From the is this news department:

Here's the story: Two passengers die from natural causes aboard Celebrity's Summit last week while the ship was en route from San Diego to Hawaii. That's not much of a story, but it was enough to generate articles from a number of outlets (we counted at least six) and three from the Honolulu Advertiser alone (including two follow-ups). To make it even more of a waste of space, when the original was published, it included a statement from Royal Caribbean saying the two deaths were completely unrelated (and went on to give the causes). (If they had in any way been related, it would have been unusual and would have had some newsworthyness.)

The general media needs to get over this attitude of anything that happens on a cruise ship is news (such as norovirus outbreaks - they need to learn what the numbers mean). I noticed that on the same day the original story ran, they carried 26 local obituaries. If it's only a matter of grabbing readers' attention, "26 Dead in Honolulu" sounds like a much bigger story to me than "Two Hawaii cruise ship deaths from 'natural causes'" or the following day's follow-up, "Cruise ship arrives in Hawaii with two dead." (By the way, just in case you were wondering, the follow-up article also details the death of a humpback whale Summit struck accidentally in Alaska in 2006, and perhaps I'm dense, but I cannot see the relevance there either.)

Note: Links are valid at time of posting.

From the oops department:

Remember the dramatic pictures of Sea Diamond sinking at Santorini last spring? Louis Line now says it was an error on the map the crew was using that caused the ship to strike a reef and open a hole in its hull. A Reuters article goes into detail. Naturally, there are arguments on both sides of this explanation.

From the legislative workaround department:

Hawaii's Superferry may finally be just about ready to begin regular operations. Just as the first vessel was to enter service last month, the line ran up against a legal obstacle, that if not dealt with, would have forced the line to move elsewhere in order to try to avoid bankruptcy.

Superferry had a well-laid out plan, years in the making (with millions of dollars invested), and they thought they had complied with all the rules to enter service in Hawaii. Many people in Hawaii want the service, which would be the first regularly-scheduled ferry service between the islands. There are also many who oppose it on environmental grounds and just general principles. Just days before the service was to start, the latter faction succeeded in getting an injunction to stop the service until a complete environmental study could be completed, which could take months or years. During the first scheduled trial runs, there were also those who physically blocked the ferry from the harbor at Kauai.

Both houses of Hawaii's legislature have now passed legislation which will allow the Superferry to operate while the environmental study is being completed, and allows the governor (who is a supporter of the service) to impose rules on the line by executive order to safeguard the environment during the time the study is ongoing. She is expected to sign the legislation next week.

It again appears the Superferry is about to enter service, but they (and the Coast Guard) will still have to deal with the people who want to physically block the vessel.

Friday's article in the Honolulu Advertiser explains the legislative workaround. More information on the service itself is available on the Superferry website.

Update Nov 03: There is also an interesting article in the Honolulu Star Bulletin which gives some additional perspective.

From the bet you haven't seen one of these before department (Part 2):

This what happens to the "it girls" on Halloween in the pressure-cooker world of cruise line PR.

From the bet you haven't seen one of these before department:

Thanks to a partnership between Italian car maker Fiat and Costa Crociere, 500 limited edition Costa Fiat 500's will be produced. They will be used in an incentive contest for Italian travel agents and roll all over Italy for two years.