Carnival Spirit Port of Registry

[Bella cruiser]

The FB world is abuzz with speculation and wild jumping to conclusions as to why Carnival have changed the port of registry for Carnival Spirit from Panama to Valetta, Malta.:confused:

 

The only reason I could think of as to why they would do this is most US based cruise ships are either registered in Panama or Bermuda rather than any of the other port of convenience countries as marriages performed on board are legally recognised in the US.

 

Obviously they don't need this anymore with her being based down here year round. Maybe there is some financial or other advantage for the change. Any ideas?

[Royalty X]

Not sure why. The three current P&O ships are registered in London but Pacific Sun was registered in Valetta, Malta as well...

[gek]

A few years ago Celebrity re-registered all its ships in Malta and stated that the marriage regulations were the reason. Maltese registered ships allow the captain to perform weddings at sea. This does not apply to Panama-flagged ships where the marriages must be performed in port. Cunard reflagged all their ships to Bermuda for the same reason.

 

Perhaps there is some advantage to Panama registration for ships that primarily cruise the Caribbean which is why other Carnival ships have not been reflagged.