Time 2 Cruise

Princes Cruise Line is offering multiple chances to win a cruise. Each week until the week ending November 4 th , they will have a different cruise up for grabs. You can enter once a day for the cruise during the week. Three weeks have already passed on this, but there are six cruises still available to enter for. The 12 day Mediterranean cruise ends today. As with all sweepstakes, be sure to read the entry rules that apply (such as: Airfare is not included). Here is what remains: Week ending Sep 30: 12-day Europe/Grand Mediterranean Week ending Oct 07: 7-day Mexican Riviera Week ending Oct 14: 14-day Hawaiian Islands Week ending Oct 21: 10-day Panama Canal Week ending Oct 28: 12-day South America/Cape Horn & Strait of Magellan Week ending Nov 04: 12-day Australia & New Zealand Good luck to anyone that enters.

There has been plenty of news reports recently about the safety of a cruise vacation, with congress and even the FBI getting involved in the safety issue. A quote from Terry Dale, president of CLIA, as posted earlier today in the Sun Sentinel stated "One incident is one too many, and the industry is looking at enhancing guest care programs as well as safety and security programs." This should be true for any industry. What makes one incident stand out with cruising is that one incident is not compared to the millions of passengers that take a cruise every year, but to the 3000 passengers on the ship. I am not trying to downplay anything, but based on numbers, the number of people that cruise yearly equal to the number of people in a major U.S. city. Just food for thought when comparing the number of "incidents".

An article in the New York Times , tells of the exciting party cruises that have been happening in NYC. Unfortunately we did not know of these when we were there a few weeks ago. Reading the article, the parties can get pretty animated, with some even having "mosh pits". For those not familiar with the term, ask an 18 year old and then cringe. For those interested, The article also has a few links of companies that operate the cruises on the page.

As reported in the LA Times , Norwegian Cruise Line is touting the Norwegian Gem as the latest "It Girl". The website and blog that Norwegian has set up is set up to imitate popular social sites such as Myspace and the new Yahoo Mash sets up the Gem like a singles ad. You can sign up on the site to be a Friend and someone will be selected to be BFF with the chance to win a $50 gift certificate from American Express. With blogging becoming a popular way of getting the attention of guests and future guests, the Gem is the first ship to have a blog written in the first person about the ship. The site touts a fun bowling game that you can play. Why a bowling game? Because guest on the Gem will have the opportunity to bowl for real in the on board bowling alley. Give it a try and you can even enter your score in a contest to win a Nintendo Wii game system.

SeaTrade is an online magazine dedicated to the cruising and other ship industries. This year they have honoured (spelled the way John Spells it) John Heald , Cruise Director of the Carnival Freedom as the Seagoing Employee of the year. John has become a celebrity among bloggers since the release of his blog in March which is published live from the Carnival Freedom. He should surpass 1 million visitors before the year is out. The award goes to a shipboard employee that has made a significant contribution to the cruise industry. With his blog John has done that and then some. Recently there have been some imitators on other cruise lines that have not gotten the kick start that John did. But you know what they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I have been following John's blog for months now and recommend it to anyone who is a fan of not just Carnival, but cruising in general. You can find out more about John and this achievement on CNNMoney .

A lot of long time cruisers believe so. People who have been cruising for 20 or more years are the ones I am talking about. They have seen the gradual change of the cruise industry into what it is today. Not only has the size of the ships changed, but so has the clientel that the "mainstream" cruise lines go after. Cruising was once a luxury, experienced by the few and dreamed about by many. Today, its a good bet that every american knows someone who has been on a cruise in the last 3 years, and probably have been on more than one. Do the cruises of that we all seen on the big screen exist anymore? Yes they do, but you won't find that kind of cruise on the Carnivals, Royal Caribbeans, or even the love boat. But the majority of passengers on these cruise lines are not looking for the Cunard experience, otherwise thats where they would be. Cunard, Seabourn, and other luxury lines still cater to the traditions of past cruise travel, but like anything, you get what you pay fo...

An article on PNN Online has very insightful information on travel and vacation trends mainly of the baby boomer generation. The interesting findings, show that at least 33% use say they use their vacation time to just eat, drink and relax. Sounds like a good portion of what many people do on a cruise to me. It also states that 72% return to familiar places. There are a few ports of call that we have visited many times over as well. Its an interesting article. While I think much of it is stating the obvious, it still shows that more and more people regardless of age are not spending their vacation time at home.

If anything, this is one of the best examples on why one should invest in travel insurance. A 76 year old man had to be air lifted off a cruise ship and taken to a hospital in St. Johns New Brunswick. You can read a little bit about it at the Canadian Press .

This is the second most asked question by people looking to book (usually their second) cruise. The first thing I would like to say is that you do so at your own risk. The second thing I would like to say is that with the cost on board, I understand. Here are some tips, gathered from different sources, on the the best things you can do to be successful . Pack it in your CHECKED luggage. Carry on luggage is scrutinized much more. Wrap in bubble wrap, and then put in sealed bags. We all know how our luggage is handled when not in our possession. Smaller bottles travel and hide better. Cordials and 5 ths for example. Don't try to take more than you need. To much can lead to being found easier. Spread the wealth. If you have more than one checked bag, or traveling in a group, spread out the bottles so there is a better chance of it all not being found and confiscated. Every cruise line handles this differently, but if you are caught, be prepared to either be asked to dispose of (take ...

Looking for something different? How about a cruise from Chicago Illinois to Toronto Canada. Great Lakes Cruise Company offers cruises on the 300 foot cruise ship C. Columbus, which has only been in service since 1997, and currently making 11 day cruises between Chicago and Toronto, going though the Weyland Cannal , and making port stops in Windsor/Detroit, Perry Sound, Milwaukee WI, and Thunderbay among others. The trip will take you on each of the Great Lakes. But there is a catch. 2007 is the last of the 9 year run in the Great Lakes for the Columbus. There are only a couple of cruises left in the months of September and October before an an 18 day cruise from Toronto to Miami Florida that travels up the St. Lawrence River. After that, this small cruise ship will be sailing all over the world, with no mention of returning to the Great Lakes any time soon. Bad timing for me to find out about this so late.

One of the nice things about this blog, is that I can see what people have searched for to find it. The most frequently asked question was about ship size. Cruise ship size, in my experience has been broken down in one of four ways. Tonnage, length (and width), number of passengers and crew, and space ratio. But the word average is subjective, and every year the average goes up with the newer and bigger ships being launched. Tonnage is the the measurement in volume a ship can carry. Royal Caribbean has the largest cruise ships in terms of tonnage, with the Freedom Class coming in at 160,000 tons, and a new ship being built, currently unnamed , that when launched will be over 220,000 tons. There are few cargo ships that are larger. Length and width of a ship is a way of measuring size that comes into play when the cruise lines are figuring out where the ship can go. Many docks are not big enough to hold some of the larger ships and most of the newer cruise ships cannot pass through the ...

Passengers booked on Carnival for cruises between the dates of October 13 th through the 30 th should be ready to bring their costumes. Sponsored by CocaCola and M&M's, this years Halloween cruises include scary movies, giveaways , and the opportunity to trick or treat on board. Costumed passengers will also have the chance to get a picture taken with Fun Ship Freddy, the cruise lines mascot and win prizes. Trick or treating through the public areas on the ships will be open to kid up to 14 years of age. Halloween has recently become a new tradition for Carnival and not 5 years ago, they did not have any of these options on board the ship we were on.

Well, not jobs on the cruise. The Show Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel will have an episode tonight (September 18 th 2007) at 9PM Eastern, with the cast and crew taking it easy on a Royal Caribbean Cruise. The episode is going to be a recap of previous shows with the members of the show talking about their favorite episodes.

The opening of the new cruise terminal will be marked by a 40 th birthday visit from the QE 2 on September 21st. Being a northern European port, with 20+ confirmed ship visits over the next year and a half, Liverpool is adding another badly needed stop for northern European cruises. We look forward to seeing what other ships will be visiting the port in the coming future.

I found this page doing a search for another blog, but think it is well worth sharing here. Currell Grapics offers a hand full of free paper models for you to cutout and build for yourself. On the page is a wonderful model of the Titanic. The site recommends you have some experience before attempting this model and offers a few other non ship related models that you may want to start with first. If you chose to attempt building your own Titanic, please come back an leave a comment on how it went.

For a lot of us, the nearest home port not a short distance away. This mean either a long drive (and what usually seems like a longer drive back home) or flying to port. With the cost of air fair being a large piece of the vacation budget, it can be depressing. Recently there has been a couple of upstarts that are just now starting to hit the radar when it comes to competing with the big boys. SkyBus for instance would be a great place to look for anyone near Columbus (their hub) or Kansas City looking for flights to many major cities near the ports (San Deigo , LA, Ft. Lauder dale etc...). The web page has competitive rates, links for hotel, cruises, and car rental, and the first 10 seats sold on every flight are sold at $10 (not including the taxes and fees). Allegiant Air is another small company. While they have more destinations, the destinations differ based on where you are flying from. Someone flying from Chicago will have a few Florida destinations to choose from, while...

According to DeboHobo .com the U.S Passport process may be returning to the standard processing time. I have to agree with DeboHobo state that if your passport is expiring soon or if you are in need of your first passport, I would not wait. Remember this is the government that we are taking about. Having a planned vacation put on hold because of something as simple as a passport would be a shame.

On our last cruise, there were a handful of Cruise Critic members that wanted to get together and meet. So, two times were set up, one on on embarkation day at one of the bars just after muster drill and another on the next day at 10:30 at the library. The reason for two times and locations was because many thought they would not be able to make the first due to dining arrangements, which made sense. Some jokes were made, like wearing Groucho glasses so we would know who everyone was. Keep in mind, this was not a group that booked together, just a few members of a site that wanted to meet in person. We were among the early dining group that could not make the first get together. And well, the second get together happened to be at a bad time for us as well after seeing the "capers". I managed to show up a few minutes early and meet a couple of members of the site before being pulled away by my group to get to BINGO of all things. Well, I guess the group meet on day tw...

I was trying to research all the changes in the next two years in cruise ship itineraries for Carnival Cruise Line and got myself all turned around before giving up and going on a cruise. Well Carnival did my work for me and posted their fleet information while I was on vacation. Thank you Carnival. The current list has the Celebration leaving the fleet in April of 08, but does not have any information on the future of the Holiday (rumors abound). Also missing from the list is information on the Pride moving to San Diego in 2009, what the Spirit will do in the Winter/Spring when that happens, and that the Splendor will be moving to Long Beach in 2009 to replace the Pride when it moves to San Diego . Another question is in what will Carnival be doing in New York in the future being the Victory is moving to Year Round San Juan when the Destiny moves to year round cruises from Miami in fall of 2008.

As mentioned in a previous post, while in NYC we used the NYC City Pass . What the City Pass does is give you some of the best tours and exhibits in one booklet. The New York pass included the Circle-Line Harbor cruise (mentioned in the previous post), Empire State Building, the MET, Guggenheim, Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of Natural History. Our passes were good for 9 days and cost $65 each. This was great for us because we spent 2 days in New York before taking our 5 day cruise, and then another full day in New York. One feature of the pass that worked out well for us was that we got to skip the line to purchase tickets at the Empire State Building, and includes the audio tour option which is a added fee for others. The audio tour was well worth it, narrated by George Carlin, you get the history of multiple sites you see from specific spots on the observation deck of the building. We tried doing the tour around 9PM on a Saturday and the line just to get in the buildi...

According to Forbes.com Carnival Cruise Lines plans on skipping Costa Maya, also known as Majahual , through 2008 because of damage done by hurricane Dean. Royal Caribbean will be skipping the port until at least April of 2008 according to the article. Capable of handling up to three ships at a time, this will displace quite a few cruises over the the next year. This should be of concern for anyone who has booked a cruise and planed any tours/excursions that they booked themselves. Keep in mind that itineraries can change again, so I would keep an eye on ports of call if booked especially if the booking is six months or more out.

Anyone visiting New York for the first time, may want to give the Circle-Line tour a chance. Circle-Line is at Pier 83 (on 42 street just a few blocks south of the cruise terminals). They offer 75 minute, 2 hour, 3 hour, and a tour called The Beast. We did the 2 hour tour as part of the NYC CityPass package. The tour, fully narrated, went south on the Hudson River, passed the Statue of Liberty, and up the East River before returning. Because the tour is a semi-circle, either side of the boat is a good seat because what you see on the port side in one direction will be on the starboard side on the return trip. This picture was taken with my point and click 5 mega pixel camera with only 3x zoom and decreased in size to fit on this page.

Here is a list of a few things that people generally ask about when it comes to pricing as of our cruise on the Carnival Victory September 3rd thru the 8th. Internet time - 75 cents a minute base rate. 60 minute block for 40 cents a minute plus a $3.95 fee first time you use the internet. Adult Soda Card - $5.50 per day times the number of days (you can buy the card in the middle of a cruise) plus 15% gratuitity (side note, wait until after the ship sails to buy because they will charge the sales tax of the local port when docked) Soda (without a card) - 1.75 per can plus 15% tip. Domestic beer - $4.75 plus 15% tip for $5.46 for 16 ounce bottle. Beer by the bucket - $17.50 plus the 15% gratuity for 4 bottles.

We are officially back from our 5 day Eastern Canadian cruise on the Carnival Victory. In all the vacation was 8 full days with bookend weekends spent in New York City, but that will have to be another post (or three). We arrived at the pier on Monday Sept. 3rd by taxi at around 11:30 AM. We were on the ship in less than an hour. The Carnival Victory is 7 years old, and well maintained. Many passengers had a little trouble navigating the ship because of the Atlantic dinning room which is mid ship on both decks 3 and 4 but by the end of the cruise, most people had no trouble finding their way around. Our cabin was a deck 7 (Empress) far aft Balcony. With the size of the ship and the cooperation of the sea, it was the smoothest it could have been. This cruise seemed to have an older crowed than we are used to seeing. I asked if it was normal, and more than one crew member stated that it was not the norm. It may have something to do with the first week of September being when sc...

If you haven't seen this video on Youtube , it is well worth the look for any Carnival Cruise line fan. This 8 foot functional replica of the Carnival Ecstasy was built from scratch by a guy in Scottsdale Arizona. He has his own blog at greenseaships.blogspot.com that has information and awesome pictures of the Ecstasy, Queen Mary, QM2 and other ships that he has created RC Models of. Looking at the banner at the top of the page, see if you have a guess as to what his Hull #37 is going to be. I have my guess, but I am keeping it to myself for now.