The cruise industry had a lot of good news in 2007. New cruise ships were launched, technology was improved, onboard options were enhanced, and cruise passengers were treated to new wonderful worldwide destinations.
The year 2007 had some sad cruise news, too. Two cruise ships sank, resulting in two deaths, but hundreds were rescued. Other ships were retired. Cruise lines added fuel surcharges, and unfortunately had outbreaks of norovirus and passengers overboard. Let's look back at 2007.
May - Empress of the North Runs Aground in Alaska
Photo Courtesy of Majestic America Line
The paddlewheel ship Empress of the North ran aground near Juneau, Alaska. In the middle of the night, passengers were awaken and told to don life jackets. They were all evacuated with no serious injuries reported. The Empress of the North was significantly damaged and several cruises had to be canceled while repairs were made.
May - Costa Serena Launched, Joins Costa Fleet
The 112,000 GRT, 3000 passenger Costa Serena was the second ship in the "Concordia class" to join the Costa fleet when she was christened in May 2007. The Costa Serena and Costa Concordia are the largest Costa cruise ships.June - NCL Announces Upcoming Sale of Marco Polo
In June 2007 NCL Corporation (NCL) announced the sale of Marco Polo from its Orient Lines brand effective March 23, 2008. Marco Polo's final cruise will be the March 2, 2008 repositioning cruise from Rio de Janeiro to Lisbon, Portugal.June - Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) to Leave Cunard Fleet, Sold to Dubai World
Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
After the transfer of the QE2 to Dubai World in November 2008, she will be transformed into a luxury floating hotel, retail and entertainment destination at The Palm Jumeirah, the world's largest man-made island. The ship, which was launched by Her Majesty The Queen in September 1967, is the longest-serving ship in Cunard's 168-year history, and was their longest-serving flagship. Since she came into service in 1969, she has undertaken 25 world cruises, has crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times and has carried more than 2.5 million passengers.
July - New Seven Wonders of the World Announced
Petra Photo (c) Linda Garrison
The results of the New Seven Wonders of the World campaign were announced in Lisbon, Portugal in July 2007. The campaign to select the new seven man-made wonders of the world started in September 1999, and people around the world nominated their favorites through December 2005. Twenty-one world class finalists were announced by an international panel of judges on January 1, 2006. The 21 finalists were then posted at the New7Wonders Web site and over 100 million votes from around the world selected the seven winners.
Cruise travelers are lucky since many of the top 21 are easily accessible via cruise ship or overnight shore excursion.
July - Four Cruise Passengers Killed on Sightseeing Flight in Alaska
Photo Courtesy of Cosmo3667
Four Sun Princess cruise passengers and their pilot were killed while on a flightseeing tour over Misty Fjords near Ketchikan, Alaska. The ship was on a 7-day cruise out of Seattle when the accident occurred.
July - Holland America Announces New "As You Wish" Dining
Photo Courtesy of Holland America Line
Holland America is joining the ranks of several other cruise lines by offering flexible dining options on its cruise ships. Passengers can choose from the best of both worlds – either traditional pre-set seating and dining times, or a completely flexible dining schedule.
One level of the two-tiered restaurant on each ship will offer a flexible/open dining service from 5:15 to 9 p.m. daily, and the other will host two traditional fixed-time seatings, an early and main seating. Holland America has already introduced its "as you wish" dining on the Noordam and is adding the option on the rest of its fleet between October 2007 and May 2008.
August - Majestic America Line Announces Final Season for Delta Queen in 2008
Delta Queen Photo Courtesy of Majestic America Line
The historic steam paddlewheeler Delta Queen will have her last sailing in November 2008. The Delta Queen was built in 1926 and has a wooden superstructure. Subsequent Coast Guard regulations prohibited wooden superstructures, but Congress decided more than 40 years ago to provide a special exemption from these rules for the historic Delta Queen. This exemption, which Congress has extended no fewer than six occasions, will expire in November 2008. Majestic America Line and many supporters of this classic river ship lobbied to extend the exemption, but Congress declined, and the Delta Queen will not be able to continue river cruises.
August - Apollo Management L.P. Buys 50 Percent Stake in NCL from Star Cruises
Photo Courtesy of NCL
NCL Corporation Ltd, parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line and NCL America, announced in August that private equity group, Apollo Management, LP ("Apollo"), agreed to make a $1 billion cash equity investment in NCL. The new investment, in the form of common stock alongside NCL's existing sole shareholder, Star Cruises, is designed to strengthen NCL's balance sheet and its ability to continue to expand, and to evolve further the company's successful Freestyle Cruising concept first introduced in 2000.
In December of 2007, NCL announced that plans were in place use the $1 billion investment to enhance the NCL onboard product, i.e. Freestyle 2.0.
October - Norwegian Gem Joins NCL Fleet
Photo Courtesy of NCL
The 2400-passenger Norwegian Gem is the 6th and final ship in Norwegian Cruise Line's (NCL) Jewel class, and the 13th ship in the NCL fleet. It resembles the Norwegian Pearl, which was launched in 2006. Launched in October 2007, the Norwegian Gem capitalizes on NCL's Freestyle Cruising concept, which was first introduced to the cruising public in May 2000.
