Cruise ships attract poverty. Because passengers are considered affluent, rightly or wrongly, poor people in ports flock to wherever cruise people go, sometimes to sell wares, often to beg. For passengers, this can be a help-or-not-help dilemma, just as it is on the streets of major cities in North America. Many cruise lines have… Continue reading Cruise Voluntourism Crystal Clear
Tag: Oasis of the Seas
A Bit of the Big Ships Out West
Somewhere in the Hawaiian Islands, the cruise ship called Rhapsody of the Seas is getting ready to introduce the Oasis-Allure look to cruisers on the West Coast of North America. Since their arrivals from their European birthplaces in 2009 and 2010, respectively, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas have been confined… Continue reading A Bit of the Big Ships Out West
Mercury Just a Memory Celebrity
She disappeared a year ago last month, without a whimper, without a wake. If we hadn’t visited Celebrity’s website this week to check on the size of its fleet, even we may have forgotten the passing of the Mercury. In horse vernacular, you’d say she was being retired to stud. Or maybe that should be… Continue reading Mercury Just a Memory Celebrity
Royal's New Ship The Standard?
The news yesterday that Royal Caribbean is exercising its option to build another new ship again begs the question: Has the cruise industry discovered the customer’s tolerance for big ships? The same cruise line that owns the two biggest ships “of the Seas”, the mighty Oasis and the equally mighty Allure. They carry about 6,000… Continue reading Royal's New Ship The Standard?
New Panamax Ships and the Canal
We were having lunch with our friend and colleague Phil Reimer, author of Ports and Bows, yesterday. Somewhere between the breakfast burrito (yes, some people do have breakfast burritos for lunch but she doesn’t want to advertise it) and the Caesar salad, the subject of the Panama Canal came up (better the Canal than the… Continue reading New Panamax Ships and the Canal