Once again San Diego bureaucrats in tandem with California States mindless legislators send jobs ‘ah packin’ as my grandfather used to say in reference to ‘leaving town’.
This week Carnival Cruise Lines announced that it is on the move, an exit move, on the way to Australia without a round-trip ticket. Carnival Spirit is sending its last San Diego based ship to Australia by 2012.
Next year the previously San Diego cruise vessel will be headquartered at the land-down-under. It will be Carnival’s goodbye to San Diego with no plan to return. Carnival’s Australia chief executive Ann Sherry confirmed this, stating, “The ship will add another dimension to Australian cruises.”
Carnival has big plans for big changes which begin with customizing the ship to fit its new market. Out is the Mexico friendly culture decor which comes in different children’s activities and entertainment styles. There will be “Aussie choices in brands of beer,” according to executive vice president of sales and guest services Lynn Torrent.
Carnival Spirit carries 2,124 passengers. The vessel is currently traveling between Vancouver and Seattle ports along with 3-5 day cruises to the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska and the Mexican Riviera. Beginning October of next year, Sydney based Spirit will be there full time when it is not busy with 8 to 12 day cruises around the Pacific island, plus some 13 day trips around New Zealand.
For San Diegians this is one more local job killer shipping-out of town, or any longer serving U.S. passengers. Last month “Norwegian Cruise Line” announced they are sending four of their cruise ships to Europe this coming year and in 2013. It’s Norwegian’s biggest deployment ever.
If that wasn’t enough loss, the Royal Caribbean Cruises just sent their “Mariner of the Seas” to Europe.
Less ships in North America will likely bring higher travel prices since cruise demand on these ships and others continues to grow.
On the upside of the scale, the land of leaf-chewing cute bears where cruise lines offer offer fun getaways, it is bound to reap excellent vacation prices for guests all over the globe.
As a longtime San Diego resident, one must wonder – for San Diego, where politicos here term this “America’s Finest City,” touting that “San Diego lives on tourism,” one has to wonder…, how’s that likely to work out next year with the loss of another 5,000 local jobs?