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QE2 ship gets Airbus A380 escort on final port call at Dubai

(LOS ANGELES TIMES)--A jumbo Emirates Airlines A380 jet and scores of pleasure craft will greet Queen Elizabeth 2 today, Nov. 26, as the ocean liner sails into Dubai, its final port of call in a four-decade-long career. The QE2, arguably the world’s best-known passenger ship, will be refurbished as a floating hotel and museum moored off the wealthy Mideast emirate.  READ MORE

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Quantum leap of Celebrity Solstice: It’s chic, hip and unlike any cruise ship sailing today

(MSNBC)--The dictionary description of solstice is the precise moment that the sun is the farthest North or South of the equator. The aptly named Celebrity Solstice is one ship that is so innovative it is truly light years ahead of the cruise ship pack. READ MORE

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Cruise Ship Company Sued Over Fuel Surcharge Fees

www.northcountrygazette.org -- (TALLAHASSEE, FL) Florida Attorney General’s office has filed a lawsuit against a Broward County cruise ship company for failing to adequately disclose fuel surcharge fees. According to the lawsuit, Imperial Majesty Cruise Line LLC has collected approximately $4 million in fuel surcharges from late 2006 to present. The company, which offers two-day cruises to the Bahamas, is also accused of falsely representing those fees as governmental taxes or fees. READ MORE

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Royal Caribbean: 'significant deterioration' in cruise ship bookings

USA Today -- You're not alone if you're holding back on booking a cruise. Industry giant Royal Caribbean says the economic turmoil of recent weeks is spooking customers and causing a major slowdown in bookings. "While the company's order book remains solid, there has been a significant deterioration recently in new bookings due to economic and financial turmoil," the company says today in a statement accompanying its third quarter earnings release. READ MORE

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Yeah, baby: Next Royal Caribbean cruise ship will have a nursery

USA Today -- Royal Caribbean's much-ballyhooed Oasis of the Seas will have a full-blown baby nursery on board -- a first for the line as it caters ever more to families with young children. The specially-staffed Royal Babies and Tots Nursery, as it's being called, will welcome babies as young as six months old and is just part of a massive children's area the line is unveiling online tonight for the 5,400-passenger vessel -- the largest ever built. READ MORE

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Hurricane Omar forces more cruise ships to change course

USA Today -- A rapidly strengthening Hurricane Omar is forcing more cruise ships to switch course today as it barrels towards some of the Caribbean's most popular ports. Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and the Disney Cruise Line have all rerouted ships over the last 24 hours as the Category 1 storm bears down on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Several vessels, including the Carnival Triumph, Crown Princess and Mariner of the Seas, are switching to Western Caribbean itineraries for the week in lieu of Eastern Caribbean itineraries. READ MORE

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Rockin' the boat: How a musician strummed through Sydney Harbour in his floating guitar

www.dailymail.co.uk -- (Sydney) Singer-songwriter Josh Pyke might have considered playing an upbeat version of Handel's Water Music as he sailed across Sydney Harbour - but he was too busy keeping his floating guitar under control. Tourists stared in amazement as Josh steered the large guitar, complete with outboard motor, around the harbour, creating one of the strangest sights since the arrival of the First Fleet from England back in 1788. READ MORE

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Go Boating ... and Forget the Gas

www.marketwatch.com -- (FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.) Oct 14, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- It's environmentally friendly and no gasoline needed. The Calypso 23e, powered by the Whisper XT electric outboard will make its debut at the world's largest boat show, the 2008 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show from Thursday, October 30 - Monday, November 3. EPower Marine, an independent boat dealer based in Boynton Beach, Florida, specializes in electric-propulsion products for the marine industry. The Calypso 23e can cruise up to 8.5 mph, is powered by 600 pounds of military grade Odyssey advanced AGM dry-cell batteries and can be charged overnight from a standard 115 volt outlet. READ MORE

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Classism making a comeback on cruise ships

The Chicago Tribune -- One-class cruising could be bound for extinction. If Adam Goldstein, president of Royal Caribbean International, speaks for the future of cruising, traveling aboard ship may one day be akin to flying the unfriendly skies, meaning you'll sail by class in first, business or coach. At a recent Seatrade industry conference in Miami Beach, Goldstein acknowledged that on today's ships, passengers are more or less created equal whether they book an inside cabin or suite with veranda. But this is changing, he said. "The 21st Century guests, who are prepared to pay top dollar to be in the better accommodations onboard all of our ships, do not accept that once they step outside their door, they are on the same footing as everybody else," he explained. "They expect special treatment outside the staterooms." READ MORE

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Alaska cruise ship comes to rest on sandbar; second incident for the company in 6 months

Professional Mariner -- Already undergoing a U.S. Coast Guard safety review because of previous incidents, Cruise West Enterprises had another of its vessels run aground in July off Alaska.

The 178-foot cruise ship Spirit of Glacier Bay grounded on a sandbar in Tarr Inlet near Glacier Bay National Park on July 7. It was the second grounding of one the company’s ships in just over a month. The Coast Guard is reviewing Cruise West’s safety and maintenance procedures following three mechanical failures and the grounding of Spirit of Alaska on June 4.

Coast Guard Station Juneau reported that the Spirit of Glacier Bay incident occurred at 0747, with no breach of the hull. No injuries were reported among the 51 people onboard.

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