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With bodies still trapped inside Costa Concordia’s underwater tomb, Carnival (CCL: 30.48, 0.00, 0.00%) now finds itself at the heart of scrutiny only likely to rise along with the death toll. Carnival’s worst-ever wreck and one of the most high-profile incidents since the Titanic sank 100 years ago, it’s hard to imagine such a massive company blaming the disaster on a single person -- even if he did abandon ship early and steer a little too close to shore. Even worse, while Carnival has vehemently denied earlier reports that it would offer survivors a 30% discount off future cruises, instead...

Miami Heat owner Micky Arison has had some bad financial luck of late. And the recent Costa Concordia cruise liner disaster only added to the billionaire’s woes. To say nothing of the lives lost during the tragic wreck. From the Guardian: “More than £300m has been wiped off the paper fortune of the multibillionaire boss of the company that owned the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia. Micky Arison, the flamboyant chairman, chiefexecutiveand majority owner of FTSE 100 company Carnival, saw a large chunk of his $4.5bn (£2.9bn) holdings dissolve on Monday as the company’s shareslost almost a fifth of their...

North Korean Cruise Seeks Tourists, 8 to a Room By EDWARD WONG ABOARD THE MANGYONGBONG, off North Korea — It was billed as a cruise ship, but the creaking, nearly-40-year-old vessel that set sail from the remote North Korean town of Rajin had more of the trappings of a tramp steamer. With its cramped cabins, cut-rate cuisine and foul, water-deprived bathrooms, it was not about to compete anytime soon with Cunard or Carnival in the leisure industry. Then again, it does not have to. As North Korea’s latest venture into the tourism business, it need not concern itself with rivals....

The least luxurious cruise in the world: North Korea launches its first liner (where cabins are shared and the ship is rusty) The liner is rusty, the cabins are cramped and the Captain's Table is a help yourself buffet. But though the surroundings are less than glamorous, North Korea hopes to launch itself into the world of cruising with ageing liner the Mangyongbong. The former cargo ship set sail on its maiden tour yesterday carrying about 130 passengers from the rundown port of Rajin, near the China-Russia border. Some 500 North Koreans, about half dressed in dark workers clothes and...

A retired couple who were enjoying a luxury cruise fought off Somali pirates with deck chairs as they attempted to storm the ship and kidnap them. John and Barbara Jeffery had been enjoying the trip of a lifetime when the violent pirates tried to take over the ship they were sailing on. As gun shot rang out, the couple defiantly armed themselves with deck chairs, tables and whatever came to hand as they helped to beat off the outlaws. terror struck just one week in, when the MSC Melody was off the coast of Somalia, a spot haunted by pirates,...

You've heard of chartering a yacht for vacation, but how about the world's largest cruise ship? Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas will set sail Sunday from Port Everglades on its first charter with nearly 5,400 gay and lesbian passengers. The "world's largest gay cruise" sold out in just three weeks, according to the sponsor, Atlantis Events Inc. of Hollywood, Calif.

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Disney’s newest cruise liner, the Disney Dream, came within feet of striking another ship in Port Canaveral last week. But, on Wednesday the cruise line insisted that there was never a safety concern. A YouTube video captured by a passenger shows the the Dream drifting close to the Royal Caribbean ship the Monarch of the Seas just two days before the Dream was christened on January 17. In the video, a Royal Caribbean worker is heard saying, “Close!” Witnesses said the dream came within feet of the Monarch. At one point, a Royal Caribbean worker told...

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Coast Guard official says one of two tugboats tasked with pulling a disabled cruise ship to San Diego didn't have enough power and was forced to turn back. Coast Guard Petty Officer Jetta Disco says a Mexican company has sent a third tugboat to the scene but authorities are trying to determine whether it would be better to leave the one tugboat alone while it slowly makes headway.--snip--Instead of lavish buffets, passengers on the Carnival Splendor were subsisting on Spam, Pop Tarts and canned crabmeat flown in by Navy helicopters. People were trying to keep...

Carnival Splendor, crippled by an engine-room fire on Monday and set adrift west of Baja California, has been met by one of the commercial ocean-going tugs sent to rendezvous with the ship, Cruise Critic has learned. Although the tug was originally intended to tow the ship -- with 3,299 passengers and 1,167 crewmembers onboard -- to Ensenada, Mexico, Carnival has announced in its latest statement that, given the ship's current speed and location, it will head to San Diego, where it's expected to arrive on Thursday. The cruise line is making arrangements for hotel accommodations and flights home for all...

An 82-year-old Broadway producer and her 91-year-old husband were kicked off the Queen Mary 2 after getting into a heated argument with a fellow passenger at a black-tie dinner, according to a report in the New York Post. Gloria Sher and Frederick Evans reportedly got into a shouting match with a dining companion who, the couple claims, made an anti-Semitic remark. Sher said a fellow cruiser told her to shut up, and said, "There are too many Jews on board," the Post reported. Sher, who is Jewish, told the paper that she became angry, saying, "F**k you!" and "How dare...

People often ask if last-minute cruise bargains are legit. Well, good news: they are, but no agency has exclusive access to them. On one of Royal Caribbean’s most popular ships, Freedom of the Seas, we see inside cabins at $499. On Oct. 3 you can catch a luxurious, 317 square-feet, deluxe suite for just $1,099 per person, cheaper than the usual balcony price. This is a good example of how cruise pricing works. Cruise Lines keep prices steady, then lower them when the sail date gets closer. When the ship is nearly full, prices increase. For example, the Sept. 19...

Newly released Footage has emerged from when the Australian P&O Pacific Sun cruise liner was hit by a freak storm in 2008. The film shows passengers and crew members being tossed around when their cruise ship lurched wildly in 25ft swells and 50-knot winds.New video of Passengers Being Tossed Around on Cruise Ship during Freak Storm in 2008

Two years ago, the Pacific Sun, a cruise ship out of Australia, hit rough waters, and dozens were injured in the process. The ship’s troubles were serious enough that some wondered how safe we are traveling by sea in general, but for the most part that was the end of it. Until this week. Because this week, the internet came in, as two videos surfaced demonstrating just how bad the Pacific Sun’s situation was – bad enough that mainstream media started taking notice. From Postmedia News, via the Montreal Gazette: In one video, passengers and crew are sent careening violently...

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S Virgin Islands — A 14-year-old Puerto Rican tourist was killed in front of her horrified family when she was caught in the crossfire of a gunfight attributed to warring gangs on the U.S. Virgin Islands. Gov. John deJongh identified the slain tourist as Lizmarie Perez Chapparro from Puerto Rico, who was struck by a bullet as she rode with her relatives on a packed "safari bus" that ferries tourists across the three-island territory. The girl and her family arrived in St. Thomas aboard the Carnival Victory, a Carnival Cruise Line ship that departed Puerto Rico's capital of...

This is a failing grade for the 20th Century Fox film starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz on the first day of what will be its 5-day opening weekend. According to rival studios, a figure of $5+M would have been hopeful. But Fox announced just now that Knight and Day did only a nervous $3.8M. (Rival studios had it at $3.6M this morning "apparently not knowing that there was a data feed problem with one of the big circuits", Fox tells me.) "It's normally 5-times Wednesday for 5 days, but that's a number below even the most evil estimates," one...

While 20th Century Fox is the studio sweating it out hoping Knight and Day overcomes lackluster tracking to turn in respectable 5-day opening numbers, Paramount brass is paying close attention. That’s because the studio just received the screenplay for the new Mission: Impossible 4 penned by Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec. I've learned that Brad Grey and Rob Moore are reading the script over the next few days and figuring out the preliminary budget next week on the Brad Bird-directed fourquel. Cruise reprises his Ethan Hunt role and produces with MI3 director JJ Abrams. But what effect if any will...

5 women cited after catfight on KDWB St. Croix 'Booty Cruise' By Elizabeth Mohr emohr@pioneerpress.com Updated: 06/18/2010 01:51:55 PM CDT The Booty Cruise page at KDWB.com. A ladies-only booze cruise on the St. Croix River ended with a brawl Thursday night. Police were called about 10 p.m. on a report of a fight on a boat that was docked at 225 Nelson St. E. in Stillwater. In the end, five women were cited for disorderly conduct. No one was arrested and, though there were some cuts and bruises, no one was seriously injured. The chartered boat, operated by Andiamo Enterprises,...

Imagine a little slice of paradise. Sitting on the deck of a cruise ship, margarita in hand, as you glide through the Caribbean. Not a care in the world for a week, until you get home, and find while you were in paradise, burglars were in your home -- sent there by someone working for the cruise line who knew exactly when you'd be gone. Now, your stuff is, too. That's what police in Palm Beach County say happened to at least 24 passengers of Miami based Royal Caribbean Cruise line. It's what they say two people -- one of them a cruise...

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- Officials with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say tests confirm that norovirus caused intestinal illness on a third straight cruise from South Carolina earlier this month. The norovirus sickened almost 420 people aboard Celebrity Mercury, which returned to Charleston on March 18. Norovirus symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps.

ATHENS, Greece - A 26-foot wave crashed into a cruise ship carrying nearly 2,000 people off the coast of France, smashing windshields and killing two people, Greek and Cypriot said Wednesday. A Greek coast guard statement says another six people suffered light injuries on board the Cypriot-owned Louis Majesty. In a statement, the cruise line said its Maltese ship was hit by "abnormal waves."

VANCOUVER -- Health officials confirmed Friday a crew member has a case of leprosy aboard a cruise ship anchored in the city's harbour that houses police and Canadian Forces personnel providing security for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, is curable and is not considered highly contagious, said provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall. He said the young crew member worked in the engine room and did not have contact with police or military. The crew member, who is not a Canadian citizen, was diagnosed Thursday and has received treatment, he said. "I think he's gone...

It's hardly a secret that Tom Cruise is no longer Hollywood's top-gun star. The 47-year-old boyish-looking actor has had a rough stretch, from an embarrassing jumping episode on Oprah Winfrey's couch to the clunker "Lions for Lambs." Many believe that his controversial career has peaked. Now, in order to revive his big-screen role as dashing secret agent Ethan Hunt in Paramount's "Mission: Impossible IV," Cruise consented to a deal that would have once been unthinkable: He's forgoing a preferential slice of the movie's ticket sales, the sine qua non of clout in Hollywood. Cruise will still earn a handsome payday....

There aren’t many cruises I’m dying to get aboard, but here is one such cruise. Not only does it visit ports I have always desired to visit, but the speakers aboard this cruise are simply amazing, especially for anyone interested in International Relations. Condi and Gorbachev are two of the featured speakers.

Cruise ships are increasingly catering to holidaymakers' particular interests - whether it's art and culture or a particular hobby. And sexual attraction is no exception as what is thought to be the world's first 'Cougar Cruise' has proven a sell-out in the U.S. Aimed at older women who prefer to date younger men, the fully-booked International Cougar Cruise set sail from San Diego in California on December 4.

A new book claims the Top Gun star had a tendency to chat to ashtrays, bottles and other inanimate objects Just a teeny tiny amount of space left to say, hey, guess what? Tom Cruise? He's a bit fricking weird! Yuhdoansay. In Blown For Good, the latest book by an escapee from the Galactic Confederacy, AKA Scientology, Marc Headley claims that Cruise would talk to inanimate objects "for hours". No, not Nicole Kidman's face, but ashtrays, bottles, books. "You tell the ashtray, 'Sit in that chair.' Then you actually go over and put the ashtray in that chair. Then you...

You'll relax like never before because you're free to bring your own arsenal onboard with you!

Check out this video of the "Oasis of the Seas" cruise ship. This is the biggest and most expensive cruise ship ever built and it recently sailed from Turku, Finland. It just arrived at the ship's home port in Fort Lauderdale, Florida three days ago on November 11 where it faces a challenge to fill its multitude of berths as we Americans are now struggling under Obama's recession and trying to keep our heads above water. Built at the cost of $1.5 billion, this 16-deck cruise vessel is nearly 40 percent larger than the industry's next-biggest ship and five...

An Italian couple are suing a shipping line for £2,800 after claiming they were not told a relaxing holiday they had booked was in fact on board a ship hosting Italy's first gay cruise. The middle-aged husband and wife, who have not been named, said they were embarrassed after spotting people they knew, but had not realised were gay, on the cruise. Despite accusations from gay groups, they deny being homophobic. Organisers insist the three-day cruise featured no scenes of excess.

A cruise ship carrying dozens of victims of swine flu among its 5,000 passengers and crew has docked in the south of France, officials have said. Sixty crew members have so far been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, while 70 of their colleagues were also showing signs of being infected, they added. They will be treated on board the ship while it docks at Villefranche-sur-Mer.

Robert McGill was taken into custody aboard the Carnival Cruise ship Elation that returned to San Diego Thursday and is being charged with murdering his wife while on the cruise.The San Diego Medical Examiner's office identifies the victim as 55-year-old Shirley McGill. She and her husband Robert lived in Los Angeles. They were on vacation on the ship. FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth said the 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation was on the last leg of a five-day trip to Baja Mexico on Tuesday when members of the ship's crew responded to a domestic dispute between the couple in their cabin. He...

Crewmembers from a pilot vessel rescued a man at about 6:50 a.m., about one mile southeast of Mullet Key, in Fort Desoto, in St. Petersburg, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Larry Miller, 46, reported to the pilot boat crew that he went overboard from the cruise ship Carnival Inspiration at about 4 a.m., while it was returning to the Port of Tampa. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg received a report from the pilot vessel at about 7 a.m., stating that they had found Miller clinging to a buoy in the shipping channel. The pilot vessel crew safely...

Discovery Cruise Lines is offering a warm welcome to Spring Breakers -- a group cruise lines and most South Florida beachfront hotels have tried to discourage for years. "We do really well with the Spring Break crowd," spokeswoman Rene Mahfood said. "We have a beer drinking contest -- which you can imagine is very popular -- a Miss Discovery contest, a Real Man contest, karaoke. They just love to be in the sun and everybody is mixing and mingling and flirting." Discovery has seen its Spring Break business decline during the last decade, however. To drum up passengers, it works...

MEXICO CITY, - The entire local police force in a Mexican beach resort town walked off the job on Monday demanding better pay and benefits to compensate for the rising dangers they face from drug violence. More than 300 municipal police officers in Zihuatanejo, a town on the Pacific coast north of Acapulco popular with foreign tourists, went on strike after grenades were lobbed at their offices over the weekend. (snip) "We are seeing a lot things here that we have never seen before. It is our job to serve the citizens, but we need assurances that our families will...

SEOUL (Reuters) – Tom Cruise, who fails to assassinate Adolf Hitler in his new movie "Valkyrie," said he grew up really wanting to kill the Nazi leader. In the World War Two thriller based on a true story of the unsuccessful attempt by German soldiers to kill Hitler, Cruise plays Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg who plants a briefcase bomb under a table at Hitler's military headquarters. A heavy wooden table saves Hitler and Stauffenberg is executed with his co-conspirators. "I always wanted to kill Hitler, I hated him," the Hollywood star of such major blockbusters as "Top Gun" and "Mission...

The actor, 46, is believed to have alerted the FBI and begun increasing security around him and his family. It is thought he received clear warnings from groups opposed to his religious organisation. The Mail on Sunday reported that Cruise now lives in a separate location to his wife Katie Holmes and their two-year-old daughter Suri, and that the couple travel in bomb-proof cars. The newspaper added that other protesters have been angered by Cruise's decision to star in Valkyrie, in which he plays Claus von Stauffenberg, a German army officer who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944. Some...

Cruise is just fine as Stauffenberg, keeping his signature quirks and grin in check. He generates enough charisma to reflect why people were willing to follow Stauffenberg quite literally into Hell, without turning the film into Tom Cruise Takes on Hitler. Whatever problems people have with his performance, they brought with them into the theater. I suspect if mainstream media darling George Clooney had made the very same film, he would be no better in the role, but the tone of the critical commentary would be very different. David Bamber is a very scary Hitler who resists the urge to...

MIAMI | A Norwegian Cruise Line cruise ship at the center of a missing person mystery returned to the Port of Miami on Sunday morning, where FBI agents stood waiting. Sunday they launched an investigation into the disappearance of Jennifer Seitz, 36, who was a passenger aboard the Norwegian Pearl, officials said. “We’re looking to see if a crime was committed on the high seas,” said FBI Special Agent Michael Leverock. He added that agents interviewed numerous passengers and crew members Sunday morning and searched the cabin Seitz was staying in for any potential clues to what may have happened...

Well Tom Cruise is better. Not great. Still too callow (Killing Hitler is “Risky Business”) and not really convincing as a German aristo. But the problem is with the film’s Hitler and it’s skewing of history. Hitler seems to be the bad guy in this movie mainly because he’s poorly groomed and has bad posture–that’s how you can tell he’s a mass murderer. At least compared with the impeccably dressed anti-Hitler aristo-officer conspirators...

Say what you will about Tom Cruise’s acting in other movies; in "Valkyrie," which opened yesterday, he is awful. Amid British and European actors, Cruise stands out like a sore thumb. He doesn’t even attempt a German accent, his mannerisms are all from his "Jerry Maguire" era, and his earnestness suggests at best some kind of fictional American soldier trying to infiltrate the Luftwaffe. You knew it would be bad, and it is. I’m more concerned that “Valkyrie” could represent a new trend in filmmaking: Nazi apologia. We know already what Valkyrie is about: a group of German soldiers who...

Click here for the video from the cruise. (NRO's post election cruise)

Click here for video from the cruise.

When Oceania Cruises announced this weekend that pirates had attempted to approach its Nautica as it cruised through the Gulf of Aden, it heightened existing concerns about passenger and cruise ship safety in that dangerous part of the world. Nautica's captain, officers and crew successfully evaded the pirates yesterday, which is obviously the good news. No one was injured, and the ship is not even off schedule at this point. Still, increasing attacks by pirates on cargo vessels and oil tankers, not to mention this latest incident affecting a cruise ship, begs the question: If you're on a cruise ship...

Vanity...for those interested in the National Review post-election cruise.

These amazing images show the world's largest ever cruise liner taking shape, complete with "beach pool", shopping mall, rock-climbing walls, outdoor ampitheatre, and New York-style loft suites. The state-of-the-art "travelling city" is being built on dry-docks in Finland. Built for Royal Caribbean International, when Oasis of the Seas launches next November, she will be the largest and most revolutionary cruise ship in the world. The liner will span 16 decks, encompass 220,000 gross registered tons (GRT), carry 5,400 guests and feature 2,700 staterooms. Oasis of the Seas will be the first ship to tout the cruise line's new neighborhood concept...

Evan Buffington knew what he had found as soon as he spotted it in the sand. The bottle was imbedded in a small island no more than 48 square miles called Middle Caicos, part of the British West Indies. Buffington found it while vacationing with his family in late August, on a hike with the men of the family. Buffington, a resident of Makanda, Ill., dug out the bottle and brushed off the sand. It was a clear glass Tab cola bottle, with a cork inside and an aluminum screw top to keep it sealed. Some moisture had seeped in,...

In a high-profile shake-up at the recently revived United Artists movie label, Paula Wagner -- the longtime business partner of Tom Cruise -- is in talks with UA parent MGM to leave her post as UA's chief executive, according to a person familiar with the matter. Ms. Wagner, a former talent agent, and Mr. Cruise arrived at UA in 2006 with great fanfare and plans for resurrecting the historic film company. Ms. Wagner and Mr. Cruise received a minority stake in UA estimated at the time to be around 30%. Under Ms. Wagner the label secured a $500 million film...

Tom Cruise likes to ramble on and on about the wonders of Scientology and how much it helps people. However, when it comes to Tom, it looks like Scientology has come up a little short! NOTE: The Author of this comic requests that you visit his site and refrain from copying the cartoon in the thread. Thanks much!!

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2008 – Veterans can once again enjoy an afternoon cruising Lake Michigan, sharing tributes and building relationships thanks to one Illinois group. Kup’s Purple Heart Cruises began in 1945 when Irv Kupcinet also known as “Kup,” a Chicago Sun Times columnist, wanted to do something for servicemembers coming back from World War II. The 50-year tradition ended with its last cruise in 1995. Twelve years later, David Kupcinet decided to re-launch his grandfather’s renowned Kup’s Purple Heart Cruises. After fours year of planning the successfully re-launched cruise took place July 31, 2007. Kupcinet said the cruise...

Surveillance cameras on the Norwegian Dawn cruise ship show a Camden County woman was alone on her balcony when she fell overboard Sunday, the cruise line said last night. The Norwegian Cruise Line said in a statement that hallway cameras and cameras on the sides of the ship "confirmed that Mindy Jordan was in her stateroom alone at the time of the incident." The family of Jordan, 46, of Pine Hill, said Tuesday that it suspected foul play. The family could not be reached last night after the cruise ship's statement was released. The company did not characterize the incident,...

You may or may not have heard: last week Tom Cruise and his former boss, Sumner Redstone, broke bread. They had lunch some 18 months after Redstone didn’t pick up Cruise’s contract as on-lot producer. The reason was that Redstone had had enough of Cruise the couch-jumping Scientologist who berated Matt Lauer on the "Today" show. That was in addition to the strange Katie Holmes courtship and so on. But now I am told that a renewed Paramount deal for Cruise and a possible “Mission: Impossible 4” are not so likely. For one thing, sources tell me it was Cruise...