Super Bowl XLV at sea? You bet

by Chris Owen on

Just about every cruise ship has a sports bar. Many ships have huge LED outdoor screens. It just seems to be a natural pairing to add this year’s Superbowl in for on-board programming. Cruise lines are doing just that and more.

Just to be sure the big game would be around for those sailing on Superbowl Sunday, Doug Parker of CruiseRadio got with each line to see what they had planned. “I’ve called every cruise line and most got right back to me with their plans” said Parker, working on a story for next week’s Cruise Radio broadcast.

They will be showing the game from “at least one lounge area on each ship” replied Holland America Line. “We will be airing the game fleet-wide!” chimed in Royal Caribbean.

Cruise lines have played a part in Super Bowls of the past too. In 2005, cruise ships parked close to Jacksonville Florida to serve as floating hotels for Super Bowl fans. On board, cruise lines often offer special game day packages complete with junk food and traditional beverages.

Travel Agencies are joining in the fun too, sponsoring “Super Bowl Cruise Party” groups on several major cruise lines. Boasting “Large screen TV’s everywhere”, Super Bowl groups formed long ago requiring just a small deposit to sign up and allowing monthly payments over time.

There is one drawback to watching the Super Bowl at sea though:

Cruise ship television reception works off a satellite system that must constantly be re-aimed because the ship is in motion. That can cause momentary signal loss from time to time. A few seconds lost at a critical moment on the football field could be a problem.

Would mutiny result?

Photo: Chris Owen

Caribbean tourism surges

by Elizabeth Seward on

When the global economic crisis grew into the monster it became and began impacting the lives of people everywhere, the amount of vacations to the Caribbean, not surprisingly, sharply declined. Of all expenses budgeted into any one family’s financial plan, these expensive vacations, once sources of annual pride for members of the bourgeoisie, were among the first to go.

Luxurious beachfront vacations commonly cost thousands to put together for a family–and then there’s the money lost from not working for any traveler without vacation pay (…and here I am daydreaming about what it’d be like to be a travel writer with vacation pay…). Clearly, most other types of spending in everyday life come before this kind of spending during times of economic hardship.

But for the first time since this devasting blow to the Caribbean tourism industry in 2008, travelers are visiting the area again in steadily increasing numbers. Yahoo! News reports that more than 23 million tourists visited the region in 2010, myself included thanks to my September trip to Grenada. This is close to a 5 percent increase from 2009.

The jump in tourism is largely due to cruise ship passengers. Travelers like these spend less money to visit destinations, like the Bahamas, than those actually staying on the islands. Although hotels in the Caribbean only saw a 1 percent rise in occupancy last year, it’s looking like those numbers too will be up in 2011.

Now that Caribbean travel is again popular, I’m curious: which Caribbean destination would you most like to visit this year if given the opportunity?

[photo by Elizabeth Seward]

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

750,000 reasons to like Disney Cruise Line

by Chris Owen on

It’s been all over the news, the launch of Disney Cruise Line’s new Disney Dream, the line’s first new ship in over 10 years. Adding Disney Fantasy in 2012 more than doubles the size of the Disney fleet, bringing the line up to speed and beyond with new-ship features, new capacity to dominate the family cruise market and a new brighter outlook towards the future. But as is so typical of the American success-story company, as they look ahead, they look back.

It’s been so long since Disney launched a new ship that a world of media eyes descended upon Florida to sail along and see just what the legacy of Walt Disney had built. Most told of new features like the AquaDuck onboard water coaster, virtual portholes for interior cabins, the latest technology and new onboard entertainment.

On a short two-night preview cruise of the new Dream, Disney added one extra element hosting a fund-raising cruise for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America that raised $750,000.

Just being able to do that would be plenty for most organizations. But in typical Disney style the company brought along a number of Boys and Girls club members for the ride, treating them to an experience they’re not likely to forget any time soon.

Also along for the ride were normally land-based Disney cast members and their families who paid to sail along on the fund-raising cruise, see the new ship, and be part of it all.

As the ship prepared for “sail-away”, always a festive time on any cruise, company officials, dignitaries, cast members and friends packed the ship’s top deck. Disney Channel celebrities, the ship’s entertainment staff and the entire stable of Disney animation stars worked the crowd into a total Disney-immersion frenzy.

But it was bringing those Boys and Girls club members out on stage that sent the event wild, drawing the largest response from all. The deer-in-the-headlights look on the faces of those kids, unaccustomed to a rock star reception, gave way to smiles of appreciation with a side of “Yes, I DO have a future now!” . Once high-risk youths were safer, happier and had a much brighter future in no small part due to the Disney company and a relationship with the Boys and Girls Clubs that dates back to the 1950’s.

How appropriate for a ship all about dreams.

Photo: Chris Owen

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.