have targeted cruise ships. In 2005, pirates fired AK47s at the Seabourn Spirit about a hundred miles of the coast of Somalia. In April 2008, the French Cruise ship Le Ponant with only crew on board was in fact hijacked. The crew was eventually rescued, but only after a ransom was paid. 

One would think that cruise companies will either stay clear of the coast of Africa, or do so only with military escort. Some ships are equipped with Long Range Acoustic Devises. These devices send out sound waves that can cause major damage to eardrums. 

Bottom line is, you have to wonder if passengers will opt not to travel on ships in these regions. 

Normally one doesn’t on a cruise to meet celebrities, but MSC has baseball themed cruise coming up next month. On Jan 24, the Orchestra will leave Fort Lauderdale with such greats as Rick Burleson, Ken Griffey Sr. and Andrew Dawson on board. It looks pretty cheap as well. Inside right now is going for 299 for the week and you can get a balcony for 599. I’ve never sailed MSC so can’t tell you how good they are, but this shape has a four and a half star rating. 

Have a great holiday and here’s to another wonderful season of cruising in 2009.