San Diego has opened a new cruise ship terminal as leisure cruising in the United States continues to go from strength-to-strength.

The Holland America Rotterdam was the first vessel to dock at the Port Pavilion, arriving late on Wednesday, capping a 30-day cruise to the French Polynesia and Hawaiian islands.

Continued economy uncertainty had forced the San Diego Unified Port District to initially scale back from more ambitious expansion plans.

However, the $28 million terminal does address complaints the adjacent main terminal was outdated.

The 52,000-square-foot, steel and glass building will accommodate overflow crowds from the adjacent terminal on San Diego Bay.

The port authority also plans to lease the space for weddings and other events.

Carnival Cruise

Also in the cruise sector, Carnival Corporation has posted record breaking earnings, making it the world’s most profitable leisure travel company for 2010.

The US-based cruise company has reported net profits of US$1.98 billion for the full-year ending November 30th 2010, a rise of 10.5 per cent compared to last year.

The company’s revenues rose 7.5 per cent year-on-year to US$14.5 billion, US$11.1 billion of which was generated through passenger ticket sales.

The Miami-based company, which operates Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Carnival Cruise Lines, saw its revenue climbed seven percent to US$3.5 billion.

Releasing the results, Carnival chairman said 2010 had been an “encouraging year”.

World Mobi

Also in the United States today, World Mobi is celebrating the success of its new city guide to San Diego. 

World Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the World Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, London.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

San Diego.Mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

World.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.