A Delta plane heading to Minneapolis had to abort its journey from Fort Lauderdale- Hollywood International Airport today as one of the plane’s engines broke apart in the air.
Pieces of the engine from the plane fell over Port Everglades where they are being recovered by investigators from the Broward Sheriff’s Department after the 7:30am attempt to take off. The plane quickly returned to the airport, making an emergency landing with no injuries reported.
Photo: Delta Airlines
An ongoing complaint about cruise vacations has been from solo cruisers; people traveling alone. Solo cruisers pay double the cruise fare most of the time because cruise lines base their world on double-occupancy. That does not mean that solo cruisers just have to resign themselves to either paying double or forgetting about going on a cruise. Things are changing and there are steps the solo traveler can take to get the best possible value.
To be fair, the cruise industry is changing a little. Not much, but a little. Norwegian Cruise Line added solo studios to their new Norwegian Epic, an industry first and quite the experiment. The cruise world watched closely to check the popularity of the new accommodations. Apparently the results don’t have other cruise lines rushing to the drawing board to see if they can modify ships and cash in on the bonanza. Still, Norwegian is trying and singles like the Epic studios which recently won a design award from Travel + Leisure magazine.
But other than that bold move by Norwegian, we’ve just heard some rumblings about Royal Caribbean maybe slapping a few on some of the older ships during drydock. There is not a lot of help coming for singles from the cruise industry. The solo traveler will have to take the lead to make it happen but significant savings can be realized by being actively involved over the life of their cruise booking. Check these tips:
There is no one single tool or idea that will make the cruise world totally fair for solo travelers. But by taking another look at the whole process, from booking to sailing, and by being actively involved along with your travel expert, solo cruising can be a rich and rewarding experience.
If all that’s not enough, try these 10 Reasons To Travel Alone, hold your head up high and have the cruise of a lifetime.
Flickr photo by Lisa Sanderson
Travelers booking cruise vacations go about it a number of ways. Some click-to-book with a third-party website, others book directly with the cruise line. Some seek the help of a general travel agent while others use a Cruise Travel Expert. At one time or another, all of them get booked. Almost immediately after booking, without fail, most look back and wonder if they got the best value. Here are some good tips to insure you have the best value.
1. Concentrate on value, not price. Too many people focus on simply the lowest price without regard to what comes along with it. One of the most common mistakes made is to pick a ship, sailing date and category of cabin then go shopping online. There are way more variables in the equation that need to be considered to get the best value.
2. Use a Cruise Travel Expert You can start with a standard travel agent, one who books any sort of travel. But as soon as possible, that person needs to be identified as an expert on cruise vacations. There are a lot of them out there and with the major changes happening right now in what makes a cruise vacation, you need someone singly focused on cruise vacations.
3. Book a value-oriented fare. The exact same cruise you click-to-book online probably has a number of different fare codes, much like an airline ticket. The problem with booking online is that consumers can’t see these codes, only travel agents can. If travel agents know what to do with them or not depends much on if they have reached the Cruise Travel Expert level or fall short in their everyday working knowledge.
Carnival Cruise Line’s Early Saver Fare, guaranteed to be the lowest published fare by the cruise line, is probably the best example of guaranteed value down the line. Much like a restricted-fare airline ticket, the Early Saver fare booking can not be modified, changed, canceled or re booked without paying a penalty. What scares too many people off of this fare is the “non-refundable” deposit which is not nearly as restrictive as it appears. True, if you cancel, even before final payment is due, you’re not going to get that deposit back. But Carnival allows you to use it toward a future cruise booked within two years, minus an administration fee.
4. Ask for the choice: Upgrade or price reduction Travel professionals booking your cruise vacation are often in a quandary when lower prices come along on a sailing they have booked for a client. Most often, the client does not even know the price went down.
Regular travel agents, paid by commission from the cruise line, are sometimes hesitant to lower prices which lowers their commission. They are not required to do so.
Cruise Travel Experts are also paid commission by the cruise line. One of the qualities that defines an agent as an expert is that they know the name of the game is value and what that might mean to you is important. Often, cruise lines will grant a complementary upgrade instead of a price reduction. The choice should be yours, not the agents.
5. Keep monitoring pricing and special promotions. When the booking is made is actually the beginning, not the end, of the pricing game. Watching for special promotions, discounts or offers that come along after booking and can be applied to your sailing is a good first step to insuring maximum value. Click-to-book website reservations will not consider added value offers down the line. Your Cruise Travel Expert will and so should you.
6. Get on the ship early That may seem a no-brainer but arriving at the port early for embarkation, being one of the first on the ship, can add great value to your overall cruise experience. The cruise is a limited-time vacation and getting on board as soon as possible allows you to learn your way around the ship before it fills with other passengers. Later, while others are bumping into walls, trying to figure out where everything is, you will have toured the ship, had lunch and settled in to have a fabulous vacation.
7. Research, Research, Research A lot of effort is done deciding on a ship and sailing date but often, cruise travelers fail to keep that research momentum going. As soon as the booking is made, attention should be focused on ports of call, memorizing the ship’s deck plans and learning as much as possible about how the cruise line operates. This mistake is most often made by people who have cruised before. Those new to cruise vacations most often do their homework but not in an organized manner. On most itineraries, you will be in any given port for one day and one day only. Some itineraries have overnight stays, but most are a matter of mere hours. Make the most of them by studying up on where you will be going and what you might be doing. AOLTravel guides are a no-brainer on this hunt.
8. Grease some palms You paid at least hundreds if not thousands or tens of thousands of dollars for this vacation. A $20 right up front slipped to your cabin steward will almost guarantee that they perform at peak efficiency. The same for the dining room’s Maitre ‘d or others who you will see frequently throughout the voyage. An understated green hand shake with the simple words “Take good care of us and we’ll take good care of you” sets the tone right up front. You seriously do not have time to go through the mediocre service/complaint/resolution process like you might on land. Cheap fares often bring cheap people to the ships and tips that make up the bulk of the crews pay suffer. They will appreciate your effort.
9. Say hello to the Captain A kind word to the master of the vessel never hurts anything. If you happen to see the Captain walking about the ship, walk right up to him and introduce yourself. Tell him “Thank you for this wonderful ship, the great crew and for all you do to keep us safe at sea” If that sounds corny, it is. But it has a world of impact on the number one person on the ship. Most people see the Captain walk by and think he is too busy to talk. He’s not. If he were too busy he would not be walking around the ship. He would be on the bridge, preparing to launch the Photon torpedos.
10. Go early to everything Like getting on the ship early gives you an advantage over those who come later, you will have many other opportunities to either stand in a line and wait or be one of the first to experience whatever it is you’re doing. While it’s not necessary or maybe even possible to do everything offered on a cruise vacation, the activities, shows or events you choose to attend should be looked at individual experiences and made the most of. Going early gives you the best seating for shows, best pick from buffets or sales and allows you to interact with crew members at their peak time of performance.
Carnival Splendor, the ship that was in the news after it caught fire in November, putting an abrupt end to sailings of the ship from the West coast, will be back in service February 20, 2011.
Taken out for repairs in November, Carnival Cruise Lines announced at the time that all sailings between then and January 16th had been cancelled for repairs to be made. Later, the line had to push that date forward when repairs took longer than normal. Now, the ship is ready to resume normal operations, doing seven-day sailings from Long Beach, California.
“Carnival Cruise Lines continues to be the number one West Coast operator with two ships based in Long Beach year-round, as well as a ship operating seasonal itineraries from San Diego and Laos Angeles. We have more year-round capacity dedicated to the West Coast than any other cruise line and we are committed to maintaining our leadership position in this important market,” said Gerry Cahill, Carnival’s president and CEO.Carnival Splendor has been throughly inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard and Lloyds Registry, a ship classification society, which monitored the progress of repairs during the ship’s dry-dock period.
“We’re obviously very pleased that the Carnival Splendor is returning to service and we’re looking forward to welcoming our guests aboard this fantastic ship,” Cahill said. “We would also like to thank our guests for their patience over the past few weeks, as well as our travel agent partners, the ports of San Diego and San Francisco and all of the government agencies, repair contractors and countless others who have provided invaluable assistance and support.”
Carnival will carry nearly 400,000 passengers a year between Carnival Splendor doing seven-day sailings to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas on Mexico’s Pacific coast and Carnival Paradise doing three and four-day Baja, Mexico itineraries.
Photo courtesy Carnival Cruise Lines
What do you do when you get to your destination? Well, apparently you spend $27 billion. A recent report from travel industry research firm PhoCusWright says that’s how much was dropped on the travel activities, events, attractions and tour space in 2009. Yep, $27 billion sounds like a big number, and doubtless, it is. But, did you know that it’s almost twice the size of the car rental market in the United States?
Several factors are responsible for the growth of this sector of the travel business, including “a growing aggregator network and advancements in technology and commercial models will power significant growth in advance bookings and online distribution,” says PhoCusWright.
And, it’s going to keep going.
Look for double-digit growth for travel activity bookings via online channels through 2012.
“The challenges of connecting to myriad small providers with limited technical capability and a low average transaction value have inhibited online distribution of travel-related activities,” notes Douglas Quinby, senior director, research at PhoCusWright. He adds that “while the market remains highly fragmented, key activity aggregators and a flood of innovation related to local search, social media and mobile devices are creating unprecedented opportunities.”
[photo by Richard Hsu via Flickr]