Bigger AND Sicker

by Iva Skoch on

We reported that Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas was the biggest ship in the world. Now, it turns out that the size of the ship correlates with the size of the viral outbreak.

More than 380 passengers and crew succumbed to the norovirus on a cruise from November 26 through December 3. Then, the ship was cleaned up and set sail, only to stick 97 more passengers and 11 crew members with more than they bargained for on a cruise this past week.

The ship carries more than 3,900 passengers. Today, they set sail again, but with 45 more cleaning staff and 2 more doctors, and, hopefully, a few less viruses.

Cruising Antarctica

by Iva Skoch on

It used to be that people who wanted to get away from it all went to their summer homes. Today, they go to Antarctica. I suppose there are not many places left on this planet where you could experience the ultimate emptiness. Not many that could be reached via cruise ship anyway.

Several cruise companies offer the so-called adventurous trip to Antarctica, yet conveniently experienced in the comfort of a luxury ship. Indeed, people seem to want to experience emptiness, but they prefer being surrounded by excess in order to fully grasp it.

The travel section of The Sunday Times had a piece on Antarctica this weekend where the author is suggesting that Antarctica will not remain pristine forever, since there are some 50 billion barrels of oil beneath the Ross and Weddell seas alone.

Not sure if the invasion of cruise ships is much better that the invasion of oil diggers, but hey – we all want to see the march of penguins first hand, don’t we? Well folks, from the tip of Argentina, it’s an easy trip and from November to March is the best time to go.

Largest Passenger Ship in the World Docks in New Jersey

by Karen Walrond on

From Newsvine.com:  The Freedom of the Seas, ostensibly the largest passenger ship in the world, has recently docked in Bayonne, New Jersey.

How big is it?  Well, it’s sooooo big:

  • it’s 237 feet tall and 1,112 feet long with 15 passenger decks;
  • the captain hasn’t finished exploring it (“I’m still discovering things,” he says); and
  • standing upright on its bow, the 160,000-ton ship would be taller than the Eiffel tower.

Now that’s big.

The ship will remain docked in Bayonne until May 18th, when it leaves for a trip to Boston.  And if you think you might like to buy a ticket, save up:  prices for seven-day voyages range from $1,900 per couple for an interior room during the low season to nearly $2,500 for the same-size cabin with a balcony during high season.

Win a Love Cruise

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s an opportunity for all you romantic novelists
out there. Well, except that it has to be non-fiction. Yes, here we are in the closing half of Valentines Day, and you
know you have that story you just HAVE to tell about your love life, some romantic tale about how true love came up and
nipped you in the butt.

Well, dig through your journals, I’m sure it’s there. Now, add a little more
pizzazz, a few juicy adjectives, flesh it out a bit, and send it to the folks at Southwest
Airlines. Why, you ask? Because if your story is chosen to win the Southwest LUV
Story Contest, they will send you and your mate on an all-expenses paid cruise for two on Norwegian Cruise
Lines. 

But you gotta hustle. Your tale has to be in to them by March 15, 2006. So get busy you mushy
scribes!

(via TravelPost)

Cruise Ships Attract the Young?

by Erik Olsen on

Of all the things I really want to do in life, taking a luxurious cruise is way down the
list. Granted, if someone were to come up to me tomorrow and say, Erik, here is a free two-week cruise aboard an
impossibly luxurious cruise ship, sure, I’d take it . But as far as something I’d actually plan and pay for, give me a
trek in the jungle or camping in Alaska anyday.

What do I have against cruises? Nothing. I’m sure it would be great to do…if I was, like 75 years old.

But that’s just me. I definitely have a notion in my head that cruise ships are for fogeys. And according to this
article
in the Los Angeles Times,  I am right. Well, no wait a sec. I am right in that many people have this
stereotype. But the article actually suggests quite the opposite, that many younger people are finding cruise ships
appealing.  Part of the reason is that the trips offered by the cruise ship companies are offering trips that
cater to a more adventuresome mindset. In the article, Cheryl McCormick from Manhattan Beach went on a cruise and found
herself diving in the Galapagos as well as exploring the jungles of Cambodia and Vietnam. So that’s cool.

But such trips ain’t cheap. Further down the article we discover that McCormick’s budget was a jaw-dropping $65,000
for the trip. Ouch. I have got to say, if you have that kind of money to throw around do a round-the-world trip in
style. But again, that’s just me.

Anyway, I found it odd that while the article mentions cruise ships are for young people now, McCormick is quoted
as saying that he ship was mostly filled with old people. So perhaps I was right after all.