All posts by Robert De Pasquale

The Spit Terminal

Future of The Spit Cruise Terminal in Gold Coast Still Uncertain

Posted: August 20, 2022

Australia, Press Release

It was only in April Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate reaffirmed his commitment to building the new cruise ship terminal at The Spit on the Gold Coast, but with the virus having a detrimental effect on the industry, a shadow of doubt has been cast over the plans for one of Australia’s future ports.

Currently, Australia has 33 ports spread throughout 10 major locations, and with the hope of the future cruise ship terminal on the Gold Coast, not only will accessibility to the Sunshine Coast be increased, but also a boost in tourism in the northern part of Australia.

Concerns were growing for months with opponents calling for the cruise-terminal money to be spent elsewhere to help the city recover, and that a cruise ship terminal on the Gold Coast would not be viable with the virus having such a strong impact on the tourism industry.

Last week Mayor Tom Tate vowed to halt further funding going into his controversial $650 million offshore cruise ship terminal project, along with the announcement from Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick that two new redevelopment projects have been awarded for the popular recreation area.

Treasurer Cameron Dick committed $5 million to create new public spaces at the northern end of The Spit.

The new public spaces will include a promenade and viewing platform, new seating and viewing areas, fresh landscaping, new picnic tables, fountains, and beach showers, with 360-degree views from the Broadwater through to Surfers Paradise, Moondarewa Spit will benefit from the local construction development economically and socially.

When asked about the cruise ship terminal, the Treasurer raised doubts, “I think it’s very challenging, to be honest, with the global economy the way it is,” he said.

“It’s very hard, particularly for people to travel internationally. That’s just the truth at the moment, so we just have to see how it stacks up. “It would need to stack up economically and environmentally, in particular, for it to proceed.”

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said that it’s currently unclear whether the cruise ship terminal will go ahead, and questions how the cruise ship industry would recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s too early to know the full extent of the impact that COVID-19 has had on the cruise industry and how long it will take to recover,” he said. “So, while I still see a cruise ship terminal in our future, now is not the time to be aggressively pursuing this.”

Treasurer said a final decision will be made within 12-18 months by the Coordinator-General.

MSC Cruises Restart Cruising

MSC Cruises Restart Cruising the Mediterranean

Posted: August 19, 2022

Countries, Press Release, ,

Is it the journey or the destination that counts? I think at this point, anyone would just be happy getting out of the house. But thanks to MSC Cruises, Europeans have the opportunity to cruise the Mediterranean with a two-ship vacation this month!

According to the announcement last Friday, two of the company’s vessels — the MSC Magnifica and MSC Grandiosa cruise ships — are scheduled to begin seven-day cruises in the Eastern and Western Mediterranean.

Only guests who are residents of the 26 Schengen European countries will be able to board the first cruises to return to the seas (sorry UK and Ireland, that doesn’t include you), in order to reduce where possible, the need for public transportation options to the port.

The MSC Magnifica will depart on a weekly basis from Bari, Italy to visit three Greek ports, as well as Trieste, before returning to Bari. The route is to take place from August 29 until the end of October, based on the company’s program which is subject to approval by Italian authorities.

MSC Magnifica will depart on a weekly basis from Bari, Italy to visit three Greek ports

The MSC Grandiosa as of August 16 will offer seven-night cruises in the Western Mediterranean, from the Italian ports of Genoa, Civitavecchia in Rome, Naples, Palermo and Valletta.

Even though the two-ship restart is in its final stages of review by relevant authorities in Europe, MSC remains confident in its new health and safety protocol.

MSC Cruises recently introduced its comprehensive health and safety protocol developed to support the restart of operations in the Mediterranean and ensure the utmost safety of guests, crew, and local communities.

The town of Civitavecchia (Lazio, Italy) is named the port of Rome

Maritime certification agency RINA confirmed that the line’s new protocols meet the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)’s guidance on cruise ship health and safety.

“As a reminder, our new health and safety operating protocol has been designed on regional and national guidelines set forth amongst other by the EU Healthy Gateways, the European Union-funded Joint Action, and will also align with those issued by the European Maritime Safety Agency, EMSA,” MSC Cruises said in a statement on its website.

Kyriakos Anastasiadis, Senior Advisor of Institutional and Maritime Affairs at MSC Cruises added, “We put the health and safety of passengers, crew and local communities first, without changing the top cruise experience that MSC Cruises’ ships offer.”

The comprehensive safety protocols include health screening at embarkation (temperature checks, health questionnaire and a COVID-19 swab test), social distancing, enhanced medical facilities and elevated sanitation and cleaning measures.

Following the EU guidelines, any passengers who test positive or display COVID-19-like symptoms will be denied boarding, and passengers travelling from any high-risk destination will need to do a COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hours of boarding the ship. MSC will also conduct daily temperature checks for crew and passengers on board.

In October, MSC Cruises will announce its program for the winter with the hope to restart 14 vessels

Royal Caribbean Group

Introducing the New and Improved Royal Caribbean Group

Posted: August 11, 2022

Press Release

(Drum roll please) … Introducing the new and improved Royal Caribbean Group, the new identity of Miami-based cruise company (NYSW: RCL) Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

The announcement was made in the form of a press release that the cruise company has changed their corporate identity, including the name and logo. Changes to the logo include sharpening the points of the crown and anchor and adding a surrounding circle.

“The name is simpler, fresher and more modern. It’s also more descriptive,” Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO Richard Fain said. “Royal Caribbean Group sounds like a parent company name, reflective of our growth and evolution since we last updated our identity more than 20 years ago.”

The company in total operates 63 ships across its brands with an additional 16 ships on order as of July 10, 2022

Royal Caribbean Group owns and operates the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Silversea Cruises and Azamara brands. The company in total operates 63 ships across its brands with an additional 16 ships on order as of July 10, 2020. The company’s most recent agreement was a deal to purchase the remaining 33.3% of Silversea in a deal valued at $245 million.

Due to COVID-19 pandemic, none of the company’s cruise brands have boarded passengers since March. As previously stated in a recent article, sailing will not resume until at least the end September, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s no-sail order lasts through Sept. 30.

New York-based design firm Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv designed Royal Caribbean Group’s new corporate identity.

Ruby Princess

Ruby Princess: Passengers with COVID-19 Mistakenly Allowed to Disembark

Posted: August 5, 2022

Australia, Health & Safety, ,

Fever, dry cough, tiredness. Symptoms of COVID-19 can easily be confused with the common flu, but what happens when a simple mistake affects more than 700 lives?

An Australian senior Border Force officer who inspected the Ruby Princess mistakenly thought passengers with flu-like symptoms had tested negative to COVID-19, when in fact they had only tested negative for the flu.

Documents obtained by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation show that the error made by the senior officer allowed 2,700 people to disembark the Ruby Princess to enter Sydney on March 19, 2020. This new evidence challenges Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram’s assertion in March that NSW Health was responsible for allowing passengers to disembark.

Sadly, the mistake wasn’t noticed until more than 30 hours after the passengers — including 13 who had been fighting fevers while isolated in their cabins — left the ship, according to the documents obtained by the ABC.

The officer, who has been identified by the ABC as “Officer O”, was given the task to inspect all passengers on the Ruby Princess, which resulted in at least 22 deaths and over 650 infected cases that were linked to the Ruby Princess cluster.

The day before disembarking, the New South Wales Ministry of Health granted “practical” permission for passengers to get off the ship, despite formal approval not being granted. On March 8, a NSW Health assessment team boarded the ship to collect COVID-19 swabs and perform temperature checks on passengers and crew members who had been part of the previous Ruby Princess cruise.

The NSW Health assessment team didn’t repeat the same process on March 19 as its panel deemed the ship “low risk” — hence why Officer O was asked to investigate the sick passengers on board.

A crew member of the Ruby Princess then asked whether the ship had clearance to disembark and the senior officer “responded yes” but he misinterpreted a document that indicated 13 passengers had tested negative for the flu as them being testing negative for COVID-19.

Within just a few hours, all the ship’s 2,700 passengers had gotten off the Ruby Princess, including 13 passengers who were previously in isolation that had been tested for influenza.

In a statement released last Thursday, the Australian Border Force didn’t deny an officer misinterpreted the results — but placed the blame firmly on the NSW Ministry of Health, SBS News reports.

“Any misinterpretation by ABF officers of test results did not make a difference as to whether passengers were cleared to disembark the Ruby Princess,” the statement read. “Human health is not the responsibility of the ABF.”

ABF chief Michael Outram has said NSW health authorities and federal agriculture officials were responsible for allowing the passengers to disembark, including those who were ill.

New South Wales Ministry of Health officials are reportedly expected to release a report on the ship on August 14.

Muster 2.0 Header

Royal Caribbean Debut New Safety Drill Invention

Posted: August 3, 2022

Health & Safety, Onboard Features, Press Release, , , ,

This is not a drill! Well, this is actually a new drill. The first major change to come about as a result of the global crisis was announced on July 24, when the Royal Caribbean Group debuted the Muster 2.0: a new electronic muster drill, delivering safety information to guests with an entirely new approach.

Unlike tradition muster drills Muster 2.0 will help promote social distancing onboard

The Muster 2.0 will replace the conventional safety drill — which involved a lot of people gathering in generally close quarters at the beginning of the cruise — with a new interactive eMuster, helping promote social distancing onboard. This invention marks the first major change to safety drills in over a decade.

The Muster 2.0

First tested on Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas in January 2020, guests who took part in the trial process showed positive feedback to the new approach using Muster 2.0 with improved organisation and a better understanding of safety information.

More than a year in the making, Muster 2.0 is also an initiative that will be part of the comprehensive set of protocols and procedures Royal Caribbean Group is developing along with the Healthy Sail Panel that was recently assembled in collaboration with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

This new process represents the kind of innovation that the Healthy Sail Panel is focusing on as part of its mission to enhance the health and safety of cruising,” said former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, co-chair of the Healthy Sail Panel. “It shows that we can accomplish a lot if we try to think outside the box on safety.”

With the Muster 2.0, not only will guests be provided with all the necessary information, but the tech app is available for guests on their mobile devices and interactive stateroom TVs

To comply with international maritime law, passengers of a vessel must be well informed with what to do in case of an emergency.

To comply with international maritime law, passengers of a vessel must be well informed with what to do in case of an emergency.  With the Muster 2.0, not only will guests be provided with all the necessary information, but the tech app is available for guests on their mobile devices and interactive stateroom TVs. And bonus? Guests can review the information at their leisure during the first day prior to setting sail, which eliminates the need for large group gatherings, maintaining proper social distancing.

“Muster 2.0 represents a natural extension of our mission to improve our guests’ vacation experiences by removing points of friction,” said Jay Schneider, Royal Caribbean Group’s senior vice president of digital. “In this instance, what’s most convenient for our guests is also the safest option in light of needing to reimagine social spaces in the wake of COVID-19.”

How Does it Work?

After guests have reviewed the safety information in their own time prior to setting sail and/or on their first day, individually, guests will then complete the drill by visiting their assigned assembly station. Guests have a set time (indicated by a timer in the app) during which the muster drill must be completed by all the passengers.

When guests have reached their assigned station, a crew member will verify that all steps have been completed and answer necessary questions. Each of the steps need to be completed prior to the ship/s departure, as required by international maritime law.

After guests have reviewed the safety information in their own time prior to setting sail and/or on their first day, individually, guests will then complete the drill by visiting their assigned assembly station

“The health and safety of our guests and crew are our number one priority, and the development of this new muster process is an elegant solution to an outdated, unpopular process,” said Richard Fain, chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Group. “The fact that this will also save guests time and allow the ship to operate without pause means that we can increase health, safety and guest satisfaction simultaneously.”

Sharing Innovation

In such difficult times, extending a hand of innovation can only be a positive move forward for the cruise industry. Even though Muster 2.0 is the invention of Royal Caribbean, the company is offering the technology to fellow cruise operators (and even waving the patent license fees during the global pandemic). Other companies that have jumped on the Muster 2.0 bandwagon include the company’s joint venture, TUI Cruises GmbH, as well as Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., the parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.