Carnival, other cruise lines fleeing California

[Mark Maker]

Updated: Jan 14, 2011 12:05 PM
Relocation of Carnival Spirit to cost San Diego $54M in revenue

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Carnival Cruise Lines said Thursday it is pulling the last of its ships out of San Diego, and other cruise operators are departing Southern California because of economic woes and tourists' fears over traveling to Mexico.

The 2,500-passenger Carnival Spirit is moving to Australia by April 2012, the cruise line announced on its Web site, citing a "huge potential for growth" there while its San Diego business sags.

The Port of San Diego estimates the departure of the ship, which takes more than 60,000 passengers a year to destinations along the Mexican Riviera, will cost the local economy about $54 million in annual spending, the San Diego Union Tribune said.

To the north, Royal Caribbean's 3,100-passenger Mariner of the Seas is leaving on its final voyage from the Port of Los Angeles on Sunday and after a tour of South America. It will end up at its new home base of Galveston, Texas, the Los Angeles Times said. And the 2,348-passenger Norwegian Star will leave LA in May for Tampa, Fla.

The two boats carried nearly half of the business of the Port of Los Angeles in 2009.Text

http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=13845321

Another casualty of the drug violence in Mexico.

If everyone would just quit using drugs for a few months the cartels would be put out of business.

[EFerrari]

1. Another casualty of prohibition and NAFTA.

If everyone would quit supporting neo con/liberal bs for a few election cycles, the cartels would be out of business and people would go back to work.

[Riftaxe]

3. Or...perhaps a bit of extreme

and not quite as spectacular as blanket legalization, pot users could grow a conscience or grow their own.

[Fumesucker]

9. Perhaps our legislators and politicians could "grow a conscience"..

Since they are the ones who have created the disaster that is overwhelming Mexico.

The battle against the cartels could be turned around in a single afternoon with a few signatures and everyone knows it.

[EFerrari]

10. Pot smokers did not impose the maquiladora economy on Mexico. n/t

[DCKit]

4. +1 nt

[zen_bohemian]

2. I went to the Mexican Riviera a while back

on a cruise ship. It's a shame that things have become so bad in Mexico. Puerto Vallarta is beautiful. The L.A. Port Cities (San Pedro and Long Beach) are really going to suffer, they make alot of revenue from hotels and restaurants, cabs and car rental.

[damntexdem]

5. If we changed drug laws, things might improve; but the cartels will not be put out of business.

The 'War on Drugs' created them; but once created, they exist and have their own dynamics and interests. Were drug laws changed to take the super profits out of drugs, the cartels would find other terrible ways to make money -- as they already do through such things as kidnapping, shaking down those trying to immigrate to the U.S., and so on.

And 'just say no' is a long-standing failure, so there is no reason to suggest it as a cure now.

[Kelvin Mace]

6. If we simply legalized the damned things

the violence would stop AND we'd have a great revenue source for cash-strapped states.

[Cleita]

8. Exactly. n/t

[Cleita]

7. Or our Secretary of State can shake up the Mexican

government and make them take care of business. We give Mexico plenty of money. It's time for Mexico's ruling class to spend it on securing their nation instead of putting it away in offshore bank accounts. Also, legalizing drugs will bust the cartels down to nothing. I think Gov. Brown and the California Legislature should think about this and the tax revenue it would bring in that our state needs.

[Brother Buzz]

11. If these Mexican cartels had any real business accoutrement they would fill the void

and go into the cruise ship business for themselves.