Some times we have an episode that just names itself – and this was one of them…
It was a busy week Celebrity moves some ships around and trades Baltimore sailings for South Pacific Sailings.
Carnival is adding comedy clubs and testing out a new smoking policy.
HAL will sail to Bermuda from NY for another year, and MSC firms up the order for their latest newbuild (and renames the ship too!).
Emerald Princess has some trouble off Ft Lauderdale, and Cunard commemorates their 170th anniversary.
1 is dead and another injured after a bizarre incident in Genoa, and the Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act has been signed into law.
Holland America Line will offer 24 seven-day cruises to Bermuda aboard ms Veendam in 2011, continuing the schedule established this year with weekly cruises to the popular vacation destination.
Holland America Line returned to regular Bermuda service departing from New York in 2010 after more than 25 years. The 2011 voyages begin May 1 and will sail roundtrip from New York through Oct. 9, calling at St. George’s and Hamilton.
The 1,350-guest Veendam will spend one day at St. George’s and two nights at Hamilton, providing guests with multiple opportunities to experience the island’s British charm, world-renowned pink-sand beaches and abundant cultural heritage sites by day and to sample its lively evening restaurant and nightclub scene.
It was a pretty quiet week this week – so we took the opportunity to make a minor change to the website – and add some pretty big functionality. By clicking on the “Other Travel” link at the top of the page you can now book flights, hotels, and rental cars RIGHT FROM OUR SITE!!! We’re extremely excited with this and hope that you will take advantage of it in the future.
In the news this week – Crystal is now offering Windows and Mac classes in their Computer University @ Sea program.
Queen Elizabeth will have a resident theater company onboard.
All eyes in the Caribbean are on St Thomas after gang violence there takes the life of a 14 year old cruise ship passenger. Our thoughts if you’re headed to St Thomas on a cruise in the next few months – don’t cancel your cruise, but you may want to consider staying onboard the ship.
This week we also chat a bit about getting online during your cruise. There are a few options and a few things to keep in mind.
Carnival Cruise Lines is adding more laughs and upping the fun quotient at sea with the introduction of Carnival Punchliner Comedy Clubs — dedicated comedy lounges rolling out fleetwide on all 22 “Fun Ships” by the end of the year. Building on the tremendous success of its first comedy club, which debuted on the new Carnival Dream last fall, Punchliner Comedy Clubs will feature a wide variety of side-splitting comics.
Located in the ship’s aft lounge, each Punchliner Comedy Club will offer guests loads of laughs with five 35-minute shows on multiple nights during each voyage, with at least two comedians performing each night. The two early-evening shows offer fun for the whole family while the later performances will feature adult-oriented comedy.
Carnival Punchliner Comedy Clubs will feature hilarious, laugh-out-loud performances from established comedians as well as rising stars, with approximately 10 shows per voyage offered on short cruise itineraries and approximately 20 shows per cruise on longer length departures.
While comedy shows have always been part of Carnival’s diverse entertainment lineup, the concept was taken to another level aboard the Carnival Dream, which offered the line’s first dedicated comedy club last fall. Comedy clubs are currently also featured on Carnival Glory, Carnival Pride and Carnival Sensation — with the concept being incorporated into the remainder of the fleet over the next several months. When Carnival Magic enters service in May 2011, a Punchliner Comedy Club will also be featured on the line’s newest “Fun Ship.”
All of Carnival’s aft show lounges will be converted to comedy clubs with a special stage and branded glassware, menus, employee uniforms and other items featuring the Punchliner Comedy Club logo. Guests can learn about the performer lineups and schedules in the ship’s Fun Times newsletter.
Marking the line’s first return to the land Down Under in two years, Celebrity’s exotic new Australia and New Zealand season – bookended by a series of vacation options in Hawaii – features a total of 36 ports in six countries: Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, French Polynesia, the U.S. and Mexico. The lineup includes 10 distinct itineraries, with six varied departure ports, including Sydney and Perth (Fremantle), Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; Honolulu, Hawaii; San Diego, California, and Ensenada, Mexico.
Celebrity’s new series begins October 2, 2011, with two consecutive 15-night Hawaii sailings from San Diego, followed by a 10-night Hawaii cruise from Ensenada to Honolulu. An 18-night “Pacific Jewels” voyage departs Honolulu November 11, followed by five 12- and 13-night New Zealand cruises between Sydney and Auckland, including a festive holiday sailing departing Sydney December 24. These offer a more destination-rich experience for cruisers, with only three days at sea, versus five on most competing lines’ itineraries.
Cruisers also have the opportunity to experience a rare, 36-night circumnavigational voyage – a first for Celebrity – through two combinable 18-night sailings: One will sail around the southern portion of Australia, featuring an overnight stay in Sydney and transits through three sounds – Milford, Doubtful and Dusky – in New Zealand’s World Heritage-designated Fiordland National Park. The second of the combinable 18-night sailings takes cruisers around Australia’s northern coast, and features a visit to the idyllic island of Bali, Indonesia – marking yet another first for Celebrity.
The new series also includes two tantalizing, 18-night Trans-Pacific voyages visiting the French Polynesian islands and Hawaii.
Among the ports Celebrity will visit for the first time are Geraldton, Broome, Darwin, Cairns, Brisbane, Adelaide, Albany, Bunbury and Perth, Australia, in addition to Burnie, Tasmania, and Bali.
To complement the cruises and allow guests to delve deeper into the land Down Under, Celebrity has created a series of cruisetour packages, with details to be announced when bookings open for the entire slate of vacation options on Thursday, July 29. Celebrity also will announce details of an early booking incentive on that date.
The 1,814-guest Celebrity Century is ideal for offering guests spectacular views of the scenic region, having been refitted in 2006 to add 314 new verandas, along with the elegant Murano restaurant and the truly “cool” Martini ice bar.
Celebrity’s new series of itineraries from October 2, 2011 through April 20, 2012, replace the previously announced series of 12-night Caribbean cruises from Baltimore on Celebrity Century. Guests with individual and group bookings that are named and deposited on Celebrity Century on or after October 2, 2011, have the option to cancel their booking, or move to the same category of accommodations on a comparable Transcanal voyage on Celebrity Infinity, either October 28, 2011, or March 27, 2012; Celebrity Century’s new Hawaii sailings October 2 or 17, 2011, or April 2 or 20, 2012; 10- or 11-night Caribbean cruises on Celebrity Equinox in 2011, or entirely new 12-night Caribbean sailings from Cape Liberty, NJ, on Celebrity Silhouette, the line’s fourth Solstice Class ship, entering service in 2011. Holiday sailings are open only to guests currently booked on Celebrity Century’s double-holiday voyage of December 23, 2011. Guests with applicable bookings who opt to shift to one of the eligible sailings will receive a $200 per stateroom or $400 per suite onboard credit.
Guests with reservations on the previously announced sailings on Celebrity Century from Baltimore in 2011-12 will be proactively contacted by Celebrity Cruises. Guests with questions specific to those bookings are welcome to call 1-888-281-9343.
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