Galveston Hopes for Tourism Magic

Carnival Magic

Houston Chronicle: Galveston loves magic — especially the kind that promises to float millions of tourism dollars into the local economy.

The 3,690-passenger Carnival Magic made its debut over the weekend and embarks Monday on an inaugural trip from Galveston, marking the third new cruise ship in the southern port this year. Island officials hope the ship will bring the island more tourism dollars, as Galveston marked a milestone in its decade-long efforts to market the port city as a cruising destination.

"It shows the major cruise lines understand the appeal of Galveston and are choosing to invest in it over other popular markets," said Leah Cast, a spokeswoman for the Galveston Island Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The 130,000-ton ship boasts a WaterWorks aqua park with a 312-foot-long spiral water slide, a ropes course, as well as numerous other amenities.

Rates for a seven-night Western Caribbean cruise itinerary, departing from Galveston, range from $529 to more than $1,000 per person, depending on travel dates, for a standard inside stateroom based on double occupancy, according to Carnival's website.

Sue Schmitt, a Houston travel agent, says the cruise line is usually more economical and has already booked about 20 cabins for clients.

"Most of them are excited because it's brand new," she said. "For many of them, the ship is the destination."

Steady bookings

While the prolonged economic downturn has put a squeeze on tourism, Schmitt says her business has been surprisingly steady this year.

The addition of Carnival Magic adds to Galveston's cruising cachet, she said.

"Obviously Carnival feels that way or they wouldn't put a brand new ship here," she said, adding that she and her husband are booked to sail on the inaugural trip Monday. "I have clients going on it in two weeks, and they are so anxious for me to get back and report."

John Heald, Carnival's senior cruise director, said bringing the new ship to the Lone Star State was an easy decision.

"Florida was upset, but Galveston is a great revenue market for us," he said.

His only concern so far was the lack of a drugstore close to the terminal so the crew wouldn't have to travel far to buy toiletries.

The Magic arrived about one month after 2,758-passenger Carnival Triumph began voyages from the island. Together, the ships have the potential to bring about 100,000 more visitors to Galveston and at least $10 million in direct economic impact to the island's tourism industry, according to the visitors bureau.

The potential tourism dollars had island officials wining and dining national media, travel agents and other industry players throughout the weekend, many of whom toured the ship and the island Sunday and spent the night aboard.

Selling Galveston

The visitors bureau handed out free passes to local attractions and gave a presentation about the island to Carnival's sales representatives over the weekend as part of an effort to have the cruise line pitch the city as a destination.

Sunday afternoon, pop band Maroon 5 performed for the crowd.

The port recently completed $12.5 million in renovations of the terminal designed specifically to accommodate more passengers and the larger Carnival Magic vessel.

Carnival's parent company helped finance improvements in 2004, a partnership that helped the port grow and raise the money it needed for the recent renovations, which included a new gangway and expanded passenger waiting areas, said Galveston port director Steve Cernak.

"We couldn't have done it without them," he said.

Other ships sharing the port with Carnival Magic include the Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas, which started sailing out of Galveston last week, replacing similarly sized Voyager of the Seas. The 2,400-passenger Disney Magic is expected to start sailing from the port next September, followed by the 3,080-passenger Crown Princess in December 2012.

Troubled Bayport

Meanwhile, the Port of Houston Authority's $71 million Bayport Cruise Terminal remains without a ship regularly calling on the facility that was built in 2009.

Port Canaveral Soars to Record Year

eTurbonews: For the first time in its history, more than 3 million multi-day cruise passengers sailed from Port Canaveral, contributing US$40 million in cruise revenue during the fiscal year ending September 30, also a record as newer and larger cruise ships and 66 additional ship calls helped boost passenger totals. Cruise traffic rose 16.08 percent with 3,100,199 passengers.

Overall, Port Canaveral’s total revenues surged dramatically to nearly US$57.8 million, eclipsing the previous Port record of US$51.2 in 2006 by 13 percent.

“We emerged from dismal economic times financially strong and focused on the future, fully accepting our role and responsibility as one of the primary economic engines for the Space Coast,” said J. Stanley “Stan” Payne, CEO, Port Canaveral, “With a pipeline full of infrastructure projects, a strong balance sheet, a business strategy focusing on our strengths, we want this to be just the first in a string of record years.”

Focusing on cruise, Payne continued: “We began this year welcoming the new Disney Dream, and we’ll end this year with Carnival’s expanded presence and the addition of the Carnival Ecstasy in November. The momentum will continue into 2012 with new ship arrivals and the opening of new port facilities.”

“As one of Brevard and Central Florida’s crucial economic engines, the success of the port represents success for the community with business opportunities reaching beyond our cruise and cargo operations,” said Joe Matheny, Chairman of the Canaveral Port Authority.

The Surprising Success of Rock 'n' Roll Cruises

Fox Business: Most of us have to work hard for a living, but Andy Levine gets to run Sixthman Productions, and he might have a little more fun than workers stuck behind a desk all day.

His company was just named as one of the nation's 500 fastest-growing companies by Inc. Magazine and was rated at number 87 overall, and the leader in the travel category. But calling Sixthman a travel company is like saying Eric Clapton is just a guitar player.

Sixthman Productions specializes in one particular kind of theme cruise: live rock 'n' roll concerts on cruise ships. Two of my favorite things are live music and cruising, combine them, and they’re magic.

How does Sixthman work? First it charters a cruise ship that holds 1,600 to 3,600 passengers. Chartering an entire ship means Sixthman gets total control of the cruise: where it sails and stops, food selections and who provides the entertainment. Naturally, they scrap the cruise line's usual production shows like “Karaoke Live!” and instead offer live concerts with headliner rock 'n' roll bands.

While the process sounds fun, it's not as simple as it sounds.

Chartering cruise ships and producing rock concerts are both risky investments. Consider the experience of another company, Shoreline Charters, which recently tried to promote the Bret Michaels Rock Your World Super Cruise, featuring the ex-lead singer of the band Poison. Michaels now alleges the company tried to renege on its original contract and cut his performance fee to $350,000 from $750,000. The cruise has been canceled.

There are a few successful companies producing music cruises. The Blues Cruise has handled some three dozen successful sailings, and The Smooth Jazz Cruise has presented two to five jazz cruises annually since 2004. But Sixthman, based in Atlanta, produces a greater variety of music theme cruises every year.

Here is a typical Sixthman Production (although there is nothing typical about it): The upcoming Kiss Kruise – Wet, Wild and Rockin’ isn’t just a cruise for Kiss fans to buy collectible Kiss dolls (although that is part of it). This cruise features the actual band playing live -- Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer. Only the first two are original members, but the important thing is being at sea with nothing to think about but your Kiss makeup and a chance to meet Gene Simmons as he heads to the dining room for baked Alaska.

The Kiss Kruise sets sail on Carnival Destiny Oct. 13 – 17 from Miami to a private island in the Bahamas and to Nassau. There will be two shows by Kiss for everyone onboard to see, plus performances by four other bands. Guests on the Kiss Kruise will pay from $799 to $2,995 per person for a four-day cruise. Sixthman brings its own sound system, controls what is shown on the stateroom televisions, chooses the “drink of the day,” plots the ship’s itinerary and more. For four days Sixthman will basically “own” the cruise ship.

Other Sixthman ventures include two successful Kid Rock cruises, with a third one coming next April. Then there’s the Weezer Cruise, featuring the namesake band plus 15 or so special guests. The Rock Boat, now in its 12th year, started it all and features dozens of different bands.

I am really sorry I missed the last Simple Man Cruise, the fifth of which sailed last January with classic rock bands Lynyrd Skynyrd, 38 Special and Little Feat, but cruise number six is being planned right now.

Then there's the fifth annual Cayamo Cruise sailing Feb. 5, 2012, where songwriters like Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, Lucinda Williams, John Prine and about 20 more will present their work -- and, more importantly, talk to fellow passengers and share their ideas on songwriting and performing. Other rock cruises include the VH1 Best Cruise Ever and Ships & Dips, that includes the Barenaked Ladies and several more bands.

Sixthman plans so many different cruises every year that the best thing to do for planning purposes is just visit its website to see what’s coming up. But be warned: Music cruises are highly addictive. Sixthman says more than 60% of guests on each cruise are repeaters. One of Sixthman’s competitors, the Jam Cruise, now in its 10th year, refers to its loyal client base as “repeat offenders.” Keep in mind that Sixthman's cruises often sell out up to a year in advance.

Sixthman is branching out beyond music to offer the Turner Classic Movie cruise on Dec. 8, 2011, showing several cinematic classics and bringing aboard Ernest Borgnine, Tippi Hedren, Norman Jewison and Eva Marie Saint to discuss and reminisce about the golden age of Hollywood. Overseeing the events will be TCM channel hosts Robert Osborne and Ben Mankiewicz.

Another Sixthman distinction is its choice of ships. While both Smooth Jazz and the Blues Cruise have only used Holland America ships for years now, Sixthman will be chartering Carnival's Inspiration, Destiny and Fascination; Celebrity Millennium; and NCL's Norwegian Pearl and Norwegian Dawn during the upcoming season.

When they are finished with each cruise, they will break down the stage, sound and lighting systems they bring on board and get them ready for the next adventure. And let me just say one thing: I would not want to be the person collecting the empty beer bottles.

Cruise Ships to Mark Titanic Centenary

Titanic

Daily Mail: This month marks 100 years since tickets went on sale for the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic. Fast-forward a century, and a UK cruise company has also put tickets on sale for a second cruise designed to commemorate the tragedy, after the first sold out almost two years before its departure date.

With the centenary now just under seven months away, it’s safe to say public interest is reaching fever pitch, especially with news that Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellowes is penning a mini-series to mark the anniversary.

So what better time to launch a second memorial cruise? The Azamara Journey, which can carry 694 passengers, will leave from New York and trace the Titanic’s footsteps in reverse (minus the iceberg collision). It is set to meet the Fred Olsen MC Balmoral cruise ship on the way, which will be following the Titanic’s course to New York from Southampton (also avoiding said iceberg).

The two vessels will cross paths at the exact site of the calamity on April 14, at 2.20am, to pay tribute to the 1,578 men, women and children who lost their lives a century earlier.

The second cruise, which is offering the all-inclusive, eight-night voyage from £4,419 per person, has been hurriedly put together due to popular demand, but the somewhat morbid idea has certainly had its detractors.

Miles Morgan, managing director of Miles Morgan Travel, has insisted the trip is designed to be ‘a commemoration not a ghoulish recreation of the original journey.’

Either way, on the anniversary you’ll find us watching the ITV mini-series from the comfort of our sofa, rather than tempting fate…

Cruise Line Building More Single Cabins

Budget Travel: Norwegian Cruise Line will introduce more of its popular Studios cabins for solo passengers when it launches its two newest ships in 2013 and 2014, Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway, respectively.

That comes as good news for singles looking for affordable pricing.

Cruise line fares are typically based on two people in a cabin, with single travelers often getting stuck with a double tab. NCL sought to address the issue last year when it introduced The Studios, a highly innovative complex of inside cabins for solo travelers on its 4,100-passenger Norwegian Epic.

We're not talking rock bottom pricing — on Epic for a weeklong Eastern Caribbean cruise this winter you'll pay from $839 to stay in The Studios. But that's still better than doubling a $599 fare for a standard inside.

As on Epic, The Studios on the new 4,000-passenger ships will be located in their own private-entry complex, albeit smaller, with 59 cabins each on Breakaway and Getaway (compared to 128 on Epic).

The 100-square-foot cabins on all the ships share a hip design by London-based Priestmangoode that includes faux portholes in the door, which help to give the illusion of more space; full-size beds; deconstructed bathrooms (sink, shower and enclosed toilet are all separate); and colored, controllable LED lights that allow you to set the mood.

Most of the cabins connect, for singles traveling with friends.

Private keycard access also gets passengers staying in the complex into The Studio Lounge, a comfy, two-deck space with a bar where singles can mix and mingle.

The World's Least Luxurious Cruise Ship

The North Korean cruise ship Mangyongbong

USA Today: There was karaoke and a buffet, but some of the bathrooms lacked water and some of the passengers slept on mattresses on the floor.

North Korea's first cruise ship set sail last week with 130 or so passengers, most of them Chinese tour operators and foreign journalists traveling on a junket, an attempt by the poverty-stricken pariah state to woo visitors – and foreign currency.

Different? Yes. But certainly not everyone's cup of tea.

"A lot of people like going to obscure places. And this is the most obscure part of a very obscure country in tourism terms -- the least visited part of the least visited country," Simon Cockerell head of the Koryo Group, a Beijing-based tour operator specializing in North Korea, told AFP.

The newly refurbished, yet reportedly rusty, 39-year-old Man Gyong Bong, a former ferry, made the 21-hour cruise from the coastal city of Rason to the resort area of Mount Kumgang. The region, regaled as the Korean Peninsula's most scenic spot, has recently re-opened to U.S. visitors and will once again be an option on itineraries offered by Chicago-based Asia Pacific Travel, the only U.S. company with a direct license from the North Korean government to operate tours there.

The mountain resort opened in 1998 with financing from South Korea and the prospect of thawing the freeze that has existed between the two Koreas since 1953. A series of problems – including the shooting death of a South Korean tourist in 2008 by a North Korean guard – didn't help business. Then last month, the North Koreans seized the resort's assets. Now they're actively seeking Chinese visitors, London's Daily Mail reports.

Tourists of any nationality are allowed to visit the area as long as the trip is arranged through an approved tour company – and visitors leave their mobile phones at home.

'"Any country, people from America, Japanese, Singaporean can come to Rason, that's the reality today… " The DailyMail quoted Hwang Chol-nam, the city's vice mayor as saying.

Americans comprise a tiny segment of foreign visitors to North Korea, whose tourist scene isn't exactly robust. But 2012, the 100th anniversary of the birth of "Eternal President" Kim Il Sung (which could spark some spectacular public spectacles) could be an opportune time to visit. Asia Pacific Travel has just released its 2012 tour schedule and will include three- and four-day options to visit Mount Kumgang --- or Diamond Mountains. Previously, visits from American tourists to the nation were limited to five days, the tour operator says. Unfortunately, Americans still aren't allowed to take the train into North Korea from China (they have to fly), making the trip pricier than some.

Holland America Announces Vampire Cruise



Holland America's Zuiderdam

Anchorage Daily News: A weeklong vampire convention on a cruise ship is planned for Southeast Alaska next summer.

Holland America's cruise ship Zuiderdam will be the setting for the event scheduled for late June.

KINY says the ship will make stops in Juneau, Glacier Bay, Skagway and Ketchikan after it departs from Vancouver.

Scheduled to join the cruise is Dacre Stoker, a great-grandnephew of "Dracula" author Bram Stoker. Dacre Stoker is a co-author of a sequel, "Dracula: The Un-Dead."

Vampire scholar John Edgar Browning is scheduled to host a vampire movie festival.

Other planned events include a vampire ball and costume contest.