“Any guests holding a Chinese, Hong Kong, or Macau passport, regardless of when they were there last, will not be allowed to board our ships. Regardless of nationality, any guest or crewmember traveling from, to, or through mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau less than 15 days prior to their sailing will be unable to board any of our ships.” – Royal Caribbean
#Cunard’s Three Queens – #QueenMary, #QueenVictoria, and #QueenElizabeth – to meet on the Mersey on May 25
Cunard’s Three Queens – Mary, Victoria, and Elizabeth – will meet on the river Mersey on May 25 to celebrate 175 years of Cunard sailing.
STX France to Build Two New Celebrity Cruise Line Ships
“Project Edge” has been announced by STX France as Celebrity Cruises ordered two new ships. The expected delivery date is fall 2018 for the first ship and early 2020. Tonnage: 117,000 and Berth: 2,900 passengers.
For a full press release read the PR Newswire article.
Virgin: A hip and Cool Cruise Experience
Virgin Group has said it will offer a cruise experience that is more connected to the ocean and will feature a more informal environment that is hip and cool. This Fox News article discusses how this announcement may affect the cruise industry.
Virgin Cruise Line Announces New Ships
Is the Virgin Group entering the cruise business? The Branson family owned investment group has announced the formation of Virgin Cruises. Although financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed, its lead investmentRead More
Cruise Industry Events 2015
Cruise Shipping Miami
March 16-19, 2015
Miami, Florida
http://www.cruiseshippingevents.com/en/miami
Marine Hotel Association
April 12-14, 2015
Naples, Florida
MedCruise General Assembly
June 3-6, 2015
Zadar, Croatia
Cruise Canada New England Symposium
June 7-10, 2015
Bar Harbor, Maine
Cruise industry supports 891.000 jobs and catered 21.3 million tourists in 2013
The cruise industry is truly global, bringing together a diverse mix of international passengers and crew to experience exciting itineraries, multiple destinations, and exceptional holiday vacation value on every continent. With so many fun options and a high return on vacation experience, it’s not surprising that the popularity of cruise holidays continues to grow. This study shows that the cruise industry’s growth is also generating increased jobs, income, and revenue in all regions of the world. – Christine Duffy, CLIA President and CEO.
Surprise Cruise Tax in Texas
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission will start collecting liquor and cigarette tax from cruise passengers at the Port of Houston by mid-October. Even “duty free” liquor will pay the tax.
High Net #Bandwidth for Royal Caribbean’s #Oasis and #Allure @RoyalCaribbean
Using O3b‘s network of mid-orbit satellites, Royal Caribbean will be providing broadband-level bandwidth for the Oasis and Allure . Instead of near-dialup speeds, the O3b network will be a game changer for cruise passengers wanting to have broadband, low-latency access to the internet. Oasis and Allure signal the beginning of the race for other cruise lines to upgrade their internet capabilities.
In part Royal Caribbean said:
By pairing a new generation of medium-Earth-orbit satellites (originally designed to bring the Internet to emerging markets like sub Saharan Africa) with sophisticated antenna arrays aboard its newest ships, the popular ships are vaulting competitors and delivering guests the kind of technology they expect in a connected world.
“Vacations aren’t just about getting away from it all for modern families anymore,” said Adam Goldstein, President & CEO, Royal Caribbean International. “A great vacation today also means keeping friends updated over social media, and enjoying downtime with streaming content played on tablets and phones, not just movies on TV in your stateroom.
“But matching or exceeding the best on-land service was a tough challenge when the nearest cell tower or cable hook-up was 1,000 miles away. That meant we needed some real breakthroughs, not just incremental increases,” Goldstein said. “But real breakthroughs are what we do. And once we cracked the download code, we also got to dream up some pretty interesting new uses for all that connectivity. Our ships go to incredible places – and this makes getting there even more incredible.”
A set of new, custom-built antennae were shipped from Israel to Florida last month, and installed on Oasis of the Seas. Testing confirmed the ships’ ability to match the fastest broadband connections on shore. “O3b, our satellite communications partner, calls it ‘fiber speed with satellite reach,’ and this is exactly the result we are seeing in our tests,” said Bill Martin, Chief Information Officer, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
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