Phil is on assignment this week. Cruise writers Bob and Nancy Dunn just returned from a cruise on the Crown Princess. Here is their report:
听
When the Crown Princess first touched the shores of North America more than six years ago, the cruise line wanted to create a splash. Because this ship was then based in New York City, the strategy was to create a New York state of mind: street musicians, places to snack and have a drink, a hub of activity.
It was a one-off experience that took on a life of its own and turned the 鈥渁trium鈥� into the 鈥減iazza鈥� 鈥� in keeping with the cruise line鈥檚 Italian motif, first on the Crown Princess and since then on more than half of the 16-ship fleet. When the Royal Princess makes its debut (June in Europe and November in North America), it will have the biggest and most modern piazza, 50 per cent larger than any of its predecessors.
Fuelled by consumer response from that Crown Princess inaugural run, the Princess piazzas now include pizza (arguably the best of any cruise line) and ever-changing acts of versatile performers. Shows in the Princess Theatre have been shortened from 45 minutes to 35, allowing three a night instead of two.
These days, the Crown Princess piazza appeals to passengers on western Caribbean cruises from Galveston, Texas. That won鈥檛 last long, for two reasons. This ship leaves Galveston in April after just a five-month stay and it won鈥檛 return. After a summer season in Europe, the Crown Princess will cruise the eastern Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, until February next year, then embark on a 49-day grand adventure around South America.
Once it sails away from Galveston this spring, so will Princess Cruises. Come fall, the Caribbean Princess will go up the ship channel to Houston, and Galveston will start to go up the creek. This winter, there were five ships calling the Gulf of Mexico port home, until the Carnival Triumph caught fire, and now there are rumours Disney may also leave and reposition the Magic to Fort Lauderdale.
The Princess announcement was made last November and since then, the Port of Houston Authority has confirmed it will pay Princess $685,000 to sail 27 departures from the city鈥檚 modern but empty five-year-old terminal. That seemed like a good deal, until the same port authority admitted Norwegian Cruise Line will be reimbursed to the tune of $6 million for 75 departures, or about three times as much.
For Canadians, especially Western Canadians, the more ships sailing from the Lone Star State, the better. The word on the water is cruises from Texas perform well, so whether that means Galveston or Houston probably doesn鈥檛 matter. Houston is closer to the airport, and reachable from anywhere in sa国际传媒 on departure day. That鈥檚 not usually possible if you鈥檙e going to Galveston from outside Texas, nor to an eastern cruise-departure point like New York or Miami from Western sa国际传媒.
This battle of Texas is not without precedent. Cruise ships once sailed from Philadelphia, then new facilities in Brooklyn and Bayonne, New Jersey, took them away. That allegedly led New York to pay Royal Caribbean to move to the Big Apple, and that led to port enhancements insiders believe never would have happened until the little port forced the big port to get its act together.
Like the piazza idea, things can change, sometimes in a New York minute.
