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MSC TO EXPAND PRACTICE TO CARIBBEAN
U.S. cruise lines will test interport options
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By Donna Tunney
Two U.S.-based cruise lines are poised to
test the waters of interporting, a practice
historically offered by European lines that
enables passengers to choose from multiple
embarkation ports.
Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International will soon offer this option on certain ships, and Italy-based MSC
Cruises will expand the practice to the Caribbean.
Their plans would be less noteworthy had
it not been for the Costa Concordia accident,
which occurred after more than 600 passengers boarded the 3,200-passenger ship in Civitavecchia, Italy, the port for Rome. Others
had boarded earlier in Barcelona.
That double embarkation cast a spotlight on interporting because none of the
600 had participated in a muster drill prior
to the Concordia’s grounding on Jan. 13,
which happened within a few hours of departing Civitavecchia.
Under the International Convention for
the Safety of Life at Sea (Solas), cruise ships
must hold their safety briefings within 24
hours of setting sail.
The Concordia officers were operating
within the framework of the rule, but some
have pointed out that the evacuation of the
ship, which struck rocks off Italy’s coast and
became half-submerged, would have been
less chaotic, and perhaps less deadly, if everyone onboard had been primed for an
emergency. Sixteen Concordia passengers
were confirmed dead after the grounding,
and 16 remain missing.
Generally, interport options are seen as a
convenience to cruise passengers and sometimes are offered as an incentive to attract
certain source markets. In
light of the Concordia accident, cruise lines that plan
to begin interporting are citing their safety procedures
that require muster drills
or evacuation briefings on
any day that new passengers
board their ships.
Royal Caribbean International’s 2,100-passenger
Brilliance of the Seas will
embark passengers in San
Juan and Guadeloupe on a
series of seven-night Southern Caribbean
cruises during the 2012-13 winter season.
According to Royal Caribbean spokesman Harry Liu, the choice is meant to appeal to South American customers, who
might prefer joining the ship in Guadeloupe rather than San Juan. Most Americans and Canadians will board in San Juan,
he added.
Passengers joining the ship at either port
must participate in a mandatory group or
personal muster drill on embarkation day.
The ship will alternate two seven-night
Southern Caribbean itineraries, sailing
roundtrip from San Juan every Saturday.
On one itinerary, the ship will call at St.
Thomas, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Croix. On
the other itinerary, calls will be made at Tortola, St. Maarten, St. Kitts and Barbados, Liu said.
“On both itineraries, the Brilliance of the
Royal Caribbean International’s Brilliance of the Seas in Venice. The ship will embark passengers in San Juan and
Guadeloupe on a series of seven-night Southern Caribbean cruises during the 2012-13 winter season.
Seas will call at Guadeloupe on Wednesday,
where the ship will offer interporting,” he
said. “Passengers must remain onboard for
the full seven days, regardless of where they
embark.”
Following the Concordia accident, Royal
Caribbean Cruises Ltd., parent company of
Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity
Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises, tight-
ened its safety policy by announcing that
all safety drills must be held on the day of
departure.
Starting in April, Norwegian Cruise Line
will offer three embarkation ports when the
4,100-passenger Norwegian Epic begins its
Europe season.
Passengers will be able to board the ship
in Barcelona, Civitavecchia or Marseille,
“In all ports where we
embark passengers, we
hold a safety drill prior to
the ship’s departure,” said
AnneMarie Matthews, Norwegian’s vice president of public relations.
“This includes Norwegian Epic’s Western
Mediterranean itinerary. All guests are required to attend the safety drill and report
to their lifeboat assembly stations.”
In light of the
Concordia accident, cruise lines
that plan to begin
interporting are
citing their safety
procedures.
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For MSC, a longtime option in Europe
MSC Cruises began hinting last year that
the line was exploring whether to bring an
interport option to its Caribbean deployments. It’s been offering the option in Europe for years.
By late 2011, it had rolled out a plan
to enable passengers to board its 1,560-
passenger Lirica in either Martinique or
Guadeloupe on seven-day cruises. The option will be in effect for the 2012-13 season.
MSC categorizes its embarkation points
into main ports, where the majority of pas-
sengers will board, and secondary ports,
where fewer passengers board. In the Liri-
ca’s case, Martinique will be the main port,
said Gail Nicolaus, the line’s vice president
of marketing and public relations.
