SPIRIT CRUISES

PVA Elects New Officers and Board

At the 2010 Passenger Vessel Association Convention at MariTrends in Tampa, Fla., the members of the PVA elected their new officers and board members. The new officers are: President Captain Kevin Stier, River Cruises, Scales Mound, Ill. Vice President Captain Jay Spence, Massachusetts Bay Lines, Boston, Mass. Secretary Treasurer Paul Belforti, Entertainment Cruises, Chicago, Ill.   Captain Kevin Stier is the owner and operator of River Cruises. River Cruises offers two day overnight cruises on the Upper Mississippi River aboard the vessel Twilight. Captain Stier’s career started with him working on the Julia Belle Swain for the late Captain Dennis Trone, one of the original members of the PVA, throughout the span of his career Captain Stier has piloted the Julia Belle Swain, the Talisman and Twilight, of which he was instrumental in the construction. Captain Stier also spent thirteen years working for Diamond Jo Casino in Dubuque, Iowa as Marine Director. In 2006, Captain Stier and his wife purchased the Twilight and began operating on the Upper Mississippi river between the Quad-Cities and Dubuque, Iowa. Captain Stier currently holds a 1600-ton Master of Great Lakes and Inland Waterways on its 5th issue.  He was recently appointed by the Jo Daviess County Board as a member of the Upper Mississippi River International Port District

Hornblower Names Shaw COO

Hornblower Cruises & Events has appointed Bob Shaw, a senior executive with more than three decades of operations experience, to the position of chief operating officer. In his new role, Shaw will be responsible for day-to-day management of all Hornblower companies, including charter yacht and public dining operations and two National Park Service concession contracts. "Bob’s management and passenger vessel industry experience along with his accomplishments as an executive

Carnival Spirit Fitted With Cruise Industry's First Smokeless Diesel Engines

In a working partnership between Carnival Corp. and the Finnish marine power systems supplier Wärtsilä, the new 86,000-ton cruise ship Carnival Spirit will be fitted with the cruise industry's first smokeless diesel engines. The Carnival Spirit, the first ship in a new class for Carnival Cruise Lines, is currently under construction at Kvaerner Masa-Yards and is expected to enter service in late spring 2001. Its inaugural season will include two Panama Canal sailings

New And Notable Deliveries

Blount Completes Dinner Vessel The 600-passenger dinner cruise vessel; M/V Horizon was delivered to Pegasus Yacht Cruises of New York by Blount Industries on March 5. Measuring 161 ft. (49 m), Horizon boasts a welded steel, single chine hull with three enclosed dining decks, with all superstructure above the second deck is 100 percent aluminum construction. New Jersey-based Robinson Interiors designed Horizon with old world ambience in mind — its dining room features varnished cherry

Carnival Repositions Carnival Legend

Carnival Cruise Lines' new 2,124-passenger Carnival Legend will operate a series of eight-day "exotic" Caribbean voyages from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Nov. 10, 2002 - April 19, 2003, marking the first time the line has deployed a brand new ship to that port. Originally, this program was scheduled to operate from Miami. Carnival Legend's new Fort Lauderdale-based schedule is the line's first long-term cruise program from that port in more than a decade.

Alaskan Cruises a Success

American Cruise Lines’ first Alaskan cruises aboard 'American Spirit' applauded American Cruise Lines  announce that its inaugural season in Alaska aboard the American Spirit has begun, with its opening 11-night Seattle-to-Juneau cruise having just been successfully completed. Weekly roundtrip cruises from Juneau will now run through early September. Featuring a complimentary shore tour package and pre-cruise hotel stay

Marine Software to Supply Maintenance System for Hebridean Spirit

U.K. based software house Marine Software Ltd was commissioned by Hebridean Island Cruises to set up their Marine Planned Maintenance system for the M.V Hebridean Spirit from existing AMOS D data and was delivered as a complete working system. Midocean ( IOM ) Ltd, who manage on behalf of the Delmas Group, have continued with installing Marine Software s Marine Purchasing System on their various container and Ro-Ro managed Delmas vessels Patricia Delmas, Roland Delmas, Suzanne Delmas

U.S. Navy Boards Ship After Pirate Attack

CNN has reported that passengers were allowed off the Seabourn Cruise Lines' Spirit and went back to scheduled events with a sightseeing tour of the Seychelles, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean. The 150 passengers had been on board when pirates in two boats armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades attacked the Spirit on Saturday, Deborah Natansohn, president of the cruise line, told CNNRadio. Members of a Navy explosives ordnance disposal team led by Lt

Despite Attack, Piracy Against Cruises Is Said to Be Rare

The New York Times has reported that the cruise industry is calling the violent attack on a cruise ship off the coast of Somalia on Nov. 5 an aberration. Pirates on two boats reportedly fired rocket-propelled grenades at the Seabourn Spirit, a luxury liner carrying 151 passengers, as it rounded the Horn of Africa last Saturday on its way from Alexandria, Egypt, to Mombasa in Kenya. With the Spirit about 100 miles off the coast, the pirates struck at dawn

The Spirit of Lahaina Will Serve Maui

In early spring of 2002, a new multipurpose high-speed catamaran will be plying the waters around Maui, Hawaii. The Spirit of Lahaina under construction at Geo Shipyards in New Iberia Louisiana is a 65x27x9.5 ft high aspect, high wet deck clearance displaning type cat. The USCG certified 149-passenger cruise ship tender, sightseeing and dinner cruiser was designed by Schuller & Allan Inc. of Houston, Texas. Utilizing the latest Rhinoceros 3D surface modeling and Michlet resistance / wave