Special Features & Items of Interest

Small Cruise ship has a day on the beach

At 7:12 am the Spirit of Glacier Bay ran aground in its namesake waters near the Grand Pacific Glacier. The ship was on day three of a four-day Glacier Bay Highlights Cruise.

This is the third time this season that a Cruise West ship has encountered problems in Alaska. In May, Spirit of Columbia experienced generator problems during an Inside Passage cruise, which caused some itinerary adjustments. In early June, Spirit of Alaska also touched bottom, this time in Tracy Arm Fjord, which prompted the cancellation of that cruise and the subsequent one.

The reason for today's grounding is still under investigation, Cruise West spokesperson Jerrol Golden tells us. The ship was traveling slowly (about 1 knot), and the hull was not compromised. There were no injuries to the 24 passengers or 27 crewmembers -- nor was there any threat to marine life or the environment. The Coast Guard has sent two helicopters, a 47-foot motor boat, a 25-foot response boat and a 110-foot Coast Guard cutter to the scene. Spirit of Glacier Bay is stable and is expected to re-float when the tide rises.

The cruise line is now working to transfer passengers back to Juneau, either on the re-floated vessel or other transport. Until the amount of damage to the ship is assessed, it's unclear whether upcoming Spirit of Glacier Bay itineraries will experience any changes or cancellations.

Spirit of Glacier Bay was in fact refloated  at about 4 p.m., and travelled to Bartlett Cove under its own power. All passengers and 14 crew members were transferred to a Glacier Bay National Park service vessel.  Eventually continuing on to Juneau. Passengers will receive a full refund of their cruise fare -- 50 percent in cash and 50 percent as a future cruise credit.

On July 10th while underway from Juneau to Ketchikan, AK for repairs , she began to take on water and was diverted to Wrangell, where a small crack in the hull was discovered. It was reported the vessel had been taking on about 10 gallons of sea water an hour. The Coast Guard was monitoring the situation and Cruise West has now canceled the next four cruises. Following temporary repairs, SPIRIT OF GLACIER BAY resumed her course the morning of July 11 for Ketchikan

Delta Air Lines will offer a new dockside check-in service at the Port of Barcelona

Customers arriving at the port's cruise Terminal B on Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Line and Holland America Line ships will be able to check-in for their Delta flights, check baggage and obtain their boarding passes at six dockside check-in areas. The service will be available to customers traveling on Delta's two daily nonstops from Barcelona (DL95 to New York JFK and DL115 to Atlanta).

Delta plans to offer the service on a permanent basis, eventually rolling it out to all cruise ships.

A yachting institution you should know

Tom Rowe and Patty Martin are the primary charter brokers at Fine Yachts, which is the corporate & vacation charter  division of Newport Yacht Management. Patty previously worked onboard yachts, while Tom started out in the travel industry.

For more than two decades, they have built Newport Yacht Management into a prominent U.S.-based charter and yacht management company. They have each cruised extensively in many locations around the globe, so they have personal experience to offer in addition to their wealth of knowledge about crewed charter yachts worldwide. 

Specializing in crewed yachts worldwide they can be contacted at:  trowe@nymyachts.com, www.fineyachts.com