SCRIBBLINGS – August, 5 2022

SCRIBBLINGS – August, 5 2022

                                                    From Bill Miller 

Jul 2022

Above:  Docking the United States (1957)

Mon Jul 18^th Fond Farewell:  A familiar face in New York harbor, the pilot boat New York has been replaced and is going off to scrappers in Boston.

Below:  Our good & kind friend Capt Justin Zizes caught the Carnival Magic at Pier 90, New York on a summer’s morning – offloading passengers & then off on a weeklong cruise to Bermuda

Tue Jul 19^th Added Luxury!  Royal Caribbean Group today announced it has received court approval to acquire the ultra-luxury cruise ship Endeavor. Originally delivered to Crystal Cruises in 2021, the ship will be renamed Silver Endeavour when it officially joins the Group’s wholly owned subsidiary, Silversea Cruises’ fleet, this month.

Job Complete!   Vincent Cassea & I met today to organize the final corrections for our book They Taught Us Well, memories of teachers past & present in our hometown of Hoboken.   The completed work is due out this fall from the Hoboken Historical Museum.  Meanwhile, with my work hat in place, I am busily scribbling & assembling yet another new book:   British Liners of the 1950s & 60s in Colour.

Wed Jul 20^th   Backlash! There seems to be protests – or at least objections – to almost everything these days.  The travel business is no exception – and this includes the cruise trade.   

The cruise industry appears to be booming with 99% of ships sailing and with demand way up since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, the end of the CDC’s reporting program for ships, and the cessation of many of the vaccination protocols both on ships and in ports of call.

However, cruise lines now find themselves up against a rising tide of anti-cruise sentiment in Europe. Protesters are confronting passengers in some ports as the tourists disembark for shore excursions. The protesters complain about the crowds brought by the ships which are perceived as overwhelming the streets of cities like Dubrovnik, Venice, and Barcelona while spending very little money on food, goods, and services in those same locales.

Protests broke out in Norway this week at five different ports of call, with protesters confronting cruise passengers protesting the “environmental and social damage” caused by cruising. The protests are led by the anti-cruise group CruiseNotwelcome. Protesters and academics alike argue the cruise industry is a major source of environmental pollution. Posters in the Norwegian ports of call point out the cruise ships are registered under foreign flags, pay no local taxes, and flood the streets of the port towns.