New Port Could Sink Venice

A new port proposed for Venice could hasten the sinking of the island city according to an article in the London Telegraph, which attributes the information to the Royal Institute of British Architects. The culprit, according to article, is the additional dredging that will be needed to accommodate the large ships. The article calls Venice one of the world's busiest cruise ports, citing the rise in cruise traffic from 200 cruise ship calls in 2000 to 510 in 2005.

SS United States Memorabilia Collection Donated

A collection of memorabilia from the SS United States that has filled a Nags Head (NC) restaurant has been donated to the Mariners' Museum in Newport News (VA). The museum already has a propeller and other artifacts from the classic liner, according to WVEC in Newport News, but this will significantly expand the collection. Video accompanies the text story on the WVEC website.

It would have been cheaper to pay the taxi fare

Six Carnival Victory passengers were left behind at Antigua last Friday when they were arrested due to a dispute with a taxi driver, according to the Associated Press. The three couples had paid $50 for a tour by taxi which ended at a local beach. When they found out they had to pay another $50 taxi fare to get back to the ship, they allegedly became unruly, and instead of taking them to the pier, the driver took them to the police station, where, according to the police, they scuffled with police officers.

The six were charged with malicious damage, assault and wounding the police officers. They were released on Monday after paying a bail of $5,000, pending their arraignment on Wednesday.

Let's see. Attorney's fees. Hotel on Antigua for six for three nights, several hundred dollars. Extra air fare home for six, several thousand dollars. Bail for six, $30,000. Three nights in an Antigua jail, priceless.

It would have been cheaper to pay the extra $50 taxi fare.


Update: We can always count on a more colorful report from the New York Post. The Antigua Sun adds some more details and commentary.

Update: The court proceedings began on Wednesday. Updated story on Cruiseblogger.

A Quick Tour of Meyer Werft

This video gives viewers a quick tour of the Meyer shipyard at Papenburg, Germany (map) on the occasion of the keel laying for Disney Magic last week.

And Now a Brief Musical Interlude

There's an interesting entry on Princess Cruises' Facebook page.

When the crew of Caribbean Princess suddenly found themselves with an unplanned night in New York last month, see what some of them did in this short video.