Cruise Value Watch: Disney Cruise Line

by Chris Owen on

We’re looking all over the place for the best cruise values; sailings that normally sell for more at a lower price. Disney Cruise Line has a whole lot to celebrate with the launch of new Disney Dream this week. That ship is selling fast as many guests book to get a look at the latest, greatest ship from Disney in over a decade. Let’s not forget Disney’s other ships though in this latest cruise value watch.

Kids sail free
Disney Cruise Line has a deal for families on Alaska sailings: Kids sail Free. US and Canadian residents can take advantage of special savings on the Disney Wonder sailing now from the West coast.

Here’s the deal: Book a Veranda or Oceanview stateroom and kids ages 17 and under, traveling with 2 full-fare Guests in the same stateroom, sail free on select 7-night Alaskan cruises departing between May 3 to June 7, 2011. Ask for booking code KFO.

Great Rates on European Cruise
Again, a family-oriented deal where a family of four can sail for as little as $875 per person on he August 27, 2011 7-night sailing of the Disney Magic

Here’s the deal: This special rate is valid for categories 10C and 11A on the August 27, 2011 7-Night Mediterranean cruise sailing. The total voyage fare is $3500. Please note the number of staterooms allocated for this offer is limited. Rates are in U.S. dollars. Gratuities, government taxes and fees are not included. Other restrictions may apply.

Disney also offers special values for Florida Residents and US Military members too. Check with your travel expert, call Disney Cruise Line at 800-951-3532 or look to AOLTravel for your best cruise pricing options.

Travel guides for cruisers

by Chris Owen on

Sure, you could go to the library and do some research, check out a bookstore for the latest printed guides, but why? Everything you need is right here, literally at your fingertips. Let’s take a look at some of the online resources available to help plan our cruise vacations.

A good first stop is the cruise line websites themselves. There, you’ll find a bunch of good information about the ships, the cruise line and shore excursions they offer. To get more in-depth information about different ports and locations though, you need more than that.

Right here at Gadling we have a bunch of great people that travel the world, reporting on pretty much every aspect of travel on a regular basis. Travel gear and other topics that can totally be applied to cruise vacations are here too like airline information for that flight to the port, hotels for pre or post-cruise stays and restaurants in cities you might not be familiar with.

I like the easy-to-read blog format of this information with a bit of a personal twist to it way better than the dry, catalog-type you might get out of books.

Online travel guides like AOL TravelGuides are good too along with videos that give a clear picture of what you might see when your ship pulls into port. Actually, both Gadling and AOL Travel Guides cover many cities that are destinations for land-based vacations and ports of call for cruises. If your ship stops in Barcelona, you may not need a hotel but learning about the area adds great depth to your cruise experience and knowing what to watch out for, from an experienced land traveler who has been there, is good stuff.

Videos are another online resource that can be really good to consider. AOL has a bunch of them that really give you a good idea of what to expect.

There are other sources out there too. One I like is Insider Perks.com, a relatively new one that offers over 2000 videos from all over the world, many in HD. From Aruba to Vancouver, you can find a good video at Insider Perks.


If video is not enough cruise-related information for you, try the radio too. CruiseRadio.net has hours of interviews online, waiting to tell you all about everything from the latest cruise news to in-depth interviews with cruise directors, travel experts and more.


Not to throw out all the travel guides, iPhone users have a bunch of Aps that can be helpful too. A new one from the legendary Berlitz name, the Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships. At $12 from itunes it’s half the price of the book and updated throughout the year.

Flickr photo by Kenny Miller

River cruises: they’re not for everybody

by Chris Owen on

Cruise lines continue efforts to make themselves different from each other. Major lines are doing all they can to make their ships the ones you want to sail. Some big cruise lines have smaller ships that some passengers prefer for a more intimate experience. Still, those all sail in the ocean while a growing number of people in the United States are taking a cue from Europe and trying a river cruise.

In Europe, river cruising is popular with a number of lines growing quickly to keep up with demand. A big factor in favor of these is the “unpack once and see a lot of places” thing that major cruise lines have going for them. River ships operate in the U.S. too, offering a really different way of seeing the country up close and personal. American Cruise Lines operates everything from an authentic paddle-wheeler in the Pacific Northwest to a new fleet of ships that sail the inland waterways of the East Coast.

This is a different experience from a major cruise line and one that’s not for everybody.

You won’t find a rock-climbing wall, a theater that seats thousands or a huge variety of restaurants, some included in the price, some extra. What you will find is an intimate setting on a relaxed sailing through some of the country’s most beautiful landscapes, stopping along the way to see and experience ports of call up close and personally. There won’t be an AquaTheater, AquaDuck or AquaSpa but there probably won’t be Mexican drug lords waiting for you to get of the ship in ports either. Safety is a big draw for these ships that are American-flagged and subject to American laws.Staterooms average about 220 square feet, considerably larger than a typical large ship offers. If the last ship you sailed on before one of these was say, Allure of the Seas, you’ll notice that there are fewer guests on board the entire ship than fit in a lifeboat on Allure. Yes, this is different. Still, twice daily stateroom service is offered as well as many of the service amenities a big ship has.

More of an all-inclusive experience, guests are invited to mingle before dinner with complementary cocktails and the dress code is always casual. On a typical evening, guest speakers bring local history, nature and culture to the table with rich stories of American heritage. There is no big showroom, long list of activities or things to do. In fact, if the big ship experience for you is about going all the time, doing something every minute, this is probably not the way to go.

But if a lazy day on the river, reading a book, flying a kite from an observation deck or enjoying coffee on an outside sun deck sounds good, this could be just what you are looking for.

Sailings are typically seven or eight-nights and itineraries include such titles as Maine Coast and Harbors, Columbia and Snake Rivers, or Chesapeake Bay with prices starting about $3500 per person. Fall Foliage sailings are very popular with river cruises and longer itineraries are also offered like East Coast Inland Passage, a fifteen-day sailing with a grand coastal tour of America.

About as close as you’ll get to a theme park at sea on one of these ships is a small putting green. Cruise vacations are about doing something really different than your normal life. This is another viable option.

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Old cruise ships get extreme makeover

by Chris Owen on

It’s part of the normal process of maintenance, taking a ship out of water from time to time to do things they just can’t do while in operation. That can include anything from scraping the hull, normally under water to replacing worn carpets. Recently, ships going into what is called “dry dock” are having some additional features added that reflect a changing demand by consumers.

Most recently, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Sun came out of a 12-day dry dock where it received a bunch of new features. A focus on enhancements to the ship’s public areas, suites and restaurants added a Brazilian steakhouse, updated décor in all 33 of the ship’s luxury suites, improvements to the kids area and yes, replacement of carpets and wall coverings in public areas.

“We have a company-wide commitment to ensuring our ships are in excellent condition. Therefore, Norwegian Sun is the first of three ships this year that will enter dry dock for enhancements, along with several that will take place in 2012,” said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Line’s chief executive officer.

Other lines go through similar makeovers, adding features made popular by their newest ships to older models in an effort to keep them relevant. Sometimes, lines will borrow ideas from competitors too.

%Gallery-113908%Norwegian Epic’s solo studios were such a hit that Royal Caribbean is adding some to one of their older ships, Radiance of the Seas, during a makeover of sorts. Norwegian made headlines with single guest accommodations when it debuted Norwegian Epic last summer. Solo cruisers have long been an under-served market. Cruise lines base pricing on double occupancy and solo cruisers often pay double the per person rate.

Other lines have made significant investments in their existing fleets too. Carnival Cruise Line’s recent “Evolutions of Fun” program added Carnival “WaterWorks” Aqua Park and Serenity adults-only retreat, redesigned main pool area and new casual dining choices. Holland America too joined it with their $525 million Signature of Excellence upgrades, with enhancements to cabins, pool decks with their own version of the popular adults-only retreat and entertainment options featuring new on-board enrichment programs.

Celebrity Cruises is another great example of how sailing older ships does not mean you miss out on all the new features. Popular new Solstice-class ships have unique new features that have been added to older ships on their own makeovers. Some of the new updates include adding a signature venues “Tuscan Grille” steakhouse as well as the “Bistro on Five” and a popular ice-topped Martini Bar plus a new Cellarmasters wine bar, complete with the “Enomatic” state-of-the-art wine serving system allowing guests to select wines by the glass, at the touch of a button.

“All of our new venues and attributes are designed to enhance that all-important feeling of getting away and fully enjoying every aspect of Celebrity’s upscale on-board experience.” said Celebrity’s President & CEO Dan Abrahan.

Look for other lines to add new-ship features to their existing fleet too. As new ships sail, cruise lines are closely monitoring the performance of new features as well as comments by guests. You can bet if something is popular on the latest, greatest ship at sea, you’ll see it on an older ship sometime soon.

Royal Caribbean stays current, looks ahead

by Chris Owen on

It’s been a busy week for Royal Caribbean International.

Rumors have been flying around about what the innovative parent company to Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises could possibly do to top mega-ship Allure of the Seas. This week we got a glimpse of what might be in store and a little look back at the past.

“While we look forward to a period of slower growth, we do not intend to stagnate,” said Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO Richard Fain. “We have been considering our next new building project and we feel that the time may now be right for such a move.”

Fain mentioned the new ship topic in an earnings call that reported a huge gain in earnings for the company over the previous year. The Miami Herald reports that Fain gave few details, but said the ship would be part of the Royal Caribbean International brand and would likely be the first of a series.

“We have been working intensively on developing a design that reflects our innovative spirit, but in an efficient package and we think that we are near to an acceptable outcome,” Fain said.

It will be interesting to see what they come up with.

Royal Caribbean is truly an innovator but continues ongoing programs that define what they do. An ongoing focus on fitness and incorporating trendy but timeless art on their ships while continuing humanitarian efforts in Haiti give a good idea of the depth of the company.

You can bet whatever direction they go, the result will be unique and exciting with some fun events along the way. For example, last week Royal Caribbean hosted Taylor Swift for a concert on Allure of the Seas.

On the eve of her Speak Now world concert tour, Swift performed favorites and song off her new album. Winners from a Clear Channel Radio promotion packed the ship’s Aqua Theater.