Dinner with MassPort: sports, politics and revenge
Last night we were invited to dinner by the Massachusetts Port Authority (MassPort) and Norwegian Cruise Line, as a thank-you for our support of cruises sailing from Boston. The two questions on everybody's mind in The Hub are always: when will Norwegian put a new ship in Boston to replace the Majesty, and, when will MassPort upgrade its cruise terminal facilities.
In regards to the latter, port director Mike Leone related a quote oft-repeated locally that in Boston, there are three pastimes: sports, politics and revenge. These last two present a challenge for even the best efforts of MassPort officials to improve or expand on Black Falcon Cruise Terminal since many powerful constituencies need to, ummm, benefit from any such project. That, plus the fact that at present Boston is a seasonal port, meaning that the facility must be either multi-use or paid for in a complex private/public partnership including private businesses who would benefit financially from a new cruise terminal. Who knows, since the Norwegian Dawn started sailing successfully to the Caribbean year-round from New York, perhaps Boston will eventually see similar service.
The question of Norwegian replacing the aging-but-well-maintained Norwegian Majesty (former flagship of now-defunct Majesty Cruise Lines) with a newer and larger ship has almost become a matter of "when," not "if." We say "almost" since there are some hard-to-predict complexities with getting docking rights from the Bermudan government. Provided that hurdle is overcome, the most recent scuttlebutt we hear suggests a new Norwegian ship in Boston for the 2007 Bermuda cruise season.
In regards to the latter, port director Mike Leone related a quote oft-repeated locally that in Boston, there are three pastimes: sports, politics and revenge. These last two present a challenge for even the best efforts of MassPort officials to improve or expand on Black Falcon Cruise Terminal since many powerful constituencies need to, ummm, benefit from any such project. That, plus the fact that at present Boston is a seasonal port, meaning that the facility must be either multi-use or paid for in a complex private/public partnership including private businesses who would benefit financially from a new cruise terminal. Who knows, since the Norwegian Dawn started sailing successfully to the Caribbean year-round from New York, perhaps Boston will eventually see similar service.
The question of Norwegian replacing the aging-but-well-maintained Norwegian Majesty (former flagship of now-defunct Majesty Cruise Lines) with a newer and larger ship has almost become a matter of "when," not "if." We say "almost" since there are some hard-to-predict complexities with getting docking rights from the Bermudan government. Provided that hurdle is overcome, the most recent scuttlebutt we hear suggests a new Norwegian ship in Boston for the 2007 Bermuda cruise season.
Labels: Norwegian Cruise Line
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