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From the Blogs

Tobago News

The 65,000 person island of Tobago, half of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, sent a delegation to Washington D.C. this spring to seeking information as they begin work toward a dedicated cruise facility. Tobago is located deep in the southern Caribbean and is actually outside of the traditional hurricane belt. Far smaller than Trinidad, Tobago looks to tap into the cruise trade more deeply but faces constraints due to aging and limited facilities.

The 1.2 million combined residents enjoy one of the most modern nations in the Caribbean. Independent since 1962 when the British ceded control to their acquisition from the Spanish in 1802, Trinidad and Tobago are stunning islands whose wealth is often surprising to visitors. Beyond tourism the islands are profiting greatly from oil and agricultural exports such as sugar. The republic residents rate as the third wealthiest individually behind the U.S. and Canada with a GDP over $21,000 per capita.

Five Things You Missed About Cruising

It was not an auspicious week for cruising with a few exceptions. Weather, physics, greedy passengers and the norovirus made appearances among the Five Things You Missed About Cruising!

The Love Boat Capsizes

Two ships served as the physical location of the landmark 70s TV show “The Love Boat. They were the identical twins Pacific Princess and the Sun Princess. In reality the Sun Princess was more commonly used due to her itineraries and the shows filming season. Built in France in 1972, the ship carried approximately 750 passengers and weight 20,636 gross register tonnes.

After passing between several owners until falling into the hands of a now inactive Chinese corporation. Renamed the Ocean Dream, the ship was anchored near Tialand where it was abandoned by its owner nearly two years ago. After a final move the ship sat without a crew until capsizing. Sadly this almost certainly spells the end of the ship as local authorities are looking into hiring a salvage company to raise and scrap the ship.

Anthem Lawsuits begin

Life, death, taxes and ambulance chasing lawyers. When you first read about the Anthem of the Seas encountering intense weather during a sailing out of Bayonne a couple of weeks ago, you likely mentally wondered how long it would take somebody to sue. The answer to that was slightly less than two weeks as two lawsuits are known to have been filed. One by a known passenger, the other by a law office specializing in suing the cruise lines. Indeed the law office tried to follow the Cruise Aficionados Instagram feed as the event was taking place-and was blocked since I have little use for people trolling my readers for clients. For that matter one passenger who seemed intent on filing a lawsuit before he even got to land had to be deleted and blocked.

Little is expected to come of the lawsuits according to most analysts commenting on the news this week. The cruise lines are well versed in dealing with such things and the explicit language of most cruise documents calls out what they are responsible for. Given the refunds and additional compensation offered, the lack of serious injuries, and the eyebrow raising but not undefendable choice to let the ship sale, you can assume not much will come of the effort.

Anthem hit by norovirus…..and bad weather

It was also not the best of weeks for Anthem of the Seas in general. The latest sailing this week was compelled to turn back according to problematic weather two days early. It appears that some passengers were also showing signs of the Norovirus at the time the ship changed it’s itinerary. Given the percentage of the nearly 4,000 passengers who would have had to displayed full symptoms, it isn’t likely the ship would have been forced back to port due to Norovirus early. Not that the ship wouldn’t have had issues by the end of the cruise.

Ugly Americans Get Pinched in Cozumel

The depths of tackiness cannot be overstated here. Two passengers from a Carnival Cruise Line ship in Cozumel were arrested by local police after store owners saw them stealing several items in the Royal Village Plaza. The 20 year old woman and her 37 year old male companion, both from Arizona, were taken to the local jail and from social media reports, their bags and passports were taken off the ship. The thieves tried to give the items back but I’m sure to their shock, the store owners understandably pressed charges.

Norwegian Names Joy

We will end this week’s Five Things with a bit of Joy. Norwegian Cruise Line has named its latest ship the “Norwegian Joy,” and the second “Breakaway-plus” class ship will be dedicated to the Chinese market explicitly. The original name was intended to be the Norwegian Bliss.

The Norwegian Joy

The RCI Fan Blog

Oasis of Dreams Rehearsals - The Royal Caribbean Fan Blog.

When the ocming of Oasis of the Seas was announced to the world, one of the first features highlighted was the Aqua Theater. Situated at the very end of the ship, the seating bowl spills outward from the end of Boardwalk. The Aqua Theater hosts more unique features in one location than most new cruise ships do through their entire design. As the name implies the theater is centered around a large diving pool. Three tiers of diving platforms flank the pool on two sides. A trampoline emerges from the adjacent stage and adds a different dimension to what the show offers. A "fly gallery" allows actors to fly into and out of the area, even emerging from under the water. Under the water are three stage platforms. These rise above the water to allow for the entire stage space to be used or sink quietly for dramatic effect.

In our video here, you see the Aqua Theater from a deck ten stateroom balcony over Boardwalk. The cast is rehearsing a few hours before a show. The video screens were being replaced on this cruise so you might notice they are missing from the right side of the theater house. As a people watcher this view was one of the attractions of the cabin. Love Royal Caribbean?

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Having withdrawn from the Mobile market in 2011, Carnival Cruise Lines is due to resume service out of a newly refreshed terminal in November. The city of Mobile refreshed the decor and upgraded the facilities to add check-in desks along the same standard seen at the major ports in Florida.

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Mobile Cruise Terminal Refresh

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