Time 2 Cruise

Look for vacation travel to be up in 2008. It may be hard to believe, with the down economy, but people are going to be wanting to get away. The housing market being down could leave some people with funds they are not willing to sink into a new house that they are willing to put elsewhere such as a little get away. The cruise lines are ready and waiting. Holland America, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean all have new ships. Airlines are gearing up for a heavy year as well with flights from U.S. to over seas markets looking to be strong. Flights from the U.S. to China alone are expected to double over the next five years according to experts. Boeing, maker of the 787, has over 790 of the new planes on order already with that number expected to increase as well as the new Airbus 380. In all, there will be plenty of vacation options and ways to get there in 2008 and the expectations are high that the demand for it all will be there.

Weather has caused some holiday travel blues for many people over the last few days. United Airlines had to cancel almost ten percent of flights from Monday through earlier today due to bad storms in the Midwest and a shortage of pilots. Mechanical problems among other things caused Skybus, a newcomer to the industry, to cancel flights. Metro Detroit was inundated with fog that caused outbound delays, and Huston and Dallas had problems with rain. Delays were not just for the U.S. either. Fog also held up many flights in London England which affected travelers as far away as India. As the week moves on, travel is supposed to ease up which should hopefully give the airlines time to rebound.

We just got a new puppy this week and it brought up an age old question. How does one cope when on vacation away from their pets. For many (read that as my wife) its can be difficult. Unlike some land vacations, cruising does not allow you to just bring your pets with you. If you plan ahead, there are some pet spa's that will pamper your four legged loved one sometimes better than you may receive while on your vacation. But before putting your dog or cat in just any kennel, you really should do some research. Check the Better Business Bureau web page and even ask for references. The time when you are away can be a traumatizing experience for pets if not handled correctly. Taking care of what may seem like the small things can make your vacation just that much better knowing that you will come home to a pet just as happy to see you as you are to see them.

I was reading an article about some new short films that Delta Airlines created to show on flights. They show many of the ways passengers act on a plane that are annoying to other passengers. I guess the goal is to show people the error of their ways so they can see how it affects others. The problem is the little films never show how it is wrong. So instead they are more like little training videos for people who never thought to do these things themselves. Harriet Baskas' article over at MSNBC.com goes into detail on the videos and if you are like me will remind you why we hate to fly.

It's not everyday that a helicopter drops a basket on the back of a cruise ship, but for a teenage girl on vacation on the Dawn Princess, it saved her life. She was airlifted to the USS Ronald Regan where she had to have an appendectomy. If you have heard or read about this in the news, its a heart warming story but does not go into any detail about who pays for things like this. While I have no information on this case, its common for the family to get billed for the emergency evacuation along with the surgical bill. This is where trip insurance kicks in. Many people think that getting the extra insurance is only needed if they may have to cancel the trip or cut it short for some reason but many forget to think about medical emergencies and the prices they can carry when in a foreign country or in this case out to sea. The doctor's on board a cruise ship are not equipped to handle major situations, and even for the minor ones, even this has a price. Cruise lines contr...

It looks like Apollo Management is going to buy Regent Seven Seas with the purchase to take place some time in the first quarter of 2008. Apollo is already a 50% owner in Norwegian and has ownership of Oceania. This type of consolidation is not uncommon in the cruise industry. Carnival Corporation owns many of the the big name brands that most are familiar with in cruising , including but not limited to Holland America, Princess, and Cunard Line. Royal Caribbean also owns Celebrity and the new Azmara Cruise Line. The nice thing about the cruise industry is that consolidation like this has not meant changes to the performance or expectations of the individual cruise lines. Within the Carnival collection of cruise lines, each has held its own on the type of product they deliver so well that many people don't even know that they are all owned by the same company. I think this is a good thing unlike in other industries when a buyout happens the bought out company ends up re br...

Cruising is a great vacation, but when it comes to relaxing, its one thing that we find hard to do especially on a short cruise like the 4 day we just got off of on Monday. Its not like we couldn't relax, its just that there are so many things to do that trying to fit in as much as possible can make down time a difficult commodity . On this last cruise we were up by 7 am every morning because with our normal lives that is sleeping in, but were not in bed until 2 am. Even with that we did not outlast other people on board. Activities go on late into the night with karaoke, disco, casino and other nightlife not to mention the late night buffets. We tend to find more down time on 6 day or longer cruises. That's when taking a book and just relaxing on a balcony or out by the pool can break up the fast paced day on board ship. Because shorter cruises tend to be action packed, we like to recommend for those that can, to take an extra day whether in the port city or at home t...

Just because your miles out to sea does not mean that you can't get some weekend football in. The bars and lounges on board the Carnival Elation were packed this past Saturday and Sunday with fans rooting on their favorite teams. Saturday was a great day to catch some college action on one of the many TVs in the lounges and bars. And on Sunday the two TVs at the bar at the back of Tiffany's, the buffet restaurant , each had a different game on and there was not an open seat nearby. I mention this because one of the many questions I hear all the time is about catching the big game while on a cruise. When it comes to football the answer is yes you can. We happened to be on a cruise this past February on the Carnival Spirit during the Super Bowl and it was a major event on board as I guess it should be. The theater was turned into a giant living room with couches and a 25 foot screen on stage. Even Football snack foods like wings and subs were set out, like one needs even...

We just arrived home from our cruise on the Carnival Elation. The 5 day cruise left on Thursday afternoon from San Diego going to Cabo San Lucas and Returned this morning. I will have some individual posts to come in the next few days on specific areas but for now, I just wanted to give a run down of the cruise. We had 7 people in our group taking up 4 cabins on board. To get the best pricing for the cruise past guests and non past guests were paired up for booking. Once on board the ship we had the room keys re coded and everyone ended up in the rooms they belonged in with no problems. There were 4 members of our group that had never cruised before, so everything going smoothly was a nice plus. Weather in San Diego was a bit on the chilly side both on Thursday and today, but Cabo more than made up for it. As per every past cruise, the food was excellent and never disappointed . I hate to cut this post short, but I need a vacation from my vacation and need some sleep bef...

I was just reading about EasyCruise which has been around for just a couple of years. The small cruise line operating in Europe is currently the only no-frill cruise operator that I know of. The cost of the cruise only includes the cabin and port charges. Everything else is extra. The ships stay longer in port so passengers can enjoy dinner on shore. The large cruise lines never thought that this would work, but not only has EasyCruise done well, they plan on adding a ship in 2008 which will triple the capacity of the entire line. As of right now, they are only operating in Europe, but with the recent industry news and cost saving tactics that have been floating around the industry, it can cause one to wonder if this could become the norm? It was not that long ago when the airlines all offered amenities as part of the fare that are now extra. While I don't think EasyCruise will take over the industry, it is only a matter of time before we see either EasyCruise or some ...

Yesterday I mentioned that we flew to Los Angeles for the weekend. While there we spent our time in Redondo Beach. It was a cold windy weekend so much of our time was spent indoors. When we were not playing "Rock Band" we had a chance to visit a restaurant or two. The first that I would highly recommend is the Original Pancake House. It was very busy, but the wait was short and the service was great. We tried the specialty apple pancakes and the dutchboy. Hard to explain except to say that they were both worth ordering. It was so good that I almost forgot to take a picture before digging into my apple covered deliciousness. For lunch we went to a place not far from the airport called the LA Food Show. Contrary to the weird pictures that the name may conjure up, it was a nice sit down restaurant with plenty to choose from on the menu. The price was reasonable for Los Angeles and the service was excellent. A place I am going to mention but not recommend is Encounter. Its at the...

If you travel on Southwest Airlines but have not traveled with them in a while, you may be in for a little bit of a shock like we were this weekend. Everyone that flies on Southwest knows the A, B, C, cattle call. Well that has changed a bit. On a quick trip to Los Angeles this weekend, we found out that they now have numbered boarding tickets for group A and you line up in groups of 5 for the first 60 passengers. I am not sure how much I like or dislike the new procedure after only doing it once going and once returning but I know its going to take a little getting used to. In the past we knew that if we logged in a couple of hours after the 24 hour window for online boarding passes that we would still have a good chance to get an A pass depending on the flight. Now the earlier the better is not just a thing to do its something to strive for if you want to make sure you are at the front of the A line (and you people who do this know what I am talking about). If anyone has flo...