Norwegian Star, which will be berthed at a North Vancouver industrial dock across from Stanley Park next February. (Courtesy Norwegian Cruise Line)

VANCOUVER: An Edmonton company thinks it has the solution to Vancouver’s Olympic accommodation crunch.

Newwest Travel is selling rooms on the Norwegian Star, which will be berthed at a North Vancouver industrial dock across from Stanley Park next February.

A three-night stay for a couple ranges from US$2,836 to US$14,806 and includes meals, complimentary room service, airport transfers and shuttles to the SeaBus commuter ferry terminal.

The ship has 13 restaurants, a spa, fitness centre and showroom.

“We’re going to be the largest hotel in Vancouver, 1,119 rooms,” Newwest president Dennis Laliberte said on Saturday. “The big misconception right across this country is there’s no place to stay, it’s so embedded in the marketplace. It’s crazy.”

The Vancouver Olympic organizing committee, known as VANOC, has reserved 12,000 rooms for sponsors and Olympic executives. A recent Tourism Vancouver poll found just 550 downtown hotel rooms vacant during the Feb. 12-28, 2010 Games. Vancouver city council voted to licence residents to rent rooms, apartments and houses for less than 30 days during 2010’s first quarter.

Laliberte said it is costing between $10 million and $20 million to charter the vessel but he wouldn’t disclose the project’s financier. He said 10% to 20% of the Norwegian Star’s rooms have been reserved during the Games. Inbound and outbound Los Angeles cruises are also available.

Shipboard prices will be in U.S. currency, even though the Star will be tied-up in North Vancouver. The ship’s casino cannot be used without permission of the British Columbia government. “We’re going to push hard to get that thing open,” Laliberte said.

Norwegian Cruise Lines said it would reposition one of its three Vancouver to Alaska ships to Europe in 2010 after the Alaska government slapped a US$50 tax on each passenger. Carnival, Holland America, Princess and Royal Caribbean are making similar Vancouver service cuts next year, which means the city could be headed for a post-Olympic tourism slump.

Last month, the RCMP Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit announced a $76 million deal to charter Holland America Line’s MS Oosterdam and MS Statendam and the Carnival Elation. The RCMP sunk the previous $57 million deal with Cruise Connections Charter Management of North Carolina last November. Cruise Connections filed a breach of contract lawsuit in Washington, D.C.

In a separate lawsuit filed last June in North Carolina, Cruise Connections claims Laliberte committed fraud against the company president and two employees when their alleged partnership dissolved.

“I am defending it, I have not heard on that for a couple months,” Laliberte said. “Those people actually used to work for me and they kind of crossed the street after I paid their wages for about a year, and set up their own company and won (the RCMP) bid. It’ll be dealt with.”

Meanwhile, a company planning Games-time cruise ship accommodation on the North Vancouver and New Westminster waterfronts has hit a snag. Laliberte said he was told that tax issues have caused the DEAP Group to cancel its plans to charter four ships for spectator and workforce accommodation. DEAP Group principal Greg Peart declined comment on Saturday.

“We’re working feverishly,” Peart told 24 hours. “We’re building strategy right now. We’re not quite dead yet.”