Coming to you this week from our un-airconditioned and very HOT podcasting studio.
This week Disney Cruise Lines announced that several Disney Channel Stars will be sailing onboard DCL ships this summer. Celebrity Millenium is getting a $10 million upgrade.
Holland America is introducing new Digital Workshops, but if youre listening to our show you probably know what they’re going to teach you, and with the CDC easing their Mexico warnings cruise lines are making plans to head back to Mexico.
There were a lot of ship movements this past week – not all of them related to the Swine Flu.
First NCL announced that they are moving Norwegian Sun from Alaska to Europe for the Summer of 2010. Meanwhile Norwegian Jewel will move to New York instead of Europe for the Summer 2010 season. Meanwhile Princess elects to have two ships sail the Caribbean over the Summer 2010 season.
Fincantieri elects to cancel the delivery ceremony for Costa Luminosa because of a labor dispute. Royal Caribbean expands My Time Dining fleetwide.
Finally we have a quick update about MSC Melody’s pirate attack, and then we talked about the Swine Flue impact. Expecting to go on a cruise to Mexico in the next month? We need to talk because your itinerary has changed. No matter where your cruise is headed there is now an industrywide standardized screening process in place.
In accordance with the recent travel advisory from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) recommending against non-essential travel to Mexico, Holland America Line, in an abundance of caution, has decided to cancel its upcoming calls to Mexican ports in April and early May.
Of the line’s 14 ships, a total of five ships (and five sailings) are impacted by these changes. Four are the current sailings of the ms Ryndam, ms Statendam, ms Westerdam and ms Zuiderdam. The May 1, 2009 cruise of the ms Veendam will also be impacted.
The itinerary planning team at Holland America Line is developing alternate itineraries for these sailings and the new ports of call will be announced as they are confirmed.
If the CDC travel advisory changes prior to the conclusion of any of these five sailings, the cruise line may consider re-instating the original itineraries if possible.
Princess has released the following update regarding the health situation in Mexico and parts of the US:
The health and well being of our passengers and crew is our foremost priority, and therefore we are monitoring the swine flu situation closely. Our ships and medical staff are already well equipped to prevent and contain the spread of contagious diseases, including swine flu. Even though the risk of contracting this illness is very low, we will be taking extra precautions, and will be guided by advice from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Six Princess ships are currently scheduled for calls in Mexican ports through next month. In light of yesterday’s CDC’s travel health warning for Mexico, we have cancelled the two calls scheduled for Mexican ports today — Puerto Vallarta (Sapphire Princess) and Cabo San Lucas (Coral Princess). Further, we have revised the itinerary for Sapphire Princess, replacing the Mexican ports with San Diego and Catalina. We hope that our passengers will understand that these changes were beyond our control and that we have provided them with an attractive, alternative itinerary. We are in the process of reviewing the other close-in sailings that include Mexican ports and making itinerary changes, and these details will be communicated by tomorrow. In the meantime, some of the actions we are taking onboard all of our ships include: We will continue to closely monitor the situation and will do everything possible to protect the health of our passengers and crew.
We’ve received the following statement from NCL:
The health and well-being of our guests and crew is of the utmost importance to Norwegian Cruise Line. Accordingly, the company is closely monitoring the health advisories regarding the current Swine Influenza (Swine Flu) situation. As a precautionary measure due to the recent travel advisory relating to Mexico, the company is cancelling Norwegian Pearl’s final two calls in Mexico on its current repositioning cruise. The stops were scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, April 29 and Friday, May 1, 2009. Apart from this sailing, Norwegian Cruise Line’s scheduled deployment does not include any other ports of call in Mexico until the end of September 2009. Norwegian Cruise Line has stringent protocols for cleaning and sanitation on all of its vessels to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. In addition, the company is taking proactive precautionary measures to protect its valued guests, including, but not limited to, fleet-wide guest screening via a health questionnaire prior to embarkation and on-board education regarding Swine Flu symptoms and preventative actions. As a result, the company does not anticipate that its guests’ cruise experience will be impacted. Furthermore, Norwegian Cruise Line’s on-board medical centers are stocking an appropriate amount of the anti-viral medication used to treat the illness, in the unlikely event the need for its use becomes necessary.
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