Cruise News Daily Headlines for December 13, 2013

* There’s No Murder or Mystery, but There Is Wine
We’ve always been able to count on Norwegian Cruise Line for imagination, especially in the way of “secondary” shows that other cruise lines don’t offer.
   On some ships you can see a cabaret show with “circus style” performers balancing over your dinner table. On others you can enjoy a murder mystery with lunch. And we’ll always remember when you could attend Tony N’ Tina’s wedding with dinner in Hawaii. What clever ideas do the Norwegians have for their newest ship, Norwegian Getaway?

* Getting to the Port Made Easy
This will only be of direct interest to our readers in the UK, but the rest of us can only wait until US-based cruise lines get the idea and claim they did it first.
   Fred Olsen Cruises is offering passengers free door-to-door transfers for passengers on their longer cruises who live within 250 miles of the port.

The complete articles appeared in the e-mail edition of Cruise News Daily delivered to our subscribers.

Medevacs, Unhappy Tea Partiers, Legal Action in Alaska, and

* Other Things You'll Want to Know

+ CND subscribers also read about medevacs from cruise ships over the weekend on both sides of the Atlantic. These included the one from Carnival Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico which we reported earlier with video. Off the southwest coast of Britain, the British Royal Navy performed two separate medevacs from Fred Olsen's Braemar ...

+ A new policy at Fred Olsen that's upsetting many British passengers. The line is rolling out a new policy of a charge of approximately US$8.50 for "enhanced afternoon tea" ...

+ Gershon Cohen is taking legal action in Alaska which, if successful, could shut down the cruise industry there. It relates to the waiver cruise lines were given because they can't meet the stringent wastewater standards ...

+ The Port of San Francisco recognized Princess Cruises for environmental stewardship in San Francisco ...

+ and there was a conviction in a British court in the case of two men who tried to smuggle 72 pounds of cocaine aboard Fred Olsen's Black Watch in March.

Details of these stories appeared in the "Other Things You'll Want to Know" column in the May 24, 2010 edition of Cruise News Daily.

From the in case you haven't missed it department:

Norwegian Crown wrapped up it's Bermuda season for Norwegian Cruise Line and has been handed over to Fred Olsen for conversion to Balmoral.

Fred Olsen has actually owned the ship since last year, but a condition of the sale was that NCL could lease it back through the 2007 Bermuda season.

From the health department:

Update on Black Watch: Fred Olsen's Black Watch was cleared by UK health authorities to sail today as scheduled after a "super-chlorination" and thorough cleaning of all water-related fixtures such as shower heads, swimming pools, whirlpools, etc.

Earlier Swedish authorities confirmed that two of the passengers have tested positive for Legionnaires Disease, but also confirmed that all water samples taken from the ship tested negative, making it probable that the passengers contracted the disease in one of the ports.

From the health department:

Updating the story from last weekend when seven passengers from Fred Olsen's Black Watch were taken to the hospital in Stockholm:

Two of the passengers have now tested positive for the legionella bacteria, legionnaires disease. Swedish officials said the water samples taken from the ship have tested negative for the bacteria. That would tend to indicate that the passengers contracted the disease somewhere ashore, and the cruise ship was not the source. Nonetheless, the ship is being thoroughly disinfected before the next sailing.

The cruise line has refunded passengers 25% of their cruise fare for the cruise which was terminated two days early. Black Watch is now back in England being "deep cleaned" and preparing for its next cruise on Wednesday.

From the health department:

According to European media reports, passengers aboard Fred Olsen's Black Watch were informed Friday evening of a suspected outbreak of Legionnaires Disease aboard the ship.

The reports say eight people were taken off the ship for medical care, and no one else is being allowed off the ship, which is remaining at Stockholm. There are reportedly approximately 750 passengers and 350 crew members aboard.

Update: Later reports say that only six people were hospitalized with pneumonia-like symptoms, and they are in stable conditions. It hasn't been confirmed that they have Legionnaires Disease, but reports quote health officials saying it is probable. Water samples were taken for testing to see if the passengers became infected on the ship. The ship had been to Estonia and Finland on the cruise. The balance of the cruise was canceled, and the ship is returning to England with the fremaining passengers. It will receive a "deep cleaning" before the next sailing.