Walker & O'Neill, P.A. (LexBlog China)

Several major cruise lines, including Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line and Seabourn Cruises, are refusing to cancel voyages which call on ports in China as concerns grow about the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus. The New York Times published an article this morning that Hong Kong has restricted travel from mainland China due to the deadly outbreak as...

The South China Morning Post reports that Chinese cruise passengers aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Joy staged a protest aboard the NCL ship after fog resulted in the cancellation of the cruise from Shanghai. The newspaper reports that the shipboard incident is the latest in a series of strange cases where Chinese tourists have resorted...

The People’s Daily China, a newspaper in China, reported on the “miraculous’ rescue of a thirty-two year old woman from Shanghai, who reportedly fell from a cruise ship. The newspaper tweeted that she reportedly swam for 38 hours and was then rescued by fishermen.  Earlier today the People’s Daily’s twitter page PDChina tweeted: PDChina “32-year-old...

It was announced on cruise related websites that Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas was christened in China over this past weekend. The new 4,650 passenger and 1,500 crew member cruise ship arrived in Tianjin, China a few days ago. The christening was presided over by the first Chinese godmother, Fan Bingbing, who is a Chinese actress, television...

Every day it seems that there is an article about another cruise line expanding into China. The Wall Street Journal just reported that cruise lines are posting some of the strongest earnings in history with profits this year for Carnival more than quadrupling. Earnings at Norwegian grew 26% and Royal Caribbean earnings rose 20%. Much of...

Around 400 Chinese passengers refused to disembark the Henna cruise ship, China’s first domestically operated luxury liner, for nearly eight hours this week after a cruise to Japan was delayed by fog, according to a newspaper report.  The newspaper says that the Chinese tourists refused to leave the cruise ship from 8 AM until 5 PM...

CNBC’s high-energy Simon Hobbs (my favorite) interviews Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fain about the Quantum of the Seas which is being called the world’s first “smart ship.”  Mr. Hobbs interviewed me last year about Carnival’s troubles following the ill-fated “poop cruise.”  I found him to be fast-paced and quick-witted. In the video, Mr. Hobbs asks the Royal...

The China Post reports that a female passenger disappeared from a cruise ship, during a cruise to Japan, which returned to Taiwan yesterday.  The woman, whose last name is Hsieh, age 53, was aboard the Costa Victoria. She was supposed to leave the ship in Keelung Harbor, but did not. The Coast Guard said that her...

A news station in Bradenton Florida is reporting on an interesting story of a Princess Cruises customer, Mr. Welt, who booked a 12-day cruise called the “China and Japan Explorer.”  The cruise ship was scheduled to sail from Shanghai with three stops in Japan. But then the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan.  Mr. Welt was initially undeterred, but he became greatly concerned as the...

As year 2010 comes to a close, it’s time to look back at some of the highlights of Cruise Law News (CLN).   CLN reached the top 10 most popular law blogs, placing us above such heavyweight blogs as the China Law Blog, Simple Justice, Jonathan Turley and Overlawyered.      CLN also became a “top cruise vacation influencer,” which consists of cruise...

The fun thing about writing your own blog, or running your own law firm, or having your own donut shop for that matter, is that it provides you with an opportunity to be competitive with other blogs, law firms and donut shops.   One of my goals this year was for Cruise Law News (CLN) to...