One of the country’s fastest-growing pastimes is coming aboard the Princess fleet with a new way for scrapbooking fans to take their hobby to sea. The recently launched Princess Scrapbooking@Sea program is designed to encourage passengers to preserve their cruise memories in a fun and creative way. The first such program hosted by a cruise line, the new activity offers a social atmosphere where passengers can learn helpful hints on how to enjoy this popular activity.Presented as part of Princess’ award-winning ScholarShip@Sea educational program, Scrapbooking@Sea incorporates a series of onboard classes and a specially created scrapbooking kit with unique themed pages designed exclusively for Princess. The program begins rolling out to select ships this month, and is expected to be available across the Princess fleet by early 2007.
Scrapbooking@Sea offers a series of classes, starting with a complimentary Scrapbooking Basics class which will introduce passengers to the art of creating scrapbook pages. Participants will learn how to use basic tools of the craft, familiarize themselves with page design and journaling techniques, and will receive the supplies and instruction needed to create their first page. Subsequent courses are available to all passengers who purchase Princess’ special scrapbooking kit. Classes offer tips and creative ideas, plus plenty of free time to work on pages with a full range of supplies available for use, including scissors, adhesive, deluxe paper, die cut machines with assorted die cuts, a selection of pens and other items that can be used during the class sessions. All materials are acid-free and archival safe.
Princess’ special Scrapbooking@Sea kit features decorative papers, stickers and rub-on emblems along with instructions on how to build five unique vacation-themed pages. These pages can be used to create decorative backdrops for photos from typical cruise activities such as welcome aboard, days at sea, shore excursions, or formal evenings. Kits are available for $24.95 at any Scrapbooking@Sea class or at the ship’s onboard photo gallery. Additional themed kits are being developed for future sailings. In addition, a specially designed Princess scrapbook is available for purchase at the ship’s photo gallery.
Celebrity Cruises is serving up another sizzling “Savor the Caribbean” series featuring some of the nation’s hottest chefs. Celebrity’s fourth annual series will take place on Millennium’s seven-night Eastern Caribbean sailings from January 7 through March 4, 2007, with a host of celebrated chefs and restaurateurs.
So just who will be onboard? Click on “more” below to find out, then call us at 888-286-9827 to book one of these fantastic sailings!
It was a slow week this week, so we decided to do just one show. There just wasn’t a lot of news this past week and we decided to keep this week’s feature, cruise line loyalty programs short.
In the news this week:
- Celebrity partners with Lead Frog
- QM2 in Germany for repairs
- Carnival Triumph to sail seasonal Eastern Caribbean itinerary.
- Princess to hold simultaneous ship naming
- Trouble onboard Carnival Liberty
- Celebrity deals with some bad news
Once finished with the news we discussed the various loyalty programs offered by the crews lines. Some of the highlights of what’s offered:
- Princess’ Captain Circle which offers things like complementary internet access in their cyber-cafes.
- Celebrity’s Captain’s Club which is one of the richest programs available, not only can you get reciprocal benefits onboard Royal Caribbean, but there are also added benefits you can get if you’re a Captain’s Club member and enroll in the Crown and Anchor Society on Royal Caribbean.
- Holland America loves to recognize their Mariner Society members, check out the neat tiles that Mariner Society members get when they sail on Holland America by going here.
Don’t forget to check out this week’s Deal of the Week, and you can always find the show in iTunes. Click below to download the show right to your computer or play it in your browser.
It’s been a difficult few days for Celebrity Cruise Lines. First there was news that the line was fined $100,000 for discharging more than half a million gallons of untreated waste water into Puget Sound and the Straights of Juan de Fuca. According to the Washington Department of Ecology, Celebrity’s Mercury discharged untreated wastewater 10 times over 9 days in September and October of 2005. The discharges were mostly of untreated sink, shower, and laundry water with a small percentage of treated sewage.
Today comes word that Celebrity is canceling the Dec 10 sailing of Millennium in order to make repairs to the ship’s propulsion system. Passengers booked on the canceled sailing will receive a refund and a free future cruise. Repairs to the ship’s port thrust bearing is expected to be completed in time for the ship to re-enter service on December 17.
We’ve received notification from Carnival Cruise Lines that the Carnival Liberty sailing originally scheduled for November 19 will now depart on November 21 and will be shortened from six days to 4. The delayed departure is to allow crew members to throughly sanitize the ship following it’s current Trans-Atlantic sailing.
According to Carnival 506 passengers out of 2,804 and 137 of the ship’s 1,166 crew reported gastrointestinal distress consistent with norovirus. The outbreak has been traced back to two passengers who had a gastrointestinal illness prior to their embarkation and actually sought out medical treatment while they were in Rome.
Currently 10 passengers and 3 crew members remain in isolation.
We discuss norovirus in Episode 3 of the podcast, you can find the show here. These outbreaks get a lot of press when they occur, but often times the situation is over dramatized and the facts that you need to know get lost. First, norovirus is not life threatening, it is however extremely common anywhere people congregate including schools, hotels, nursing homes, and yes cruise ships. Unlike anyplace else, cruise ships are the only ones who are required to report norovirus outbreaks to the Centers for Disease Control. Cruise ships have extensive and comprehensive sanitation programs to prevent such outbreaks, and almost every single outbreak on a cruise ship has been traced back to a passenger who was exhibiting symptoms before they boarded.
« Newer Articles — Older Articles »
