Ten cool new cruise things you might see on a ship soon

by Chris Owen on

Just back from Cruise Shipping Miami, the annual trade show for all things cruising, I have ten cool new things you might see on a cruise ship soon. Cruise Shipping Miami is an annual showcase for suppliers to the cruise industry. Looking for the latest in sinks for your cruise ship? This is the place to be. Want to know all there is to know about different ports of call? Most of them are represented at the show. Don’t own a cruise ship? That’s OK, most of the travel professionals who went there didn’t either.
Some of this stuff is pretty cool and gives a lot of insight to what buyers at cruise lines have to choose from.
  1. Wine in aluminum bottles– Flasq brand wines packaged like Bud Light in aluminum bottles may be around on deck in a “What took so long to think of that?” idea. Flasq wines are grown in California regions, are 100% American-made and bottled in eco-friendly, easy-to-handle, quick-chilling aluminum cans.
  2. Learn to play the bagpipes– Maybe not but Cruise Scotland had a bagpiper on hand to lend an air of authenticity to their display booth and more than one travel professional looked way less professional attempting to dance along.
  3. Glacier Ice may not be available on the cruise ships but a contingent from Anchorage, Alaska had some there and wouldn’t share it. Still, what a great way to charge even more for a drink-of-the-day by adding official “Glacier Ice” to the mix. Having been to and stood on top of a glacier in Alaska, I’m not so sure I would want some of that ice in my drink though. Maybe after a few. That could work.
  4. Optimistic attitude about cruise vacations– It’s not a product you can pick up or ask for on a ship. But the cruise line executives present at Cruise Shipping Miami universally called for 2011 to be a great year for cruises with 8 new ships coming out as travelers shake off the effects of a recession and get back to traveling
  5. Moso Natural Air Purifying Bag– The company who makes these things hopes you will find one in your cruise ship cabin soon. The idea is to place these charcoal-filled bags in cruise ship cabins to cut down on moisture, mildew and odors. This thing sucks up all that bad stuff and works for two years. I wouldn’t look to see this one any time soon.
  6. Bed Bug Dogs from Avoid-A-Bug may show up on cruise ships. Apparently ultra-sensitive dog noses can smell bed bugs and alert housekeeping staff of there presence. While the pros at Adopt-A-Bug admitted cruise ships have few problems with bed bugs, hotels and airlines are another matter altogether.
  7. Another cruise ship hotel? That is one plan for the SS United States, currently held by a non-profit organization that has a limited amount of time to do something with it. It’s a story we have been following for a while which is far from over. This latest idea, to park the ship in Miami as a hotel like the Queen Mary in California, looks to be a viable one.
  8. Loksak storage bags and carrying cases– Loksak is the inventor and manufacturer of LOKSAK and SPLASHSAK which are basically super duty ziploc bags to keep your cell phone or iPad dry at the beach…or under water. These have been around for a while and can be bought online at sporting goods stores like REI and others.
  9. More people on more ships- The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is predicting that 16 million people, three-quarters of them from North America, will vacation aboard cruise ships this year, up 6.6 percent from 2010. CLIA is pretty good at calling it too, last year’s numbers exceeded their projections.
  10. It’s all about the name– Princess Cruises announced one of two upcoming new ships, previously unnamed, will be named Royal Princess. Princess has used that name twice before but they like it a lot so once again it will ride the ocean. This time Royal Princess will come equipped with a Seawalk that shoots people out over the side of the ship at a high velocity. No, not really. But the top-deck, glass-bottomed walkway will extend more than 28 feet beyond the edge of the vessel.
Flickr photo by Trondheim Havn

Photo of the Day – Wildlife in Yellowstone

by Jeremy Kressmann on

It’s easy to clutter your travel photos with all kinds of random visual information. But sometimes the best shot is also the simplest. For instance today’s snap from Photo of the Day regular fiznatty. While exploring the famous Yellowstone National Park, our photographer spotted this elusive Red Fox trotting through the pristine white snow. Your eye is drawn immediately to the fox’s reddish-orange coat, furry tail and quick movement. It almost looks as if the animal was dropped on a plain white canvas for added effect.

Have any great photos from your travels you’d like to share with the world? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

Hawaii back in business, just how much uncertain

by Chris Owen on

After last week’s tsunami event and resulting disruptions kept tourists, hotels and a cruise ship from normal island life, Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie declared all “back in business” after a tour of the Big island and Maui.

“We can come back quick,” Abercrombie said during a day-long inspection of the islands adding “We’re back in business. I don’t want information getting out to the mainland that we’re not open for business or that Hawaii is shut off.”
Hotels are open and have plenty of tourists. Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America returned after canceling last week’s call in Kailua-Kona on the island’s the west coast. Flights in and out of the islands are posting few delays. Still, while tourism is back in full swing, just how much there will be is uncertain.

Ongoing disruption of all things normal in Japan is a big concern in Hawaii. Japan is second only to the U.S. mainland in the number of visitors each year.

“It’s a safe and wonderful place to visit. If all goes well, and that remains to be seen of course, but if all goes well we do think we can come through this in a matter or weeks and not months,” said Lt. Governor Brian Schatz,


“In California, too, right now, we’re seeing some cancelations. But at the same time when people start to realize there isn’t much of a danger in coming to Hawaii, we may see the snap back in tourism,” said University of Hawaii at Manoa Economics professor Sumner LaCroix to KITV.com

Manhattanhenge 2011 comes to New York City: May 30-31, July 11-12

by Grant Martin on

We’ve covered Manhattanhenge on Gadling occasionally over the years, and each time it never fails to amaze us. The concept, in case you’re unfamiliar, plays off the juxtaposition of the sun setting across the east-west streets of Manhattan. On only a few days out of the year the sun sets exactly between rows of skyscrapers, resulting in long beams of sunlight tumbling across the city and reflecting off of buildings. It’s quite a site to behold.

If you happen to be in New York City late this spring be sure to keep an eye out for the phenomenon, it should happen over the days of May 30th and 31st and July 11th and 12th. It also might help to have Kings of Convenience’s version of Manhattan Skyline on the radio.

Not surprisingly, the same phenomenon happens in Chicago on their orthogonal streets as well, though they don’t have the same elevation dropoff (and subsequent visual effect) that the Hudson River allows in New York.

Dates for Chicagohenge haven’t yet been distributed on the web — if anyone has them off hand feel free to post in the comments and we’ll update this post.

[via NewYorkology]

South Beach hotels not for everyone but great for some

by Chris Owen on
There is a big difference between “going to” South Beach and “staying on” South Beach for spring break or just about any other time. A day or night visit is fun. Staying at one of the local hotels on or close to the action is a whole other experience that’s not for everybody.

Visiting for the day or night is fun and just about anything goes while police watch spring breakers, looking for the insanely crazy/dangerous ones. Those they will tend to. The rest are left to have a good time,

I was in town for the Cruise Shipping Miami convention, one of the premiere events each year in the travel business which just happened to fall during spring break. I chose a South Beach hotel, the Chesterfield Hotel, for three reasons; it is within walking distance of the Miami Convention Center, it is on South Beach a block away from the beach and because it was available.

Between conventions and spring break, hotel rooms were scarce.


This one I probably would not have picked as a first choice based on mixed reviews from TripAdvisor.com like this one:

“Worst experience ever!!!!!!!!! Run…..run away from any deal….you might be offered. Worst managed property in the free world.”

or this one

“The rooms were all horribly dimly lit, had questionable cleanliness and many were entered directly from the street and did not have dead bolts or chain locks. Most of us ended up propping chairs up against the doors and laying “booby traps” in case of intruders.”

But like reading directions prior to assembly of some device, I don’t pay much attention to hotel reviews either. Often, I find some unique properties that way and this is certainly one of them.

If someone were looking for a chain hotel with chain hotel amenities, this would not be the hotel for them. This is a small boutique hotel with a character of it’s own that is undeniably South Beach-flavored.

The hotel is located a block from the beach and a short block at that. Every hotel in the area is old and shows what one might call wear. To me, each one has a story that goes back a long time. If I get a chance to stay on South Beach again I’ll do some research beforehand or make time for one of the art deco tours that are available.

The room I had was a standard king room and it was small, very small, but just fine for one person. I had read reviews complaining about various things but had no problems. The room had a great, huge shower and the people who worked there were just as friendly and helpful as they could be.

This hotel is part of the South Beach Group Hotels which are reciprocal with each other in several ways. You might book the Chesterfield Hotel and end up a building down the street in what appears to be a different hotel. A free happy-hour from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. is offered at any one of the five hotels in the group. Lightning-fast T1 wireless Internet access is free pretty much anywhere in the area and they provide beach towels too.

When it’s time to shop or eat, there are world-class restaurants and it seems every designer label made has a flagship store in the area. Add it all up and South Beach makes a great place to stay for just about any reason.

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