Cruise lines offering new itineraries world-wide

by Chris Owen on
A common concern among those who cruise often is wanting to see new ports on new itineraries. Carnival Cruise Line came up with some new ones recently that answer the call. Other lines as well hear passengers loud and clear, offering a new, diverse menu if itineraries for their ships as well.

Carnival’s latest itinerary update includes a change to sailings on the Carnival Valor, based in Miami year-round. This one is significant because it brings back 8-day, adds 6-day sailings that and will have the first Southern Caribbean sailings from Miami.

“What’s significant is the 8-night Southern Caribbean itinerary. This will be the first from Miami and follows Holland America’s industry first 7-night Southern Caribbean from Ft Lauderdale” said cruise expert Stewart Chiron, CEO CruiseGuy.com.


Between now and December 2011, Carnival Valor will operate seven-day voyages which depart Sundays from Miami, alternating to the Eastern and Western Caribbean. Beginning in January 2012, the ship will add six-day cruises that depart on Sunday and return the following Saturday and eight-day cruises depart on Saturday and return the following Sunday.

Three different four-port, eight-day cruise itineraries will be offered and include Eastern/Western Caribbean cruises calling at Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios, Grand Turk and Nassau, Eastern Caribbean cruises featuring stops at St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortola and Nassau and Eastern/Southern Caribbean cruises to Grand Turk, La Romana (Dominican Republic), Curacao and Aruba.

Celebrity Cruises Eclipse will sail from Southampton boasting new destinations such as Reykjavik in Iceland, Genoa in Italy, and Ponta Delgada in the Azores. The 2012 return of the popular ship will bring revised cruise itineraries in response to guest demand including a series of eight and fourteen night cruises.

“Celebrity Eclipse is the most popular ship in the Celebrity Cruises fleet for UK and Irish holidaymakers, and we’ve further enhanced itineraries and destinations to keep guests coming back” explains Dominic Paul, Vice President & Managing Director, UK & Ireland.

New calls will be made to rarely-visited St Lucia in the 2012-2013 season too when Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Sun makes regular visits to the island.

Cruise lines headed back to Alaska this year in a big way with many sailings selling out fast in answer to built-up demand.

Last year, the Alaska legislature, on the heels of a low-capacity season, voted to lower the previously raised head tax on cruise passengers. Later in the year, Princess Cruises announced a fourth ship to be added to it’s popular Voyage of the Glaciers run after two years of running a reduced 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 President and CEO Alan Bucklew.

Disney Cruise Line is sailing north to Alaska with Disney Wonder as the line will double its size by adding Disney Dream which debuted this year and Disney Fantasy in 2012. Another first-timer to Alaska, Oceania Cruises will send their Regatta on a series of departures from San Francisco, Vancouver or Anchorage.

Flickr photo by LaBellaVida

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Celebrity Cruises to Australia with new generation ship

by Chris Owen on

Celebrity Cruises is heading to the land down under in a big way in the 2012-2013 season with one of its newest generation ships. Nearly-new 122,000 ton Celebrity Solstice will sail in Austraila and New Zealand waters starting in the summer of 2012 in a move that signals great confidence in the Austraila cruise market.

“Celebrity Solstice has satisfied guests around the world since we introduced her in 2008, and the obvious next step is to send her to Australia,” said Dan Hanrahan, President and CEO, Celebrity Cruises. “With this move, we are delivering another way for people to have the best vacation experience possible, in one of the most stunning geographic regions of the world.”2850-passenger Celebrity Solstice will sail from Sydney in New South Wales, Fremantle in Western Australia and Auckland in New Zealand, with cruises ranging from 12 to 18 nights in length.

At 63m high, Solstice is too tall to fit under the Sydney Harbour Bridge so it will miss stopping at the new terminal at White Bay and instead berth at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay.

“Travelers around the world value their vacation time, and we want to give them more opportunities to enjoy Celebrity’s signature attributes, including the first Lawn Club and Hot Glass show at sea, more spacious staterooms, our AquaClass staterooms geared toward the spa enthusiast lifestyle, multiple specialty restaurants, the Celebrity iLounge and state-of-the-art entertainment, in more places. The culture and way of life in Australia and New Zealand are an ideal backdrop for our Solstice Class style and the overall onboard experience.”

Full details will be available on March 23, when bookings for Celebrity’s new 2012-13 Australia/New Zealand itineraries will open for sale. Bookings for the 1,814-guest Celebrity Century’s 2011-12 Australia/New Zealand cruises are open now.

Flickr photo by jemmingway

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Celebrity Cruises new app welcomes a new generation of passenger

by Chris Owen on

Celebrity Cruises new app is more than just another little program you an use to kill time. In a natural evolution of their programming, Celebrity Cruises has added its first app and mobile web site.Celebrity is a cruise line that has fully embraced technology, rolling top-shelf brands into their onboard experience. More importantly, with this roll-out of Celebrity Cruises new app the line opens the door and welcomes a new generation of cruise passenger.

Now, iPhone users have the opportunity to download the free, new app from the Celebrity web site or from the Apple store. Other apps have been available from third-party sources for quite some time. This is the first official app from Celebrity and there are some big differences in Celebrity Cruises new app vs. the third-party apps available right now.

Users of Celebrity Cruises new app will have a wealth of functionality allowing them to view the destinations Celebrity visits, check out onboard activities including iLearn and language courses offered in the Celebrity iLounge and more.

Technology can be a big part of the Celebrity experience. Prior to boarding, guests can go online to explore a number of activities and packages available on their sailing. On board, a Celebrity iLounge is a popular gathering place that includes an Internet cafe equipped with 26 workstations. As an Authorized Apple Reseller, there is also a retail area where guests can try out and buy various Apple products and accessories plus an “enrichment center” that will offer classes on the iLife suite of programs and other general topics.

Celebrity Cruises new app welcomes a new generation of passenger in many ways. One of the best parts of Celebrity Cruises new app is having the ability to see menus, wine lists and even walking tours of a ship’s art collection, a Celebrity Cruises first.

Guests can use iPhone, Android and BlackBerry devices with Celebrity Cruises new app to search for a Celebrity cruise and itineraries, obtain destination information, view details about each ship, connect with Celebrity’s social media sites, e-mail itineraries of interest to Celebrity’s Customer Service team, or contact Customer Service ‘live’ at any point during the experience.

Did you catch that last line?

“... or contact Customer Service ‘live’ at any point during the experience.”

That’s huge.
That’s engaging.
This is a cruise line that “gets it”.

Standard operating procedure for cruise line customer service:

Call on phone/work through problem/call back if you don’t like the result until you find someone who will tell you what you want to hear/Addressed problem but not feeling very good about it.

Glimpse at what might be coming:

“... or contact Customer Service ‘live’ at any point during the experience.”

Celebrity Cruises new app is definitely a step in the right direction.

Celebrity Cruises new app is just one use of available Apple technology. The cruise line already uses the iPad for its menus and wine list in its Qsine specialty restaurant, which debuted this year on the Equinox, and its ships are home to “Celebrity iLounges,” equipped with MacBook workstations. Guests on board can take courses and get tips on Mac and iPod use.

“We knew our guests would relish yet another opportunity to capitalize on the latest technology in an entertaining, enriching way,” says Celebrity’s senior vice president of Hotel Operations, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo.

Celebrity Cruises photo


On Celebrity Cruises X marks a change to on board experiences

by Chris Owen on

Cruise lines continue to hack away at what we think of them. Pretty much burried are images of shuffleboard, bingo, and “just old folks” on the ships. Now, they are moving forward with intense new branding efforts that are making for clear choices between lines.

It wasn’t all that long ago that if your answer to “Where did you go on vacation?” was “on a cruise” that similar images, impressions and perceptions would come up. Cruise vacations really were quite similar between lines and “on a cruise” was a good, accurate answer.

Now, cruise lines are clearly focused on defining their brands and making sure you know it.

Celebrity Cruises, traditionally seen as a more upscale line with a more fancy onboard experience, is taking it’s signature “X” icon to a different level with a new theme “X the rules”. This is different than Norwegian Cruise Line’s “Freestyle Cruising” that promotes how guests are “free to do whatever…” It’s different than sister-line Royal Caribbean’s “Land of why not?” campaign.

Celebrity Cruises is promoting change through a “trendsetting onboard experience”, different than other lines. Still upscale, Celebrity “iLounges” offer the latest Apple technologies and invite guests to become immersed in new applications through “iLearn” courses. Celebrity also offers vacationers the chance to learn a new language through Rosetta Stone, become immersed in the culture of the destinations with experts from Smithsonian Journeys, or taste the difference a glass makes in comparative wine tastings with Riedel Crystal.

Yes, there’s still bingo and you can find shuffleboard if you look for it. But Celebrity ships, new and old, are going after a unique onboard experience that won’t be for everyone. That’s a new direction for cruise lines in general who wanted to be everything to everybody for so long as the industry was developing.

While only an estimated 20% of the U.S. population has taken a cruise, the Cruise Lines International Association predicts strong growth in the future. If the individual lines have anything to say about it, they will find you, sail with you, and be everything you ever wanted in a vacation.

As Celebrity might have said in the not-nearly-as-well-defined past “It’s all about you”.

Flickr photo by sailorbabe80



Cheap Cruise deals: the clock is ticking

by Chris Owen on

Carnival Cruise Lines has a 72 hour sale going on right now that features some of their best cruise values of the year so far. Celebrity Cruises Has a deal on Alaska that will get you up to $400 onboard credit if you book by February 18th.

It’s last-minute bargain time and cruise lines have lined up with offers for you.

Carnival’s 72-hour sale features reduced rates plus their wildly-popular “best available upgrades” promotion, back again. Past guests get reduced rates plus the best available upgrades too and this is on most sailings through 2011. (some blackout dates may apply) Carnival also has extended its “FUN-omenal” best of Europe sale until February 20th.On Celebrity Cruises they are trying to fill up space on end-of-season Alaska sailings from August to Mid-September with Concierge class and below getting $200 Onboard Credit per stateroom. Deluxe accommodations and suites get $400 onboard credit per stateroom. Celebrity is also featuring the Caribbean with sailings starting at $599 per person + tax.

See your Travel Expert for more details as time is running out on these cheap cruise deals.