Nov 18, 2009 by Amber Nolan - 1 comment
Amber Nolan is on deck with the latest cruise deals, industry news, ship reviews, and advice on finding the perfect voyage to suit your personality.
Despite romantic sentiment, major motion pictures, and irretrievably tight pants, pirates are still getting a bad rap.
Luxury cruise line, The Yachts of Seabourn has canceled a five-month series of cruises in the Indian Ocean and Africa due to increasing incidents of piracy. The 208-passenger Seabourn Legend would have delivered guests to Kenya and the islands of Seychelles, Madagascar, and Zanzibar on a series of 15 sailings in 2010 and 2011.
Despite these cancellations, the Seabourn Spirit is still set to depart from the Mediterranean in November 2010 and will sail through the Gulf of Aden to Dubai and Oman. Controlled zones – such as the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Aden – have driven pirates south and east to the Indian Ocean. According to Seabourn spokesman, Bruce Good, the risk of danger is much less in the Gulf of Aden than it has been in previous months.
Seabourn Cruises will not cancel the Legend’s 2010-2011 season altogether and will instead station the ship in the safer shores of the Caribbean. Guests are discouraged from bringing any pirate paraphernalia due to poor taste.
Italian-based Costa Cruises, operator of Europe’s largest cruise fleet (and a subsidiary of the Carnival Corporation since 2000), has just wrapped up its very first stint sailing the New England / Canada circuit. The inaugural fall 2009 cruises between New York City and Quebec onboard Costa Atlantica (pictured here on NYC’s Hudson River yesterday), fell surprisingly under the radar of American travelers, with an estimated three quarters of the ship’s clientele touting European passports. Still, in-the-know American cruisers were privy to an exceptional chance to mingle with European travelers in a delightful Italian-inspired atmosphere, right here stateside. While the last ship has sailed on the New England/Canada season, the Costa Atlantic has one more stateside sailing left before moving onto her Caribbean-cruise-season perch in Fort Lauderdale – at bargain rates to boot. Snag a cabin on the 13-night October 25 repositioning sailing from Quebec to Fort Lauderdale (with stops in Boston, NYC, Bermuda, and more) for as little as $449, or just $35/night! Read the rest of this post »
Residents of the southeastern United States, rejoice! Beginning next spring, Carnival Cruise Lines, the world’s largest cruise operator, will introduce the first year-round Bahamas and Florida itinerary from charming Charleston, S.C. The 2,056-passenger Carnival Fantasy will be taking up residence in this historic city, with her inaugural voyage set for May 18, 2010. Thereafter, Carnival Cruise Lines will operate five-, six-, and seven-day cruises with a variety of departure days to the Bahamas and Florida. Among the ports of call listed on the Fantasy’s itineraries are Nassau, Freeport, Grand Turk, in the Bahamas as well as Key West, Florida, and Carnival’s private Bahamian island of Half Moon Cay – all of which offer superb snorkeling and other water-oriented activities for passengers to enjoy.
Plans to expand the cruise terminal in the port of New Orleans are moving full speed ahead. The $9 million project − of which $8.1 million will be funded by the state of Louisiana − will combine the two smaller terminals on Julia Street in an effort to accommodate the industry’s largest vessels. The undertaking was given the go-ahead at a crucial time because Carnival Cruise Lines plans to replace the 2,056-passenger Fantasy with the larger 2,758-passenger Triumph in November.
Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas has sailed into troubled waters in the Mediterranean last Friday, when a number of crew members were showing flu-like symptoms. Reports quickly surfaced that as many as 60 of the ship’s crew had taken ill with swine flu, however spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez reported that the staff tested negative for influenza A, which includes the H1N1 virus.
Amidst the five-day cruise to Cabo San Lucas on the 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation, sombreros were stashed and the glow of relaxation quickly turned grey when worry-free waters were intercepted by FBI agents who were notified about a suspicious death onboard the “Fun Ship.”
Robert McGill was celebrating his 55th birthday when on July 14, he allegedly engaged in a domestic dispute in the confines of his cabin resulting in the death of his wife and high school sweetheart, Shirley McGill, also 55. Although McGill was not in the cabin when his wife’s body was found, he was taken into custody later that evening after a fellow passenger alerted the ship’s security of their suspicions.
Cruises are often associated with endless buffets and a party-like atmosphere, but recent events have cast a somber shadow over these fun-filled voyages. In the past five years, the FBI has opened 184 criminal cases aboard cruise ships, mainly involving physical and sexual assault. This has led to the introduction of the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2009. The bill, which was introduced earlier this year is being spearheaded by Sen. John Kerry (D-Ma.) and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Ca.), and aims to increase accountability of cruise lines in reporting these crimes and to boost overall safety onboard.
Yesterday, the luxury cruise line Peter Deilmann made a surprising announcement that it will be discontinuing its river cruises in 2010, as reported by Travel Weekly and others. The German cruise line has been offering four and five star niche cruises for nearly 25 years now, and has collected an impressive list of awards.
The company cited economic conditions, fluctuating exchange rates, and a drop in passenger numbers as reasons for the decision, and all eight of the river ships will be sold after the summer sailing season has ended. Although this is the end of its river cruise program, it plans on continuing ocean cruising with luxury liner, the ms Deutschland.
It is disappointing to see another casualty of the difficult times, especially one that was so well revered in the cruise industry.
These days, you just can’t lie like you used to. The words you speak may be “I was on a business trip,” but your Twitter page, Facebook status, and out of office message indicate otherwise. If you think you’ve got what it takes, there is one place where liars are welcome, and the better the bluff, the richer you become. All you need is a bit of luck, and a ticket on a Carnival cruise.
Cruisers looking to hit the high seas with their ship’s hull pointed south of the border can officially dust off those sombreros. Thanks to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) downgrade from a “Travel Alert” to a “Travel Health Precaution” for Mexico, concerning the swine flu (or the H1N1 strain), Carnival and Royal Caribbean (in partnership with Celebrity) cruise lines have just announced that they’re soon to resume their Mexican itineraries. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity sailings to Mexico are now slated to start up again on May 24, while Carnival will head back to the region in mid-June.
While flu cases in Mexico have been, for the most part, reported in areas of inland Mexico (especially Mexico City), far away from the popular ports of calls, most mainstream cruise lines cancelled or modified at least one of their Mexican-inclusive itineraries in response to the outbreak. Holland America and Disney have since resumed their regular itineraries as of early May, though Princess will hold off until the summer season to dive back into its turf there. Norwegian has no scheduled itineraries in the region until September.
Each cruise line is taking steps to assure guests that precautions against swine flu are being taken, including screening passengers for flu-like symptoms and carrying anti-viral medications on board.
If you’d like to be your own swine flu sleuth, visit the CDC’s H1N1 section of their website for precaution updates, and the best personal preventative measures you can take.
