Disney puts their ships where their heart is

by Chris Owen on

When new Disney Fantasy comes out next year, Disney Cruise Line will have pretty much doubled their fleet of cruise ships in a very short time. Just like Disney, they have magical plans for each and every day all four ships are sailing. New voyages out of three new ports in 2012 is just the beginning. As America’s master of entertainment prepares to dominate the family cruise business, Disney puts their ships where their heart is.

New York, Seattle and Galveston, Texas will see their first Disney ships next year. The two newest ships, this year’s Disney Dream and upcoming Disney Fantasy will stay close to home, sailing a variety of sailings of varying lengths from bustling Port Canaveral in Florida. We knew that. That is good. Theme-park freaks can still get their fill at Walt Disney World in Florida before or after sailing with a shorter cruise while those with an eye for the sea can enjoy longer itineraries.

That’s great news for Florida but nobody forgot about the west coast…not at this cruise line anyway.
The Disney Wonder is scheduled to continue sailing seven-night Mexican Riviera cruises from the Port of Los Angeles for the majority of the year. (and the entire, cruise-ship abandoned west coast lets out a sign of relief). Now, with the increased fleet size, Disney Wonder will also sail four seven-night Pacific Coast cruises from Los Angeles calling on San Francisco, San Diego and Ensenada, Mexico.

Great big fat good news: Now hear this: The Disney Wonder will offer a special 15-night voyage to Hawaii from Los Angeles, calling on Hilo; Kahului, Maui; Honolulu, Oahu; Nawiliwili, Kauai and Ensenada, Mexico.

I can just hear the wheels turning as guests booked at the new massive new Disney Aulani Resort and Spa try to figure out some way to tack a Disney cruise on the front, back, middle or side of a land vacation.

Flipping back to the east coast for a bit, starting in May 2012, Disney Magic will sail a total of 20 cruises from New York. Included are eight-night cruises to the Bahamas and five-night cruises up the New England coast to Canada.

Not sure if a family-style casino-less Disney cruise is for you?

Two-night cruises will be offered to give a taste of the Disney Cruise Line experience over a weekend. I’m betting you come back for seconds. Yes, even in New York.

But that’s not all. The hidden gem in the whole deal is that starting in September 2012, Disney Magic will sail 12 seven-night cruises from the Port of Galveston to the Western Caribbean. That’s huge.


That’s also joining new Carnival Magic (which Gadling will be on in just a few weeks) sailing from Galveston, a first for a new cruise ship, normally brought up in Florida before sent to venture out on its own.

But wait, we have another one new to Galveston too. Princess Cruises brings a Love Boat to town with the popular Crown Princess sailing in December 2012 and April 2013.

Galveston hits the jackpot, that’s just all there is to it.

I live in Orlando and if there’s one thing we know here it’s that when Disney does it, they do it right. This roll-out of ships and itineraries, this special deployment, will no doubt turn the cruise industry on it’s ear. All the preparation other lines have done, slapping B-grade animation studios on their ships to prepare for this day will be tested.

You can bet the other lines will have their best foot forward as Disney, quite appropriately, ushers in a new standard in family entertainment at sea. It’s a tall order, even for Disney, but a few simple words come to mind that will clearly define this moment for Disney Cruise Line:

“When your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme” -Cricket, Jiminy

Bucket List travel blog locks in on people, experiences

by Chris Owen on
This week, Princess Cruises reached the half-way point of it’s travel blog “50 Essential Experiences: The Travel Bucket List” with a post by Commodore Giuseppe Romano, senior captain of the Princess fleet. Different from others, this travel blog focuses on people, namely people who work for Princess Cruises and their personal, qualified experiences traveling the world.

Over the past 45 years, Princess ships have sailed to all seven continents with many of their employees logging thousands of sea and air miles visiting hundreds of places around the planet.

The 50 Essential Experiences blog asks of them: “You’ve seen it all. What places do I really need to have on my travel bucket list?”

For President and CEO Alan Buckelew it was about his time in Vietnam both as a soldier in 1969 and returning some 40 years later via cruise ship.

In A Soldier Returns…as a Tourist, Buckelew brings his experience right down to ground level, including the emotional, personal side of his travel back in time which could have gone a number of ways.

“I really hadn’t thought about how I would react to my return to Vietnam. However, I had expected a flood of memories to overtake me. But that didn’t happen. Faces did come to mind, but they weren’t of the young men with whom I had fought. Rather, they were their current portraits.”

Rooms Department Manager from the Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge, Kristen Helgren took us to Santorini, Greece.

In her blog post, The Sounds of Santorini, Helgren adventures through some preconceived notions about Greece and takes us along on a journey to the cliffs of Santorini.

“As our ship maneuvered to drop anchor at Santorini, I got my first glimpse of the island’s iconic steep cliffs. Though I may have glimpsed what towered above me at that point, my attention was actually focused downward, as I contemplated the fact that we had just sailed into a giant, submerged volcanic crater, or caldera.”

Rob Roberts, Manager of Shore Excursions for Europe & Exotics takes us on My Grand Tour of ancient sites and great cities of the Mediterranean.

In a behind-the-scenes glimpse at what goes into the research and planning of shore excursions he notes

“I remember reading Mark Twain’s “The Innocents Abroad” in college, which chronicled his own Grand Tour by steamship in 1867, and became one of his best-selling books of all time. To think that here I was, following in these grand footsteps as I helped to plan a similar experience for thousands of passengers”

In the most recent post, The Gift of the City of Lights, Commodore Romano goes into great detail, revealing a side of someone who lives at sea that is rarely seen. I met then Captain Romano several years ago when he presided over a renewal of wedding vows ceremony we enjoyed on board Star Princess. Knowing him then reading his post this week really drove home the notion that these are all real people, sharing their personal experiences with us. Romano tells of surprising his wife with a trip to Paris, a place she had dreamed of visiting one day.

“We boarded a flight from Miami to Paris under the guise that we were continuing on to Amsterdam. It wasn’t until we went to collect our luggage that I handed her a Fodor’s guide to Paris, her go-to book whenever the family joined me on board, and told her, “Happy Anniversary!” Knowing my sense of humor, she thought I was joking. But once she realized we were finally going to Paris, she was overjoyed”

These are just a few posts from this great blog that comes at us from a different angle than we see elsewhere. Reading about places you may not have been to or those you have visited many times, it is easy to see why they made the 50 Essential Experiences bucket list. If you have not been reading along, it’s not too late to catch up either. Sign up online and Princess will even email you when a new one comes out. With over a million hits so far and thousands of comments, this one is creating a lot of loyal readers and probably adding some destinations to more than a few bucket lists.

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Richard Branson takes to the sea? Not as odd as it may sound

by Chris Owen on
No, we’re not talking about Virgin Cruise Line but when billionaire Richard Branson talks, people listen. Last year, Branson unveiled a three-man submarine, the Necker Nymph, capable of going almost 100 feet deep. Today, Branson hinted at more water-related ventures at a southern California yacht club.

Tuesday’s announcement at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club on Balboa Peninsula says there is only one frontier left for Branson’s Virgin brand, which has reached “the seven continents of the earth, up into the jet stream and soon, even into space.” reports the Associated Press.

“If someone says something is impossible we like to prove it’s possible,” Branson said. “I love learning and I’m just very fortunate to participate in these kinds of adventures.”

Branson unveiled a new 18 foot submarine, the first of his new Virgin Oceanic adventure. The $17 million sub will make deep dives to be recorded and uploaded to Google Earth creating an “interactive virtual globe” that will “enable users to visit places that they’ve never explored, including the world’s oceans” said John Hanke, Google’s vice president of product management.

Cruise ship home ports- not always the goldmine they promise

by Chris Owen on
When cruise lines base ships in a coastal city, good things usually happen because cruise ship home ports generate good things. Just one cruise ship from any major cruise line can mean $millions in jobs and tourism dollars. Being a cruise ship home port can greatly enhance the image of a city too. Not every city is cut out to be a cruise ship home port but the ones that are, expect to be one for quite a while. Imagine their surprise in Mobile, Alabama when the one cruise ship they had gave notice; they are sailing away to be based elsewhere.

“We have made the very difficult decision to discontinue our cruise operations from Mobile effective October 22, 2011.” said Gerry Cahill, president and CEO, Carnival Cruise Lines


A difficult decision indeed. Cruise lines have a stake in the success (or failure) of a cruise ship home port as well. A lot of time and resources go into choosing a home port in the first place then the process of supplying the ship, booking passengers, arranging ports of call and other ongoing activities take place.

“We are extremely grateful for the many years of tremendous partnership, support and cooperation provided by the Alabama Cruise Terminal team, the local leadership in Mobile, area travel agents and the community at large.” added Cahill, noting “Unfortunately, we have not been able to achieve favorable financial results with this program.”

And that is the end of that.

They tried and they tried again but it just did not work out for Carnival in Mobile, Alabama begging the question: “Was Mobile a good choice for a cruise port in the first place?”

Well it certainly seemed so at the time. City leaders and government officials courted Carnival, built the new Alabama Cruise Terminal, but are left with an empty facility and a $26 million construction bill to pay. Mobile’s mayor is in Miami, trying to work things out with the cruise line as we see in this report from local television station WKRG.

WKRG.com News

The issue at hand seems to be all about the prices being paid for a sailing aboard the Elation. While the ship sailed full, prices were lower than needed by the cruise line to reach the level of profitability they need to make staying there worthwhile.

So off to New Orleans the Carnival Elation goes.

Right now, New Orleans has the Carnival Triumph, a newer, bigger ship with more to offer, selling for about the same price.

Right now, a 5-night ride on the Elation goes for a starting price of $379 per person + tax on a mid-April sailing while the Triumph is has a starting price of $359 per person +tax. About the same.

But Carnival Triumph is moving to Galveston where a 5-night sailing in April of 2012 will start at $499 per person + tax. A much higher price. Take that $100 or so per person times the 2000 or so passengers on each sailing of the ship and we’re talking millions of dollars a year.

Other factors go into the decision to move a ship too.

“Additionally, the itineraries from Mobile require much higher relative fuel costs to operate and those fuel costs will become even more unfavorable with the implementation of the new ECA requirements starting in 2012.” said Cahill which brings up a whole other topic as cruise lines scramble (reposition ships, in this case) to make ends meet.

Cruise lines are already absorbing the higher price of fuel rather than pass it along to passengers in the form of the highly-unpopular fuel surcharge and nothing will be left off the table as an option to keep prices down.

This is by no means a Carnival-exclusive method of operation. While these decisions are tough ones for cruise lines to make, the very nature of their “mobile assets” makes moving ships a viable, if not prudent way to do business.

The entire U.S. west coast cruise industry has been transformed as ships from many lines were redeployed to more profitable waters. The common fear reported earlier with these moves is that less supply of ships in North America will force higher prices as cruise vacations continue to be in high demand. This move of the Carnival Spirit takes yet another ship from the U.S. West coast who recently lost Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas to Europe.

A realignment of assets among cruise lines and less capacity in North America could mean fewer choices and higher prices. Travel authority Arthur Frommer called the shifting of capacity to European waters “the biggest development in cruising” noting “you’ll see far fewer cabins and berths in the Caribbean.”

It may all boil down to an overzealous push by local leaders to attract cruise ships in the first place. The seductive allure of the considerable tourism dollars that just one ship can mean might cause government officials to look beyond elements of the deal that might come back to haunt them later.

In the case of the Carnival Elation in Mobile, Alabama, the cruise line, by contract, had to give the city just 90 days notice if they were moving a ship. There are those who might question the wisdom in agreeing to those terms when doing so included building a new cruise terminal the city would be obligated to pay for years into the future.

When would-be port cities throw their hat in the ring for consideration to be a home port for a cruise ship, they naturally want to portray their city favorably. Sometimes too favorably.

Both Brownsville, Texas and Savannah, Georgia have made similar bids for cruise line attention. Critics of the idea sounded off when preliminary feasibility studies came back painting a bit rosier picture of what might be than reality would indicate.

“The reality is they have as much chance to get a cruise ship to visit as they do in luring the Lakers from Los Angeles” said cruise industry expert Stewart Chiron CEO, CruiseGuy.com speaking of a feasibility study done by Brownsville, Texas. “These results are based on the cow jumping over the moon, planets aligning and may also require peace on earth!” he added.

In the end, it all seems to boil down to money. The same money cities dream of coming out of a depression, honestly wanting to create jobs, fill hotels and put their city on the map.

Chiron concludes the big question is “Where will the cruise lines be able to reap the highest yields?”

Apparently not in Mobile, Alabama.

The unexpected: part of traveling, even on cruise ships

by Chris Owen on

If we travel by air, we hope our flight will be on time, our luggage makes it with us without damage and that no one sits next to us in that vacant seat. Once at our destination, we hope for good weather, friendly people along the way and the opportunity to make great memories that will last a lifetime. That’s pretty much universal regardless of what we’re doing. Still, the unexpected does happen and there are two ways to look at it when plans go awry. We can be disappointed and allow deviations from our plans to ruin our travels or we can accept those deviations, regroup and move along, often ending up with a richer, more fulfilling experience than we ever dreamed of, let alone planned on.

Be it Backpacking, Hiking, Camping, Climbing, Scuba Divng, Skiing, Surfing or Biking, we hope for the best. Smart travelers prepare for the worst too and usually end up with an experience somewhere between good and great if we did our homework. We know things can go wrong and do what we can to avoid situations where that might happen. All-inclusive vacation packages or cruise vacations promise to take a lot of the guesswork out of the equation but sometimes the unexpected happens with those as well.

Earlier this week, Carnival Pride was docked at Port Canaveral earlier when an 85-knot guest of wind blew the ship out of position and caused some minor damage. The result was a late departure from Port Canaveral and a modified itinerary that skipped good-port Nassau, leaving not-so-good-port Freeport, Bahamas as an overnight visit.

This was not the cruise that passengers paid for, true. But travelers, and cruise passengers in particular, often forget that the very nature of travel brings upon us the unexpected from time to time. That is part of the deal as well. It’s not spelled out in any contract or brochure but the unexpected happens. Sometimes, even with the best of preparation, the unexpected happens and there is nothing we can do to prevent it. We can, however, roll with those unexpected changes and make the best of it. Often, it is the unexpected that elicit some of the best travel experiences that we will be talking about long after the end of that vacation.

Andy Hayes (@Andrewghayes) is the managing editor of SharingTravelExperiences.com and recommends:

  • Always Take the High Road. Being a total jerk doesn’t do anybody any favors, and usually works against you. Remember, it isn’t usually the employee you’re dealing with who caused the issue (and even if it was, still…). Be firm and friendly.
  • Get on the Phone. If you’re stuck in long queues (esp at the airport), get on the phone as sometimes a phone agent can be easier to reach and can get you a manager to authorize off-policy changes. It is better to deal with someone in person though, so use the phone option as a backup.
  • Accept what you can’t change. When the weather or mistakes or whatever means that you just aren’t going to get home on time, or you’re going to miss out on something special, try to find the inner peace to accept it. Yeah, it sucks, but if you let that negative energy fester it can spoil your entire vacation.
That’s good advice that can be applied to just about any travel situation. Often, the difference between “I had a lousy time” and “That was awesome!” have to do with how we look at the unexpected. We can choose to be mad about changes that come our way or we can choose to take those changes in stride, determined to get the most out of every situation we are in, regardless of what that might be.

While cruise lines publish itineraries far in advance of sailing, like a hiking trip, variables along the way can change what actually happens. A gust of wind made a real impact on the cruise experience of passengers on that Carnival ship earlier this week.

A similar gust of wind might have altered the plans of someone on a camping trip, blowing their tent down. If you have ever camped much, you know that happens. You take precautions by pitching that tent in the right direction, using long enough stakes set deep and at an angle to keep them in the ground. But every once in a while you might come back from a hike and find that tent blown down. It happens. You get over it. You move along. It is certainly nothing that will ruin your day or the entire trip.

Cruise passengers need to have that same attitude about itineraries, on-board programs, off-the-ship activities and the like. The unexpected is part of traveling, a part not to be feared but just dealt with when it happens. If possible, turn it in to a good thing, a shared experience with others. It’s often just how we look at it.

Flickr photo by Sparkles Tuey