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<DIV><FONT size=4>John</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>When cruise ship transatlantic crossings are on sale, they are
much lower than that. Problem is that they are almost always expressed as
“pp” for double occupancy. One has to double them to get the true cost if one is
traveling alone—or find a roommate. </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>The second problem is that they are one way cruises and to
match them with a one way transatlantic air fare produces a killer of a cost—not
really feasible for most folks.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>There are a few freighters on the transatlantic run that will
take singles but the price is, from my limited exploration of what was out there
a few months ago, higher than air fares especially if one has to fly one
way.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>The reason that foreign flag cruise ships visit one foreign
port on a cruise starting and ending in a US port is to comply with the cabotage
provisions of the Jones Act, which prohibits non-US flag carriers from engaging
in transport from one US port to another. In order not to disrupt
international relations, foreign flag carriers were permitted to originate or
terminate pax in the US—this exception was necessary to preclude other nations
from banning US flag ships. It dates back to the days when steamships were
the only means of intercontinental travel and is exploited today by the cruise
ship industry, a result of the law of unintended consequences setting in.
Even a cruise from a West Coast port to Alaska must include one (however brief)
stop in Canada to be legal—unless of course it originates or terminates in
Vancouver. The net result produces the consequence you describe, but it is
actually the Jones Act that the carriers are circumventing not the Federal
minimum wage law.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>Dwight</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=j_swindler@hotmail.com
href="mailto:j_swindler@hotmail.com">John Swindler</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, 15 May, 2014 08:09</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org
href="mailto:pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org">Western PA Trolley
discussion</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [PRCo] Sometimes we get it
right...</DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri"; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'><BR> <BR>New
passenger ships are built every year, and some appear on occasional
trans-Atlantic trips. Cunard's Queen Mary 2 offers sailings between
Southampton and New York at prices that sometime dip under $1,000 per
person. That's competitive with the airline rate.<BR> <BR>Cunard is
now owned by Carnival. And there is probably a sign posted at the ship
hiring office: "Americans not wanted". Fred's article says it
all: our government wants to dictate labor rates, but a multinational
company can look elsewhere. That's why cruise ships make sure they visit
at least one foreign port on a cruise - to avoid US minimum wage rates.
<BR> <BR>There's still steerage class on the trans-Atlantic route.
Today it's called Economy class on an airline.
<BR> <BR> <BR><BR> <BR>> From: fwschneider@comcast.net<BR>>
Date: Fri, 2 May 2014 17:36:54 -0400<BR>> To:
pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org<BR>> Subject: [PRCo] Sometimes we
get it right...<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> Sometimes, perhaps by accident or
inertia, we get it right. While other countries were mistakenly
building ships that would be empty only a dozen years later after Boeing
introduced the 707 jet, we claimed we had no money….<BR>> <BR>>
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GCsbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5121%2C3739461<BR>>
<BR>> Oh well. We still have the SS United States sitting in a
dock with dreamers thinking you can preserve a ship for tourist
visitors. <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
_______________________________________________<BR>> Pittsburgh-railways
mailing list<BR>> Pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org<BR>>
https://mailman.dementix.org/mailman/listinfo/pittsburgh-railways<BR>
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