Holland America pricing error won't be honored

In a move that surprised us, Holland America bought itself an ocean of negative publicity by refusing to honor a Noordam balcony stateroom $849 per person cruise fare that it says was a data-entry mistake. The correct fare should have been $550 higher, and the cruise line is insisting that paid-and-confirmed passengers either send the additional money, or cancel with a full refund. Holland did offer a slender olive branch in the form of a $100 onboard credit for those who decided to go ahead and travel.

One big reason for our surprise is that our experiences dealing with Holland America correcting problems of all kinds, including price discrepancies, have been entirely positive. In fact we would single them out as one of the cruise lines most dependable about "doing the right thing."

Whether Holland was within its legal rights is not the issue, as even without going to look we're sure they have fine print, someplace, permitting such "error corrections." Our question is whether Holland's move made sense.

Other travel companies have reaped a windfall of positive publicity for honoring fares that were clearly erroneous, such as US Airways' buck-or-less roundtrips. We wouldn't have faulted US Airways for cancelling those bookings, since the customer must have known when they purchased their ticket that the price was a mistake.

And that's why we disagree in this case with Holland's decision. An $849 cruise fare for a balcony stateroom on an 11-night trip, working out to $77 per person, per night, doesn't sound crazy. It seems like an unusually good, but within-the-realm-of-possibility, price. Those passengers who paid for this trip, and got their confirmations, were likely truly dismayed when Holland came around looking for another $550 per person.

Nonetheless, our years of positive experience with Holland America have us hoping that this move was either an aberration, or that there was more to Holland's side of this story than meets the eye.

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Norwegian Dawn trapped in Norfolk, finally escapes

Norwegian Dawn had sailed Sunday for a warm Caribbean cruise from New York, but mechanical problems forced the vessel to Norfolk on Monday for repairs. Then the east coast's foul weather trapped the ship there until Thursday morning. Fortunately, Norwegian delivered fair compensation, refunding the cruise fare and offering a discount on a future cruise.

Norwegian Cruise Line and the Norfolk port authority tried to keep the passengers entertained, offering shore excursions in the area. Norwegian also bused some passengers back to New York on Tuesday for those who were ready to give up then.

After leaving Norfolk Thursday morning, Dawn headed straight back to New York instead of trying to salvage some of the trip by heading south, since propulsion system problems remained. No word yet as to how upcoming trips on the ship will be impacted.

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Carnival Liberty suspected Norovirus outbreak sickens 700

In the largest case of shipboard gastrointestinal illness in our recent memory, 700 Carnival Liberty passengers and crew members fell ill during a 19-night trans-Atlantic voyage from Rome that arrived in Fort Lauderdale on November 19. The ship was then held in port for 2 days of intense disinfection, shortening its subsequent cruise.

The unusual number of ill people prompted experts from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to join the ship for its last leg into Ft. Lauderdale from St. Maarten. Together with Carnival, they were working to find out how the bug got onto the ship and whether any shipboard procedures were neglected or new ones needed to be introduced. While two passengers admitted having been ill prior to boarding the Liberty in Rome, they're not proven to be the cause yet. The cruise lines have an outstanding cooperative relationship with the CDC thanks to the industry's aggressive efforts to keep ships clean, healthy and safe.

The bug will likely turn out to be Norovirus, a super-contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea but generally runs its course within 24 hours will no lasting ill effect. Norovirus occurs everywhere, not just on cruise ships, but since only cruise lines are required to report outbreaks to the CDC, it's wrongly perceived as "the cruise ship virus."

Standard procedure in the cruise industry quarantines any crew member or passenger with Norwalk-like symptoms for about 24 hours in their stateroom to contain the problem. The ship also institutes stepped-up cleaning of everything from hand railings to casino chips. In the unusual extreme case like the Liberty's, the ship gets extra disinfection in port including fogging.

According to the CDC, people can afford themselves substantial protection by following a few simple steps:

• Wash hands frequently and thoroughly, especially after using the restroom and before eating or preparing food.
  
• Immediately remove and wash clothing or linens that were used during an episode of illness.
• Throroughly clean all surfaces that an ill person contacted with a bleach-based cleaner
• Keep the bathroom clean.
  

Also two passengers died during this ill-fated voyage, due to natural causes and not because of the virus, according to Carnival.

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Latest passport requirement revision announced by U.S.

Just as surely as Congress spends more money than it has, Homeland Security has yet again revised the proposed new U.S. passport requirements for travel within the western hemisphere. Truly we've lost count of the number of changes to this scheme. The new proposed date is January 23, 2007, when passports will be newly required for all air travel between the US and previously exempt areas.

In describing the new rules let's be clear that for any travel between places where passports are already required, they will still be required... no changes there.

The new rules eliminate today's passport exemption for air travel between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. However, land and sea travel between the U.S. and those spots keeps its exemption until a to-be-determined date that will be no earlier than January 1, 2008.

A tightfisted U.S. cruise traveler, traveling in 2007 to the Caribbean roundtrip from Miami, for example, could theoretically opt not to get a passport since the exemption remains for sea travel. This would nonetheless be a poor decision. Why? What if some emergency back home requires you cut your cruise short to fly back from the Caribbean? Or you get ill and want to fly home early? Many what-ifs could cause you to unexpectedly fly home, in which case a passport will be required when you land. So get your passport now!

And, one final point. These rules and dates could still change again depending on the latest results generated at Homeland Security by shaking their Security Policy Magic 8-Ball. So keep an eye on http://travel.state.gov/ for the latest updates.

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Kathy Ireland named Godmother for Carnival Freedom

Carnival Cruise Lines has announced that successful businesswoman and former model Kathy Ireland will be Godmother to their new ship, the Carnival Freedom, which will launch in March of 2007. Among her duties as Godmother is breaking a ceremonial bottle of Champagne across the ship's bow at the naming ceremony on March 4, 2007.

The 110,000-ton Carnival Freedom will carry 2974 passengers and feature such state-of-the-art amenities as total shipboard wireless access, cellular phone service, 22 lounges and bars, four swimming pools, four restaurants, and a 1450-square foot spa. The Carnival Freedom will depart Miami March 5, 2007 on a nine-day cruise to the Mediterranean where it will operate a summer schedule of 12-day Mediterranean and Greek Island cruises.

For more information on the Carnival Freedom, or other Carnival Cruises, contact our cruise experts today!

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Polish officials shoot at German cruise ship?

Every now and then a news story seems so improbable, that we double-check it's not April Fool's Day! So here you are...

The details vary dramatically depending on whether you read the Polish or the German press, but it seems that a mountain was made of a molehill last month involving the German passenger ship, Adler Dania, in or just off the Polish Baltic seaport of Swinoujscie. There may even have been shots fired by the Polish officials at the German ship!

The dispute arose over the German ship selling duty-free Polish cigarettes and alcohol to the predominately German passengers on board the ship. The Polish customs officials boarded the liner in the German port of Heringsdorf prior to the ship's arrival in the Polish port. The Adler captain's account of the incident has the Polish demanding to inspect the ship's alcohol and cigarette supplies and his deciding to turn around the ship while still in German waters to avoid having the goods confiscated (which has happened before). He alleges that the Polish Coast Guard fired warning shots to try to prevent the ship from leaving.

The Polish account has the ship docking in Swinoujscie and departing so suddenly, to evade inspection, that the Polish officials were not allowed to disembark. Reuters News Service even reported that kidnapping charges were filed against the German ship line.

Short Baltic Sea cruises from Germany to Poland have become popular since Poland joined the EU in 2004. Some 500,000 passengers take these cruises each year.

None of this really affects American cruise passengers, but it does make for fascinating reading.

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Panama Voters Approve Canal Expansion

Voters in Panama this month approved a $5.25 billion Panama Canal expansion project. The massive undertaking will add a third set of locks on the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the waterway and is expected to double the Canal's capacity. It will also make the Canal accessible to the larger cruise liners that are currently too wide to pass through it.

Construction on the project will commence in 2007 and is expected to be completed by 2015. Panama's President Martin Torrijos is quoted by Associated Press as saying that the Canal project will create 40,000 new jobs.

The Panama Canal was built by the United States in the early 1900s and opened in 1914. Control of the Canal was ceded to the country of Panama on December 31, 1999. Over 14,000 vessels passed through the 48-mile Canal in 2005.

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"Missing Honeymooner" lawsuit against Royal Caribbean dismissed

Miami Judge Jon Gordon dismissed a case brought against Royal Caribbean by the family of George Smith IV, who disappeared from the Brilliance of the Seas in July, 2005, while on his honeymoon in the Mediterranean. His body was never recovered, but bloodstains were found at the scene.

Mr. Smith's disappearance, and presumed death, are a tragedy. Yet this tragedy was not Royal Caribbean's fault, and the cruise line did everything it reasonably could to help solve the mystery, starting with promptly notifying the FBI about a possible crime. So said the court, by dismissing the lawsuit.

The suit alleged that Royal Caribbean tried to cover up the incident to avoid liability and to minimize negative publicity. The complaint also charged the cruise line with "intentional infliction of emotional distress" and "invasion of privacy." Yet Royal Caribbean's lawyer Robert Peltz (and ultimately the court) disagreed. Mr. Peltz wrote in his 55-page motion that the cruise line acted above and beyond its legal requirements.

The Smith case has been one of the most publicized cases ever of a missing cruise ship passenger and has even spawned congressional hearings on maritime security.

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