Renaissance Cruise Line Halts Ships, Operations

Renaissance Cruises, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based line with eight ships in Europe and the South Pacific, abruptly ceased operations Tuesday, leaving an estimated 2,000 passengers in ports, mostly in the Mediterranean.

The company blamed its failure on a sudden drop in business after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and said it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy status, which allows for reorganization.

Renaissance President and Chief Executive Manfred Urpsrunger cited “the severe, unexpected drop in leisure travel following the terrorist attacks . . . and the immediate and adverse impact on the company’s late-stage recapitalization efforts.”

The company said it would make arrangements to get passengers home, but spokesman Brad Ball said he had no information on refunds.

The company’s eight ships at sea can berth about 4,300 passengers. Two additional ships were idle Tuesday. The company, which cruises the Mediterranean and French Polynesia, operates eight 684-passenger ships and two 114-passenger yachts.

Ball was unable to give specific figures on passengers affected, but estimated that the ships were 50% to 60% full. The line’s customers are primarily U.S. citizens.

Renaissance itineraries for Tuesday show that one ship was due to call at Alexandria, Egypt; one was due at Rhodes, Greece, two were scheduled to be at Bordeaux, France, and one was due to call at Livorno, Italy.

Renaissance, which changed top executives early in 2001, has carried a maverick reputation for several years. In the late 1990s it turned away from reliance on travel agents and attempted to market itself directly to travelers, then abandoned that strategy and tried to win back agent allegiance in the last year with offers of generous bonuses and boosted commissions.

The failure “is sad for the companies, and it’s especially sad for passengers who are going to be terribly hurt by this,” said Ada Brown, owner of Seaside Travel in Long Beach. Brown said she had four customers who were to have sailed from Barcelona, Spain, a week after the Sept. 11 attacks. The company was holding more than $12,000 in her clients’ money, Brown said, “and I just got my certificate entitling them to a future cruise.”

Ball said the company employed about 450 workers in Fort Lauderdale and about 3,000 crew at sea.

Renaissance asked travelers with upcoming bookings to contact their travel agents or call (800) 525-5350.

Also Tuesday, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., which sails 23 ships under the names Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, said it was opening a “comprehensive review of its cost structure” that “will result in some layoffs.” A Royal Caribbean spokeswoman said the company has about 25,000 employees.

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Times staff writer Jane Engle contributed to this report.