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

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.

Beatles infest cruise ship, give back

by Chris Owen on

But this is a good thing.

Beatles Tribute Cruise 2011 is on sale now and for fans of the fab four it doesn’t get any better than this. “8 days a week” is exactly how long fans will sail on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas along with pretty much anybody who’s anybody in the world of Beatlemania.

Sailing from Miami with tribute-band The British Are Coming! and other special guests, fans will visit St Maarten, St Thomas, San Juan and Royal Caribbean’s private destination of Labadee in Haiti where Royal Caribbean is still helping, a year after a devastating earthquake rocked the island nation with donations of supplies each week.

Along for the ride is two-time Grammy award winning guitarist Laurence Juber, Beatles artist Shannon, TV and radio personality Tony Perkins, Beatles historian Tony Bramwell and Joe Johnson, the host & creator of the nationally syndicated radio show “BeatleBrunch“.

An annual event, this year’s cruise will be a fundraiser for Thrive/Survive Los Angeles to support young adult cancer survivors. On-board, a raffle will be held with close to 100 Beatles-related items to be given away during the sailing including a special Ultimate Weekend Tickets To Ride package for Abbey Road on the River along with autographed DVD’s from assorted post-Beatles artists.

For donation or ticket information contact Woody Lofton or register online.

Photo: Beatles Tribute Cruise

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.