After an almost two month absence WE’RE BACK!!!!!! Sadly we may also be a little rusty too – sorry…
Cunard announced that QM2 will spend almost a month in Australia next year…
A passenger is accused of doing something stupid on Carnival Paradise…
Celebrity Eclipse makes the River Ems transit…
Crystal offers Cosmonaut training…
Oceania, Princess and Royal Caribbean announce their 2011 European deployments, and Royal Caribbean announces that year round cruising will continue in 2011 from Baltimore and New York.
We also took a look at the idox Traveler iPod case. For some reason I kept calling this a dock – it’s not, it’s a case. Bottom line, we were impressed with it for what it is. To purchase one or for more information visit the idox website. Sorry Zune fans, this one is only available for iPods…
We also had a quick review of Brian David Bruns’ book Cruise Confidential: A Hit Below the Waterline. Mr. Bruns was and may still be the only American to successfully complete a contract in the dining rooms of Carnival without quiting or transferring to a different department.
During Celebrity Mercury’s current sailing, a number of guests onboard experienced a gastrointestinal illness, thought to be a norovirus. Over the course of the sailing, crew onboard has been conducting enhanced cleaning, to help prevent the spread of the illness.
While there was a decline in the spread of the illness during the sailing, in an abundance of caution, and in order to prevent additional guests and crew from becoming ill, we have decided to bypass Celebrity Mercury’s port of call today to Tortola, British Virgin Islands, and return to Charleston a day earlier than originally scheduled. Celebrity Mercury will now arrive in Charleston early Thursday morning. The enhanced cleaning of the ship, all of which is being done in close coordination with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will continue until the ship arrives in Charleston.
“I would like to apologize for the inconvenience this modified itinerary will cause our guests currently on Celebrity Mercury,” said Daniel Hanrahan, president and chief executive officer of Celebrity Cruises. “I have made this decision to delay the sailing because we want to maintain our high health standards onboard our ships, while providing our guests with the best cruise experience possible. The extra time we are taking to sanitize the ship will help prevent any additional guests from becoming ill.”
Celebrity Mercury, which departed Charleston on Monday, March 8, made port calls in San Juan, Puerto; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; Philipsburg, St. Maarten and Basseterre, St. Kitts.
Conventional wisdom advises the use of special eye protection when viewing an eclipse. But none of that was necessary for the thousands of individuals who lined the banks of Germany’s River Ems today to see Celebrity Eclipse embark on a fascinating adventure in cruising.
The third of five in Celebrity Cruises’ stylish, $3.7-billion Solstice Class fleet, Celebrity Eclipse yesterday made her first departure from the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, to embark on what is very likely the most challenging ride of her life: an event known as the “conveyance.”
At the tightest points along the way, there are as few as two feet between each side of the 1,040-foot-long, 121-foot-wide Celebrity Eclipse and the locks. The depth of the river and the draft of the ship allow for mere inches – or less – beneath the ship. These factors and others led Celebrity Cruises and Meyer Werft to essentially create a science all their own, carefully monitoring the position of the moon and tidal conditions to identify the precise moment when the depth of the river is ideal for the ship to set sail from the shipyard.
“Cruise ship captains generally do not expect to encounter the challenges the conveyance presents,” said Celebrity Eclipse Captain Panagiotis Skylogiannis. “Although I am accustomed to docking in tight ports, I prefer to be chasing sunshine in the open sea. Celebrity Eclipse is only a few feet slimmer than the narrowest lock we have to navigate, which isn’t much room, particularly when the president of the company is onboard, keeping a close watch! But we’ve done this twice before, and I am entirely confident of another smooth and successful passage.”
The world’s top-rated restaurants are often showplaces for art and design, and beginning April 26, in-the-know food followers can experience a new venue whose cuisine is an engaging combination of both. But they won’t find it through MapQuest, and their GPS will find it tough to track, too…since it’s moving. That’s because the new restaurant, “Qsine,” can be found only on Celebrity Eclipse
., the third of five ships in Celebrity Cruises’ stylish, $3.7-billion Solstice Class fleet.
The brainchild of Celebrity’s Vice President of Culinary Operations, Chef Jacques Van Staden, Qsine presents guests with an unexpected, modern approach to familiar dishes from around the world.
Van Staden says Qsine will further validate Celebrity’s leadership position in offering world-class dining experiences, as evidenced in the brand’s stunningly designed, guest-inspired Solstice Class specialty restaurants including Tuscan Grille, Blu, Murano and Silk Harvest, not to mention the series of intimate venues on Celebrity’s Millennium Class foursome. Qsine’s menu design alone – a large, backlit square filled with words and phrases designed to engage guests in the experience – implies that Qsine is an unusual place. And the cuisine makes it abundantly clear, with most of the selections so unique that nearly all of the dishes and plating have been designed exclusively for Celebrity.
Among the selections are spring rolls nestled in vertical springs, “Sushi Lollipops” (Nigiri sushi with soy center, wasabi mayonnaise and pickled ginger-radish salad), “Meatball Trilogy” (Kobe beef with cheddar and marinara sauce; veal with mushrooms and marsala sauce; and turkey with cranberry and sage gravy), “Chitinis” (Chinese selections served in martini glasses), “Tresviche” (tiger shrimp and bay scallops with lemon juice, tequila, cilantro, tomatoes and jalapeno oil), “Popcorn Fish & Chips” (Boddington’s-battered codfish and chips served with malt vinegar or aioli), “Slider Party” (mini-grilled Kobe beef patties with aged Wisconsin cheddar served on brioche buns with “Qsine’s original slider sauce” and garnishes), “Taco Royale” (Black Angus sirloin steak, homemade taco shells, caramelized onion-poblano, and do-it-yourself fresh guacamole, with a stone mortar and pestle), and “Lava Crab” (Alaskan King crab, sweet yellow corn and scallions with Hataifi and Old Bay sauce, served in glasses over heated red stones).
Libations to accompany the cuisine range from approximately 100 varieties of primarily organic, contemporary wines, to a vast array of creative cocktails.
And, for the first time on a Celebrity ship – just one week after announcing the hip, new “Celebrity iLounge” – Celebrity has designed a means for guests to capitalize on technology to easily review and order wines via the latest touch-screen devices. Even the uniforms of the wait staff illustrate the venue’s unique nature. Designed by Van Staden and custom-made exclusively for Celebrity, the jackets are decidedly asymmetrical and sport square buttons, and are intended to illustrate that the wait staff also are considered chefs, offering guests a highly interactive and personalized dining experience.
Capping the Qsine experience is a series of desserts whose menu is as sweet and surprising as its selections: A hinged, twistable cube presents options ranging from candied apples to popcorn to individual cookie jars.
Qsine will be open nightly on Celebrity Eclipse from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., for a cover charge of $30 per person. There are no age restrictions for dining in Qsine, and the dress code is smart casual and above.
Guests booked to sail on Celebrity Eclipse can plan their unique evening in Qsine right now, by making dining reservations on the Celebrity web site. Designed for cruisers who appreciate online options, the Celebrity site offers Celebrity Select Dining, the industry’s first pre-cruise, day-by-day flexible dining reservation system. The site also presents guests with the option to book pre-cruise AquaSpa reservations, specialty dining reservations, shore excursion bookings, and online documentation, or “e-docs.”
I think it goes without saying that this was one of those weeks. Things looked good Monday – but as you are probably well aware they got much worse as the week progressed…
This week – NCL gave us more details about their Studio cabins – most importantly they’re going to be singles and shouldn’t include a single supplement!
NCL also announced a partnership with Nickelodeon to bring Nick themed entertainment to some ships.
The keel of Carnival Magic was laid this past Tuesday, and Royal Caribbean and Rolls Royce have kissed and made up over Celebrity’s Mermaid Pods.
The situation in Haiti also touched the cruise industry and we talk about Royal Caribbean’s aid efforts and their return to Haiti as well as some of the other things going on to help out those in need.
What are your thoughts about Royal Caribbean’s quick return to Labadee? We want to know, and you can leave your thoughts over on the Facebook page…
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