Octoberbride03
<font color=660000>I think Tweetie done gone Cucko
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2003
Not to put out too many people's excitement for 2010, but I find it far more likely that DCL's request is more about getting ready for when the two new ships come online than making plans for summer 2010.
This prospectus competition is a required first step if there is to be any possibility of taking a ship to Alaska before 2020, so DCL basically had no choice but to enter the competition. There are provisions for relenquishing unused slots, so it is possible (in fact it was asked in the Q&A of the prospectus) that an applicant may not plan to start offering cruises until 2012 so would turn in their 2010 and 2011 dates immediately.
BTW, there is a law about cruise ships sailing from a US port directly to another US port are required to have an all US crew, which is why so many Alaska cruises go out of or stop in Vancouver, BC (and the Hawaii cruises all stop at Ensenada, Mexico).
Is this something new? Because my parents took a Hawaiian cruise round about 4 yrs ago and didn't stop anywhere in Mexico. They sailed out of San Francisco and had all sea days until reaching Hawaii. And they had an international crew.