Newspapers in Alaska are reporting that cruise lines are trying to avoid Alaska’s strict waste water laws.
The Juneau Empire reports that the cruise industry is complaining to lawmakers in Alaska that the limits on ammonia are too strict. The cruise industry’s "Alaska Cruise Association" – comprised of Miami based cruise lines – is again posturing to reposition its
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The Associated Press reports that hundreds of passengers have fallen ill with a stomach ailment aboard the cruise ship Mercury, operated by Celebrity Cruises, which is sailing in the Caribbean.
Over 300 of the 1,800 passengers are experiencing upset stomachs, vomiting and diarrhea. Another 25 or so crewmembers are also ill. The Mercury left Charleston, South Carolina on February 15th
KHOU.com from Houston, Texas reports that the parents of Kipi Holcomb do not believe that their daughter’s death on the Carnival Ecstasy cruise ship was the result of foul play or that her boyfriend, Jeffrey Aaron Stultz.jpg)
, had anything to do with her passing.
In an article entitled "Family: No Foul Play in Carnival Cruise Ship Passenger’s Death,"
The U.S. Coast Guard issued a press statement that it is searching for a crew member from the cruise ship Pacific Venus, which was sailing from Hawaii back to Yokohama, Japan.
The 24 year-old crew member was noticed missing at approximately 2 p.m., on Saturday, February 20th, after he failed to show up for
48 students aboard the S/Y Concordia found themselves in lifeboats bobbing in the Atlantic for two days after their sailing yacht sank 550 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro Brazil.
According to the Vancouver Sun, the students, mostly Canadian high school and first year college students with some Americans, were part of a Canadian "Class Afloat" program aboard
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Multiple new sources are reporting that the FBI is investigating the death of a 32 year old woman from Brazoria County, Texas aboard the Carnival cruise ship Ecstasy.
Kipi Holcomb was sailing with who is described as either her fiance or her newlywed husband, whose identity has not been revealed. Most news sources call the death "mysterious,"
Miami is called the Cruise Ship Capital of the World.
Most of the major cruise lines are based in South Florida. Azimara, Carnival, Celebrity, Costa, MSC Cruises, Norwegian, Oceania, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn, SeaDream, Silversea, and Star Clippers all call Miami or Fort Lauderdale their headquarters.
And if you are injured on one of these cruise
A newspaper in Rochester, New York reported yesterday that a passenger was indicted for sexually abusing a thirteen year old girl during a cruise back in December of 2006. The passenger is alleged to have threatened to throw the child overboard if she called for help.
Twenty-four year old Lucas George Wickes (photo left), of Rochester, New York, was indicted for
While reading cruise expert Dr. Ross Klein’s most excellent cruise site – Cruise Junkie – I found an excerpt of a letter written by a grandmother who was upset that her two grandchildren were booted from the Sapphire Princess cruise ship. As it turns out, security personnel reviewing the 
surveillance cameras spotted the kids throwing some food overboard.
Dr. Klein found
Most crewmembers like their jobs. They work hard but take time to enjoy the camaraderie that exists between the crew. But when they bcome injured, and particularly if they are sent back home, they find it difficult to obtain medical treatment for their ship related injuries.
Many crewmembers employed by Princess Cruises have contacted us to inquire about their
Multiple news sources are reporting that six crewmembers on Celebrity’s Mercury cruise ship at the Port of Baltimore are being treated for exposure to carbon monoxide.
Fire rescue officials took the the six crew members to local hospitals.
According to WBAL TV in Baltimore, the Baltimore fire department spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright said crews responded to the scene at
An Italian blogger Stefano Nazzi provides updated information regarding the "disappearance" of Italian crew member Angelo Faliva from the Coral Princess cruise ship operated by Princess Cruises.
In his article entitled "Chi Indaga Sulla Scomparsa di Angelo Faliva?" Mr. Nazzi questions whether anyone is actually investigating Mr. Faliva’s disappearance. He characterizes the situation as .jpg)
an "ugly story" – one "of pain" suffered
Good things happen in three’s. That’s what my Mom told me a long time a long time ago. And so today, I affirm that lesson I learned as a child with the following three stories which warm my heart:
Life’s a Cruise for Cancer Survivor, Lyn Burdon
Cancer is a bitch. Anyone who has lost a family member, spouse, or friend knows what
A number of newspapers are reporting that a Carnival cruise passenger from Philadelphia died while paragliding during a stop in Cozumel.
The South Asian Mail reports that Mr. Joseph Job (Sajan), age 40, was paragliding with friends in Mexico when his harness broke and he fell into the sea.
Mr. Job was a native of Thrissur, Kerala
A newspaper in Brazil reports that a passenger from Costa Cruises’ Victoria cruise ship went overboard during an excursion while the cruise ship was off the coast of Brazil between Río de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
Entitled "Una Turista Argentina Falleció Cerca de Río," the article reports that the passenger was from Argentina. She had
An article this morning caught my eye: "Newest and Biggest Cruise Ship: Oasis of the Seas." The article contains the usual "wow-look-how-big-it-is!" style of writing which is most typically associated with travel agents. You know, those travel agents doubling as authors whose interest .jpg)
in describing this monster-of-cruise-ship is hopelessly intertwined with obtaining commissions by selling cruises.
Then I realized
I moved to New Orleans in 1980 to attend law school at Tulane. I lived in an apartment 10 blocks from campus in the bottom of a two story shotgun house on Freret Street in Uptown. A witch lived 
above me and insisted that she hang bird feathers over the transom of my front door.
Yes, New Orleans was a weird place, full of
There are lots of interesting blogs out there, one of them being Kenneth Cole’s Awareness Blog, which contains an article "Cruise Boat Docks in Haiti." It has the following political cartoon by Mikhaela Reid at her Flickr page, which pretty much sums up my view of spending several thousands of dollars to sail on
