From the personnel department:

It's a case of musical chairs at Royal Caribbean International.

Lisa Bauer has moved from her position as Senior VP of Sales to Senior VP of Hotel Operations.

Michael Bayley moves from that position to become Senior VP, International, a new position in a new division. The International Division actually comes under the RCCL corporate umbrella rather than the RCI brand. He will direct sales and marketing strategies outside North America for all the RCCL brands. The region divisions will report to him. Those include Europe, Middle East and Africa overseen by Susan Hooper, Latin America and Caribbean overseen by Maria Sastre, and Asia and Pacific overseen by Rama Rebbapragada.

Ken Muskat will oversee Bauer's former responsibilities until the position is filled.

From the easy money department:

The AP reports that SEC records show Carnival Chairman Micky Arison exercised his option to purchase 120,000 shares of Carnival common stock on Monday for the discounted price of $26.41 apiece. The same day he sold 88,209 of them for the market price of $48.29 each.

If you do the math, that means he came out with a profit of $1,090,412 on Monday, plus he still has another 31, 791 shares left to cash in some other time. Isn't that a cool way to spend Monday? How much did you make on Monday?

From the cruises for everyone department:

An clever journalist in the UK (and probably one who dreams of going on a cruise) has looked at what it costs to jail criminals in the UK annually, compared that to the per diem on a P&O world cruise, multiplied it by 365 and realized it would be cheaper to send the criminals on a year-long world cruise.

The article appears in London's Daily Mail.

If they switch to the "alternative system," expect a rise in the crime rate.

From the Norway Department:

The US National Transportation Safety Board issued their final report on Norway's 2003 boiler explosion, which eventually caused the ship never to return to service.

While the report at the link mentioned above won't be for everyone, most of it is surprisingly "nontechnical" and interesting reading for those interested in cruise ships.

The Board found fault with the way the boiler was operated over the years, the way it was maintained and the way it was inspected.

It is important to note that NCL accepted responsibility for the accident right away. For those concerned about continued operation, NCL notes that no one who was directly responsible for operation, maintenance or inspection of Norway's boilers is any longer employed by the company, and the line has changed classification societies since the accident.

NCL issued the following statement:
Yesterday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its report on the 2003 S/S Norway steam boiler accident at the Port of Miami. NCL CEO and President Colin Veitch said "as evidenced by the highly technical nature of the discussion and the fact that it took 4½ years to complete the report, this was clearly a unique and unusual accident. NCL immediately accepted responsibility for the accident and compensated all of the victims. The Norway, which was the only steamship in the fleet, was sold in 2004. None of the management or contractors who were involved in the operation, maintenance or inspection of the Norway’s boilers are employed by NCL."

Veitch continued: "We appreciate the Board’s hard work and believe that the lessons learned from the report will benefit both shipping companies and classification societies. As evidenced by the lack of agreement among the investigating experts, NCL does not concur with all of the conclusions in the voluminous report, but we are hopeful that its publication will help bring to a close this tragic event."

As the NTSB noted in its report, in the months following the accident, NCL implemented a number of improvements and preventive measures to enhance its Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS). NCL’s SEMS is now widely regarded as one of the best safety management systems in the maritime industry.

From the nice little story department:

At this time of year, when you hear "Santa," most people assume the next word will be "Clause," but thousands of people - especially the ones employed by Princess Cruises and Cunard - automatically assume the next word will be "Clarita."

There's a nice little story about Princess Cruises in the LA Daily News that updates the local population about the the giant company that quietly lives in their midst in Santa Clarita (California). In mid-article, however, it seems to take an unscheduled detour via Gavin MacLeod and "The Love Boat."

Note: Link is valid at the time of posting.