13 things that make Disney Dream different

by Chris Owen on

New cruise ships usually have a number of features that are exciting to talk about. Disney Cruise Line’s new ship, Disney Dream, debuted last week to reviews that included many of the ship’s new attractions. Here are some others that make Disney Dream as well as Disney Cruise Line different from others.

  1. Fastest Internet connection at sea. This is smokin-fast in all areas of the ship. I don’t know how they did it but all cruise lines need to adopt this technology.
  2. Free soft drinks. Coca-Cola products are free all the time, 24-hours a day. Disney is a premium product at a premium price. This is one reason why. Remarkably, we don’t see kids wasting that free soda with spilled cups all over the place.
  3. Cabin layout– This one has some of the best cabin layouts of any ship floating right now. A category 4 Deluxe Ocean view with Veranda is one of the most versatile layouts available. Accommodating up to five easily, two would be good also. It could sleep six if the cruise line would allow it with no problem, they don’t though. Think Princess mini-suite size-wise but a better layout and design.
  4. Rotating dining experience– Rather than going to the same dining room every night, you and your waiters rotate to a different one each night. It’s a different dining room every evening that adds depth to the overall dining experience.
  1. Clientele- A higher price combined with the sugar-sweet Disney programming begets a very nice, safe, group of on-board guests.Castaway Club members almost as rabidly in support of their cruise line as pin-collectors at Disney parks. You don’t want to be on an elevator with one of them if someone else says something negative about the line. A fight will ensue.
  2. No Casino– Like it or not, there’s no casino on this ship. Oddly, many people, convinced they can’t cruise without one, end up having a good time without their favorite games along for the ride. There is an arcade though, with all the latest games.
  3. Disney element– It’s everywhere. If you don’t love Disney characters, stay off this ship. You will just be miserable. If you like Disney characters, even a little, this is heaven. If you like Disney characters a lot, you will never want to sail another line ever again.
  4. Smokers– If you smoke and sail this ship, you will have a hard time finding someone to share your addiction with.These nice folks just don’t do it. Just quit? This is totally the line for you. No having to walk through smoke-filled areas to get someplace.
  5. Announcements– They don’t do many of them. No nagging to buy this or that, no unnecessary calls to one event or another.
  6. Daily newspaper– every ship and cruise line has one. This one is different. Out are a zillion things you don’t want to do. In are easy to read blocks of activities and events for different interests and age group. Leave the highlighter at home, you can use this at-a-glance.
  7. Private island– Castaway Cay is Disney turning an island into a theme park, complete with rides, trams to get around on, gift shops plus really good food. All other private islands pale by comparison. Really. They should build hotels here and let peoole stay a while. No wonder some sailings include two stops at the popular island.
  8. Buccaneer Blast– It’s fireworks at sea on every sailing. They’re the only ones that do it and they do a good job with it. This is not some bottle rockets and a few aerial bombs, this is a full-fledged musically-timed production. Again, doing it at sea adds an extra undeniable dose of magic that puts some land-based displays to shame.
  9. Crowd Control– Who knows more about moving thousands of people from place to place than Disney? They do it every day in the parks and have taken that know-how with them to sea.

All that plus super-star attraction the AquaDuck water coaster and you might expect a theme park at sea motif. No, that would be Oasis-class ships on Royal Caribbean. Here, Disney Imagineers have gone out of their way to avoid being called a floating theme park; quite successfully.

Photo: Chris Owen

Cruise lines wage boycott on Belize

by Chris Owen on

The cruise port of Belize, known for some of the best scuba diving, an eclectic array of foods and wine, snorkeling or just knowing you have seen the Western hemisphere’s longest barrier reef, is in trouble. Not because of environmental issues, severe tropical weather or other problems common to Caribbean ports of call. Belize is suffering from a lack of cruise passengers, a wound-like boycott some say is self-inflicted.

Recently, some major cruise lines have canceled calls to Belize because of a dispute with tender operators over price. It seems Belize tender operators, the people that run the little boats back and forth between the big cruise ships that are too large to dock shore-side, want more than the cruise lines are willing to pay.

“According to reports, the parties are working toward a resolution” said cruise expert Stewart Chiron CEO of CruiseGuy.com adding “but Belize was changed for two Carnival ships last week which were rerouted to Grand Cayman and Costa Maya and three ships will be diverted this week.”

Tender operators want between $6.54 and $8.54 per passenger to take them from the cruise ships to shore and back. Cruise lines, including Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, want to pay about $5.00 per passenger. But the dispute is not only about price.

“Carnival wants larger capacity tender boats, 150 passenger minimum, to accommodate their larger ships. Smaller tender boats are creating large back logs and delays getting passengers to/ from the ships” added Chiron, noting “Belize has many beautiful coral reefs that are being protected and require cruise ships to anchor farther out.”

Eventually, the Belize government may have to choose between making it possible for cruise ships to dock shoreside or lose them altogether.

Flickr photo by anoldent

Cheap Cruises: Best discounts

by Chris Owen on

Special offers, promotions and sales can sometimes be great cruise values. They happen at different times of the year, usually to promote some special event like the launch of a new ship, new itineraries or opening sailings in the future for booking. Another way to save on cruise vacations is with discounts that are readily available most of the time. Let’s take a look at some common ones that are normally available year-round.

Past-Guest Discounts are available after one sailing on a number of lines. Carnival Cruise Lines often offers past guests special pricing and a complementary in-category upgrade. This discount is commonly offered far in advance to encourage guests to sail again and again on the same line.

Senior Discounts are available on some lines for guests 55 or older. To qualify, at least one guest in the cabin must be 55 or older, not all. A common trick to make that work for grandma, grandpa and the kids/grand kids is to split up the seniors for booking purposes. They don’t do bed checks on the ships so switching back once on board is usually easy to do.

Military Discounts are available on many sailings. Spearheaded by Carnival Cruise Lines, other lines offer them as well. Like a Senior discount, one guest in the cabin that is active or retired military is all that is needed to get the discounted fare. The cruise line will require proof in the form of a military ID provided within a couple days of booking.

Resident Discounts are sometimes offered for certain states but not others. Florida resident discounts are common on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, not so much on other lines although Princess has regional rates you may qualify for. This is why your travel expert wants to know what airport you might be flying out of.

Interline rates are also available sometimes from cruise lines for employees of other carriers like airlines and can often be applied to more than one cabin. The cruise line will require proof of employment to get the rates which are usually some of the lowest.

Many of the best discounts that lead to cheap cruises come closer to sailing too. It is not uncommon for Royal Caribbean or Celebrity to offer no discounts at all far from sailing, adding them on closer to sailing to help fill up the ship. Check with your personal travel expert for all the latest information as it may apply to you.

Cruise Deal Watch: Still some Valentines Day values available

by Chris Owen on

Norwegian Cruise Line likes to do things big. New Norwegian Epic debuted last Summer full of never before seen entertainment options that put the cruse industry on notice: These people mean business. Now, with Valentines Day fast approaching, the line has some special offers sure to ring in romance on the high seas.

Offering special savings on 12 different sailings that include Valentines Day, the line is throwing in a complementary four-category upgrade and e-coupons in on-board savings of up to $400. In addition, the line is featuring two of their special packages with Valentines Day in mind.

The Romance Package features sparking wine and strawberries in your stateroom upon embarkation, a spa pedicure and manicure for one person, two massages and tea service in your stateroom.

The Deluxe Romance Package includes sparking wine and strawberries in your stateroom upon embarkation plus a choice of Exotic Frangipani Body Nourishing Wrap for one or and Exotic Coconut and Milk Ritual Wrap for one along with breakfast in bed, a keepsake portrait and dinner for two in the ship’s exclusive Le Bistro restaurant with a bottle of wine.

Question: Who decides who gets the stuff for one? Do they flip for it?

Popular Valentines Day sailings sell out pretty fast and often demand a premium price. Checking around, we found very few extra value sailings. Actually, this was it.

Still looking for something special to do on Valentines Day? Among other options, maybe a City Boat Tour will work for you.

You’re watching ‘City Boat Tours’. See the Web’s top videos on AOL Video

Flickr photo by ses7

Luxury At Sea: Royal Caribbean Suites

by Chris Owen on

They come in all sizes. They are the top of the line accommodations. Those who book them pay a premium price. Along with them come exclusive amenities and on-board benefits. Let’s take a look at the suites of Royal Caribbean International, their layout, design and what to expect should you book one.

The size and number of suite accommodations vary from one class of ship to another. To get a good idea of a typical suite fleet-wide, today we look at a Grand Suite on Freedom of the Seas, a popular ship that sails from Port Canaveral in Florida. This is not the newest ship and surely not the oldest but pretty typical of what one might find in these exclusive accommodations although sizes and configuration do vary across the Royal Caribbean fleet.

Grand Suites in Freedom of the Seas are 432 square feet in size. That’s considerably larger than a standard balcony cabin on that ship which comes in at about 200 square feet. So right off the bat you have more space, accommodating up to five guests.

But it’s not so much the extra space that matters with a Grand Suite as it is what comes with it.

The first stop on the luxury train is the restricted-access Concierge Lounge, exclusively for Suite guests and top-level members of the line’s Crown and Anchor Society past-guest program. Inside this special area suite guests will find

  • A dedicated Concierge who is available to assist with anything they might require
  • Twenty-four-hour a day use of the Concierge Club Lounge
  • Continental breakfast every morning and open bar & hors d’oeuvres every evening available in the Concierge Club Lounge
  • Assistance with reservations for Portofino Italian restaurant & Chops Grille Steakhouse
  • Assistance with booking shore excursions, Salon or Spa treatments and Priority tickets for the ice skating show
  • Assistance with the arrangement of private parties, pre-ordering dinner wine and more

%Gallery-114635%In addition, suite guests also get priority seating in the main theater, priority tender tickets at ports that require tendering to shore, admission to a VIP area on deck, luxury spa bathrobes, upgraded lotions, shampoos, conditioners and bath gels (because you have a bathtub, not just a shower) and priority departure via the ship’s exclusive suite departure lounge.

One of the best parts (as if all of the above was not enough) is the ability to order breakfast, lunch and dinner to be delivered to your suite. Ordering off the complete in-suite menus, just a phone call to room service brings dining right into your suite.

Those same benefits apply to all suite categories except Junior Suites. Still, those too are spacious staterooms, coming in at 320 square feet on Freedom of the Seas and a great choice for families. They include a minibar, vanity area, hair-dryer, TV, phone, vanity table with an extendable working surface for laptop computers Some have sofa beds and can accommodate 3-4 guests.