Komodo, Indonesia: Into the dragons' den

Sailing on a schooner around eastern Indonesia, Natalie Paris mixes sunbathing on deck with a spot of island exploration - and a meeting with the carnivorous lizards of Komodo.

Telegraph.co.uk, By Natalie Paris, 11:09AM BST 10 May 2010

While not exactly fire-breathing, these large monitor lizards have an acute sense of smell, large claws and a toxic bite

Indonesia's vast archipelago has always lured adventurers, with tales of stormy straits, desert islands and man-eating dragons. European trading ships sailed here in the 16th century in search of treasures. These days the Spice Islands, now known as Maluku, have fallen off the charts of the average seafarer, but farther south, legends of dragons live on. Here lie remote islands perfect for modern voyages of discovery.

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Dirk Bergsma, a latter-day explorer, got his first taste of the country in the Seventies when he caught a lift on a wooden schooner locals used to transport cargo. The journey inspired him to found a tour company, Sea Trek, that organises intrepid but relaxed cruises along the old spice routes. "You can sail to places so incredible you can't believe they still exist," he says.

Nearly two decades after Dirk bought his first schooner, I joined 14 other passengers boarding another on an adventure of our own. We might have had gin-and-tonics, sun loungers and a wonderful crew who rinsed our walking boots for us, but we still felt like adventurers.

Each day would start with some sailing, typically past pods of dolphins and lackadaisical turtles

The double-masted Katharina sails all over the eastern archipelago, including to Maluku, but our voyage was the most accessible that she offers – a 10-day trip east from Bali to the island of Flores and back. This popular itinerary allowed us to make various stops within the Komodo National Park, a diver's haven with sharks and manta rays below the surface, and above it, the island homes of one of the world's most impressive creatures – the Komodo dragon.

While not exactly fire-breathing, these large monitor lizards have an acute sense of smell, large claws and a toxic bite. Although they eat mainly carrion, they prey on deer and water buffalo, and have killed a human as recently as 2009. From Ari, our companionable guide on board the Katharina, I learnt that the dragons eat their dead and are cannibals, forcing their young to live in trees for up to five years to avoid being attacked. Suddenly our planned two-hour hike to spot them seemed less appealing, knowing that they could be anywhere around us – on land, in branches above us, in the sea. That's right. They swim, too.

An encounter with the lizards is certainly the most obvious reason to explore this scattering of volcanic islands, but there are plenty of others. In the couple of days before we went in search of dragons, the boat stopped at Flores ("Flowers"), an island named by the Portuguese that has smoking cones, fertile flanks and forested ridges studded with the tin roofs of villages glinting in the sun.

The winding island road, forever either climbing or falling, is lined with Catholic churches, neat wooden houses and tethered goats, pigs and tawny cows. As our driver negotiated the many switchbacks through the lush interior, old women squatting next to fires of coconut husks smiled up at us through lips stained red by betel-nut juice, and schoolchildren yelled "Hello, mister" at every bend.

We had come inland to see the dramatic crater lakes at the top of Mount Kelimutu, which change colour depending on mineral levels and have, in the past, been a rainbow palate of brown, cream, red, blue and emerald green. Kelimutu's three lakes have a spiritual meaning for locals and represent the afterlife.

The dramatic crater lakes at the top of Mount Kelimutu have, in the past, been a rainbow palate of brown, cream, red, blue and emerald green

At sunrise, two lakes that were brilliant turquoise during my visit were the first to be bathed in light. These are the two that welcome the spirits of the good and the young, and the sun gave them a pinky halo. Yet a chill remained at the third, on the other face of the mountain, supposedly the resting place of evil spirits. This lake was as black as an inkwell and, while it was shrouded in shadows, an air of foreboding was almost tangible.

That feeling returned a few days later on the boat, as we checked our zoom lenses and prepared to set foot on Rinca island, dragon territory. Rinca and neighbouring Komodo, where the dragons also live, have a more arid landscape than Flores. Shoes or flip-flops, I wondered? Apparently the dragons can launch themselves into a sprint as quickly as a small dog. Shoes it was, then. I had just started to weigh up whether it would be safer to stride out with the ranger or stay close to the group when our first group of dragons appeared right in front of us.

Six or seven lay under a ranger's hut, the occasional yellow forked tongue sliding from square jaws. They were just as big as I had imagined. Shutters whirred and we edged nearer. "Careful," one of the rangers said. "Not too close."

For a minute the dragons seemed docile. But then something disturbed the group. In a flash they rose up on haunches encased in folds of scales and darted forward at speed, their thick bodies switching from side to side in a manner that was alarming in something 10 feet long. Deep inside, some innate urge screamed "Run".

I flinched and the ranger laughed. "Don't worry," he said, waving a stick as if idly flapping at a mosquito. "Their noses are really sensitive; they will run away." We had no choice but to believe him and follow him into the woods.

These stocky predators are the largest lizards on earth and are a protected species. There are only about 4,000 of them living in the wild, all found on this cluster of islands. We spotted one with its head close to the ground, camouflaged by the trees. "He is waiting for a monkey," the ranger said. Sure enough, 15 yards along the track we saw a young family of long-tailed macaques skipping along the forest floor.

On the crest of a hill another dragon sat on its hind legs, leaning against a rock and staring down at the bay where the Katharina was docked. Fearing an ambush of the kind recently filmed by the BBC's Life crew – in which dragons had sat mercilessly waiting for a wounded buffalo to die, tongues flicking in anticipation – our group filed back down to the jetty with new purpose.

It was a pleasure to return to the blissfully relaxing routine of the Katharina. Soon I was sitting with my legs over her bow, sea salt in my hair and the waves slapping at my bare soles, watching another uninhabited island slip out of view.

On board were seven air-conditioned, amply appointed cabins, shared by passengers from all over Europe. We ate communal dinners with wine at a large, deck-top dining table and there were sun loungers for optional massages against the backdrop of sublime sunsets. The small lounge and bar downstairs was the perfect nook for nightcaps, and the crew raised handsome maroon sails whenever there was a brisk wind.

Each day would start with some sailing, typically past pods of dolphins and lackadaisical turtles, sheets of ferocious currents and whirlpools. Then, as we travelled slowly back to Bali, we would drop anchor in order to visit island communities on Flores, Sumbawa and Lombok. Some demonstrated how to weave ikat cloth, others how to master the steps of traditional dances.

In Sumbawa we disembarked onto a beach at Wera, where village children ran out to greet us and show us half-built wooden ships positioned like breakers along the black sand. Skilfully made but incomplete, they resembled skeletal Mary Celestes that required years of crafting before they could be blessed and put out to sea.

Sumptuous lunches would be dished up on board before afternoons spent snorkelling or exploring pristine beaches, such as the smudged pink sand at Gili Banta, turquoise bays around Riung and the corals at Gili Lawa.

Afternoons would be spent snorkelling or exploring pristine beaches, such as the turquoise bays around Riung

We came to learn that other passengers had enjoyed previous voyages on the Katharina. At night they swapped stories under the stars of journeys further east, of meeting warrior tribes and sailing through the Alor strait, where "there was nothing but swirling seas". A retired Dutchman told me on our final night: "You should come when we sail to Papua. Now that is truly magnificent."

As we approached the glittering lights of Bali's coastline, I felt every bit the returning explorer, with a successful voyage and encounter with fearsome reptiles under my belt. Even in this day and age, new adventures are always possible at sea.

Explore

(0844 499 0901; www.explore.co.uk) offers 16-night "East Indies Seatrek" tours including a 10-day Bali-Flores-Bali voyage on the Katharina between May and October. The trip includes four nights in a hotel in Bali on a b & b basis and nine nights' full board in ensuite cabins on the schooner: prices from £2,370 with international flights; £1,621 without. Between July and August, places are available for children at £2,478, with adult places costing £2,601, both with flights.

Sea Trek

(0062 361 283358; www.anasia-cruise.com) offers a range of voyages on the Katharina to Indonesian destinations farther afield.

Italian yacht moors at Belawan port

Antara News, Wednesday, April 7, 2010 04:06 WIB

Medan, N Sumatra (ANTARA News) - The Italian luxurious cruise ship "Costa Allegra" cast its anchors at Belawan port in Medan, Tuesday to allow its passengers to enjoy the well-known tourist destinations and objects in the area.

The fancy yacht brought 600 passengers on board from several countries, including the United States, France, Germany, Australia, and some European countries.

Of the 600 passengers, 277 tourists planned to disembark and go to many tourist objects and destinations in Medan and environments.

This historical objects in the area which the tourists planned to visit include the Maimun Palace, the North Sumatra Museum, the Grand Mosque, and the traditional market place in Medan city where they can buy special souvenirs.

They also planned to visit the tourist object in Berastagi, Karo regency, some 65 Km east of Medan city, North Sumatra province. They will visit the windmill, kangaroo country, and other `countries` known as Berastagi fruit city with its fresh and cool climate, just like in Puncak, Bogor.

"Costa Allegra" skippered by Salvatore Donato, cast its anchors at Belawan port only for one day, and will proceed to Langkawi, Malaysia, and Phuket in Thailand before returning to Europe.

Panamaian yacht to call at Jayapura

Antara News, Wednesday, March 24, 2010 19:56 WIB

Jayapura (ANTARA News) - A yacht flying the Panamanian flag with 300 European tourists on board is scheduled to dock at Jayapura`s Yos Sudarso seaport on Thursday (Mar 25).

This was disclosed by the Jayapura immigration chief Roberth Silitonga here Wednesday.

The luxury boat will call at Jayapura for one day after visiting Papua New Guinea (PNG).

"Many of the passengers planned to enjoy the various tourist objects in Jayapura," the said.

Recession hurting cruise ship builders

The Jakarta Post, Associated Press , Miami | Fri, 03/19/2010 6:12 PM

The cruise industry is rebounding, but not for the companies who build the increasingly elaborate ships.

Executives from the major European shipyards say they're not getting enough orders to keep busy and profitable. Though cruise bookings and prices are up, a flood of new ships is crowding the market, and operators have shown little willingness to buy more ships.

Only one new order was placed in 2009, and only four so far in 2010. That's down from 21 in 2006, before the economic downturn began in December 2007.

"The cruise ship-building industry has slower reaction time and suffers from deeper distress in comparison with cruise lines," said Corrado Antonini, chairman of the Italian state-owned Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A.

If things don't improve, shipbuilding officials and observers said at an industry conference this week, the yards could lose key skilled workers, suppliers and subcontractors - if they can stay afloat at all. And that means trouble when operators do finally want new ships, with ever-increasing amenities like skating rinks, bowling alleys and climbing walls.

Fincantieri is one of just three companies in the world that dominate the specialty niche of cruise ship-building. Antonini warned that if new orders don't pick up soon, cruise ships will become more expensive to build and less efficiently made.

"The shipbuilding industry has an intrinsic inflexibility deriving from plant assets and specialized skilled resources, which cannot be simply frozen, moved or fired," Antonini said.

Fincantieri is the only of the three major builders with work on the books past 2012 - and they didn't have it until Carnival ordered two new ships last month. That's an uncomfortable prospect in an industry where a single order requires years of labor and planning, plus more than 10,000-gross tons of steel and other material.

The other major builders are privately owned Meyer Werft GmbH, based in Papenburg, Germany, and STX Europe AS, a unit of South Korean conglomerate STX Corp. that operates cruise ship yards in France and Finland.

Bali needs to prepare for welcoming Sun Princess

Antara News, Monday, February 15, 2010 13:44 WIB

Sun Princess entering the harbour

Denpasar (ANTARA News) - Bali tourist agencies need to make preparations to welcome Sun Princess a highly luxurious tourist ship with a total of 2,342 passengers, not to mention a crew of 814, which is scheduled to call at Bali in May 2010.

The preparations need to include improvement of Benoa port and supporting facilities, and transportation from the port to various destinations, head of Bali`s education and training of SIPCO (Society of Indonesian Professional Congress Organizers) Ni Made Eka Mahadewi said here Sunday.

She made the statement in response to a meeting of the Marketing Directorate General of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism with all-Bali regents, tourist officials, the transportation agency, and many other relevant government and private institutions in charge of building a pier, at the Bali Governor`s office recently.

This year Bali will also be visited by Australian yachts with 22 visits and a total of 32,692 passengers, Costa Crociere with 28 visits and 28,572 passengers, and Seabourn with four visits with 1,298 passengers.

The planned visits by a number of tourist ships and yachts with thousands of passengers will significantly raise the number of foreign tourists to Bali, which last year has received more than two million foreign tourists.

Dutch tourist arrivals in Bali up 22 pct

Antara News, Monday, December 21, 2009 18:12 WIB

Denpasar (ANTARA News) - The number of Dutch tourists visiting Bali in the first ten months of 2009 rose 22.01 percent to 63,622 from the same period last year.

The figure put Dutch in the tenth place as the resort island`s source of foreign tourists, overtaking the US, Head of the Bali Provincial Statistics Office Ida Komang Wisnu said here on Monday.

It was only in the past three months that the European country overtook the US, he said.

The Dutch tourists accounted for 3.21 percent of 1,982,274 foreign tourists visiting Bali in the January-October 2009 period, he said.

Compared to the same period last year, the number of tourist arrivals in Bali in the year ended October 2009 rose 14.22 percent, he said.

The vast majority of the Dutch tourists visited Bali via Ngurah Rai Airport. Only eight of them came to the resort island by cruise liner.

Ida Komang said six of the ten biggest sources of foreign tourists contributed significantly to the total number of tourists visiting Bali over the period. The number of tourists from China rose 65.29 percent, France 51.07 percent, Australia 35.46 percent, Dutch 22.91 percent, Britain 12.36 percent, and Malaysia 9.14 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of tourists from Japan fell 9.12 percent, South Korea 6.11 percent, Taiwan 9.25 percent and Germany 7.20 percent.

Ships tracked with smart software

BBC News

The global shipping trade generates a lot of data

Ships could be in and out of European ports much quicker thanks to smart software that monitors their movements.

Developed for Dutch firm Royal Dirkzwager, the monitoring system tracks ships almost in real time.

It will be used to tell ships to speed up or slow down to ensure there is a berth for them to unload.

As use of the system increases, it hopes to cut costs, reduce fuel consumption and allow ports to unload and service ships much faster.

Ship spotters

Founded in 1872, Royal Dirkzwager began by only monitoring ships that pass in and out of Rotterdam in Holland. Information about ship movements is valuable to governments, cargo handling companies and maintenance firms.

Paul Wieland, Dirkzwager's manager of logistics and ICT, said it used to employ people equipped with binoculars to spot which vessels were in port, which were waiting to unload and which had just appeared over the horizon.

The advent of automatic identification systems (AIS) made that job easier, he said, but still limited Dirkzwager's ability to monitor movements.

"We used to have visibility of shore-to-sea of about 20 miles away from the receiving station," said Mr Wieland. "But it was very short visibility of a geographically limited part of the world."

As ships move to adopt space-based identification systems the view that Royal Dirkzwager has of shipping has opened up enormously.

Ship spotters are keen to know when cruise liners dock

"By interconnecting networks and using space-based IS we can suddenly see the whole world," said Mr Wieland. "That's an incredible increase in the amount of data we can theoretically track and process with our systems."

It has meant a shift from 200 position reports every second to more than 1,000.

"We're going to monitoring every few seconds rather than once a day," Mr Wieland told BBC News. "We were simply not able to handle that amount of data."

To help it cope Royal Dirkzwager has just turned the key on a monitoring system that automatically analyses a stream of data to pick out related events. It is based on the work of former academic Giles Nelson who developed the Apama software.

Dr Nelson originally developed Apama for financial institutions who had a need to swiftly route information to key traders no matter where they were.

Mr Wieland said Royal Dirkzwager's monitoring system would help Rotterdam and other European ports handle ships far faster.

Rotterdam handles more than 30,000 ships per year, he said, and any delay can be very costly.

"We're monitoring the journey of a ship to make sure it is going to a port that has available berth space to accommodate that ship," said Mr Wieland.

"By following a ship we know when it's passed through the Suez Canal and we can see it's going to arrive one day early and that berth will not be free until the next day," he said. "If it's too early you can, for example, slow it down instead of burning fuel and arriving too early and taking up anchor space outside the harbour."

"Logistic processes in ports have speeded up." said Mr Wieland. "The stay becomes shorter and shorter so information about the arrival of a ship is absolutely critical."

It is not just businesses and governments that are keen to track ship movements, said Mr Wieland. Royal Dirkzwager was also using it to drive an SMS alert service for ship spotters who want to know when a particular cruise liner is in port.

Antarctic nations plan tough new shipping controls

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press, Wellington | Sat, 12/12/2009 1:53 PM

Countries that manage Antarctica plan to impose tough new controls on ships visiting the southern oceans and the fuels they use to reduce the threat of human and environmental disasters posed by increasing numbers of tourists, officials said Saturday.

The new code will reduce the number of ships carrying tourists into the region by requiring that all vessels have hulls strengthened to withstand ice. Officials and ship operators said a ban on heavy fuel oil will effectively shut out big cruise ships.

Experts from the signatories to the Antarctic Treaty, the world's main tool for managing the continent,and the International Maritime Organization discussed plans to impose a mandatory Polar Code to control all shipping in the region at a meeting in the New Zealand capital, Wellington.

The safeguards are seen as necessary to limit accidents in the region, where blinding sleet, fog, high winds and treacherous seas pose major dangers for ships and huge problems for rescuers located thousands of miles (kilometers) from remote Antarctic waters.

The code will cover vessel design - including hulls strengthened to withstand sea ice - a range of safety equipment, ship operations and crew training for ice navigation, meeting chairman and New Zealand Antarctic policy specialist Trevor Hughes said.

The nearly completed Polar Code is expected to be in place by 2013, he said. Once approved, it would operate on a voluntary basis until it is ratified by treaty states and becomes legally binding.

While existing rules bar tourists or tour operators from leaving anything behind - like garbage or human waste - and require protection of animal breeding grounds, there are no formal codes on the kind of vessels that can use the waters or the kinds of fuel and other oil products they can carry.

In March, the International Maritime organization, the United Nations' shipping agency, is to ratify a ban on the carriage or use of heavy fuel oil in Antarctica. It is to come into effect in 2011.

The moves follow a huge growth in tourist traffic as people flock to see the world's last great wilderness.

Annual tourist numbers have grown fom about 10,000 a decade ago to 45,000 last year. Tourists can pay between $3,000 and $24,000 for a two-week trip. Some travel on ships carrying up to 3,000 passengers that also take many tons of heavy fuel oil, chemicals and garbage that can pollute the region.

Nathan Russ, operations manager of Antarctic eco-tourism company Heritage Expeditions, said the proposed heavy fuel ban "will most likely regulate the biggest cruise ships out of Antarctic operations" because of the costs involved in switching to lighter fuel.

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Japan-ASEAN Friendship Boat in Manila

INQUIRER.net, 09:21:00 11/01/2009

Fuji Maru

MANILA, Philippines—The goodwill ship M/S Fuji Maru will arrive at Pier 13 of the Manila South Harbor on November 12, 2009 for a four-day port-of-call visit as part of the 36th Ship for Southeast Asia Youth Program (SSEAYP), the Japanese embassy said in a statement.

From Yokohama, Japan, where the brand new cruise ship will set sail on November 6, it will visit the Philippines as its first port-of-call in its two-month friendship cruise of Southeast Asia.

The M/S Fuji Maru, which will have on board 350 youth ambassadors, program officials, national leaders, and ship staff including 30 representatives from the Philippines, will then steam toward ports in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Brunei Darussalam before returning to Japan to culminate the 36th SSEAYP.

In each port of call in Southeast Asia, the youth ambassadors will participate in country programs which include home stay and various exchange programs with local people. While cruising, solidarity group activities, club activities, introduction of each country by songs, dances, and videos, as well as lifeboat drills, will keep the participants busy.

The SSEAYP was launched as the joint program among Japan and Asean countries in January 1974. It is sponsored and carried out annually by the government of Japan with the active participation of the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The country program in the Philippines is arranged and organized by the Philippine National Youth Commission.

This program seeks to promote friendship and mutual understanding among youths of Japan and Southeast Asian countries, to broaden their perspectives on the world, as well as to strengthen their motivations and abilities in international cooperation by participating in discussions, introductions of each country, and various exchange activities both onboard the ship and in the countries which they visit.

World's cruise industry sailing rough waters

Reuters, Michael Perry, Thu Mar 19, 2009 7:34am EDT

Pedestrians walk next to the Queen Victoria cruise liner, docked at the Circular Quay, in central Sydney February 19, 2009. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The cruise ship season in Sydney is in full swing and it's booming, with ships forced to anchor in the middle of Sydney Harbour due to a lack of dock space.

But despite the onboard party atmosphere and the postcard image of luxury liner passengers waving to ferry commuters from ship rails, the world's cruise industry is sailing through rough financial seas as the global downturn bites into tourism.

Cruise operators are desperately trying to attract passengers for 2009, slashing prices, offering last-minute deals, two-for-one pricing, shorter cruises, family packages in which children sail free, and home port cruising which avoids the cost of an airfare to reach an exotic departure port.

Norwegian Cruise Line last month announced "BookSafe" which will give passengers a full cash reimbursement if they cancel their cruise because of job loss. U.S. cruise retailers CruiseOne and Cruises Inc have introduced "CruiseAssurance" to cover passengers in the event of them being sacked.

"What's changed is that cruise lines have offered ferociously discounted fares," Carolyn Spencer-Brown, editor-in-chief of UK online Cruise Critic, told Reuters.

"2009 is looking like the biggest buyer's market ever with absolute cheapest fares seen in a long, long time," she said.

So far bookings for 2009 are holding, but Cruise Critic warns some cruise operators may gain 90 percent occupancy rates this year but still lose money due to cheaper pricing and conservative spending by passengers.

"There's been no significant downturn for big ship cruise lines. They're dropping prices as low as necessary to fill ships and then are hoping that passengers, in the holiday spirit, will feel moved to spend on onboard extras," said Spencer-Brown.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, the world's second largest cruise operator, has already reported a profit collapse in the fourth quarter of 2008 and expects 2009 revenue to be weak as it offers discounts to lure passengers.

Royal Caribbean in January reported fourth quarter profit of $1.5 million, down sharply from $70.8 million in the same quarter the year before .

The Miami-based company stopped paying its dividend last November as it looked to save cash, following a similar move by its main rival Carnival Corp & Plc.

Carnival Corp, the world's largest cruise ship operator, managed to beat expectations in posting a 3.6 percent rise in net income in the fourth quarter 2008, based on higher room rates, cost cutting and offsetting fuel costs.

The company said its net income in the quarter was $371 million compared with $358 million a year earlier. But the fourth quarter profit included $31 million on the sale of the Queen Elizabeth 2 and a rapid decline in fuel costs.

Carnival says 2009 is going to be a tough year. It will report its first quarter results this month.

CRUISE GROWTH SLOWING

The cruise industry has seen unprecedented growth in recent decades thanks to soaring popularity in North America and Europe, the two main markets, and emerging cruise ship markets in Asia and Latin America.

Since 1980 the average annualized growth of North America has been 7.4 percent and annual passenger volume has risen 79 percent in the past eight years. An estimated 13.2 million people took a North American cruise in 2008.

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), North America's largest cruise industry body, estimates 2009 will see only a 5 percent rise in passengers to about 13.35 million.

"The cruise industry is optimistic that it will weather the current economic conditions and continue to grow," said CLIA's Executive Vice President, Marketing & Distribution, Robert Sharak.

"Overall bookings are holding. The primary trend cruise lines are seeing is a late booking pattern. Consumers are waiting until the last minute to decide to travel," said Sharak.

Cheaper prices and incentives have seen some cruise operators post record bookings so far in 2009, he said. Carnival recorded the highest weekly bookings in its history in the first week of March and net bookings since January are up 10 percent compared with the same period in 2008.

Carnival said in December that bookings for 2009 were running behind the prior year. It said it expects net revenue yields to fall 6 percent to 10 percent in 2009.

"Growth has been in the 8 to 12 percent, year-on-year, but nobody believes that we'll see that maintained this year. The new normal is that flat growth is okay," said Spencer-Brown.

The top end of the market, the world and luxury cruises, is feeling the economic pinch the most.

Back in July 2007, Carnival's luxury $250 million Seabourn Odyssey which will make its maiden voyage in June 2009 was charging to be on its wait list.

Today, the 14-day cruise from Venice to Istanbul has not sold out and the current price for the cruise listed at seabourn.com starts at Euro 8,523, a 10 percent discount on the brochure fare.

"Right now it's fashionable to be thrifty. That won't last," said Spencer-Brown, who agrees with the CLIA that luxury cruises will bounce back, possibly as soon as 2010.

Credit Suisse upgraded Carnival Corp and Royal Caribbean Cruises to "outperform" from "neutral" last month, saying the companies will outperform helped by solid demand in the North American and European markets.

However, Goldman Sachs maintains its "sell" rating on both cruise operators and says it expects further net yield deterioration as travel indicators continue to show weakness.

NEW CRUISE MARKETS

"The coming year will see continued diversification and global expansion of cruise operations, said the CLIA's 2009 outlook, citing the Caribbean, Alaska and Europe as strong markets and growth in Asia, the Indian Ocean and Middle East.

The North America market is reaching maturity, but cruise operators still see growth in "home port cruising" in 2009, which first became popular after 9-11 when people did not want to fly. CLIA members are offering more than 30 domestic ports in 2009.

Family cruising is also one of the fastest growth sectors, due to its "value-for-money" appeal, and has helped drop the average age of a cruise passenger to 46, said the CLIA.

Meanwhile, smaller, newer markets in the UK and Ireland, Europe, Asia and the Middle East are also offering prospects for growth during tough economic times.

"Europe looks today as the American market looked 15 years ago in terms of cruise interest and potential," said Sharak.

Executives attending the Seatrade Cruise Shipping conference in Miami this week said yearly cruise penetration, even in significant markets such as Britain and Germany, was much lower than the 3.5 percent penetration in North America.

There could be an additional 2 million cruise passengers a year in the UK and Germany if penetration rates rose, they said.

A 2008 survey by CLIA found 34 million Americans plan to take a cruise in the next three years

The CLIA fleet will see 14 new ships at a cost of $4.8 billion, ranging in carrying capacity from 82 to 5,400 passengers, set sail in 2009 to meet this expected growth in demand. A further 21 new cruise ships, at a cost of $14 billion, are scheduled to enter the North American market between 2010 and 2012.

"The cruise ship order book is placed through 2012. Beyond that, the lines will assess the economic environment and their particular situation with regard to new orders," said Sharak.

"The industry remains committed to long-term growth."

(Editing by Megan Goldin)

City welcomes 900 cruise ship tourists for a day

The Jakarta Post, Wed, 03/18/2009 2:34 PM

JAKARTA: The Costa Allegra cruise ship was docked at Tanjung Priok seaport in North Jakarta recently, carrying 900 tourists from Europe and Asia, an official said Tuesday.

The tourists were welcomed by by Betawi Dancers and as well as a Welcome Dance by children from Delima Studio, in Tebet, South Jakarta.

About 400 of the tourists got off the ship to tour the capital, riding 16 buses to the National Monument in Central Jakarta, the Indonesian Miniature Park (TMII) in East Jakarta, the Old Town area in North and West Jakarta and several shopping centers. They were accompanied by 20 guides.

"I hope the tourists get a positive impression of Jakarta and return here," Arie Budhiman, head of the city's tourism agency said, as quoted by beritajakarta.com.

Florida Offered Lombok Tour Package

Friday, 13 March, 2009 | 12:58 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Mataram: Leaders of the Association of Indonesia Tours and Travel (ASITA) in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) plans to offer a tour package to cruise providers at the Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention in Miami, Florida, USA, March 16-19.

A cruise only visits Lombok once a year with 1,200 foreign tourists. After this convention, it is expected to visit Lombok 5-6 times a year.

“We have to be proactive or Lombok will be forgotten,” ASITA's head, Awanadhi Aswinabawa told Tempo, Friday (13/3), who leads NTB delegation in the convention.

He said that cruises visit Benoa in Bali and Komodo island in East Nusa Tenggara more than Lombok. Komodo island is included as one of the wonderful world heritages. Most cruises end up in Malaysia or Singapore.

Seatreade Cruise Shipping Convention is the biggest shipping convention in the world. Shipping providers, operators, associations, services, from around the world attend the convention.

SUPRIYANTHO KHAFID