Ten cruise packing list items your friends want you to bring

by Chris Owen on
There are some things you can do without, some you might call must-have items and some that just belong on any list. These are those items. You could sail without them and have a good time but sailing with them will get almost guarantee a great time for you and a whole lot of other people on the ship. These are ten cruise packing list items your friends want you to bring. They will thank you for it later.
  1. Manners– Leave the trailer-trash person in you at home. You give cruise passengers a bad name. We don’t all live in trailers with horse poo in the front yard and three weeks of garbage in the kitchen because everyone is too lazy to take it outside where the shower is that they never visit either.
  2. Clothes that fit- Let’s get real ladies. Just because you can squeeze into a size 8 does not mean you look good in one. If size 14 is what you really need to wear, do that. Yes, you will never see these people on the ship again but no need to give them nightmares that will last for years. Men, you’re not off the hook either. If you are even thinking of competing in the belly-flop contest (see above) you are overweight and need to get to the gym pronto.
  3. A great big pile of money– Let’s face it; hardly anything of any importance is included in the price of your cruise. Yes you can eat at the buffet until you explode but all the best food you will pay extra for. Casino? Pay. Spa Treatments? Pay. Shore Excursions? Pay. Drugs ashore? Pay. (except on Royal Caribbean- they deliver)
  4. Your A-game- Whatever side of you it is that is icky, leave it at home. Go get a pedicure, manicure, haircut, clean socks, a bathing suit that fits (see #10) or a generously sized cover-up. Everyone will be looking at YOU and YOU alone.
  5. A good attitude– Check your sour “I hate to stand in lines” attitude at the door. There will be lines. You will stand in them. You will live to tell about it. Get over it before boarding please.
  6. A gourmet palate– Leave your “belly up to the buffet” demeanor at home. Feed your gaping maw at Golden Corral and bring along an appetite for the good stuff. Cruise lines employ Chef’s from all over the world to make fine cuisine for you. Eat it.
  7. Your brain or the brain of someone else– Bring a brain along. At least one per traveling party will keep you safe, secure and happy. It does not have to be yours, someone else’s brain will do. That old line: “It’s a no-brainer” is a sneaky one. No, standing on the guard rail is not a good idea no matter how cool you think it makes you look. Take up smoking instead, at least you can quit that later. Death from falling into the ocean? Not so much.
  8. A calendar/sticky notes- This is just so you can remember that you are on this cruise. No one cares how many cruises you have been on, that you are a Superior Diamond Deluxe member of the past-guest club with bonus Rubies and Gemstones or that you know the captain personally. We. Are. Not. Impressed.
  9. Handcuffs– They’re just fun to have around. There is always a joke or two when you bring out the handcuffs at dinner. Great ice-breaker.
  10. Anti-Hormone Venom for your teens– I don’t know what it is about being on a cruise but teen sex urges go into overdrive at sea. That “look” dads know to beware of on teen boys that come sniffing around for their daughters gets muddled by alcohol too so either don’t drink or don’t buy those kids booze to be “cool”.
Flickr photo by lotopspin

Carnival Magic completes sea trials on way to May 1 launch

by Chris Owen on

On track to debut in Venice, Italy May 1st, new Carnival Magic has completed sea trials in the Adriatic Sea.

Currently under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, the 3,690-passenger vessel had a full contingent of officers, technicians and engineers on board who thoroughly tested the Carnival Magic’s sophisticated navigation and mechanical systems.

A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred as a “shakedown cruise” by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.

Following sea trials, Carnival Magic returned to Monfalcone, where it is undergoing final interior outfitting prior to its delivery late next month.

Carnival Magic will introduce a number of new features, including the Caribbean-inspired RedFrog Pub with its own micro-brewed draft beer, Thirsty Frog Red, and a menu that includes conch salad, spicy chicken wings and other bar food favorites; Cucina del Capitano, a family-style Italian restaurant that taps Carnival’s Italian heritage to the table; and SportSquare, a top-deck recreation area featuring cruising’s first ropes course and outdoor fitness area.

Carnival Magic is set to debut in Europe with a series of seven- to 12-day Mediterranean cruises operating May 1 – Oct. 16, 2011. Following a 16-day trans-Atlantic crossing, Carnival Magic will launch seven-day Caribbean service from Galveston, Texas, Nov. 14, 2011, becoming the port’s largest year-round cruise ship.

Photo courtesy Carnival Cruise Lines

New Jamaica port open for business

by Chris Owen on
It’s been a long time in the works, plagued by construction delays and setbacks, but the new cruise port in Falmouth Jamaica is finally open for business.

To celebrate the much-anticipated event, area schools were closed, local dignitaries and cruise line executives were on hand, Reggae star Shaggy performed and a marching band ended the day giving cruise passengers a royal send-off. The star of the show though was Royal Caribbean’s giant new ship, Oasis of the Seas, making its first call at the new port.

“I was here for the inaugural cruise ship visit by Voyager of the Seas one month ago and (Jamaicans) were amazed at the size of Voyager” said cruise industry expert Stewart Chiron CEO of CruiseGuy.com adding “but they were blown away by the larger size and unique design of Oasis of the Seas.”

On hand too was Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding noting “Today is truly a remarkable day, the realization of a dream.” reports Seatrade Insider.

The new $180 million Falmouth port project is a joint effort between the Port Authority of Jamaica and Royal Caribbean International that is already making an impact on tourism, providing local jobs and much-needed tourist spending to the island.

The two-berth Historic Falmouth Cruise Port development sits about half-way between existing ports of Ocho Rios and Montego Bay and hopes to bring cruise ship passenger numbers back up to over 1 million after dropping to 910,000 last year.

Photo courtesy Seatrade Insider

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Mazatlan just won’t let it go, wants cruise lines back bad

by Chris Owen on

Cruise lines turned a cold shoulder to Mazatlan, Mexico after safety concerns forced them to move ships away and sail elsewhere. Government and tourism officials caught the next plane to Miami, set on convincing cruise ship operators to come back. They did. Once back more crime came up and they went away again. Now, cruise lines have canceled far into the future, still leaving the door open to return at some point but Mazatlan officials have had enough and are lashing out at cruise lines.

“We understand that travel agents and providers have a duty to inform their customers, but we feel as if we have been unfairly singled out as an unsafe destination,” said Julio Birrueta, spokesperson for the Mazatlan Tourism Trust reports Caribbean News Digital “Perhaps the recent incidents have received critical attention because we are so widely regarded as one of the safest destinations in Mexico.” added Birrueta.

No, recent incidents received critical attention because more tourists were shot and hundreds of Americans have been killed since 2004.

That’s a big deal to cruise lines. It’s kind of a big deal to cruise passengers too. Are the cruise lines making too big of a thing about this? Is Mazatlan and just Mexico in general a safe place to visit? Some people/animated characters think yes.


Flickr photo by Jesus Villaseca Perez

Video by Simply Vallarta

Honduras eager to build the next new cruise port

by Chris Owen on
Residents from local Trujillo, Honduras communities, along with politicians and business leaders joined recently for groundbreaking on a new 50,000-square-foot mainland cruise port, the first in Honduras.

The facility should help answer the call from cruise passengers who love the Caribbean but yearn for new ports to visit. That need leaves Honduras eager to build the next new cruise port.

“This project has a lot of significance for the region,” said Honduras President Porfirio Lobo Sosa. “The cruise port will be crucial for the development of Trujillo and its surrounding neighborhoods.”

The new port, set to open in 2012, is expected to create more than 3000 jobs and promote tourism to the Banana Coast as an alternative to Roatan, Honduras, Belize City, Belize, and Costa Maya and Cozumel both Mexican ports.

“We can only go to Cozumel just so many times” say frequent cruise passengers bored of the same ports over and over again.

As more ships enter the cruise market, 9 more in 2011, cruise passengers are looking for new ports of call to visit and cruise lines want to find (or build) them.

The new Jamaica port of Falmouth, a joint project between Royal Caribbean International and the Port Authority of Jamaica is hoping to help fill that need with an entirely different shoreside experience. To be reminiscent of the historic 1700’s and 1800’s when Falmouth was the big port for Sugar exports worldwide, the port is built to handle Royal Caribbean’s huge Oasis-class ships. The location will allow visitors to do shore excursions from both existing ports of Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, each about a half-hour away.

New or reworked ports are not always the answer though. San Diego’s new Port Pavillion at Broadway Pier, funded by Carnival Cruise Lines, will not see much action now that cruise lines have fled the hard-to-sell West coast market for more fertile seas.

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Flickr photo by archer10