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For details on the Amsterdam CLICK
HERE |
Great Cruise Opportunity!
Next Summer Holland America's Amsterdam will do a series
of 14 night "Alaskan Adventurer" cruises from Seattle,
sailing every other Monday.
An unusual twist is that the ship will actually port in Anchorage
from 7AM - 11PM, and offer shore excursions as far north as
Talkeetna. (most ships are too large to port in Anchorage)
Rates start at $1899pp* inside and $1999pp* oceanview, with
onboard credits for many sailings. For sailing dates and
itinerary details CLICK
HERE.
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Experts
scale back hurricane forecast
The Atlantic hurricane season has gotten off to
such a slow start that scientists at Colorado State University, the
nation's premier hurricane forecasting team, revised their forecast
Tuesday, bringing the number of predicted hurricanes down to four.
The team now expects that 10 named tropical
storms will form in the Atlantic basin (which also includes the
Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico), with four predicted to become
hurricanes and two expected to develop into major hurricanes, with
sustained winds of 111 mph or greater.
Norwegian
Cruise Line lets passengers pre-pay service charges
Add Norwegian Cruise Line to the list of cruise
companies letting passengers pre-pay gratuities.
The mass-market line quietly rolled out a new
program last week that lets passengers pay its $12 per person, per
day "service charge" before sailing in lieu of at the end
of a cruise.
Several other lines including Carnival currently
offer such an option -- popular with cruisers who like to pay
everything in advance and avoid a big bill at the end of their vacation.
Norwegian Cruise Line raised its daily service
charge to $12 in January, and it now has the highest levy of any big
ship line. Carnival adds a $10 per person per day gratuity to
passenger bills. Princess adds a $10.50 service charge ($11 for
passengers in suites and mini-suites). Holland America adds $11;
Celebrity, $11.50 ($12-$15 for passengers in premium cabins and suites).
Royal Caribbean doesn't automatically add
gratuities to customer bills but instead suggests amounts for
passengers to give to their room stewards and dining room waiters at
the end of a cruise.
Can't
find a deck chair? Celebrity Cruises' new 'chair concierge' will help
One of the few complaints that passengers had
about Celebrity Cruises' last new ship, Celebrity Solstice, was that
there weren't quite enough deck chairs to go around -- at least on
those sunny sea days when everyone, it seems, wants to be out by the pool.
And, indeed, the ship and its new sister,
Celebrity Equinox, have a bit less deck chair space per passenger
than is standard, due in part to the much-ballyhooed, half-acre
"lawn clubs" with live grass atop both vessels.
But part of the problem, Celebrity executive Lisa
Lutoff-Perlo tells USA TODAY, was that passengers often were unaware
of pockets of open chairs around the ship.
The line's solution, to be announced in coming
days: New "chair concierges" who will help passengers
arriving at Solstice and Equinox pool decks find a spot.
Lutoff-Perlo said the new chair concierges (if
that, indeed, is what they'll be called; executives also have been
throwing around the term "pool concierges" internally) will
keep tabs on where chairs are open so they quickly can lead
passengers to the right place.
Lutoff-Perlo, who oversees Celebrity hotel
operations fleetwide, says the line also is getting more aggressive
about stopping passengers from "saving" unoccupied chairs
for long periods.
Lutoff-Perlo says the chair shortage issue only
has come up on Solstice on the sunniest sea days in certain
warm-weather destinations where a large percentage of passengers want
to be on deck at once, and the level of complaints hasn't been all
that great.
Still, the issue is big enough that the line also
has made a design change to Celebrity Equinox -- widening and
lengthening the Solstice Deck at the front of the ship to allow for
100 extra deck chairs.
At a press conference on board the ship,
Celebrity president and CEO Dan Hanrahan also noted the line has
tweaked its Lawn Club areas to encourage more passengers to relax
there on sea days instead of in the deck chairs around the pool.
UPDATE: Celebrity spokeswoman Elizabeth Jakeway
says the line has decided upon "pool butlers" as the
official name of the new chair concierges. Jakeway says the
yet-to-be-officially announced program is debuting on the Celebrity
Equinox this summer followed by the Celebrity Solstice this fall, but
it eventually will roll out across the fleet.
Orderbook:
38 New Ships for 2009 - 2012
There are 38 cruise ships on order and under
construction (including one option) for deliveries in 2009 through
2012. With a building value of more than $20 billion, the ships
will bring 85,480 new beds into the market for an estimated
additional annual passenger capacity of about 4.2 million passengers
by 2012. At press time, there were no ship orders for deliveries
beyond 2012.
Of the 38 ships, 21 are destined for the North
American market, with an estimated annual passenger capacity of 2.3
million, which will be added over the next four years.
According to the Cruise Lines International Association, the North
American-based fleet carried an estimated 10.2 million Americans and
3.05 million passengers sourced internationally in 2008.
Seventeen ships are destined for European
markets: AIDA for the German market; Cunard and P&O for the UK
market; and Costa and MSC for pan-European markets, as they source
passengers in Italy, France, Spain and Germany predominantly, but
also in other European countries, as well as in North and South
America and Asia. Ponant Cruises sources in France, but also in
international markets, and plans to charter its new vessels to a
North American tour operator.
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Norwegian
Cruise Line has added a new member to its
fleet, the 153,000-ton, 4,200-passenger Norwegian Epic, which is
scheduled to set sail in the summer of 2010. Known for its
“freestyle cruising” concept—allowing guests to skip
the scheduled meals and activities seen on traditional cruise
lines—NCL ships provide passengers with an array of specialty
restaurants and entertainment options where they are free to “do whatever.” |
The Norwegian Epic will offer
even more options, featuring everything from 14 specialty restaurants
to a number of entertainment options in specially designed venues,
some offered for the first time ever at sea, with choices to appeal
to a broad audience.
The Epic features a total of
20 dining venues (including two main dining rooms), as well as 18
bars and lounges. There’s an upscale steakhouse featuring steaks
and chops, as well as a traditional Argentinean-inspired
churrascaria. There’s also a French restaurant, as well as
Italian, Chinese and sushi. After dinner, guests can also check out
the cigar room or the wine and champagne tasting room.
The ship boasts a variety of
nightlife options with the first Ice Bar at sea and Spice H20 with
live DJ entertainment day and night; an expansive Aqua Park with the
only tube slide and largest bowl slide at sea—The Epic Plunge; a
33-ft.-high extreme rock climbing wall and the first ever rappelling
wall at sea; two bowling venues; a mixed-use sports deck with the
ability for guests to engage in eight different athletic activities;
as well as three separate kids’ and teen activity areas.
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Yet Another
New Cruise Line
Gerry Herrod (Orient Lines), has a new cruise line to be called
Voyages to Antiquity. The new line will offer 14-night destination
focused voyages. The line is still in its infancy stage as offices in
the US and UK have yet to open and press/marketing material has yet
to be circulated. What is known is that it will cater to luxury yet
casual, travel. Rumors are that shore excursions AND airfare are to
be included. |
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The chosen ship is the Aegean Odessy (EX. Aegean
I). She will be completely refurbished with supposed upgrades to all
public rooms and an additional restaurant. They plan on enlarging
some of the cabins and adding 42 balcony cabins, reducing total
occupancy from 500 to 382. The atmosphere onboard will be casual yet
refined with open seating in the main dining room. Herrod plans on
keeping the lounges but the ship will have no casino or disco. Guest
lectures will be plentiful onboard. The first voyage will
commence in May 2010 and cruise the Greek Isles. This, and the other
voyages, go on sale next month.
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