This issue: On-board Review of Maasdam. See the Ship Reviews section.
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July-August-September,
2010
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An extended lineup of cruises for 2011 and 2012 has been announced by Azamara Club Cruises, a Celebrity Cruises brand. The company's two ships — the 694-passenger Azamara Journey and 694-passenger Azamara Quest — will sail to 174 ports in 54 countries. Europe, South America, and the Caribbean will be the major destinations.
Fourteen-day periods will be split into nine-day and five-day cruises by Carnival starting this December. That's when it introduces that schedule from San Diego to Mexico ports aboard the 2124-passenger Carnival Spirit. On each cruise there will be unusual two-day calls at Cabo San Lucas... Carnival will greatly expand its Bermuda presence next summer, when it schedules 16 departures from four east coast ports. Four ships will offer six-, seven-, and eight-day trips from New York, Baltimore, Norfolk, and, for the first time, Charleston... Two redeployments for Carnival: its newest ship, the 3690-passenger Carnival Magic, will operate seven-day Caribbean cruises from Galveston beginning in November 2011, becoming the largest cruise ship based there year-'round. It will also move the 2758 passenger Carnival Triumph there late next year to operate four- and five-day Caribbean cruises year-'round. NCL expects some 450,000 passengers annually in Galveston when the new schedules kick in... Carnival will introduce new seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruise itineraries from Tampa and Jacksonville next year. The 2052-passenger Carnival Fascination and 2124-passenger Carnival Legend, which are both based there but don't offer those routes, will provide the service.
Insights into how ships work is the gist of a new Celebrity cruise program to be called Oceans Ahead. Among the topics: The Secrets of Ship Navigation, How Our Ships Move, Onboard Recycling, Carbon Footprint 101. Ships' officers will be the lecturers... For next summer, Celebrity will place all four of its new 2850-passenger Solstice-class ships — Silhouette, Eclipse, Solstice, and Equinox — in Europe. A total of six ships will be assigned there and will visit 70 ports in 23 countries... In Alaska next summer, three ships will provide seven- and 10-day trips from Seattle, Vancouver, and Seward between May and September. Repositioning cruises to/from San Francisco and San Diego will be wine-themed passages... Four of Celebrity's eight Caribbean vessels next winter will be of the new 2850-passenger Solstice class. For the first time, one will sail from New York City, conducting 14 12-day trips. Other home ports for Celebrity's winter 2011 - 2012 season will include Fort Lauderdale, Baltimore, and San Juan.
Costa's big news this season is the debut of its newest liner, the 2828-passenger Costa Deliziosa. Constructed in Venice, it will be filled with Italian-themed appointments: four restaurants, 11 bars, three swimming pools including one with a retractable dome, four jacuzzis, a two-level spa, spa baths, thalassotherapy pool, UVA solarium, 4D cinema, 800-seat theater, casino, disco, dance club, piano bar, internet point, shopping center, library, kids and teens areas, golf simulator, outside golf area with putting green, outside movie screen, and more. Initial itineraries this summer and fall will mostly be in Northern Europe from Copenhagen.
Steamboats are a comin' back to the Mississippi! And also to the Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee Rivers! Ending a three-year drought since Majestic Cruise Line ceased operations, Cruise West will rename its 102-passenger Spirit of Glacier Bay to Spirit of America and resume steamboatin' next March. Itineraries will consist of New Orleans to Memphis on the Mississippi on seven-day circuits and Memphis to Nashville on the Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland Rivers, also on seven-day trips. Plantation visits, the Civil War, Southern history and literature, and antebellum architecture will be features of each cruise. The initial season will run from March to June.
Israel will receive its first overnight visit from Crystal this fall. A 12-day "Ruins and Relics" trip aboard the 1080-passenger Crystal Serenity will stop at the port city of Ashdod, where the important sites of three religions, Masada, the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, archaeological excavations, and more can be visited... Teens should find some intriguing new activities aboard Crystal's two ships this summer. There will be offerings in sushi-making, dance, golf, foreign language, and destination-related subjects organized by an on-board Junior Activities staff... Maiden calls to Portland, Maine, will be part of Crystal's series of four 11-day cruises between New York and Montreal this fall. Each voyage will also have overnight stays in Montreal and either Boston or New York. The 922-passenger Crystal Symphony will conduct the cruise series... Crystal has scheduled a short late-year Mexico series round-trip from Los Angeles. It starts with a seven-day Thanksgiving holiday trip and continues with seven- and ten-day trips through December. Science, technology, wellness, and food and wine will be theme subjects on the cruises, which will be conducted by the Crystal Symphony... The 2011 World Cruise, which departs from Los Angeles in January for a 110-day trip to London, is collecting a list of well-known lecturers and entertainers to appear. Currently, Olympians Dara Torres and Dorothy Hamill, Wayne Newton, Rita Moreno, Doris Roberts, Roger McGuinn, and several authors, historians, and experts in world affairs, military policy, health, fitness, science, and global cultures will be part of the enrichment program.
Dining details about Cunard's newest ship, the 2092-passenger Queen Elizabeth, have been set. The liner, which debuts in October, will have dining venues with all kinds of designs and menus. There will be art deco flourishes, wood paneling, intricate mosaics, gleaming chandeliers, cool marbles, and more. There will be formal and casual spots. There will be white-glove tea salons. There will be single-seating dining rooms exclusively for first class passengers staying in "Grilles Suites." There will be a two-deck main dining room, a single-seating Club dining room, and three extra-charge specialty restaurants specializing in South American, Mexican, and Pan-Asian cuisine. A 24-hour Lido restaurant will offer wide-open sea views. A palm-filled conservatory with a vaulted glass ceiling, British pub, and numerous bars and lounges round out the food and beverage facilities... Details of Cunard's 2012 World Cruises have been released. Together, they'll visit 60 ports in 33 countries. The Queen Elizabeth will conduct a 107-day westbound journey from London. U. S. passengers can board in New York, Fort Lauderdale, or San Francisco, after the ship transits the Panama Canal. From San Francisco it crosses the Pacific to Australia and back to London. The 2620-passenger Queen Mary 2 will also leave from London. Its 108-day voyage will take it southward to Africa, then Australia, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, India, Dubai, the Suez Canal, Greece, and Portugal before returning to London.
A restaurant that transports guests under the sea... artwork that magically comes to life... an interactive play floor for youngsters... Inside staterooms with "virtual portholes" that offer real-time views outside the ship... Disney characters coming to life on a 103-inch (that's 8 ½ feet) screen. Those are among the surprises in store for passengers when Disney's new 2500-passenger Disney Dream takes to the waves in January. It'll be almost four football fields long, will have 14 decks, and will be deployed on three-, four-, and five-day trips to the Bahamas from Port Canaveral... Disney's first premiere dining option will also be aboard the Dream. It will be a top-deck restaurant with ocean views. Its name will be Remy Restaurant, whose menu will be a meld of classic and contemporary French cuisine.
Next summer, Holland America will place seven of its ships in Alaskan waters. They'll offer seven- and 14-day trips from Seattle, Vancouver, and Seward. There will be 125 departures between May and December. Each cruise will bring native Alaska guides, naturalists, or park rangers aboard at key times to share their knowledge of local culture, history, glaciers, and wildlife... Looking way, way south from Alaska, Holland America has firmed up its 2011 and winter/spring 2011/2012 South America schedules. Three ships will explore the continent on itineraries ranging from 12 to 37 days. Plus, there will be 66- and 68-day Grand South America and Antarctica voyages. Some 44 ports of call on all the continent's coasts — plus the Amazon River — will be visited... For the first time, Holland America will deploy two ships simultaneously in Australian waters. For the 2011 - 2012 Southern Summer, the 1432-passenger Volendam and the 1432-passenger Zaandam will sail on 13- to 26-day itineraries. Most departures will be from Sydney.
This issue: On-board Review of Maasdam. See the Ship
Reviews
section.
A whole gamut of theme cruises will add memories and knowledge to Hurtigruten passengers this summer and fall. As its fleet sails along the fjord-filled 250-mile west coast of Norway on six- to 12-day itineraries, vacationers will be able to immerse into music, crafts, history, culinary arts, fjord studies, and more.
MSC will send a second ship to South Africa during the Southern Summer that spans late 2010 and early 2011. Joining the 1566-passenger Sinfonia will be the 1000-passenger Melody. They'll sail to Indian Ocean islands and South Africa, primarily from Durban.
It's come to this: a "cover charge" payment will be required for some on-board entertainment on NCL's newest ship, the 4200 passenger Norwegian Epic, which begins alternating Eastern and Western Caribbean seven-day sailings from Miami this season. Among entertainment offerings: Blue Man Group, Legends in Concert, Legends Unplugged, Nickelodeon Slime Time Live, Cirque, Second City, Breakfast with Nickelodeon, and a Spiegel Tent big top...Smile — you're on a facial recognition system! The pioneering system on the new Norwegian Epic will allow passengers to select pictures of themselves electronically, without having to spend long periods scanning thousands of shots on big boards. The initial-boarding ID photos will serve as the e-photo base, and subsequent pictures of each passenger will be indexed accordingly, if all goes as planned... Another new idea coming to the Epic: passengers will be able to gamble from their staterooms via an interactive TV "Digi-Casino."
The first new Pacific Coast route in decades will be inaugurated by Princess next year. A seven-day itinerary on the 2670-passenger Sapphire Princess will bring it to the doorsteps of more than 20 million Californians, as it sails between Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and the Mexico port of Ensenada... Princess will deploy a six-ship fleet in Alaska next year, offering 104 departures from San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and Anchorage. Except for the 10-day San Francisco route, all the other trips will be seven days in length. The summer season will run from May to September... Two new 3600-passenger ships have been ordered by Princess. They will be built in Italy for delivery in 2013 and 2014. They'll be the largest in Princess' fleet. All outside cabins will have balconies. Princess currently operates 17 ships... Princess has been awarded accreditation and certification for quality in health care. The recognition was awarded by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare. Princess' ships also meet or exceed medical guidelines issued by the American College of Emergency Physicians... The 2011 - 2012 schedule of Princess' "Exotics" cruises has been published. It contains itineraries to Asia, Africa, India, Australia - New Zealand, South America, Hawaii, and Tahiti. The season runs from September 2011, to May 2012. The Diamond, Ocean, Sun, Dawn, Sea, Star, Pacific, and Sapphire Princess ships will be deployed on the "Exotics" routes.
San Francisco has been added to Regent's schedule for late this year and in 2011. There will be cruises to and/or from Auckland, Fort Lauderdale, New York, Vancouver, London, Rome, and Beijing on the 700-passenger Voyager and the 490-passenger Navigator. In 2011, voyages are scheduled during the winter, spring, summer, and fall seasons... The Seven Seas Navigator returns to service in the Caribbean this season following a major makeover. The ship will sport a new Canyon Ranch SpaClub, a new restaurant, an updated main dining room, an indoor-outdoor food pavilion, a pool grill, and several bars and lounges. New fabrics and furnishings have been placed in the cabins, also... "Let's dispense with the formalities." That's the word from Regent this season, as it adopts a new dress code. From now on, there will be two types of evening dress codes, Elegant Casual and Formal Optional. Ties and suits or sports coats will not be required on either night. On Formal Optional nights, traditional garb is expected to remain the norm but will not be mandatory.
Los Angeles will lose the 3114-passenger Mariner of the Seas. Beginning next January, it will end Mexico service and will be repositioned as Royal Caribbean's 11th ship to sail the Mediterranean, based in Rome, beginning next summer. Air and cruise vacation traffic to Mexico has weakened because of that country's drug-related crime problems...Two ships will handle Australia and South Pacific cruising during the 2011 - 2012 Southern Summer. Together they'll offer 29 sailings on 13 different itineraries. They'll call at 50 ports in nine countries on trips ranging from two to 18 days. The 2501-passenger Radiance of the Seas and 2435-passenger Rhapsody of the Seas will be assigned to the region...Royal Caribbean's 2011 - 2012 Caribbean schedule should have something for everybody. It will have seven ships offering 439 sailings to 18 Caribbean ports on 55 itineraries. Primary departure ports: Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, and Port Canaveral...Next year in Alaska, Royal Caribbean will place two ships. They'll conduct 34 seven-day voyages from Vancouver and Seattle. The summer season will start in early May and continue until September...Royal Caribbean will deploy two ships in Alaskan waters next summer. They'll conduct 34 seven-day trips from Seattle, Vancouver, and Seward... South America and the southern Caribbean will see 73 sailings by three ships during the 2011 - 2010 Southern Summer. They'll stop at 25 ports, from San Juan to cities all along the circumnavigation of South America route... The Broadway hit "Chicago" will debut in the 1380-seat main theater of Royal Caribbean's next ship, the 5400-passenger Allure of the Seas. The ship will set sail for the first time in December from Fort Lauderdale. It will have 18 decks and seven themed "neighborhoods." It will sail on alternate Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries on seven-day schedules... New Orleans and Galveston will see 45 Royal Caribbean sailings during the 2011 - 2012 winter quarter. The 3114-passenger Voyager of the Seas will debut in New Orleans and the 3114-passenger Mariner of the Seas will operate from Galveston, both on Gulf of Mexico itineraries to the Western Caribbean... In Europe next year, Royal Caribbean has been able to add 47 cruises from Italy, primarily because of its withdrawal of Mariner of the Seas from Los Angeles service (see top item). Venice and Rome will serve as homeports for Mariner and the 2076-passenger Splendour of the Seas, which have scheduled calls at 30 ports in 12 countries... "Shrek," "Madagascar," "Kung Fu Panda," and "How to Train Your Dragon" stars will entertain young passengers aboard Royal Caribbean's new Allure of the Seas starting in December. That's when RCL's family entertainment agreement with Animation SKG will come into being. Animation-themed activities and amenities will be incorporated into entertainment programs also on Oasis, Freedom, and Liberty of the Seas vessels. Special events, parades, interactive character meals in dining rooms, 3D movies, photo ops, children's programs, games, and adventures will be among the elements rounding out the theme... The 2250-passenger Enchantment of the Seas begins year-'round service from Baltimore this season. It will go to Bermuda, the Eastern Caribbean, and Canada - New England in the summer and fall. In the winter and spring it will travel to the Bahamas and South Caribbean.
Ever hear of a Kniepp Walk? That's one of the many new features of the 11,400 square foot spa in Seabourn's just-inaugurated new 450-passenger Sojourn. The spa will also have cocooning recliners, an herbal bath, an aroma steam bath with salt inhalation, an outdoor relaxation area, coral-themed artwork, six treatment rooms, a spa villa suitable for two, skin products, a thermal suite with eight heated loungers, a bio sauna, a Finnish sauna, fitness-cardio-strength equipment, massages, personal trainers, and more. The Kniepp Walk? That's a holistic water therapy treatment that, with healing remedies, is designed to enhance circulation. Passengers walk slowly through a circular basin separated into areas of cold and warm water, thereby stimulating capillary circulation and metabolism...The ship, constructed in Genoa, begins service this season. It's the second of three new ships entering Seabourn's fleet, representing a 216 percent increase in capacity for the company. It will spend its maiden season in Northern Europe. All accommodations have an ocean view, with 90 percent having private verandas. There will be four dining venues, six bars and lounges, two swimming pools, six outdoor whirlpools, a fold-out marina, a nine-hole mini golf course, a giant chess board, library, shops, computer center, coffee bar, and more.
The 382-passenger Silver Whisper has completed an extensive renovation. In cabins: carpeting, headboards, and curtains were replaced. Sofas and chairs were reupholstered. New mattresses were installed. Alarm clocks with iPod docks were installed. Public areas were refreshed with new carpets and new wood flooring. An upgraded sound system was added to showrooms. New carpets were placed in all corridors, landings, and staircases. Outdoors, artificial turf was added to the jogging track and the pool area received new deck furniture and new sound and light systems for entertainment and outdoor shows. A large awning was placed over the outdoor dining section.
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| Updates when news occurs | July-August-September 2010 issue | Entire new issue will be posted October 1, 2010 |