Time 2 Cruise

There has been a lot of talk about the direction of the economy and this blog has been no different. So, when I read in USA Today that cruise bookings are strong so far this year, I thought it was note worthy. The cost of cruising is higher this year with the new fuel charges alone. What this says is the economy can't keep a cruiser down. I know its not going to keep us from planning our next cruise for later this year.

According to an article on the Orlando Sentinel web page , Norwegian Cruise Lines have put into their contracts that the gratuity of $10 per day is no longer adjustable at the passengers discretion. While I find this to be a bad move on the cruise lines part in the realm of public relations, I wonder how much it helps or hurts the employees on board. According to the article, the amount can be changed but only after a specific complaint, and giving them a chance to rectify whatever caused you to want to change the amount. This move will not have much of an affect on our personal cruising experience because we have never changed the amount on a cruise, and just tip extra for those who go over and beyond our expectations during the cruise. And really, mandatory gratuity is nothing new anyway. there is already the tip added to all bar tabs on board, and in the restaurant industry most places auto add a gratuity to parties of 8 or more. Gotten caught on that one a couple of times whe...

Themed cruises are a hot topic with everything from comedians to Nascar having cruises. But the most popular have to be the music themed cruises and every style of music is accounted for. Whats better than just a music theme cruise? A cruise with your favorite musician or band. It is a amazing how many acts actually have done theme cruises. The Bare Naked Ladies had such a blast that they do the same cruise every year. Sammy Hagar does the same with a cruise every October down to Cabo where he owns the famous CaboWabo bar. The problem is most people don't know where to find these cruises. Personally we have been on a couple of cruises only to find out after we boarded that there was a theme cruise going on because many times the themes do not fill the entire ship and share the cruise with other passengers. Well, I stumbled across a website that to check out when looking for a cruise with musicians or just to see if a musical themed cruise may be planed for the same cru...

For now, its a pointless point in the U.S. on cell phones and Airlines but eventually it will be here but at a cost. That cost? Noise pollution. We all have been on flights where a person on board does not know how to use their "inside voice" when having a conversation with the person next to them and all we can do is shake our heads and hope for a quick flight. Now take that and compound it because many people seem to think that when on a cell phone they have to yell loud enough for the person on the other side of the country to hear them without the phone. Its a problem that is coming but hopefully not for a long while. Some airlines have heard the cries of people like me and have no plans to allow cell service in the foreseeable future because of it. But when there is money involved, the airlines will listen and that's why its inevitable that this will happen for most if not all airlines. The use of the service is not free to the cell phone user. Because o...

With the new and not so new rules that look to have an affect on the cruise industry staring this year in the U.S. it makes me wonder what options the cruise lines have. They will probably deal with it for the short term while trying to fight. But assuming that its a losing battle and Non U.S. flagged ships are forced to spend time in dock, places they don't want to be if traveling between U.S. ports, then they may just change where they go. Right now, we have choices in cruise lines just like choices in airlines. What could happen, especially in the Hawaii and Alaska markets could become a monopoly for Norwegian Cruise Line not just at the expense of the other cruise lines but also the passengers and the ports visited. Its probably way to early yet to know what is going to happen, but it is something to keep an eye on especially if you plan on taking a cruise to Alaska or Hawaii in the future.

Its been announced recently that Norwegian has won major kudos again for the freestyle dining options on board its ships. On many of the Norwegian ships there are as many as 12 to 14 restaurants to choose from. A recent radio add mentioned that some even have outside seating as well. So I have asked a handful of passengers on a recent Norwegian cruise about their experience with freestyle dining. As far as food quality goes, the responses were no different than I get when talking to people on any cruise. Most thought the food was exceptional while there is always one or two that were not happy. I usually attribute it to personal taste and people that will give a bad review based on one bad meal for the entire week. That aside, the surprising response that I received from many passengers was that they thought the word "freestyle" is not the right word for the dining arrangements. While it is true that there are many restaurants to choose from, they complained t...

As absurd as it sounds, we may just have to do that soon. When the price of oil goes up, so does everything else. Latest news is that some airlines are considering changing how they price fares so that the price of fuel is figured separately . If this happens it will be interesting to see just how it will be done. It sounds like it can be compared to how some travel agencies advertise cruise prices where they neglect to show the port charges and tipping amounts. A price that looks to good to be true almost always is. It would be interesting to see what airfare would be minus the fuel cost but all I see is confusion if this happens. Smart companies buy forward on oil, but very few of the airlines do this, and fewer yet do it well. Southwest is the best of all airlines at hedging on oil prices. If they all followed Southwest lead, it would decrease the turmoil that a sudden jump in oil prices causes. The problem is that most airlines, unlike Southwest, are hurting and cant affo...

Carnival Cruise lines is having a little contest . Write a 1000 character (not word, so that means keep it short) story about your romantic encounter and have a chance to win a 4 day cruise on in the Presidential suite on either the Carnival Imagination or Carnival Inspiration. All entries will be posted on carnival.com/love for readers to vote on between February 8th and 13th. The winner, which will be the one that receives the most votes will be announced on February 14th. From the looks of it, the prize does not include airfare and usually does not include port charges and fees (common with most cruises as prizes). In all our cruises, we have never had the luxury of traveling in the Presidential suite. I may have to enter myself just for that.

I mentioned a 120+ year old law that is causing trouble for Alaska on a previous post. Well it looks like that similar law could cause trouble for cruise ships with Hawaii as a destination as well. According to the San Diego Union Tribune , the new law, would be used to force cruise ships that sail under non U.S. flags to spend a minimum of 2 days in a foreign port when taking tourists between 2 different U.S. ports. Right now, ships like the Carnival Spirit spend a few hours in Ensenada Mexico or Vancouver Canada to comply with the current laws when sailing to Hawaii. Norwegian Cruise Line which sails its ships under U.S. flags would not be forced to make changes thus giving them a monopoly on Hawaii. This is just another thing to think about when booking your vacation. It will be interesting to see what comes of this, because the U.S. ports will lose a lot of money is the ships change itineraries. Another type of cruising that this could affect will be repositioning cruises. Which ar...

It seems like every week there is a new way to see our money disappear on vacation. The newest one is from Southwest Airline. They are now adding a $25 fee for any bags checked over the first 2. Southwest estimates that the fee will only affect about 2 percent of their passengers but pretty much all of the 2 percent will be people on vacation. The nice thing is for families traveling together that they can share ownership of bags. So little Jimmy who only has one bag can also be the name on moms bag filled with her shoes. It is not uncommon for a couple on a week long cruise vacation to have 7 or more bags with them. What all they have in those bags, I don't know, but I have been in line behind these people both at the airport and the cruise terminal. I guess they wont be flying Southwest if they can help it then. This change is one of many that has been happening with the airline that many believe is a push to make the airline more attractive to business travelers.

Well its a new year, and time for a new Carnival commercial I guess. A press release just announced a multi-million dollar campaign with three new commercials featuring "Your My Best Friend" by Queen. Commercials are to have started today. Also look for a new print campaign and promotional items to pop up at a travel agent near you according to the press release. With a marketing budget like that, I would hope that none of the new fuel charges are being used to promote the company. It never ceases to amaze how much money companies will put toward their advertising budget. I guess it works otherwise they would not do it right? Its not like any cruise I have been on has been empty by any means. And with new commercials means I will hopefully get last years song out of my head.

Just a few days into 2008 the price of oil jumped the magical $100 a barrel number if only for a short time. Some experts predict that the next time that the price goes above $100 that it will probably stay there. So like the fuel surcharges that became the norm across the cruising industry over the last two months, the airlines have started to increase fairs by $10-$20 round trip. There were multiple fair increases in 2007 but none stayed permanent as the price of oil fluctuated. So look for either the same thing this year or worst case, the increases are going to be around for a while and may even grow. Unlike a fuel surcharge, building the cost into the price makes it harder for the average person to tell what is going really going on. This is going to have an impact on many cruisers that have already booked the cruise but have been waiting to get the best price they can on airfare. The increase can add $40-80 to a family of four's total cost of vacation which may not seem...

According to the Kodiak Daily Mirror , a 120 year old maritime law by the U.S. Bureau of Customs may be interpreted differently than it has for years. The new interpretation would have a major impact on tourism from cruise ships visiting Alaska. In short the way that they want to read the law would limit the time that a cruise ship can stay in Alaskan ports if foreign owned. Most cruise ships are registered in foreign countries. The ships would have to spend at least half as much time in a foreign port as in U.S. ports. If enforced, the law will affect cruises already booked for 2008 and 2009 and seriously affect revenues for the ports.

When it comes to mp3 players, the Ipod is the king and you probably have an Ipod or an Iphone or are just tired of hearing about it. Well they are now becoming a part of cruising. Of course we all know that we can bring our little portable devices with us on vacation for personal enjoyment but now cruise lines are renting them too. On some Princess ships you can rent an Ipod to enjoy in the adults only area of the ship for around $10 a day. For some this is a small price to pay to not have to lug their own Ipod with them along with all the other luggage that is brought on a cruise. Cunard's Queen Victoria, has Ipods available for use in a self guided tour of the artwork on board which allows passengers interested in the tour to go along at their own pace. And it will come as no surprise that you will see plenty of people, kids and adults alike walking along or sunbathing by the pools this year with the signature white headphones dangling from the ears.

This is a story for the superstitious out there. When the Queen Victoria was launched in December Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall did the customary christening of the ship by hitting it with a bottle of champagne. Well the bottle did not break. Less than a month after launch less than 100 of the 2000+ passengers on board came down with the norovirus bug. While many frequent cruisers are familiar with what norovirus is and how it can spread on a ship, this is the first incident on the Queen Victoria that is already being attributed to the curse. The champagne curse goes back quite a ways in ship launching history but now the Queen Victoria will have the added curse of Camilla. All the other Cunard ships were christened by the Queen until now adding to the lore of having a curse. To make matters worse, the Aurora, a ship that was launched in 2000 by Princess Anne who failed to have the bottle break, was in the harbour on the day of the launch. Aurora broke down on its maiden...