Two Manhattan-based law firms vowing to defend all of the victims of the Concordia disaster may face hurdles in bringing a class action lawsuit to the U. S. court system. The two firms are (1) Proner and Proner, and (2) Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik LLP. Michael Bern filed a lawsuit for six passengers against Carnival [...]

Cruising as a travel option still has a far better safety record than driving or flying. The Costa Concordia tragedy has received an amazing amount of media attention, which comes as no surprise. The major consumer news media believe that a “newsworthy” story requires emotional impact, conflict, loss of life/property and/or novelty. This story has [...]

We now know the ship DID hit the rocks during the sail-by just outside the two Le Scole reef islands. This did NOT seem likely earlier since no one reported the damage when it occurred – highly unusual. In fact, nailing down the timeline in this incident has been the hardest part. According to Costa [...]

We are not much closer to knowing exactly what happened with the Concordia now than we were on Friday. We do know there is a huge rock embedded in the port side of the ship’s hull – the side that is away from the shore where the ship is now laying on its side, with [...]

New marketing data shows that price is the number one concern of potential cruise buyers. The New York Times is reporting that Carnival Cruise Line has a new ad campaign showing the advantages of a cruise over several different types of land-based vacations. One ad shows a couple on a camping trip stuck in a [...]

Key West has decided it has all of the cruise traffic it needs through 2020 – the conchs and the Cith Council have had enough. Some Caribbean destinations do whatever it takes to attract as many cruise ships as possible. St. Martin. an independent republic formerly of the Dutch Antilles, didn’t even have a cruise [...]

Cruise line competition for the best in onboard entertainment is heating up, and we are the winners. Last Monday (Oct. 3) Carnival held a special press conference in New York City to announce its newest entertainment initiative called FunShip 2.0. The $500-million plan will bring two television celebrities into the Carnival fold to “brand” future [...]

Cruise vacations consistently rank at the top of vacation value and satisfaction polls. Most people who take a first cruise end up taking another one — or dozens. Why? Cruises offer high standards of service and excellent cuisine, but the convenience factor is likely the main reason. In one transaction, you arrange your accommodations, meals, [...]

I have a theory – two of the main reasons why cruise lines have replaced traditional dining with open seating are (1) the cruising public has become a cross section of America and (2) politically speaking the American public has become entirely intolerant of differing opinions. In the 1980s you could be sure that most [...]

With the Nordlys incident in Norway this week the number of cruise ship engine incidents is beyond coincidental. Update: the ship has now been rescued and whether or not an engine explosion was the cause of the fire is now in question. Still, several engine room control panels have also been problematic, so the issue [...]