bajaguy
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Carnival Cruise Ships Pull Out Of San Diego
Interesting how they refer to low passenger counts and the "problems in Mexico"
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/13/san-diego-to-...
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DENNIS
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"The 88,500-ton Carnival Spirit typically makes 27 calls in San Diego each year, carrying more than 60,000 passengers annually to destinations in the
Mexican Riviera."
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Did this ship stop in Ensenada?
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bajaguy
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Dunno, but I have seen Carnival ships there all the time
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woody with a view
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my guess is you won't anymore.....
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DENNIS
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajaguy
Dunno, but I have seen Carnival ships there all the time |
Yeah...I think that's most of the traffic. To lose another one would be a major hit. Ensenada is backed into the corner as it is.
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Woooosh
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"because of economic woes and fears over traveling to Mexico... The cruise industry is seeing signs of recovery in Florida and elsewhere, but
persistent drug-related violence has meant fading interest in cruises to Mexico, the chief destination of California-based ships."
You'd think Mexico would have figured out how to bribe the cruise companies into continuing service. They do it for everything else. I'll bet other
companies follow suit if their passenger/revenue counts don't improve. The loss of just one cruise ship line to Mexico has to be a $Billion hit.
[Edited on 1-14-2011 by Woooosh]
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
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BajaBruno
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"2 ships moving from Port of Los Angeles as Mexican cruises slump in popularity"
"Cruise line officials and port officials say the moves stem from the sour economy and continuing drug-related violence in Mexico. Royal Caribbean's
Mariner of the Seas is leaving this month and Norwegian Cruise Lines' Norwegian Star is departing in May."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-1014-mexico-cruise-shi...
It looks like that makes three lines leaving the SoCal to Mexico route.
Christopher Bruno, Elk Grove, CA.
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BajaNews
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2 ships moving from Port of Los Angeles as Mexican cruises slump in popularity
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-1014-mexico-cruise-shi...
By Hugo Martín
January 14, 2011
With Mexican cruises slumping in popularity, two of the largest ships serving the Port of Los Angeles are pulling up anchor for more lucrative markets
elsewhere.
Royal Caribbean said its 3,100-passenger Mariner of the Seas, after a Mexican Rivera voyage that begins Sunday, will leave the Port of L.A. for South
America and Europe, ending up in Galveston, Texas. Norwegian Cruise Lines will pull its 2,348-passenger Norwegian Star out of the port in May. The
ship will eventually settle in Tampa, Fla.
Cruise line officials and port officials say the moves stem from the sour economy and continuing drug-related violence in Mexico. Just last weekend,
Mexican authorities discovered the bodies of at least 30 new victims in the popular tourist port of Acapulco. Fifteen were beheaded.
"We are struggling with our many ships to Mexico," said Chris Chase, marketing director for the Port of Los Angeles. "It's the economy and the news of
drug wars down there."
The two departing ships carried nearly half of the Port of Los Angeles' passengers in 2009. So far, no cruise lines have announced plans to abandon
the Port of Long Beach, but Carnival Cruise Lines said this week that its Carnival Spirit, which has docked at both Los Angeles and San Diego, will
start sailing out of Australia in 2012.
The departures come amid signs that the nation's $40-billion cruise industry is beginning to recover from the economic downturn, particularly in
Florida, the industry's No. 1 market.
Overall, the North America cruise business saw a 6% jump in passengers in the first six months of 2010 compared with the same period in 2009,
according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Growth has been especially strong in the Bahamas and Bermuda trade.
Southern California is going the other direction, however. Combined, the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego served nearly 590,000
passengers in the first six months of 2010, a drop of 3% from 2009 and a 21% plunge from 2008, federal numbers show.
"The market out there has literally crashed," said Stewart Chiron, a cruise industry analyst.
Chiron said tourists' fear of drug violence in Mexico was probably the main reason that the California cruise business was not recovering. Another
reason could be a loss of interest in Mexican tourist attractions, he said.
Most of the drug violence has occurred in Mexico's border towns, but in recent months it has seeped into tourist hot spots.
In addition to the violence in Acapulco, the mayor of Cancun was arrested last year on drug-trafficking charges in the middle of his campaign for
governor of the state of Quintana Roo.
Mexico tourism officials declined to discuss the drop in cruise numbers. Alfonso Sumano, director of the Americas for the Mexico Tourism Board, said
in a statement that the nation's secretary of tourism would soon launch an effort to promote Mexican cruise destinations
"The destinations of the Mexican western coast are a top priority in our plan of action," he said.
Nationally, Mexico attracted about 502,000 cruise passengers from North America in the first six months of 2010, 26% less than the same period in
2008, according to the Transportation Department. Just 187 cruise voyages docked in Mexican ports in the first six months of 2010, compared with 290
voyages in the same period in 2008.
Cruise line executives acknowledge that drug violence has cut into demand, but they stress that the risk of cruise passengers becoming victims is very
small.
"We would not head into a region where there is any threat to our guests," said Brian O'Connor, spokesman for Cunard, the luxury cruise line that
sails from Los Angeles to ports including Ensenada, Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta.
Terry Thornton, a senior vice president at Carnival Cruise Lines, said in a statement that the perception of Mexico as a vacation destination "is
being negatively affected by the highly publicized incidents of violent crime. Fortunately, these incidents have really not been focused at tourists."
The only bright spot in Southern California's bleak cruise picture is the scheduled arrival this month of the Disney Wonder to the Port of Los
Angeles. The Wonder is expected to carry nearly 175,000 passengers a year.
But that arrival reflects Southern California's second-tier position as a cruise ship destination. The Wonder is pulling out of Florida to make room
for Disney's newest ship, the 14-deck Disney Dream, a behemoth that is about 150 feet longer than the Wonder and can hold almost 1,600 more
passengers.
Some industry officials believe that Mexico's decline in popularity as a cruise destination is only temporary and will eventually rebound.
"We are definitely down, but we've been down before," said Rita Wandergaw, a spokeswoman for the Port of San Diego. "For me this is a cyclical change.
I'm optimistic it will turn around."
Pat Ford, a cruise agent at Montrose Travel in Montrose, said she still was selling many Mexico cruises and "every once in a while I get the question
'Is it safe to go to Mexico?'" She tells potential passengers that most of the drug crime takes place far from the resort towns, Ford said.
The good news for cruise passengers who are not deterred by news of drug violence is that cruise lines are offering big discounts on trips to Mexico
and that the lines at resort-town restaurants and shops are short.
Jan Braunstein, a retired educator and part-time actress from Claremont, took a seven-day cruise to Mexico on Royal Caribbean last year and said she
never worried about drug violence while visiting Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.
Instead, Braunstein described having a great time eating and drinking margaritas with three friends.
"There wasn't a line anywhere," she said of her visits to the Mexican resorts. "It felt like off-season."
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SDRonni
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I understand that the Azamara Journey is traveling full for its 11-day Sea of Cortez cruise on 1/8 and 1/19......or so I'm told....
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CaboRon
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
"The 88,500-ton Carnival Spirit typically makes 27 calls in San Diego each year, carrying more than 60,000 passengers annually to destinations in the
Mexican Riviera."
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Did this ship stop in Ensenada? |
No... however the Elation did before it was moved to Mobile,
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bajaguy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by SDRonni
I understand that the Azamara Journey is traveling full for its 11-day Sea of Cortez cruise on 1/8 and 1/19......or so I'm told....
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Azmara Journey is in the SOC, just east if Loreto. Looks like it is headed for Guaymas:
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?level0=100
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krafty
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We will miss them when they go-several evenings a week the cruise ships come by us at sunset-quite a cool sight
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Santiago
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Now that is a very cool website.
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durrelllrobert
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
"The 88,500-ton Carnival Spirit typically makes 27 calls in San Diego each year, carrying more than 60,000 passengers annually to destinations in the
Mexican Riviera."
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Did this ship stop in Ensenada? |
Spirt was the ship that had the electrical fire then lost power and took 3
days to tow to SD where it underwent repairs before it could leave
Bob Durrell
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Brian L
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| Quote: | Originally posted by durrelllrobert
| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
"The 88,500-ton Carnival Spirit typically makes 27 calls in San Diego each year, carrying more than 60,000 passengers annually to destinations in the
Mexican Riviera."
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Did this ship stop in Ensenada? |
Spirt was the ship that had the electrical fire then lost power and took 3
days to tow to SD where it underwent repairs before it could leave |
No, that is the Splendor. It is out of LA area, and just left San Diego this week after being repaired.
[Edited on 1-14-2011 by Brian L]
Brian
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Bajahowodd
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| Quote: | Originally posted by SDRonni
I understand that the Azamara Journey is traveling full for its 11-day Sea of Cortez cruise on 1/8 and 1/19......or so I'm told....
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Seems that filling cabins on the upscale ships is still not a problem. First off, there are fewer of them. Second, with respect to the larger ships
that are pulling out, their demographic has less discretionary income and is less likely to take chances with it.
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805gregg
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There must be some products in Mexico the cruise ships could bring back to US to make the trips profitable.
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Bajahowodd
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Cruise ships are not freighters. By design, they contain very little cargo capacity. The idea is to be to jam-in as many paying passengers as
possible.
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acadist
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaBruno
"2 ships moving from Port of Los Angeles as Mexican cruises slump in popularity"
"Cruise line officials and port officials say the moves stem from the sour economy and continuing drug-related violence in Mexico. Royal Caribbean's
Mariner of the Seas is leaving this month and Norwegian Cruise Lines' Norwegian Star is departing in May."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-1014-mexico-cruise-shi...
It looks like that makes three lines leaving the SoCal to Mexico route. |
The Norwegian Star leaves every May to go to Alaska out of Seattle
Dave
I moved to CO and they made me buy a little rod to make it feel like a real fish
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Bajahowodd
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According to the CLIA website, which is the industy's bible, in 2010, their ships had a 103% occupancy rate. Business is booming. About that rate,
since many lines have ships with cabins that have fold down bunks, that are particularly attractive to families, the capacity rating considers the the
cabins as double occupancy. Inasmuch as the industy as a whole is booming, it really boils down to the fact that they have had difficulty filling
their staterooms on Mexican Cruises. Although the newer ships are chock full of onboard amenities, the sad fact is that the cruise lines make
considerable profit from their shore excursion business. If passengers are fearful of leaving the ship in Mexican ports, they are less likely to book
a Mexican cruise. Shore excursions along the Mexican cruise route run the gamut from a simple walking tour of Ensenada, to a train ride into Copper
Canyon at Topolobampo/ Los Mochis.
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