Royal Caribbean has a special onboard credit offer for new bookings on Oasis of the Seas for any March, April or May 2011 sailing.
Check this special cruise deal watch. Book a Boardwalk or Central Park Balcony on any sailing in March, April or May 2011 and get $100 onboard credit per cabin. These are the balcony cabins that have a view looking inside the ship, not out to the ocean. Pricing is good in comparison to oceanview balcony cabins too so see your travel expert today if interested.
Look for more special pricing and deals from Royal Caribbean in the near future too. The line has released it’s 2012-2013 Deployment schedule and very soon that coveted information will be available.They will be opening up the Caribbean/Bermuda, Canada/New England, Summer Europe and Transatlantic sailings in March. In April look for Alaska, Australia, more Caribbean and Winter Europe and Dubai. In August we’ll see pricing on Asia then in September more Caribbean (Colon, Panama) and Winter Europe. October 2011 will be the month to find out about Brazil.
Carnival Cruise Lines set a one-week reservations record booking 165,308 guests between Feb. 7-13, 2011, topping the previous one-week reservations record set nearly four years ago. Recent moves made by the line suggest an improving economy but cautious consumers are still seeking value.
“Clearly, consumers are taking advantage of the incredible value that a Carnival cruise provides, not only in terms of our fun on-board experience but also our many convenient close-to-home departure points and wide variety of short itineraries,” Cahill said. “This activity reaffirms that even in today’s economic climate, consumers still want to have fun and view their vacations as an important part of their lives,” he added.
Carnival did not just stumble in to a record-breaking week. They have been working on it for quite some time.Kicking off the year in a socially engaging way, Carnival threw its signature “Fun” hat in the ring as official confetti sponsor of the Times Square New Years Eve 2011 celebration. The sponsorship included multiple opportunities for the line to infuse its version of fun into the festivities including a free-cruise giveaway.
Indeed, Carnival took the lead steering the cruise industry through uncharted social waters introducing their “Hey America, DidJa Ever?” campaign where the line is collecting the “Top 100 Firsts” from over 420,000 Facebook fans. Fans are encouraged to tighten up relationships by sharing experiences through photos and videos aimed to create events and memories. Carnival will help make those dreams come true for fans giving away anything from cruise vacations for four to appearing on stage with a favorite band.
Value is the name of the game when it comes to cruise pricing and Carnival’s Early Saver Fare, guaranteed by the line to be the lowest available, has become wildly popular. Ranking high on top cruise value lists, the fare is much like a restricted air fare. The Early Saver fare requires a non-refundable deposit and no changes can be made without penalty. But the trade-off is the best value offered by the line, even beating past-guest, military and senior rates.
The big question: Why don’t other lines offer a similar program?
In a startling video of a recent interview released yesterday, the assistant director of San Diego’s cruise port revealed that “weapons of mass effect” had been found in the past. As the interview continued, on-camera comments suggested a cover-up of important information regarding port safety.
In an interview reported on Fox News, San Diego assistant port director Al Hallor, also an officer with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said that authorities had uncovered weapons of mass effect in the past and that San Diego was a target for terrorism.
“Given the open waterways and the access to the Navy fleet here, I’d say, absolutely, San Diego is a target,” Hallor said. When asked if they ever found a chemical agent or weaponized device Hallor replied “At the airport, seaport, at our port of entry we have not this past fiscal year, but our partner agencies have found those things”
Immediately, a public affairs officer stepped in to intervene, attempting to steer the interview in a different direction, limiting questions to just the Port of San Diego.
Homeland Security officials tried to say the assistant director was confused and nervous. Later in the day, the Customs and Border Protection issued this statement:
“CBP has not specifically had any incidents with nuclear devices or nuclear materials at our ports of entry. CBP is an all-threats agency. The purpose of many security measures is to prevent threats from ever materializing by being prepared for them. And, we must be prepared to stop threats in whatever form they do materialize at the border, whether it’s an individual or cargo arriving by land, air, or sea. Regardless of what the contraband or threat is, we’re being smart, evaluating, and focusing in on anything or anyone that is potentially high-risk.
We were able to show you first-hand one example of how we evaluate segment risk, inspect, etc. in the cargo environment by air and sea here in San Diego. This is one portion of the CBP mission, and hopefully gives you some examples of how much has evolved in the past decade, with the new technologies we have at our disposal. This, coupled with document requirements at the border, advanced passenger and cargo information, better information sharing, and many other measures help us to secure the border – and each measure doesn’t work individually or in a vacuum, but rather in the layered security that we were able to demonstrate one facet of.”
The Port of San Diego recently made news on another front when they introduced the technology that allows cruise ships to “plug in” when at port, turning off their highly-polluting engines while in port.
Just announced, the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton will be televised live on Princess Cruises ships on April 29. Passengers can follow along with full coverage of the historic wedding through BBC World’s broadcast of the event.
Some other lines made a similar announcement in December. Princess Cruises is doing it differently though.
“As this is the first British royal wedding in years we know there will be wide interest among our passengers,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises executive vice president. “We at Princess also feel a connection with Prince William because his mother, Princess Diana, christened our original Royal Princess back in 1984.”
Princess is adding onboard viewing parties complete with British-style refreshments and royal-themed cocktails as they watch the most extensive coverage of this royal event. BBC is the official wedding broadcaster and has exclusive access inside Westminster Abbey during the ceremony.
Onboard events include a William and Kate look-alike contest and royal wedding trivia competitions.
Royal Wedding broadcasts are planned for all ships in the Princess fleet, subject to satellite availability. Shown on giant 300 sq ft “Movies Under The Stars” LED screens like they have the Super Bowl and Academy Awards in the past, there will be a good seat for everyone to watch the entire event.
They went away and then they came back when Alaska government officials raised then lowered their cost of doing business in Alaskan waters. Looking ahead, upcoming Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards may send cruise lines running once again.
It all has to do with regulations in the works that enforce “dramatically tougher pollution limits as early as January 2014” the EPA says of Ocean Vessels and Large ships.
“The tougher standards could add $50 million to $150 million in annual costs for Alaska routes by 2015, when the pollution clampdown gets even tougher” Andy Nelson, vice president of tour operations for Royal Celebrity Tours told the Puget Sound Business Journal.
It’s a topic cruise lines would rather avoid but have taken steps to comply and even go beyond existing regulations.After turning a cold shoulder to an Alaska that seemed determined to tax cruise ships out of the market, cruise lines returned this year to the land of the midnight sun with more ships, sailings and capacity.
“We are particularly appreciative of the efforts of Governor Sean Parnell and the Alaska state legislature that have resulted in meaningful progress toward resolving the challenges facing Alaska’s recovery as a cruise destination,” said Princess Cruises President and CEO Alan Bucklew.
Cruise lines often come under heavy criticism for environmental impact but have been making efforts to be good global citizens. “Plugging in” to shoreside power is a growing way ship emissions are being controlled.
Yes, new EPA fuel rules could drive cruise ships out of Alaska again. But is that what Alaska wants? Cruise lines say no; it’s big business to them and they are trying to comply with regulations. Tourists say no, they want to go there. Alaska residents say no, tourism runs in the hundreds of $ millions.