Carnival Cancels Cruise Calls In 2012
The Ministry of Transport confirmed that Carnival Cruise Lines has cancelled 11 of the 12 previously approved cruise calls for 2012.
Minister of Transport Terry Lister said: “We were surprised to only learn of the cancellations on Wednesday. This has put us in a unfortunate position for next year, because it will be difficult to find suitable replacement ships at such a late date.”
“We are extremely disappointed by this late notification by Carnival Cruise Lines, but we will make every attempt to fill some of the empty berths with ships from other cruise lines. It is highly unusual for cancellations to occur so close to the beginning of the season.”
A statement issued said, “Ministry of Transport generally finalizes cruise applications 12-18 months in advance of the actual sailings and the 12 Carnival cruises for 2012 were approved in late 2010. Carnival was notified of the approval soon after they applied for the berths.”
“Ministry of Transport officials are attempting to gain clarification from Carnival concerning the late notice of cancellations while also working to find alternative ships for the available slots.’
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You don’t have a product anymore Mr. Terry.
KFC is still operating.
Karnavil Family Cruises will relocate to the ……..never mind…………….
Tourism is part of Gover(n)ment.
When we get one…………………………………
Wake up everybody no more sleeping in bed!! Dreamers! Can’t even catch a bus when you get off the ship to go to the beach.
Terry Lister , says he was terribly disappointed with the cancellations of Carnival Cruise Lines !!!!!!!!! hey Mr Lister the chaos at Kings Wharf with these mega ships coming in and we are not able to serve these tourist…could this be a reason for them saying to hell with Brmuda?
I have been in Dockyard when these mega ships docked !!!! I feel so bad for these tourist ..because no one has a clue or cares a damn about the poor unfortunate travelers…. so I hope the Pemier gets rid of Terry….I think a great tourism minister would be E. Michael Jones… this man knows and cares about bda…
But he’s too busy building the new Park Hyatt in St. George’s
yea, I forgot about that, and thanks for the reminder.
Oh yeah, that Hyatt is definitely coming in November 2011. That’s what Ewart promised and we all know he’s no freakin two faced cheating liar.
Still think the problem’s the ‘global economy’?
You cant be serious with that statement?? Try following the news of the world rather than just Bermudian news casts.
WOW!
What is Cunards deal, is there any relation? or did we just have one shooting/ mugging too many.
LMAO…ALL of a sudden, the MOT is concerned about cruise ships NOT visiting the Island??? Everyone (even Bermudians)was screaming about how cruisers to the island were not enough because they didn’t fill hotels and restaurants. Then it was because we “over-took” the buses on the Island. Even though cruisers to Bermuda spent MILLIONS on the Island visits every year and supported the Bermudian community, your MOT failed to realize (and I’m sorry to say so did MANY Islanders) that we cruisers to Bermuda felt like we were starting to be treated like the ugly step child! Our ships visiting your wonderful Island helped to supply jobs on the docks and YES, we DID visit MANY of your restaurants and local pubs. After many cruises to Bermuda, I’m sorry to say after reading many posts here, I do not feel as welcome as I once did!! It has NOTHING to do with the cruise lines. I used to love coming to Bermuda so much that I would swim there if I could!! Sorry my old friends, you can’t have it BOTH ways!!!
Very true Mr. Hickey. Usually the people who complain about cruise ship visitors are the same ones who get hurt the most in a downturn. A lack of education and facts are a real issue in situations like this. I am of the opinion that more suffering is needed before people realize that we need our tourists and our expatriate workers.
So just where was the line of communication between
Carnival and the Bermuda Department of Tourism
over the past season?
rumandcoke…Ijust had a gin and tonic…and for the life of me I can not understand or believe Terry Listers statment regarding Carnival cruise lines…and he was shocked that they are pulling out..he knows why they are pulling out….it is bcause of the poor managment of the dept of tourism…Please Premier get rid of Terry Lister…
GET RID OF THEM ALL!!!
Terry, you didn’t think that Carnival would simply shut up & continue to stop at Bermuda no matter what did you???? SURPRISE!
Cruise lines have to answer to customer complaints. They don’t like complaints, especially over nonsense like bus drivers & ferry crews going on wildcat strikes.
Bermuda, you were warned. There are consequences to your actions.
Triangle ,how come we al know what the hell is going on and poor old Terry Lister is shocked that Carnival all of a sudden has said enough is enough….Terry have you ever experinced in your travels that you paid a lot of money for… to have to endure what these passengers have endured under your ministry !!!!!!
@ Triangle Drifter,
My sentiments exactly!
So, I think we can quite fairly lay blame for this on Furbert, Lister and Cox. Between them they couldn’t keep the bus and ferry services going this year, and sure enough, here we are, with Carnival pulling out. It’s an absolute disaster.
Furbert, Lister, Cox, you should resign. Get out of the way. Let someone else do it. Seriously. You need to know when you suck at something. You suck at running the country.
Yeah Furbert,lister and Cox,Go wash dishes.You might be good at that!!!
The end is coming, and a lot sooner than the blind followers realise…..
a suitable replacement…a suitable replacement would be anyone but Terry Lister and his Poor Lamented Party to make decisions
“surprised”? ooooo puhleaseeeee! We have plenty of problems going on:
Bus strikes causing nothing but inconvenience for our tourist who just want a great vacation but instead they had to wait and bake in the sun because some simple bus driver didn’t wanna piss in a cup.
Some (not all) of the customs officers have ridiculous attitudes.
Taxi prices are a bit pricey for this little island.
Can’t enjoy most of the nightclubs because they are being invaded by drug warriors that somehow “think” they own it all.
NOTHING for tourist to do but go to the beach, which by the way is also boring as hell!!! No bar, no music, nothing except for snorkel park which charges to get in.
Face it. Our island is quite boring unfortunately.
Transportation issues. Mr Lister, those two words sum it up. In case you missed it, thousands of cruise ship visitors went through hell getting moved away from the dock this summer, I saw it, most Bermudians saw it but somehow you didn’t? I would say that was a major factor in Carnival taking this course. For the record, we need Carnival more than they need us, as can now be seen.
Give me a break, this was predictable, I knew we would pay for the lack of attention on land based transportation.
Vote PLP. You guys are wrong.
PLP all the way.
PLP…..
OBA to you OBA…
PLP.
PLP, Please Leave Promptly!!!
or Please leave,P**cks.
Carnival got tired of it’s passengers being harressed , detained and heavily fined for insignifigant amounts of mary jane . Blame stupid lazy cops and customs officers who can’t find murderers on the Island or stop guns and ammunition from coming into the Island but are very quick to ruin the vacation of innocent tourist who would prefer to enjoy themselves in the privacy of their rooms onboard the ship . Think about it people .
This is real bad..
PLP give up and go home before we have to use seashells as currency. You have done enough damage to last us a lifetime. WE NEED SOMEONE WHO KNOWS TOURISM TO BE IN CHARGE OF TOURISM. Stop talking and do something. Also, the OBA will win the election, but unfortunately they will get blamed for tax increases they will have to implement to get us back on track.
SeaShells – I like that one. How true it may thou.
SAD SAD SAD – the whole thing, that we have bunch of idiots running this country.
The writing has been on the wall for months… Carnival has been critical of the transport and services provided to their passages. They have to take their passanges where they get value for money, or they’ll have no passengers.
Carnival have obviously been working on alternate locations for some time, what gets me is why it’s a surprise to the DOT???
If Carnival was contracted to fill those slots, then they should pay a hefty fee for the late cancellations. I also doubt that it was crime related as most of carnivals other destinations have far greater crime that Bermuda (Nassau comes to mind). Nonetheless, hopefully those 11 slots can be filled.
Yeah, yeah. Heard it all before Bermuda. Lister is a slow foot soldier somehow in a position of real power, but the guy before, he is really to blame for this, it was him who signed the contracts, who built the infrastructure, stand up Ewart Brown. But we have heard it all before, time after time, its so boring, noone dares defend this “Government” anymore, but you still vote on racial lines and elect the PLP because you are more terrified of a white influenced Government than a stupid one.
mixitup…you think slapping a fine at Carnival is going to persude them to come back in the future?
By “contracted”, do you mean “let’s mock up a contract” in the way they did with Curtis before “spotting” him $25,000?
And what world do you live in? Must be the one that has that green tint to it.
So you want to sue Carnival for breach of contract do you! We should consider ourselves lucky that Carnival does not sue Bermuda for breach of contract.
Who is supposed to provide all the shoreside services required by the passengers?
This falls squarely at your feet Minister Lister. Your inability and/or reluctance to forcefully DEAL the the issues of the buses and ferries earlier this year has helped to result in a lost cruise ship for Bermuda. I wonder IF you even had consultations or talks with Carnival about the issues their passengers/our guests faced this year.
Together with a Tourism minister who, out of her own mouth admits, she does NOT know tourism, we are in for a real blow now!!
Regards,
A former PLP voter!!! (Bring on the Gombey party)
Maybe because of all those commando customs raids looking for the tourists with the recreational spliff in the cabins
They had to bring their own entertainment nothing going on plus u need something to take the edge of the mess of the ground transportation that and the high prices!!
Maybe they should contact Rosie now and beg for the gay cruises to come back.
for all any of us know Carnival may have been talking to this Government for some time about pulling out. everything suggests that their incompetence knows no bounds…
does anyone think this may be due to the fact that the ship’s casinos are not allowed to operate in Bermuda’s waters? (i think they may be after 10pm but i’m not sure)
anyways, this loss of income for Carnival could possibly be one of their reasons to discontinue their Bermuda trips. if they can make more revenue taking their passengers to another island, why wouldn’t they?
You mean take Carnival might want to take their customers to an island where they are actually appreciated?
@hmmm…Just so you know, I have been a cruiser to Bermuda MANY times and I can assure you that the onboard casinos have NOTHING to do with it!! I have been on well over 20 cruises and we (cruisers) expect the casinos to be closed when we are in any port. The last cruise I had been on when I visited Bermuda, We first went to St. Georges for 1 day then sailed around to Hamilton for the last 3 days. The WHOLE time the ship was within the maritime boundaries of Bermuda, the casinos on the ship were NEVER opened. From a cruiser, this is NOT a point of concern.
There will be more cancelations to follow in 2013!
Allow Gambling while in port to these poor cruise ships, they might just come back if they can make enough money to offset the Number of disgruntled guests they have due to the we dont need you attitude that seems to prevail in the tourism sector.
Hey here’s another idea let’s try to educate our youth, maybe some other subject beside racism!
FIRE THE MINISTER!!!!!!!! I’m sure that whatever there issues are that they have made it known to the department and I bet it hasn’t been addressed so they said later for you all, um gone somewhere else that will work with them and make both partys happy together.
Here we go again, the country suffers for a few fouls in Power!!!!!!!!
The cruise ships and their passengers don’t need Bermuda; not one little bit. There are almost countless alternative ports of call, most of which are far cheaper and more welcoming. But Bermuda needs them.
The expatriate workers and their employers in international business don’t need Bermuda, not one little bit. They can very easily (and more cheaply) do their business elsewhere. But Bermuda needs them.
Bermuda – the plp and many (certainly not all) Bermudians – don’t seem to have any appreciation for these truths. Unless and until they figure it out, they can expect the exodus to continue. And they need not ask why. Keep treating guests – tourists and “guest workers” – like crap, and you will no longer have them crowding your streets and your shops. Good luck with that.
You are spot on – couldn’t have said it better myself. What baffles the hell out of me is why this mass exodus is any surprise to anyone – especially the Govt!!?? We have been essentially telling IB to get out and we certainly sent a CRYSTAL clear message to tourists this year via: no buses for you, no ferry’s for you, plenty of muggings for you, some hotel room break-ins, some elderly beat-downs… WE SENT A MESSAGE AND THEY GOT IT! Why is anyone puzzled here? We spoke loudly and clearly and they got it. Well done Bermuda!! You should be very proud of accomplishing something that you set out to do once and for all. Big Congrats! Well done!
Have you stop to think that it’s as simple as Bermuda not being the right market for Carnival Clientele? This Cruise company lures the frugal traveler selling cruises as low as $199, they tested the Bermuda Market for the first time in decades and found that its just not their market. Look at the passenger taxes for starters. US Virgin Island ($7.50), Cozumel ($3), Puerto Rico ($10.50) Jamaica ($2) the Bahamas ($15) Bermuda ($80). They can pay 80.00 and put 10 Caribbean Islands on their itinerary and still travel 1/2 the distance. Now once their customers are in Bermuda and are milked for every dime they have, on Taxis, and Shopping etc. they have very little money left to spend on-board. Carnival was a Bad choice for Bermuda from the start.
Also, if crime was Carnivals Issue with Bermuda they would have long pulled the plug on Nassau, USVI, Jamaica and Puerto Rico.
Thank you … Yes there were issues with our transportation… BUT… as one who works with the tourists when they come off the ship…. CARNIVAL guests can’t afford Bermuda.
And the lines etc, crime, bad attitudes, you get them EVERY WHERE! In Hati you are haggled to buy things that are made in Japan or China. In Cozmel you are haggled, in Cayman it is what it is… either you want it our you dont.. .and no matter where you go ALL the shore excursions are expensive….. So I agree with you mixitup!
What rubbish. Carnival is taking its business elsewhere. It’s as simple as that. We treated their customers badly and now they’re leaving. The people to blame are Furbert, Lister and Cox.
I don’t know where you get your information, but being a cruiser that has been to Bermuda many times on Carnival ships, the price THEY charge to cruise there is not the issue!! The less we pay for the transportation, the more we have to spend on the Island!! When I cruise to Bermuda, I spend more time OFF the ship than I do ON!!! That includes meals (I eat on the Island). Think about it…..
How much more damage can we allow Minister Listless to do to this island before we get rid of him??? Madam Premier I hope you are reading this.
The buses, the ferries, now the cruise ships. Is there anything I’ve missed?? Get rid of this useless article now, today, immediately.
But of course you won’t because its the worldwide economy right?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA that’s almost as lame an excuse as the race card.
Paula Please Leave Politics
Lister Please Leave Politics
Paula Please Leave Politics
PLP All the way!!!
Thanks Cris Furbert. I did say he was driving the last nail in the coffin, which is Bermuda, with that last strike. I hope you are proud of your super size ego. At the rate we are going, we soon have no need for all the buses so you have also shot yourself in the face. Good going dumb—
Better still ……….
Ms Minors your the tourism minister…
Paula Please Leave Politics
Lister Please Leave Politics
Patrice Please Leave Politics
This country is sinking… But whatever….
PLP All the way!!!
Passengers on cruises fill in comment cards and Carnival have obviously noted all the negative comments about Bermuda and decided they dont need to come here. Even though these cruise ship passengers dont spend a lot of money it will still be a blow to restaurants, bars, taxis.The Department of Tourism in Bermuda has no idea on how to attract tourists or how to keep them.
kiskadee, I agree with you,,The Premier needs to get rid of our part time tourism minister !!! she admitted that she has no clue about tourism !!! and why did Premier Cox select Lavern Furbert as a senator ? and the other senator that can not read what is front of him..Shakir Crowwell…what a total disaster these two senators are….
Kiskdee is correct. Bermuda has never really had to market itself since people always wanted to come here. Consequently you never had to treat tourists with any value. You cannot rent a car here, buses are rubbish and the drivers are rude. Scooters are dangerous. There’s nothing to do other than go to the beach. There’s no gaming, no hotels, two bars when your boat finally gets to Dockyard. Someone did not nurture this customer (Cunard) and now they have dumped us.
Lister should resign in disgrace – he is the buck that stops here.
Bermuda should DEMAND better representation from its elected officials.
If Paula wants to make a bold move she should either step down or call an election. We have had enough of PLP’s incompetence. It is NOT the world’s economy, or the UBP, or 400 years of slavery. It is YOU, the PLP’s problem. You are incompetent and should be voted out. Let someone know what they are doing run things – since clearly you DON’T!!
Is it any wonder the cruise ships are next to follow suit? Bermuda is on the turn and unfortunately it appears to be too late to put a stop to this.
My husband bought ferry passes this morning, the woman serving him didn’t even acknowledge him, didn’t even look at him.
Busses are frequently so full they don’t stop, when they do it’s a 50/50 chance you will get shouted at for one thing or another.
We use public transport ever day and have never experienced the level of racism that we do on the busses in Bermuda. Don’t get me wrong, the majority of people on them are lovely, friendly people but it only takes one occasion of youths picking their noses and wiping it on the seat in front of your 3 year old daughter to make you question “what the hell am I doing here?”
If you hire a scooter you take your life, and your valuables, in your hands.
You are unable to hire a car and a taxi ride across the island will set you back $100.
Everything you want to do in Bermuda costs a small fortune, you frequently hear tourists describing the rip-off culture that is so prominent now.
If you read the news update on Cable Vision you will already know that there are daily reports of murders, serious injuries, bag snatching and robberies, scooter accidents and problems with public transport.
Time to open your eyes Bermuda. Maybe rather than blaming one person in government it’s time to look closer to home?
@ Fairy – you’re right. This won’t be the last cruise cancellation in the coming years for Bermuda. It’s too late now. I lived on the island and left 6 months ago because of the crime, high rip-off costs and being treated like an inconvenience to the community as an ex-pat worker. I was abused on the street and some idiot tried to nick my watch – I say tried, as a big Scotsman he never got anywhere.
The government won’t do anything about this or the crime or the high rip-off costs. If they actually do, then they will be criticising themselves and forced to resign – and all they are interested in is looking after themselves.
Right now, what lies ahead for Bermuda won’t be nice. Once the worldwide overseas business that supports Bermuda (no matter how inconvenient that is for some Bermudians) realises that they can’t get staff to come to the island and then stay because of these issues, then Bermuda has had it.
No tourists, no foreign business and no ex-pat workers. Not a rosy picture, is it?
Doesn’t have to be that way – I actually care about Bermuda and that’s why I’m having a go – hopefully there will be real positive change very soon!
I feel the same. I really care for the country and the thousands of people here who are lovely. But can see what is all around and like you, my family and I are out of here real soon.
Unfortunately the good ones are reading these reports and all the scumbags and scally’s are out robbing the tourists and shooting one another with no clue that they are bringing their own country down.
A real shame.
I bet we’ll all still vote for PLP right.
They do such great work on behalf of us all…
I hope we all are ready,
Ready for the free fall!
Certain people with their heads in the sand, those easily led, and those too uneducated to know better will still vote PLP yes. We are in grave trouble, Bermuda is in a free fall.
Pretty bad situation we are in inna? We are the closest ‘Island’ destination by far for air travelers, a great one week cruise destination for those who enjoy more than one night at sea & we are the closest destination to the largest pool of visitors, the US northeast.
Bermuda invented tourism in the 60s. The world came in the 70s to see how it was done. By the late 70s Bermudians started to take tourism for granted. One hot summer day in 1981 Tourism died when visitors had to walk, bags in hand, across the Causway because of a general strike that had nothing to do with hotels. It started with the hospital, for those who don’t know.
Our arrogance continued through the 80s & 90s with poor service, wildcat strikes & poor value for money. Meanwhile our competitors boomed. Bermuda was stuck in denial. Bermuda is still stuck in denial only now IB, which was nurtured through the 80s & 90s by a Government that understood their need, has had enough of a Government that cannot even install lightbulbs.
Who is responsible? Go in your bathroom. Look at the person in the mirror. If the person looking back at you voted PLP, you are looking at who is responsible for the end of tourism today.
One hot Saturday morning this summer, I was taking my teenage daughter to her job in Dockyard on my bike. All the traffic was backed up, and once I made it up to the cause of the congestion I was amazed to see that a huge crane (owned by one of Ewart’s construction industry buddies) had snagged the overhead wires, pulling down a couple of utility poles. (Who the hell gives a permit to move a large crane into Dockyard on a Saturday with one Carnival ship and one other mega cruise ship arriving?) I saw a marine & ports guy standing on top a trash can shouting at an enormous crowd of angry passengers waiting for a ferry — none in sight. There was literally no way out of Dockyard other than walking, which hundreds were doing.
On my way out I had to drive behind Albert Row, and there were dozens of tourists trying to walk through there. Some were even posing for pictures in front of the “third world slums” they had just discovered there. As a Bermudian I felt sick and embarrassed. Good job Terry, you incompetent boob!
Thank God and the Premier for firing Lister !!!and if it is true she got rid of Lavern…. I will uncorked the champagne tonight…
Now someone needs to get rid of Cox and the rest of them…
They didn’t cancel these cruises. They were never scheduled. Carnival has only had 1 Bermuda cruise in 2012 for sale.
Amnesia is now officially the national disease. Do you people even keep a position for more than 24 hours? It is just incredible to see all of this venom of cruise ship passengers you’ve never wanted; from a cruise line you’ve always booed at a dock you’ve called everything except the economic salvation it has been this year. No problem with your hating everything, but be consistent. This thread shows that if this news was “10 year deal signed with Carnival” you would all be critical of the length of the deal, who it was with and on and on and on. Be consistent. Losing these cruise calls is a bad thing for Bermuda but you can’t have it both ways. Your consistent response should be: Good, we never liked cruise passengers, we never like Carnival and we certainly don’t like the Dockyard cruise pier. Then you’d be belivable. Right now you look worse than Herman Cain.
We ARE being consistent. We were embarrassed by the incompetent transport system. We are embarrassed by the rudeness of some Bermudians to tourists. We like tourists here and want to encourage them, not inconvenience them. We are disgusted by crime against tourists. But at the same time, we are not a bit surprised by the action taken by Carnival. Their customers cannot have been happy with their experiences here this year.
Not sure why you would want to gloss over it, ‘Hmmmmm’. Evidently you don’t like how bad this makes the government look, and now you’re trying to pretend it’s not a big deal, and that we all secretly wanted less tourists… you’re being pretty lame.
Wrong. It is a big deal, in fact, its a far bigger deal than most know.Read the post again and see the clear inconsistencies. You cannot deny that these haters writing in support of anything related to the cruise pier at Dockyard is a watershed day in modern history.Look at what you’re saying: we want Carnival, cruise passengers are better than no visitors and transport needs a firm, dictatorial minister. That is what the Americans call flip-flopping.
No, you are wrong.
Being critical of incompetence and cost overruns at the cruise ships terminal, and being critical of the utter incompetence of Furbert, Cox and Lister, does not equate to hostility towards tourists.
In fact, criticism of Furbert Cox and Lister came because people wanted cruise ship passengers to have a better experience on vacation here. The criticism surrounding the pier related to the cost overruns and the fact that it is falling down.
Nothing to do with not wanting tourists.
Interesting that you bring up Herman Cain. Why do you assume he is guilty? Is it because he’s black?
The Herman Cain reference is about his flip-flopping. It has zero to do with racism. Unless you consider flip-flopping in some way racist. Or if you are just stupidly reactionary and uninformed. I suspect the latter.
Billy M, I’m assuming you are not ‘Hmmmmm’, but Hmmmmm said “right now you look worse than Herman Cain”. It came on the day of allegations made against Cain about alleged harassment in the 1990′s. Are you seriously trying to say it was about ‘flip-flops’?
Interesting that unsubstantiated allegations against a successful a black man were used to make a negative point.
It’s you who is ‘stupidly uninformed’ and doing the flip-flopping.
Dick Rock, I am well aware of the allegations against Cain, but that would have no application to Hmmmm’s point. None at all.
But believe what you will, because nothing anyone would ever say would convince you that racism wasn’t at the root of all human activity anyhow.
Bermuda:
One man does not destroy the earth – - Minister Lister did not destroy Tourism by himself. Carnival Cruise Lines are known to be the “cheap man’s” cruise line, thus they would be pulling out of Bermuda – the most expensive cruise port on the East Coast of the USA ANYWAY – - they are not making the money they THOUGHT they would – - stone cold fact!
However, I will admit that the problems this summer with the buses, taxis, and transportation (which does include the Minister) solely rests on the shoulders of the BIU membership at DPT, including Chris Furbert, who supported A PERSON WHO DIDN’T PISS IN A CUP FOR 5 MONTHS!! Additionally, you can include the inconsiderate, inept management team at DPT and the Transport Minister (The Acting Director of DPT and the PS of Transport – - they are the ones who could not agree to get things resolved and back up and running – - THE PROBLEM LIES THERE.)
So in a nutshell, Minister Lister can be blamed for this recent “pull-out” by Carnival, but when you look closer, you will see what is really going on – - then you can decide who to blame – - –
Yng Black Mind
(those who know understand)
If the PLP get in again it sends me a very clear message
of what the ‘people’ want and they can have it.
I’m gone but not before making 35 bermudians
unemployed and putting 5 more rental properties on the market.
Time for change.
Well, it looks like it’s no longer Terry Lister’s problem. He still is responsible for this though even as the former Minister. Hope he’s replaced with someone with a backbone and perhaps some skills too. But it’s too late for Carnival.
Lets not forget that he was also responsible for the buses problems and the ferry fiasco. Hopefully his replacement will have testicles and be able to actually stand up to the union next time there is a bus dispute, and put the ferries back as they were.
Wasn’t there also one time when he wanted to stand up to the union and Cox overruled him?
She is just as much to blame.
Now the Premier needs to fire the Minister of Finance and the Premier needs to go after all the former bosses of the Minister of Finance to get back all the money they took from the working people of Bermuda.
oh, how silly of me.
The Premier who is also the Finance Minister will have to fire herself and someone else will have to go after the people
This is a nail in the coffin for Bermuda. I think this is going to be a long and harsh economic winter. The PLP think money grows on trees. Let me disappoint you. International business pays
This is where Carnival is going:
Carnival Corp. is turning its sights on the Dominican Republic. The cruise company confirmed it has signed a memorandum of understanding to finance a $65 million port facility and retail/restaurant/recreation complex geared towards cruise passengers just west of Puerto Plata on the country’s north coast.
Carnival is partnering with the Rannik family – which has shipping operations in the DR – on the project, which includes a docking facility at Maimon Bay that will be able to accommodate two post-Panamax (over 1,000-feet) ships.
In addition to retail and recreation, the space will also include a transportation hub, Carnival said. The facility is expected to open in Fall 2013.
The new deal follows Carnival’s pattern of investing in ports when it needs more places to put its growing fleet of ships. Carnival opened port facilities with retail complexes in Grand Turk in 2006; Cozumel, Mexico, in 2008; and $62 million Mahogany Bay in Roatan, Honduras.
Our family has frequently traveled to Bermuda from Boston over the last 12 years. When we could afford it, we stayed at the Hamilton or Southampton Princess hotels and made friends with many Bermudians. Bermuda holds a special place in our hearts.
As our family grew to include grandchildren, we turned to cruising as a more affordable way of visiting our favorite island. Two years ago, our caribben princess ship stopped for a day but transportation was so poor we could ot get out of the Dockyard. It was very warm and the you grandchildren, toddlers at the time, wanted to swim. We decided to try the “snorkel beach” there and I was shocked that this concrete, manmade, terrible area was marketed as a beach. It was, by far, the worst day of our 10 day cruise that included st. Thomas, grand turk and others.
Last year, we returned again for a day, on the same ship that docked ay Dockyard. As others have written, it was extremely congested with long, nearly impossible waits to get transportation off of the area. We went to our favorite beach, Horshoe Bay (yes, I know it is the favorite of many and very crowded) and had a wonderful day. As we left, however, we had a van driver who was one of the rudest individuals I have ever met. He yelled at me and my granddaughter as we came from the changing room and called us inconsiderate tourists. I was very hurt, offended and upset by his comments. He continued to mutter under his breathe until we arrived back at the Dockyard.
There were six of us traveling together and all felt that the Bermuda experience had lost its luster. We are giving it one more try as the Norwegian dawn sails from Boston to Bermuda on July 13th. I am hoping our experience will be better as we bringing some friends who have never visited the island before. We hope to be greeted by the kind, friendly Bermudians we had known in the past and not be subjected to the ill treatment we received on our last visit.
The Carnival person mentioned St. Martin as an example of a good destination. The ship arrives in the center of Phillipsburg surrounded by shops and restaurants and casinos..On the french side you have Marigot a thriving little village filled with restaurants and European shops with the lates fashions. Here you get dumped at the end of the world with a prison guarding the entrance with mickey mouse little shops and after about 2 hours you have seen it all….try to get transport to get anywhere. The passenger complaints probably lead to them chosing somewhere with better yearround weather….For cruisers Bermuda is a cheap destination from the east coast as many of the passengers have no airfare and the ship stays put once here….on a Caribbean cruise the ship can leave port and people hit the casinos…here everything closes at 5pm….