If there was one resounding message amongst cruise line executives at Cruise Shipping Miami’s State of the Industry session it was – the customers are back! The tone was a far cry from last year’s convention where the weakened economy overshadowed each presentation.

Kevin Sheehan, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line joked that everyone should have taken his advice last year to buy Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean stock, shares in these companies have risen by almost 100 and 300 percent, respectively. Continuing on the stock theme Sheehan noted that the stock market is usually a leading indicator as to where an industry is headed. “We should all feel a sense of cautious optimism that the industry is being looked upon so favorably,” said Sheehan.

Now that the industry is rebounding the other message is prices are going up. “Most lines lost 10 to 20 percent off their ticket price in 2009”, said Gerry Cahill, president and ceo of Carnival Cruise Lines. He added, “We’re all pushing to rebuild that price.”

“It will take time for us to get to the pricing that the industry deserves,” said Dan Hanrahan, president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises. Hanrahan said he expects the industry yields to increase by 3 percent to 4 percent this year. Still, he doesn’t think the cruise industry got the yields it deserved back in 2006 when the economy was stable.

Cruise executives touted the value of a cruise vacation as key to its continued growth. “A study found a family on a five-night cruise could save 15 percent compared with going to Las Vegas or Orlando,” said Norwegian’s Sheehan.

The executives also talked about the growth of worldwide fleet deployment and new destinations. There were also harsh words for Alaska governor (Sean Parnell) who was seated in the audience. Holland America Line president and ceo Stein Kruse stated that Alaska’s 30 year record of cruise passenger growth ended in 2009 and capacity is down 17 percent this year – the only place in the world where there is a decline in cruise tourism.

“Alaska’s regulatory environment is more burdensome and costly than anywhere else in the world,” Kruse said. He went on to state that since the 2006 citizens’ ballot initiative, Alaska has collected $200 million in taxes that they don’t know where to spend it on.

Kruse added that the cruise industry supports reasonable environmental but is concerned with “overzealous regulations” when the technology does not exist to meet those regulations. “We can redeploy to other destinations if we’re not able to comply with reasonable operating requirements,” he added.

CNN and USA TODAY are reporting that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued a “no sail” warning for the Celebrity Mercury sailing out of Charleston, South Carolina. CNN quoted a CDC official stating the agency has yet to determine why earlier containment procedures have failed. CNN says CDC officials are currently onboard the Mercury conducting an investigating, and the agency has notified Celebrity of the “no sail” recommendation.

Celebrity Cruises has been struggling to contain continued outbreaks of suspected norovirus on the Mercury since mid-February. Celebrity issued a statement Monday, stating that a scheduled stop in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, was being skipped so the ship could return to Charleston a day earlier. The cruise line has had outbreaks on two previous cruises on Febuary 15, when 22.48 percent of the passengers became ill, and February 26, when 10.4 percent of the passengers became afflicted. Celebrity said there was a decline in the spread of illness on the current sailing, but declined to give exact numbers.

The Charleston Post and Courier newspaper has reported the source of the outbreaks may be coming from land rather than the ship. The paper reported outbreaks at three nursing homes, one school and an event held in the city.

Stay tuned for more information on this breaking story.

It was only a matter of time – in-stateroom gaming. Pittsburgh-based Allin Corporation has unveiled “DigiCasino” at the annual Cruise Shipping Convention in Miami. Allin Corporation says the casino application works on Allin “DigiHD” interactive stateroom televisions, which are currently available on a number of cruise ships.

The application offers a number of games and has a “interactive cashier” enabling guests to purchase or redeem gaming credits . The company hopes to launch the application on various ships in late 2010.

Stay tuned for more breaking cruise news as ExpertCruiser will be reporting live from Cruise Shipping Miami this week.

Carnival Corporation and its affiliated cruise brands are donating at least $5 million toward relief efforts following the devastating earthquake in Haiti. The funds will be forwarded to several different international organizations coordinating relief efforts within the country.

“We are saddened by this tragedy, one of the worst natural disasters of our lifetime and we are deeply concerned for the people of Haiti and hope that this donation will help provide much-needed assistance,” said Micky Arison, chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by this catastrophe,” he added.

Carnival Corporation & plc’s donation has been earmarked for the following relief organizations: UNICEF, the University of Miami’s Project Medishare, American Red Cross, and Save the Children. The $5 million donation includes a large corporate contribution along with monies raised from a variety of fundraising efforts coordinated by Carnival Corporation & plc’s cruise brands, both in their offices in North America, Europe and Australia and throughout the fleet.

The company is also working with the Miami HEAT on a coordinated relief effort for collecting various emergency supplies that are being shipped and distributed to Haiti by the University of Miami’s Project Medishare.