Cruise survival kit: What you need to be totally prepared

by Chris Owen on

Carnival Inspiration finally docked in Florida at 8:30 p.m. last night after being held out at sea due to weather conditions. A bunch of other Carnival ships are sailing modified itineraries for weather-related issues. Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas was tossed around in bad Middle East weather.

News from the cruise industry lately has been all about weather-related delays, modifications of itineraries, disabled ships, braving storms and compensation to passengers for their troubles. With that in mind, cruise packing lists are being updated with a number of items normally found on lists for camping or backpacking. Start with these for your cruise survival kit:

Satellite phone
For as little as $24.95 a week you can rent global Iridium Satellite Phones from Satellite Phone.com. They can provide the lifeline you want when power goes out. Call rates of between $.99 and $1.59 a minute might sound expensive sitting on dry land but that will quickly be a bargain if you are the only one able to communicate with the outside world.

Lots of backup power
When the ship loses power the clock starts ticking on your cell phone or camera battery. What could be a timely call home (if and when you can catch a signal) to let friends and family know you are OK might not happen without plenty of backup power. iPhone users know Mophie.com is the place to go. Brookstone has a universal battery that works for phones and cameras.

Survival food
The passengers aboard Carnival Splendor, the ship by an engine room fire, have a lesson for us: Bring food. When lavish buffets and gourmet dining come to a screeching halt because the power got knocked out or the buffet lines thrown around by angry seas, some high protein snacks will come in handy. Think canned nuts, peanut butter, or other survival food high in calories that won’t take up a lot of space in luggage.

The right luggage
Now, more than ever, its a good idea to have only one piece of luggage that you can keep with you at all times. Cruise lines allow passengers to skip checking luggage if they can carry it on and off the ship without assistance. On Carnival Inspiration, held at sea for so long, guests who held on to their luggage were the winners. Durable Victorinox has some great choices.

The odds are you will have a totally safe and care-free cruise vacation. But savvy travelers know that being prepared for anything that might come your way is a good idea.

Photo of the Day (12.13.10)

by Mike Barish on

Cities are not really that much fun in the winter. Winter is meant to be enjoyed in the mountains, in warm rustic cabins or, for those who are averse to the cold, on the beach in the Caribbean. Other than some quaint holiday decorations, cities are pretty devoid of winter perks. Snow turns black pretty quickly, slush makes walking around difficult and buildings create wind tunnels. All in all, winter in cities kind of sucks.

As we hunker down for winter, this photo by Flickr user Mike GL has me planning for ways to get out of New York City at some point over the next few months. Simply enduring wintery urban life doesn’t sound all that fun when I could be snowshoeing someplace way more scenic.

Taken any great winter photos during your travels? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

Take your landline phone on the road with the netTALK DUO

by Scott Carmichael on

If your trips regularly include the need to make phone calls back home, then the netTALK DUO phone adapter may be the perfect solution for keeping costs to a minimum.

When plugged into a network port, the netTALK DUO turns you into your own phone company. Best of all, unlike some other pocket sized phone dongles, the netTALK DUO does not require you to keep your PC turned on.

And to make a great product even better – the initial investment of $69.95 includes the adapter and your first year of unlimited phone calls.

Once the first year is up, you can add additional years of unlimited calling for $29.95. The yearly fee also includes a variety of free features, including 411, caller ID, call forwarding, conference calling and extremely competitive international rates. In fact, if you travel abroad with the netTALK DUO, it may even be cheaper to make a local call than use the phones in that country!

Travelers can carry a small landline phone, or make calls using their computer, plus once you have a netTALK account, you can also make calls using their iPhone, Android or Blackberry applications.

To order yourself a netTALK DUO, or to learn more about its various features, check out netTalk.com. We’ll also have a full review later this week.

Mammoth Mountain debuts newest in ski area dining: snowcat food “trucks”

by Laurel Miller on

The national street food/truck/cart obsession is hitting the slopes. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that on December 18th, California’s Mammoth Mountain Ski Area will unleash North America’s only snowcat-mobile kitchen. Could this be the start of a new ski area dining trend?

Known as Roving Mammoth, the two “foodcats” are built from refurbished snowcats outfitted with small kitchens. They’ll roam the mountain from 9am to 2:30pm, offering ravenous skiers and boarders carbo-loading in the form of burritos, calzones, and churros, as well as cold, non-alcoholic beverages.

The up-to-the-moment location of the ‘cats can be found via a My Mammoth Twitter account (be sure to keep handwarmers in your gloves for faster burrito-seeking). Stops will include high-volume spots such as South Park, the top of Lift 14, and the bottom of Chair 9, but weather and events will also determine where the foodcats roam.

FYI, United and Horizon Air begin nonstop daily air service to Mammoth from the Bay Area on December 16th, via SFO and San Jose.

[Photo credit: Flickr user Telstar Logistics]

Daily Pampering: $9,000 presidential suite at The Ritz-Carlton Beijing, Financial Street

by Melanie Nayer on



What does $60,000 RMB buy you in Beijing? The glamorous presidential suite at the Ritz-Carlton Beijing, Financial Street. Converted to about $9,000 USD (plus a 15% service charge), this room has everything fit for luxury living on the hotel’s 19th floor:

  • Scenic view of the city skyline and the beautifully landscaped park
  • Fully-equipped kitchen
  • A library equipped with a printer and fax machine
  • Dining table for eight
  • Three flat screen televisions
  • An entertainment center with DVD and CD Player
  • High-speed Internet access and wireless
  • A free-standing Aveo Villeroy & Boch bathtub
  • A special shower room offering three choices of rainshower experience
  • Sauna room
  • Bulgari bath amenities
  • Walk-in wardrobe

The 15% service charge gets you 24/7 Ritz-Carlton service, and maybe the granting of three wishes. The hotel is conveniently located next to some of the world’s best luxury designer stores so any additional cash can be spent properly with a day of shopping.

Want more? Get your daily dose of pampering right here.