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LATEST NEWS ON CRUISING

GULF OIL SPILL NOT AFFECTING THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY

Apparently, despite the massive tourism problems that have been caused by the giant oil spill, the cruise industry has remain pretty much unaffected. In fact, the managing editor of a cruise site went on to confirm these reports.

Although there are some beach destinations in the gulf region that have experienced some problems due to the oil spill, the cruise industry has found other ways to deal with it. Melissa Paloti, the managing editor at CruiseCritic.com, which is a website that is known for checking in daily with all the cruise lines running ships in the region, said that the cruise impact has been nil so far.

A spokeswoman for the Cruise Lines International Association, Lanie Fagan, said that there have have been no ships requiring deviations or changes to itineraries due to the oil spill. This is good news since the Cruise Lines International Association represents about 97 percent of the cruise capacity in North America.

A well known cruise line, Carnival Cruise Lines, said in a statement that its captains may make a slight course alternation as necessary to avoid the most heavily impacted spill areas. Besides that, however, the cruise line remains pretty much unaffected.

Despite this, Carnival Cruise Lines, which does sail ships from New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, said that they do inspect their ship hulls for oil residue. Either way, the cruise line did say that they are not anticipating any interruptions to their normal cruise schedules due to the oil spill.
This is good news for the cruise industry, but it still does not change the fact that other parts of the tourism industry are still suffering. Hotels and other tourism groups in spots around the gulf coast have seen tons of cancellations due to fear over the oil spill and how it affects the beaches.

 

LAGOS TO HOUSTON FLIGHTS ON CONTINENTAL

Continental Airlines will launch daily, nonstop westbound flights from Houston, TX to Lagos, Nigeria beginning November 11, 2011. Subject to government approval, it will be the first daily scheduled service offered between Africa and Texas by any carrier.

Lagos will be Continental's first destination in Africa and the 30th city in its transatlantic route. Continental will operate the approximately 6,500-mile flight with a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, seating 36 customers in BusinessFirst and 192 customers in Economy. Flying times will be approximately 12 hours and 30 minutes westbound and 11 hours eastbound. The new flight will reduce travel time between the two cities by over four hours by eliminating any connection en route.

In the winter, flights will depart Houston at 3:45 p.m. and arrive in Lagos at 9:40 a.m. the next day. Return service will leave Nigeria at 11:10 a.m. and land in Texax at 4:40 p.m. that same day.

For summer service, flights will leave Houston at 3:50 p.m. and arrive in Lagos at 9:15 a.m. the next day. Return flights depart Nigeria at 10:45 a.m. and arrive in Texas at 4:40 p.m the same day.

Continental will begin taking reservations and selling tickets on the new route later this year.

 

JAMAICA TOURIST BOARD RESPOND TO VIOLENCE IN KINGSTON

For the first time since Jamaican authorities declared a state of emergency in Kingston after gang members attacked police stations and blockaded a large portion of the city, Travel Agent spoke to the Jamaica Tourist Board's (JTB) Chairman John Lynch.

"The initial reaction when you see something like this is to roll up your sleeves and get to work," Lynch said. "We met over the weekend and we have developed a plan of action and requested some additional funds."

Those funds, which Lynch says are in the $15-$20 million range, will primarily focus on advertising as well as efforts to bring roughly 3,000 travel agents to Jamaica in the fall since "seeing is believeing."

"Basically, we have been supported all of these years by your readers, the travel agents," Lynch added. "What we have been doing all along is working closely with agents. We need their support, we need them to keep their bookings."

Of the roughly 30,000 hotel rooms in Jamaica, Lynch says only a "very minimal" amount has reported cancellations.

In fact, Travel Agent spoke to Sallie Rawlings, senior director of corporate communications for American Express Vacations & Travel Impressions, who confirmed Lynch's comments. "Jamaica is one of our leading destinations and we've experienced a minimal number of cancellations- approximately 20 bookings out of hundreds," she said. "Any changes we've had are not to other destinations- they've been re-bookings to Jamaica at a later date."

Lynch says the JTB has been updating agents, operators and wholesalers on a daily basis through bulletins. And operators seem to be doing the same with their clients.

"Most of the questions we received are related to geography- proximity of Kingston to the major tourist areas of the island, as agents tried to gauge the effect this might have on Montego Bay, Ocho Rios and Negril," Rawlings said. "We pro-actively communicated early on with our customers through our web site, describing the localization of the problems in the West Kingston area and also providing information on the distances from these tourist areas to Kingston."

After months of wrangling, Prime Minister Golding earlier this month said he would let the courts handle the matter, setting off the recent violent police clashes with alleged drug lord Christopher Coke's gang members and their supporters in the Jamaican capital. Police in Jamaica have more than 500 people in custody, the government said Wednesday.

"I think in the end this will be positive for Jamaica," Lynch says. "We had some of the lowest incidence of [violence of] any tourist destination, so now we are just polishing the image even more."

For more information visit www.visitjamaica.com

 

HOLLAND AMERICA LINE CRUISES SOUTH AMERICA

Three of Holland America Line's ships, the ms Veendam, ms Rotterdam and ms Prinsendam, will head out in 2011 and 2012 down the coast of South America.

The itineraries range from 12 to 37 days and include tow extended, port-intensive Collectors' Voyages aboard the Veendam. A 66- and 68-day Grand South America and Antarctica Voyage aboard the Prinsendam is also part of the cruise schedule.

The ms Veendam will sail 12-, 16- and 17-day itineraries between Valparaiso, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil between November 2011 and March 2012.

Fares begin at $1,399 for the 12-day sailings; $1,799 for the 16-day sailings; and $2,799 for the 17-day sailings.

 

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