Cruise Bruise Blog
December 4, 2008
December 4, 2008
Pirates Up The Ante - M/V Athena Under Attack!
According to passenger reports, pirates fortified by more than 29 pirate boats with a half dozen armed men in each boat surrounded the MV Athena owned by Overseas Adventure Travel (formerly owned by Travelscope) off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf Of Aden, near the same location pirates tried to take down the M/S Nautica over the weekend. Passengers say that there were at least three attempts to board and take control of the vessel. The captain confirmed that crew members had used water cannons during the night to stop pirates from boarding as the ship passed through the high-risk area of the exit of the Gulf of Aden. Passengers learned that though they escaped a certain horror, an oil tanker behind them did not fair as well coming under attack. The Athena, which can carry 641 passengers, was due to dock in Fremantle, Western Australia, on Monday. It is currently heading to the Seychelles.

The Greek bulk freighter ‘Ellivita’ decided to defend their ship from the Somali pirates by themselves, knowing they can't count on the international patrol to help them in their hour of need.  Their answer to combating piracy is high voltage. The Greek ship has run wires on both sides of the cargo deck and, when passing the dangerous gulf, they have a 220-volt current running through them. The crew also put up banners warning the pirates about the high voltage.  Oh yeah! A solution I can salute. It would even keep passengers from crawling over the rail.

And it helped. The pirates attacked Ellivita but when they saw the warning signs they decided not to risk boarding the vessel.  Despite this success the captain of the Greek ship, Panaotis Tsanetakos, says he won’t sail through the Gulf of Aden ever again. He and the crew had listened to the many radio reports and S.O.S. calls from other attacked ships.    ”I will never return there, even if you’ll offer me mountains of gold for it,” he said.

Pirates have attacked 32 vessels and hijacked 12 of them since the NATO operation was launched on October 24, 2008.

December 4, 2008
Steiner Looks To Increase Product Base
Steiner Leisure Limited has announced that they have entered into an agreement with Celebrity Cruises to be the exclusive provider of all massage, acupuncture, hairdressing, beauty and fitness services on all of Celebrity's new "Solstice" class ships during the agreement term, through December 31, 2013. As of December 3, 2008 1241 hours the stock was trading at $25.33 down 47% from the 52 week high of $47.37.

December 4, 2008
Carnival Lands Cherry Deal With Seattle
The Port of Seattle Commission has lured in a big fish, Carnival Cruise Lines, with a $1 million rebate for a 10-year agreement that gives Carnival, their Holland America Line and Princess Cruises preferential use of the the soon to be opened Terminal 91 berths for their five ships. Currently, the ships call at Terminal 30 and Terminal 66 in the downtown Seattle waterfront community. The ships are said to bring nearly a half million cruise ship passengers to Seattle each year.

While this is being promoted as a good thing, cruise ship passengers on those lines will be severely disappointed with Pier 91. That particular pier is far north in the city, between the communities of Queen Anne and Magnolia Bluff, nowhere near the famous Pikes Place Market and the other famous restaurants and hotels downtown heavily clustered around Western Avenue. The big draw back is for those driving into the city to park at the cruise terminal. Pier 91 is much further away from the interstates, meaning the passengers will get caught up in much more traffic en route to their cruise, as well as leaving the terminal as they head home. It is not walking distance to anything, and nowhere near the area's major hotel cluster.  It is no wonder Seattle is giving them a rebate on the deal. View the Seattle port information on our sister site Cruise Ship Views

December 4, 2008
PCL, HAL And CCL Get Royally Mounted
While Vancouver has tried to figure out to fix the lack of hotel rooms in the area when the 2010 Winter Olympic Games comes to town, they have tossed around, and then out, then in the idea of using cruise ships to house the security team involved in protecting visitors to their city.

The off again on again theme of the problem has now come to a head, for a day in court.  The original deal was with U.S. Cruise Connections Charter Management (CCCM), who now accuses the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) of deliberately breaking the contract in order to get a better price during the current economic downturn. The lawsuit was filed just days before the RCMP posted a renewed request this week for cruise-ship accommodation aboard vessels to be docked in Vancouver harbor before, during and several days after the Olympics. Given their now documented history of not honoring deals they enter into, I would be hard to say if any cruise line would be willing to deal with the RCMP.

'The CCCM deal, a huge $55-million package to cover sleeping berths, food and other services for members of the RCMP-led Integrated Security Unit, which is responsible for keeping the Games protected. Then, in mid November the RCMP suddenly ended the deal, with no explanation. The root of the original evil was, of course, Canadian taxes on the cruise ship revenue, which were expected to reach $7million. CCCM had requested the RCMP pay the taxes for them, as part of the deal. This was given to CCCM in writing by RCMP contract negotiators Kelly Meikle and Michael Day, who have since been removed from the negotiating team.

The pair were replaced by Normande Morin who immediately said the $7 million in taxes would be paid by CCCM, not the RCMP, inspite of a written agreement AND then just to ensure CCCM got the message, he demanded another new condition of the agreement, making it even harder for CCCM to hold on to the deal, a 90% letter of credit on the contract. The deal bit the dust, hard, when the Royal Bank of Canada withheld CCCM financing it had earlier agreed to because the RCMP were being unreasonable.

CCCM is claiming compensation for lost profits in U.S. court, damage to its reputation and costs already incurred. The company further noted that its contract with the RCMP contained provisions for a 100-per-cent penalty if the pact were canceled or shortened. "As such, the RCMP is responsible for 100 per cent of the terms of the value of the contract, $55,348,136 (U.S.)," the court statement said.

The reputation part, may very well be a legitimate claim. The three lines to supply the ships were Princess Cruise Lines, Holland America and Carnival Cruise Lines all owned by Carnival Corp.

Now, as the cover-up begins, laughable rumors say the RCMP were afraid the Princess Cruises' ship would cause the accommodations to be labeled the RCMP Love Boat. I would guess that is a safe bet. After all, when police boarded the Pacific Sky to investigate the death of Dianne Brimble, they were labeled the "Dancing Detectives" after they found more than enough time to dance with the lovely ladies aboard. The name has stuck for over six years. One can only begin to imagine what goes on after dark on a RCMP Love Boat, given they are historically known for always getting their man.

December 4, 2008
Old Sailor's Book Features Murder On Cruise Ship
The Piranha Syndrome written by Howard Holschuh is one of those books, that though a fantasy in an old sailor's mind, does have some roots in non-fiction. After all, murder and passenger ships have a history dating back hundreds of years. The idea for the book came to Holschuh while he was . . .  on a cruise of course. Holschuh is a 30-year Navy veteran who obviously has a life-long romance with sea, now coupled with a vivid imagination. All you need to know in order to decide if you want to read this book is this. The ship's purser is poisoned, the ship's electrical system is sabotaged, and diners are alarmed to see a fellow passenger slump from his chair during a festive dinner.