Costa Favolosa Takes Shape, Crystal Automates, and Work Continues on Norwegian Epic

CND subscribers also read about Costa's fifteenth ship taking shape, with the funnel being put in place on Costa Favolosa. Photos are on the CND website ... Crystal expanding online capabilities for passengers with bookings ... and Norwegian Epic left the yard with 200 yard workers and subcontractors aboard. Completion work will continue on the ship at least until it leaves Southampton and possibly during its transatlantic crossing, although most of the work is out of the sight of passengers.

Details of the above items appeared in the "Other Things You'll Want to Know" Column in the June 22, 2010, edition of Cruise News Daily.

It's the Shaft for Norwegian Epic

Technical problems are delaying Norwegian Epic's overnight cruise from Rotterdam to Southampton for its preview cruise there.

The problem seems to be more serious than the statements would have you believe which simply refer to it as a technical problem. NCL confirms that the fault is with one of the propeller shafts.

The severity of the problem seems to be shown in the revised schedule necessary to get repairs completed before Thursday's transatlantic crossing. The line is under pressure to have the ship in New York on time for its high-profile christening (July 2) and hosting of Macy's July 4 fireworks.

The complete article appeared in the June 21, 2010, edition of Cruise News Daily.

Maine Port Could Learn from Alaska

Last week CND told readers how port cities often forget that just because a cruise line operates from their city now, it doesn't mean they always will. Unlike hotels or other land-based businesses, cruise ships are very portable assets of the industry.

Today the city of Rockland, Maine, is providing a classic illustration of how that forgetfulness works. The city is just beginning to have large ships call at the port and is deciding they want to limit the number. Instead of just issuing permits which would limit the number, they have decided to drastically increase head taxes and other fees somehow thinking this will discourage new ships from calling but forgetting that the lines which are now calling there won't be any too thrilled either. As we point out in the article, Alaska residents didn't think cruise lines would take ships out of their state as the result of new taxes and fees, and they now are famously wrong.

The complete article appeared in the June 21, 2010, edition of Cruise News Daily.

Fincantieri Powers up Queen Elizabeth, Costa Celebrates La Dolce Vita and Were Crooks Branching out?

CND subscribers also read about Fincantieri powering up Queen Elizabeth for the first time and her engines now powering the ship rather than it being powered by the yard ... Costa Cruises celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of the Federico Fellini film "La Dolce Vita" aboard Costa Atlantica. ... and at least one sheriff about 75 miles away from South Florida is now wondering if a burglary ring was responsible for any break-ins in his country. The group, CND reported last week, is alleged to have gained access to Royal Caribbean's International passenger records to know when potential targets would be away from home.

Details of these articles appeared in the "Other Things You'll Want to Know" column in the June 21, 2010, edition of Cruise News Daily.

Could This Be NCL's New Shore Excursion for Norwegian Epic?

Passengers aboard NCL's new Norwegian Epic could be walking on water if NCL licenses this new experience as a shore excursion. The line is known to be targeting customers with the innovative ship who would not normally take a cruise, and this experience is definitely not your run of the mill shore experience. The demo shown here is in a mountain stream, so of course it would have to be adapted for the Caribbean, most likely in a beach setting.



NCL has not chosen a site for the excursion yet, with complications arising in that the ship will alternate the first year between eastern and western Caribbean itineraries, and then the following summer move to Europe. Liquid Mountaineering, who would have to license the technology, would have to agree to allowing the technology to be used in multiple countries.

Will Norwegian Epic passengers soon be able to walk on water with the Liquid Mountaineering technology? Of course not. It's Friday afternoon, and it's a hoax created by an advertising agency to promote the waterproof shoes. If you'd like to see how they did it, there's another video which shows the creation of the spot. It would be simpler if the technology just existed, and then it would make a marvelous shore excursion for NCL.