Nassau port officials announced on September 16 that they had completed a major project to improve the port of Nassau for cruise ships. The $44 million contract, started in April of 2009, dredged 1.9 million cubic yards of material from Nassau Harbor and installed three mooring dolphins, causeways and ladders at Prince George Wharf and extension of the western end of Arawak Cay by 1,000 ft.

So why all the work?  Principally the project was to accommodate Royal Caribbean's new Oasis of the Seas, which made its maiden voyage to Nassau on December 11, 2009.

“The decision to dredge the harbour was based in part on the need to keep abreast of changes in the cruise industry where new Genesis class vessels have been introduced by the major cruise lines. In response, the Government proceeded with the enhancement of the Harbour’s capacity by dredging to accommodate the new mega cruise ships,” said Public Works and Transport Minister Neko C. Grant.

Royal Caribbean has announced that the Port of Bermuda will be closed Friday through Tuesday due to Hurricane Igor.  This means Enchantment of the Seas, which leaves Baltimore on Saturday will instead sail to Nassau, Bahamas where it will arrive on Monday and stay overnight until Tuesday.

Royal Caribbean is anticipating some cruisers not being happy with the change and giving an onboard credit to each stateroom. If a guest decides they do not want to sail at all on that itinerary, a letter of credit to be used on a future Royal Caribbean cruise. No other Royal Caribbean cruise is being affected by the hurricane at this time.

Panama is preparing its port facilities and tourism services for the cruise season that begins in October, with aspirations to outperform the previous period, according to Panamanian sources.

Data from the Tourism Authority show that in the activity of this modality for the 2009-2010 period there were 246 trips from various destinations in the Caribbean and the U.S..

The Maryland Port Administration has awarded a contract to TEAM to design and build a Passenger Boarding Bridge for the South Locust Point Cruise Terminal in the Port of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The new bridge should be ready in 2011.

This passenger bridge, which connects the cruise terminal with a cruise ship, will be the first of it's kind and will consist of an enclosed mobile walkway that is fully air-conditioned.  The tunnel will have four fixed tunnel sections leading from quay level up to 7 meters in height.  At its heighest point, there will be an integrated rotunda that connects the walkway module with a 3-tunnel telescopic boarding bridge known as KRONUS.

 The KRONUS is also air-conditioned and features next to anelectro-mechanical driving system an electro-mechanical lifting system to reach the required highest and lowest elevations and match up with ship shell doors on various cruise ships.

Cruising in China is expected to grow this year, with a 5% increase in domestic cruises, and the future for China looks bright.  The Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal in downtown Hongkou District opened in 2008 and already construction of another port, the Shanghai Wusongkou Terminal, is scheduled to be completed by 2012.  Once the second terminal is complete, Shanghai will be able to handle eight cruise ships per day, with home-ported ships stopping there 66 times in this year alone, more than double the amount from last year.

At the All Asia Cruise Convention, Royal Caribbean senior vice-president  Michael Bayley sounded optimistic about the future of cruises in China, "China has a potential of around 40 million cruise guests annually if the market penetration reaches the level of the U.S. and Europe".

Royal Caribbean already has a vested interest in the growth of cruising in China, as Royal Caribbean signed a memorandum of understanding last year with Shanghai International Port Group to form a strategic partnership in cruise operation areas, such as market promotion, port, staff training and management-experience exchange.

"Such strategic partnerships are an important and valuable element of our activity to increase penetration in China," Bayley said.

The Japan Cruise Symposium taking place in Fukuoka, Japan is looking at opportunities for Japan to become a major cruise line destination but before that can happen, Japanese ports need to become more appealing for cruise lines to visit.

Royal Caribbean Regional Vice President Rama Rebbapragada said that Royal Caribbean ships stopping in Japan have doubled in recent years.  Rebbapragada is also the current chairman of the Asia Cruise Association (ACA) saw the symposium as a great opportunity to build better partnerships with more communication about shore attractions in Japan.

Other concerns raised by other cruise line representatives include changing the perception that Japan is a very expensive destination, encourage Japanese ports to aim to be marquee ports and promote cruising in the country better to its people.

The 2010/2011 schedule for Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas has been announced and will feature a year-round deployment in Asia.  

Legend of the Seas will have over 60 sailings including seven new itineraries, including an exciting new additions such as Bali, Semarang and Lombok in Indonesia, Osaka, Aomori and Beppu in Japan and Dalian in China.  In addition, Legend of the Seas will feature more overnight stays at popular ports-of-call, that will allow travellers to see more of the region.

Singapore

Legend of the Seas will return to Singapore starting on November 22, 2010 and will offer 3, 4 and 5 night southeast Asian sailings to ports like Malaysia’s Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi as well as Thailand’s Phuket.  Sailings to Singapore will include the popular holidays of Christmas, New Years and Chinese New Year.

In addition there will be new itineraries by Royal Caribbean from Singapore in 2011 such as

• 2 Night Weekend Cruise in January to Malacca, Malaysia, ideal for a short getaway
• 8 Night Indonesia Cruise in February to Bali for an overnight, Semarang and Lombok, for an in-depth exploration of Indonesia
• 7 Night Bali & Semarang Cruise in February to Semarang and Bali for an overnight

Shanghai and Tianjin

Legend of the Seas will move to Shanghai and Tianjin from March to October 2011 and offer cruises to South Korea and Japan that feature almost 10 distinct itineraries such as

• 5 Night Asian Legacies Cruise from Shanghai to Fukuoka, Japan; Busan and Jeju Island, South Korea
• 7 Night Pearls of the Orient Cruise from Shanghai to Osaka (overnight) and Fukuoka, Japan; Busan, South Korea
• 7 Night Kyushu Explorer Cruise from Shanghai to Kagoshima, Beppu and Fukuoka, Japan; Busan, South Korea
• 7 Night Japan & Korea Cruise from Tianjin to Nagasaki and Fukuoka, Japan; Jeju Island and Seoul, South Korea

Yokohama

Back by popular demand, Legend of the Seas will sail from Yokohama in April and May 2011 as well as in September 2011, with itineraries such as

• 8 Night Korea & China Cruise in April calling at Osaka, Japan; Shanghai, China (overnight); Jeju Island and Busan, South Korea
• 9 Night Russia & Hokkaido Cruise in May and September, one way from Yokohama to Shanghai visiting Aomori and Otaru, Japan; Vladivostok, Russia; Busan and Jeju Island, South Korea, ideal for travelers who are extending their stay in Shanghai
• 7 Night Shanghai to Yokohama Cruise in April and 7 Night Tianjin to Yokohama Cruise in September, which are one-way sailings visiting destinations such as Dalian, China; Seoul, South Korea; Beppu and Nagoya, Japan.

Hong Kong

Rounding out Legend of the Seas schedule will be a Hong Kong sailing season in October to November 2011 that will feature destinations such as Vietnam and Taiwan

• 5 Night Gems of Asia Cruise to Kaohsiung, Taichung and Taipei, Taiwan
• 5 Night Indo China Explorer Cruise to Sanya, China; Hue/Danang and Halong Bay, Vietnam

According to Channel 5 in Belize, investors with ties to Royal Caribbean have acquired land in the Placencia area "for the establishment of a cruise tourism village".

No further news on this development, but the clear consensus among residents of Placencia Village are against it.  

The Trelawny Parish Council is in favor of the Jamaican state-run Urban Development Corporation (UDC's) proposal to pedestrianise Falmouth's town center area on days when cruise ships would dock there.  In the proposal, the entire business-centric Water Square will be isolated from vehicular traffic on days when cruise ships making calls at the soon to be developed Falmouth pier.

The Falmouth business community are largely against the idea, citing that the proposal would impact negatively on their businesses.

"It will kill the commerce of the town...all the stores in the centre of the town including Courts (furniture store), the pharmacies, the Trelwany Co-operative Credit Union, NCB (National Commercial Bank) the lawyer office, myself, supermarkets as well as all the stores along Seaboard Street will be affected," said Richard Shirley, a gas station operator, whose businessplace is located on the periphery of the small town centre in a recent interview with the Observer West.

Mayor of Falmouth Colin Gager disagrees with the businesses, claiming that "It will not affect them because Market Street would still be opened to vehicular traffic so motorists could still have access to Mr Shirley's gas station, for instance".  Gager added that it would be necessary to pedestrianise the town on ship days because of the expected large number of cruise ship visitors.

Starting in November, cruise ships will start making calls at the Falmouth pier, which is being developed at a cost of $7.5 billion by the Port Authority of Jamaica in collaboration with the Royal Caribbean.