May 5th Betting!

[Andrew DEREK UK]

For thoose of you who might of missed it this is the poll on where the Magic might be going.

LA is still in the lead but the percentage was cut a lot.

Still a good spread of views.

 

[dawne577]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I read that whatever countries' flag the ship is flying that ship has to make one port stop in that country. I was trying to find the cruise book that I read it in but I think it was a library book. It stated that it was a maritime law that could have been revised since then. Wouldn't that make sending the Magic to the west coast almost impossible? Also, someone had commented about terminal use - renting short term doesn't seem cost effective to me. That is why I'm voting for a revised(possibly extended) Eastern and possibly an announcement for a new ship to be built for the West.
But then again, I'm the new kid on the block here that doesn't have as much knowledge as many of you. Also, I need to post at least once every two weeks so that I can longingly stare at my countdown clocks!!!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by dawne577
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I read that whatever countries' flag the ship is flying that ship has to make one port stop in that country.

Actually, one of the most common countries of registry for cruise ships operating out of U.S. ports is Liberia (on the Atlantic coast of Africa). For example, the Carnival Ecstasy, which operates out of California, flies the Liberian flag.

So the Disney Magic's Bahamian registry would not be a problem.

Originally posted by dawne577
Also, someone had commented about terminal use - renting short term doesn't seem cost effective to me.

There should be no problem with terminal availability. The World Cruise Center at Port of Los Angeles ( http://www.portoflosangeles.org/Facilities/wcc.htm ) has excess capacity, especially in the summer months when some of the ships that use this terminal head to Vancouver for Alaska itineraries. Also, Carnival has a new cruise terminal in Long Beach, adjacent to the old Queen Mary.

The rental cost for sailing once or twice a week from one of these cruise terminals would be a drop in the bucket when spread across 2,000+ passengers. DCL will need to pay part-time staff in LA or Long Beach, but they wouldn't being paying the part-time staff back at Port Canaveral for those sailings.

 

[jlmarr]

Originally posted by dawne577
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I read that whatever countries' flag the ship is flying that ship has to make one port stop in that country.

I think it's more along the lines of non-US flagged ships must make a stop at a non-US port. So "Mexican Riviera" cruises sailing out of LA don't have a problem, nor do Alaska cruises sailing from Vancouver, Canada. The interesting result of this law is that Hawaiian Island cruises sail to the Fanning Islands - two full days at sea each way! This is the major reason that Norwegian Cruise Line has now had one of its ships reflagged as a US ship so it doesn't need to make that expensive side trip. I'm not sure what the reflagging process involves, but I think they've made a good move there.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

I believe that most ships do not want to be registered in the US because of taxes and regulations. I hope it goes well for NCL and others could follow with sailing only the Hawaiian islands. They are so beautiful and it would be nice to see them without packing and unpacking. I am still hopeful for a land and sea for Disneyland's 50th. I would love to do that next year.