| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Princess Cruise Line will debut the 116,000 ton Crown Princess, and it's 3,080 passengers will get to experience an extremely well rounded dining experience onboard. The dining venues in the atrium will have a sidewalk cafe atmosfere including strolling musicians and a central fountain.
In addition several signature Princess restaurants will also be onboard including a traditional English pub, a 24 hour food court and even a restaurant with a theater style kitchen.
But there will be more to do onboard than just eat including watching movies on the poolside screen and a two story spa and fitness center, you can even get married in the onboard wedding chapel.
Last but certainly not the least is Royal Caribbean International's Freedom of The Seas. This 3,600 passenger 160,000 ton ship has taken the title of Largest Cruise Ship from Cunard's Queen Mary 2. Odds are you've already seen ads featuring Freedom of The Seas' one of a kind onboard surf park. After attending a safety brief, passengers can hang ten on a 32 foot wide by 40 foot long FlowRider that guests can either surf or body board on.
But that's not the only water activity available in it's three large pool areas. Sculptures shoot water through the wading pool in the H2O Pool Zone, and passengers can soak each other with water buckets and cannons or even relax on a river ride. The Solarium has two large hot tubs that are actually cantilevered out 12 feet from the sides of the ship where they are perched 112 feet above the waterline.
But it's not all about the water activities onboard. Freedom of The Seas will also feature Royal Caribbean's signature ice rink, and now the largest rock climbing wall at sea.
Freedom of The Seas will set sail this May. Stay tuned, becuase we hope to be able to bring you a first hand review of the Freedom of The Seas this May.
For more information or to book a cruise on any of the ships mentioned, please visit us at www.mycruiseplanner.net
Costa Cruise Lines newest ship the Costa Concordia will weigh 112,000 tons and carry 3,780 passengers in 1,500 cabins. One of it's more unique features will be the 55 staterooms and 12 suites that will have direct access to the ship's two deck spa.
The ship's Samsara spa will be the largest spa afloat measuring 20,500 square feet, inside you'll find a gym, thalassotherapy pool, several treatment rooms, a Turkish bath, and a solarium.
You'll also find a Formula 1 driving simulator, and two swimming pools with retractable roofs. One of the pools will even have a 194 foot video screen over it.
The Costa Concordia is expected to offer Mediterranean sailings in July.
Holland America Cruise Lines will introduce the Noordam this February. The Noordam will feature all of Holland America's new Signature of Excellence improvements which includes things like flat panel TV's, DVD players and complimentary fruit baskets in all 924 staterooms.
The Noordam's Culinary Arts Center is part of a parnership with Food & Wine magazine and will feature cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs and culinary experts in it's state of the art kitchen. Plasma screens will offer passengers an up close view of the cooking area, however passengers can also view the action from their cabin televisions.
The line partnered with The New York Times to create a modern internet cafe with listening stations, an extensive library, and of course New York Times crossword puzzles.
The Noordam will offer New York departures starting in February.
MSC Cruises will introduce the largest member of it's fleet, the 2,550 passenger MSC Musica which will have 1,275 staterooms with 65% of them having private verandahs.
Passengers will find a 13,000 square foot spa and fitness center featuring aerobics, a variety of therapies, and a Turkish bath. In addition there will be a 7,000 square foot casino, three deck theater, and a variety of ondeck activities including a golf simulator, a tennis court, a jogging track and a minature golf course.
While there will only be two main restaurants, the ship will also offer a seperate specialty restaurant, a pizzeria, and even a sushi bar.
The MSC Musica will enter service in Venice this July offering summer and fall cruises to Greece, Turkey, and Croatia. In November the Musica will move to the Caribbean.
This summer NCL America will add a third ship to it's fleet, the Pride of Hawaii. Like it's sister ships, Pride of Hawaii will feature NCL's signature Freestyle Dining program which doesn't assign passengers to set seating times for meals, instead passengers can choose when they would like to eat and in which restaurant. Passengers will have a variety of dining options onboard including a sushi bar with teppanyaki area, Tex-Mex, tapas, and an Italian restaurant that will resemble a village trattoria. NCL will even be installing plasma screens where passengers will be able to check the restaurant wait times and make reservations.
At the ship's NCL Golf Hawaii pro shop passengers will even be able to book golf rounds on a variety of golf courses. 
The Pride of Aloha was originally the Norwegan Sky went through an extensive refit before being renamed and reflagged as an American vessel entered service with NCL America in 2004. Onboard you'll find 6 restaurants, 13 different bars & lounges, 2 swimming pools, 5 hot tubs, a spa and fitness center, jogging/walking track, basketball/volleyball court, 2 golf driving nets and even a golf pro shop.
The Pride of America entered service this past June and is the first new cruise ship to sail
under the US flag in almost 50 years. It also holds the honor of being the largest US flag cruise ship in history. The Pride of American features 10 restaurants, 12 different bars & lounges, 3 swimming pools, 7 hot tubs, a health spa beauty salon and fitness center, jogging/walking track, basketball/volleyball/tennis court, golf pro shop, and a card room.
Both ship's offer 7 day sailings departing from either Honolulu on O'ahu or Kahalui on Maui. Pride of America offers Honolulu round trips with port calls in Kahului and Lahaina on Maui, as well as Hilo and Kona on Hawaii. As an alternative, the Pride of America also offers itineraries that substitute a port call at Nawilliwili Kauai for the Lahaina port call.
The Pride of Aloha makes it's rounds between Nawilliwili, Honolulu, Kahului, Kona, and Hilo. Passengers can make the round trip from either Honolulu or Kahului.
Since these are NCL ships they all offer NCL's signature "Freestyle Dining" option. Unlike on most other cruise lines where passengers are assigned a specific dining room and seating time for dinner, onboard NCL's ships you're free to eat at what ever onboard restaurant you want whenever you want. In addition NCL has also introduced a streamlined "Freestyle Disembarkation" process intended to ease the disembarkation process and eliminate the "hurry up and wait" that many travelers experience when going through disembarkation on other lines.
Each ship's Hawaii Ambassador is onboard to introduce passengers to the unique traditions and culture of the Hawaiian Islands. Some of the things you can enjoy are lei making classes, polynesian line dancing, moko tatooing, Hawaiian hula lessons, Tahitian dance lessons, palm frond weaving and more.
The one thing you won't find onboard ships of the NCL America fleet is a casino, making the cruise line the second operating out of a US port to not have a casino onboard. Neither of Disney Cruise Line's two ships have casinos onboard either.
For more information or to book a Hawaiian cruise onboard either of NCL America's ships visit www.mycruiseplanner.net « Newer Articles — Older Articles »










