Jamaica's State of Emergency Continues

It's getting virtually no notice by major news outlets in the US, but the state of emergency in Jamaica's St. James parish, declared January 18, is continuing, and there are signs it will continue for a while. St. James parish contains Montego Bay.

The state of emergency was declared to deal with the high crime rate of the area. The murder rate in St. James is twice as high as in any other parish. Last year there were six murders a week on average in the parish. The government says that since the start of the year "general lawlessness" has intensified.

The complete story appeared in the January 26 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

One Beautiful Night in the Caribbean

The Milky Way as seen from P&O's Britannia while sailing in the Caribbean.
(Click in the lower right to turn on the sound.)



Video courtesy of P&O Cruises.

Carnival Inks Order for Additional Ship for P&O UK

Carnival Corp contracted for an additional ship today from Meyer Werft for their P&O brand.

This ship will be a sister to the one already on order for delivery in 2020 and will be delivered in 2022. It will be built at Meyer's Papenburg (Germany) yard. 

The complete story appeared in the January 25 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Carnival Liberty Joins a Growing Carnival Club

While other lines are bragging about the number of consecutive perfect scores their ships achieve, lately, Carnival is struggling to get theirs to attain passing scores. Yet another ship from Carnival Cruise Line has failed its semiannual surprise health inspection.

The CDC made the results of Carnival Liberty's January 4 inspection public today, showing the ship scored an 80, when a passing score is 86. This is the fourth Carnival ship in two months to fail.

Details appeared in the January 25 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Business as Usual

The e-flyer came earlier this week along with all the other press releases and ads for pills that will stimulate me and make me Superman. It promises me a four-night cruise to Cuba as low as $139, and to get me to book now, I only have to pay a $50 deposit, and I get an open bar, and up to five free offers of great things like specialty dining, wi-fi, or other good things. (This is real and on Norwegian Cruise Line, but there are asterisks all over the place.)

A year or so ago, I'd be writing this saying it looks like the program is really in trouble. Why would a cruise line be offering all these incentives unless they really needed to fill the ships?

Actually, it might be a sign of how healthy the Cuban market is.

The complete story appeared in the January 24 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Josh Now Speaks Spanish

Carnival Corp's Saturday morning show “The Voyager with Josh Garcia,” which is now in its second season on NBC, is expanding. The show's first season has been dubbed in Spanish and can now also be seen on Saturdays on Telemundo where it is known as "El Viajero Con Josh Garcia."

Details appeared in the January 24 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Death from Suspected Overdose aboard Harmony of the Seas

Joel Taylor, the host of the reality show “Storm Chasers,” died aboard Harmony of the Seas Tuesday, reportedly from a suspected overdose of drugs.

And that raises questions about security.

The complete story appeared in the January 24 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Watch Celebrity Edge Make Her Debut

Celebrity Edge made her debut Monday afternoon at the STX France yard in Saint-Nazaire when the yard floated the ship out of the dry dock to the finishing dock. The event was preceded by one of equal importance, when the dry dock was flooded and the ship made its first contact with water.

Details appeared in the January 23 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Video courtesy of Celebrity Cruises. All rights reserved.

Ignore the Men with Guns - Have a Good Time Ashore

Last Thursday, the island of Jamaica declared a state of emergency in St. James Parish, the parish where Montego Bay is located. Despite armed government troops in the parish, the Jamaican government insists that tourists are not affected. The government said the move was necessary to combat the high crime in portions of the parish outside of Montego Bay.

The complete story appeared in the January 23 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Muscling in on the Coast Guard's Territory

Last Friday just after leaving Cape Liberty at Bayonne (NJ) an 88-year-old man aboard Anthem of the Seas suffered a heart attack and needed urgent shoreside medical attention.

Details appeared in the January 23 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Video courtesy of the NYPD. All rights reserved.

Overboard from Carnival Triumph

A 44-year-old woman was seen going overboard from Carnival Triumph Sunday evening as it sailed between New Orleans and Cozumel.

The complete story appeared in the January 22 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - January 22, 2018

CND subscribers also read about:

• The Grill by Thomas Keller was added to Seabourn Soujourn
• Triple record month for Galveston

Details appeared in the January 22 edition of Cruise News Daily.