Titantic memorial cruise announced for 2012

by Kraig Becker on

History buffs and travelers with a sense of the macabre take note! 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, and to commemorate U.K. based Miles Morgan Travel is planning a cruise that will follow the same path as that iconic vessel. Presumably without the iceberg.

On April 8, 2012, a chartered ship named the Balmoral will set sail from Southhampton, England, just as Titanic did 100 years earlier. The ship will have its first stop over in Cobh, Ireland, which is also a port of call on the original voyage. From there, it is out on to the open water of the Northern Atlantic, where, on April 15th, the Balmoral will visit the exact spot of the sinking of Titanic, exactly a century after the fact. The passengers and crew will then hold a memorial for those that were lost on that tragic day, before proceeding on to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where they will visit three cemeteries, where passengers of Titanic found their final resting place. Finally, the voyage will finish up in New York City, the same destination that the “unsinkable” Titanic was bound for on that fateful journey.

The Balmoral can hold 1350 passengers and sails with a crew of 510. The luxury liner will serve a menu that matches the one from a century before, and live bands will play music from that era as well. Passengers can attend special historical lectures while en route and enjoy a cruise that will be a bit like stepping back in time. Prices start at $3900 and each of the 710 cabins is expected to be sold out.

For more information on this very unique cruise or to book your own cabin, go to BortonOverSeas.com, the company in charge of taking reservations for the voyage. Their Titatanic Memorial Cruise page has everything you’ll need to know before you follow the famous ship into history.

December is cougar season on San Diego cruise

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Women of a certain age and vigor will leave San Diego in December on the first “cougar cruise” to hit the high seas. Singles Travel Company and singles group The Society of Single Professionals are collaborating on this three-night experience … and they’ll be packing the ship with younger men for the cougars on board to hunt. For a change, man becomes prey and cougar the prowler.

In case you’re unaware, a cougar is an older women who happens to enjoy the … ummmm … “company” of younger men.

The appropriately named Carnival Elation leaves the harbor on December 4, 2009 – unlike the action on board – it will actually make a stop (in Ensenada, Mexico). For $125, not including government and port fees, guests will enjoy three nights of cougar coupling. For young men eying the ultimate trophy, Miss Cougar America 2009, Gloria Navarro, will be on board. But, if you think you call the shots with her young man, you’re out of your mind.

Overcrowded Venice may ban day-trippers

by Katie Hammel on

There’s no question that Venice is a city overrun with tourists. 20 million people visit the sinking city each year, yet only 60,000 Italians call Venice home. It’s no wonder then that the city starts to feel more like an open-air museum, a well-preserved relic of the past, rather than a living, and lived-in, city.

The residents of Venice put up with a lot (though or course, many of them profit greatly from the massive tourism industry too), and many are fed up with the overwhelming crush of tourists that descend on the town each year. And they aren’t above fighting back. Last year, the city created a (short-lived) locals-only vaporetto line from the Grand Canal to Piazza San Marco. Technically, anyone with a 3-year Carta Venezia pass could ride, but at 40 Euros each, most visitors wouldn’t buy one.

The latest tactic in the battle of locals vs. tourists is to ban day-trippers. Only about 30% of Venice’s annual visitors stay there overnight. The rest stay outside the city, stop by on their way to or from other destinations, or come for the day by cruise ship. The proposal would limit visitors to the city to those people who have a pre-booked hotel reservation.

Enrico Mingardi, the head of public transportation in Venice, is the mastermind of the proposal. He says that Venetians can “no longer tolerate the discomforts” caused by the influx of thousands of tourists each day. He didn’t say exactly how the system would work, what rules would apply to cruise ship visitors, and if those without proof of hotel reservations would be locked out of the city.

Proposals that would limit the number of Venice’s tourists have been brought up before, but always defeated. If the policy does take effect, I have a feeling Venice will feel even more like a historical theme park. What’s next – turnstiles and a ticket window?

Why even the environment hates cruises

by Aaron Hotfelder on

As if the cramped cabins, lame entertainment, and superficial shore excursions aren’t enough for you to hate cruises, here’s another reason: they’re pretty bad for the environment too.

A new article on Slate, “A Supposedly Green Thing I Might Do Again,” (get it?) details the disturbing amount of damage that cruise ships do to our air and water. From the smokestacks spewing pollutants on top, to the noxious bilge water that is released (usually treated, but not always) below, cruise ships are some of the modern world’s biggest floating polluters.

And don’t forget about the sewage. According to a report from the non-profit advocacy group Oceana, “the average cruise ship with 3,000 passengers and crew generates about 30,000 gallons of human waste and 255,000 gallons of non-sewage gray water every day.” Yet United States law allows cruise ship operators to dump as much raw sewage as they want into the ocean as long as it’s not done within three miles of the U.S coast.

In addition, Oceana reports that cruise operators are permitted to dump ground-up garbage into the ocean as long as they are three miles from shore. Once they’re 11 miles from shore, the cruise ships may even dump garbage that hasn’t been ground up.

Check out more from Oceana on cruise ship pollution here. Nina Shen Rastogi’s full article on Slate is here.

On a more positive note, several months ago Treehugger wrote about 7 Ocean-Friendly Eco Cruises Hitting the High Seas.

Cruise ship arrives in port with dead whale on its bow

by Katie Hammel on

On Sunday, the Vancouver Sun reported that the Princess Cruises ship that arrived in port the day before brought with it something unexpected, and a little disturbing. Stuck to the bow of the boat was a 21 meter (about 69 feet) long dead fin whale.

The Sapphire Princess was returning from Alaska and most likely picked up the whale north of Vancouver Island, as fin whales, which have been designated as an at-risk species, don’t often inhabit the waters off Vancouver.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans plans to do a necropsy to determine if the whale was alive when it was struck by the boat or if it had been floating dead on the water. Whales are generally too small to show up on a ship’s radar, so captains rely on sightings and information from other boats in the area to help avoid them. While ship collisions with whales aren’t common, this isn’t the first time a ship has arrived in Vancouver with a fin whale stuck to the bow. In 1999, a Celebrity Cruise ship had a similar incident.

The whale was removed from the ship’s bow with the aid of two tugboats. After it is examined, it will be dropped back into the ocean where it will become an important part of the underwater ecosystem, providing food for fish and other sea creatures.