TravelDuties

A state senator from California has proposed legislation requiring cruise ships sailing from Golden State ports to have a peace officer onboard.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) believes that the number of cases involving missing cruise passengers, sexual assaults and other criminal necessitates that action be taken.

Quoting Simitian, “We’ve got air marshals on planes with a couple hundred passengers, but we’ve got no one on board the cruise ships with 10 times the number of passengers.”

The peace officer’s salary would be funded by a one dollar per passenger, per day tax and he or she would also server as a licensed marine engineer to make sure that the cruise ship complies with environmental regulations, a cause Simitian has championed.

Cruise ships do hire their own security officers, but lawmakers are concerned that this isn’t enough. Some have suggested that security staff are looking out for the interests of the cruise line instead of the safety requirements of cruise passengers.

California’s portion of the $35.7 billion annual cruise industry is $1.9 billion. Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Long Beach and the top embarkation points in the state, representing 14% of all U.S. traffic.

Simitian’s bill comes on the heels of an incident involving a Sacramento resident who claimed she was raped while taking a cruise. She contends that the cruise line insisted that she collect her own evidence. The alleged attacker has never been charged in this case.

Lots of good stuff is happening in the cruise world, including the following tidbits. Please click on any link to find out more information.

$250 Million ‘Evolutions of Fun’ Product Enhancement Strategy – The Carnival Inspiration and Carnival Imagination are the first of the line’s eight Fantasy-class ships to undergo an “extreme makeover” with the new “Evolutions of Fun” ship enhancement program. In addition to the new “Carnival WaterWorks” aqua parks featuring 300-foot-long corkscrew water slides, water spray park and double-lane racing slides, the initiative includes a new design for the main pool areas, and the creation of the “Serenity” adults-only deck area. Other features, many of which are already in place, include nine-hole mini golf courses, atrium lobby bars, conference centers, and expansive new children’s play rooms. The “Evolutions of Fun” upgrades are expected to be completed over the next few years, with the Carnival Fantasy next in line to undergo the extensive renovations this fall.

Cruisers who book Holland America Line through the end of February will be rewarded with exceptional savings on select sailings across all Holland America Line cruise destinations. With the View and Verandah promotion, clients can upgrade from an inside stateroom to an outside for as little as $100 depending on the sailing.

“These are great values for cruise travelers,” said Richard D. Meadows, CTC, executive vice president, marketing, sales and guest relations. “View and Verandah savings apply to most sailings in 2008 and help make this time of year the best time to plan a vacation.”

View and Verandah promotion fares on Alaska cruises and tours offer a savings up to $450 per person off brochure fares depending on sailing date. With eight ships sailing Alaska itineraries and 29 different cruise tours, Holland America Line offers numerous adventures exploring Alaska’s great frontier, from the Inside Passage to the Arctic Circle, and through the expansive wilderness of the Yukon Territory.

Queen Victoria, the newest luxury liner in Cunard’s celebrated fleet, made her maiden call to Ft. Lauderdale on January 16, just three days after embarking on her Maiden World Cruise and making an historic Royal Rendezvous in New York on Sunday with both sister-ships Queen Mary 2 and QE2. Queen Victoria has been sailing with QE2 since departing Southampton, England on January 6 making a tandem Transatlantic Crossing together. Queen Victoria was launched on December 10, 2007 by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla Parker Bowles). Joining Queen Victoria at Port Everglades was Cunard’s grand dame QE2, the world’s most famous ocean liner. QE2 embarked on her 26th and final World Cruise and will complete her service to the Cunard fleet in November 2008.

Photo credit: Princess Cruises

If you are considering a career with a cruise line, you’re in good company. Cruise ship traffic continues to rise and employment opportunities remain quite good. Even in these days of economic turmoil so many people want a respite from their troubles and daily grind; a six-day cruise is one way they are finding temporary relief.

From the customer’s standpoint, taking a cruise isn’t always smooth sailing. Even the most opulent cruise line can run into problems with passengers getting sick or a trip cancelled due to bad weather. Some problems cannot be prevented, but a curious industry trend can be. What do I mean by this? It is those extra fees passengers sometimes incur when taking a cruise. Yes, an ugly trend is emerging in the cruise industry — charge your passengers various fees on top of their regular charges. Why would this concern you, the cruise line employee? Well, for one good reason: you could be in the firing line of a disgruntled passenger who wants you to explain their padded bill.

Thanks to an article appearing in the Kansas City Star (reprinted from the San Francisco Chronicle) I have learned that Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has a habit of padding customer’s bills. According to the article, extra fees including a daily $10 “service charge” is added to each bill, an amount that cannot be removed. Although the fee is used as way to tip employees, the cruise line passenger has no way of controlling disbursement. This means that if the person who turned your sheets daily did a good job, but the person serving your food has done a poor job, everyone shares equally. I’m not saying that tipping isn’t important, but if you read the article closely you will see that a “non-mandatory” fee is now mandatory. Besides, why should the person doing a good job get the same tip as the one who isn’t?

NCL isn’t the only cruise line tacking on fees. Princess, MCS Cruises, Carnival, Holland America, Cunard, and Costa Cruises all add on daily fees with Disney, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity leaving these fees up to the passengers. While it may sound like a good idea to ensure that cruise line help get their tips, there isn’t a guarantee that the monies will flow directly to the employees. In fact, in cases where a 15% bar fee is added to the bill, many bartenders are reporting that they never see any of that money.

Passengers shouldn’t be surprised that other fees are routinely added including fuel surcharges to cover the cost of higher fuel prices and mooring at foreign ports. Worse, many of the fees are per day and per person, extending even down to an infant whose food allotment would be brought onboard by the parents and whose use of most any other onboard services would be neglible.

So, are you still interested in a cruise line opportunity? Don’t let my fee revelation deter you, but please understand that some of the practices of your employer can leave a sour taste in the mouths of passengers. As long as you aren’t on the receiving end of someone’s wrath, then working on a cruise ship needn’t be an unpleasant experience.