Yesterday was a little hard for us. Sometime yesterday afternoon our internet connection went out, and it took our phones with it. If you tried to reach us between around 2PM and 9PM Pacific time yesterday our phones were out and we were unable to take your call.
Everything’s better now, but we wanted to let you know what happened…
(0) Comments (Leave a Comment)Filed under: Site Information Posted by Michael on 01/23/08
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has recently announced new regulations which require cruise lines to provide final passenger manifests 60 minutes prior to departure from U.S. ports. To ensure compliance, guests are required to provide complete and accurate guest immigration details in advance of the embarkation date or risk being denied boarding. The easiest way to do this is to enter your information using the Voyage Personalizer at princess.com no later than six (6) days prior to sailing. Guests who fail to provide complete and accurate information prior to embarkation must complete check-in at least 90 minutes prior to the vessel’s scheduled departure time or they will be denied boarding.
Listed below are your options for providing this important information.
Guests:
- Voyage Personaliser at cunard.com up to six (6) days prior to sailing
- Fax (661) 284-4748*up to 14 days prior to sailing
- Phone up to six (6) days prior to sailing Within the US & Canada 1-800-7-CUNARD or 1-800-PRINCESS for Princess Cruises passengers
- For International Callers +1-661-753-1000 for both Cunard and Princess passengers
Filed under: Cunard Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises Posted by Michael on 01/22/08
Carnival Cruise Lines, the world’s largest cruise operator, in conjunction with the Ocean Players Club, a casino rewards program for guests sailing aboard the World’s Leading Cruise Lines, is hosting its 2008 “Wild Winners” Tournament, comprised of a series of slot, blackjack and poker tournaments.The tournaments will be held on 10 different seven- to nine-day “Fun Ship” cruises operating January – October 2008, culminating in a grand final event on board Carnival’s newest ship, the 3,006-passenger Carnival Splendor in November.
The preliminary slot and blackjack tournaments each offer a cash prize of $2,500. All first place winners receive complimentary balcony accommodations for two, and a free entry to the Final Event on the Carnival Splendor Nov. 17.
The Grand Final slot and blackjack tournaments will each offer $25,000 in cash prizes, and the winner of the poker grand final event will win a $10,000 seat to the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, NV, plus $1,000 cash for travel expenses.
Entry fees for the slot and blackjack tournaments are $100 per person, and $150 per person for the poker tournament.
Tournament dates are as follows:
- Feb. 3- Carnival Pride- seven-day Mexican Riviera cruise departing from Long Beach/Los Angeles
- March 8- Carnival Freedom- seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruise departing from Miami
- April 23- Carnival Miracle- eight-day Eastern Caribbean cruise departing from New York
- May 10- Carnival Glory- seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruise departing from Port Canaveral, Fla.
- June 15- Carnival Pride- seven-day Mexican Riviera cruise departing from Long Beach/Los Angeles
- July 19- Carnival Liberty- seven-day Western Caribbean cruise departing from Fort Lauderdale
- Aug. 17- Carnival Conquest- seven-day Western Caribbean cruise departing from Galveston, TX
- Sept. 13- Carnival Victory- seven-day Fall Foliage cruise departing from New York
- Oct. 18- Carnival Spirit- nine-day Mexican Riviera cruise departing from San Diego
- Nov. 17- Carnival Splendor- four-day Eastern Caribbean cruise departing from Fort Lauderdale (Grand Final Event)
Filed under: Carnival Cruise Lines Posted by Michael on 01/21/08
From the US State Department’s travel website:
U.S. citizens may begin applying in advance for the new U.S. Passport Card beginning February 1, 2008, 
in anticipation of land border travel document requirements. We expect cards will be available and mailed to applicants in spring 2008.
The passport card will facilitate entry and expedite document processing at U.S. land and sea ports-of-entry when arriving from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The card may not be used to travel by air. It will otherwise carry the rights and privileges of the U.S. passport book and will be adjudicated to the exact same standards.
The Department of State is issuing this passport card in response to the needs of border resident communities for a less expensive and more portable alternative to the traditional passport book. The card will have the same validity period as a passport book: 10 years for an adult, five for children 15 and younger. For adults who already have a passport book, they may apply for the card as a passport renewal and pay only $20. First-time applicants will pay $45 for adult cards and $35 for children.
To facilitate the frequent travel of U.S. citizens living in border communities and to meet DHS’s operational needs at land borders, the passport card will contain a vicinity-read radio frequency identification (RFID) chip. This chip will link the card to a stored record in secure government databases. There will be no personal information written to the RFID chip itself.
(0) Comments (Leave a Comment)Filed under: General News, Travel Advisories Posted by Michael on 01/20/08
Take 2 - because 26 minutes into recording this episode it was discovered that some nameless person had forgotten to turn their microphone… hint it wasn’t the person who actually posts the shows!
With the exception of one story, all of the news this week was really dominated by Royal Caribbean International.
We talked quite a bit about the tandem crossing of Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Victoria, there are some interesting stories coming out of that crossing.
Celebrity brings out the most unique offering we’ve heard… well at least since they announced that there would be a glass blowing show onboard Celebrity Solstice. This time they’ve announce that Celebrity Solstice will also feature a 1/2 acre green space - with real grass!
USAToday and Royal Caribbean are asking for your help to name their upcoming Genesis class ships.
The earthshaking news of the week - 29 year Carnival Veteran Vicki Freed has jumped ship so to speak. She’s stepping down from her position as Senior Vice President of Sales for Carnival - and assuming the same role at Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines starting on Tuesday.
This week we talk about river cruises. Theres a lot of information out there, but we try to keep the entire discussion a bit generic.
Finally, the Deal of the Week is BACK! The cruise lines are kicking off their Wave Season with some great deals - and Holland America Line has some fantastic Alaska Cruise Tour deals this week. Check out the details here.
Cruising Everywhere but the Caribbean - River Cruises [48:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (397)Filed under: Podcast « Previous Page — Next Page »
