Top Bon Voyage gifts

by Chris Owen on

Bon Voyage gifts and amenities are a nice little extra something that can really add to the enjoyment of a cruise vacation. Most lines have them available and some do a better job of it than others. Prices range from just a few dollars to hundreds and ordering is easy on the lines listed here. If you know someone going on a cruise, these make great holiday gifts.

Princess Cruises
Renewal of Vows package includes a ceremony presided over by the ship’s Captain, an Orchid bouquet and boutionnere for the ceremony, a comemorative certificate signed by the Captain, a bottle of Champagne, two Princess Cruises etched champagne glasses, a framed formal portrait and a 14-piece box of Godiva heart-shaped chocolates. $220

Carnival Cruise Line
Freshly Baked Cookies are big gourmet cookies made on-board in four varieties: Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Crunch, Macadamia Nut and Honey Raisin. $14.50

Royal Caribbean International
Classic Romance Package includes a bottle of chilled Domaine Chandon Champagne or Non-alcoholic Champagne and vanilla cupcakes upon arrival, a tray of canapés before dinner, and petit fours after dinner on the first formal evening; breakfast in bed one morning during the cruise, and a silver-framed, 8″ x 10″ keepsake portrait. $100

Celebrity Cruises
Chocolate Indulgence features a martini glass of 8 chocolate truffles poised atop a freshly-baked brownie. $15

Bon Voyage gifts can be ordered from third-party sources as well and often offer a wider selection to choose from. GiftBasketsOverseas.com does Bon Voyage gifts as well as gift baskets for pretty much any vacation.

Cruise survival kit: What you need to be totally prepared

by Chris Owen on

Carnival Inspiration finally docked in Florida at 8:30 p.m. last night after being held out at sea due to weather conditions. A bunch of other Carnival ships are sailing modified itineraries for weather-related issues. Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas was tossed around in bad Middle East weather.

News from the cruise industry lately has been all about weather-related delays, modifications of itineraries, disabled ships, braving storms and compensation to passengers for their troubles. With that in mind, cruise packing lists are being updated with a number of items normally found on lists for camping or backpacking. Start with these for your cruise survival kit:

Satellite phone
For as little as $24.95 a week you can rent global Iridium Satellite Phones from Satellite Phone.com. They can provide the lifeline you want when power goes out. Call rates of between $.99 and $1.59 a minute might sound expensive sitting on dry land but that will quickly be a bargain if you are the only one able to communicate with the outside world.

Lots of backup power
When the ship loses power the clock starts ticking on your cell phone or camera battery. What could be a timely call home (if and when you can catch a signal) to let friends and family know you are OK might not happen without plenty of backup power. iPhone users know Mophie.com is the place to go. Brookstone has a universal battery that works for phones and cameras.

Survival food
The passengers aboard Carnival Splendor, the ship by an engine room fire, have a lesson for us: Bring food. When lavish buffets and gourmet dining come to a screeching halt because the power got knocked out or the buffet lines thrown around by angry seas, some high protein snacks will come in handy. Think canned nuts, peanut butter, or other survival food high in calories that won’t take up a lot of space in luggage.

The right luggage
Now, more than ever, its a good idea to have only one piece of luggage that you can keep with you at all times. Cruise lines allow passengers to skip checking luggage if they can carry it on and off the ship without assistance. On Carnival Inspiration, held at sea for so long, guests who held on to their luggage were the winners. Durable Victorinox has some great choices.

The odds are you will have a totally safe and care-free cruise vacation. But savvy travelers know that being prepared for anything that might come your way is a good idea.

Weather spoils itinerary, cruise line softens the blow

by Chris Owen on

Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas was first on the chopping block today as a massive storm system in the Middle East bounced the ship around like a toy boat. The battered ship skipped a scheduled call in Alexandria, Egypt when the port was closed, sending it to Valletta, Malta.

Everyone on board is fine and the ship is completely seaworthy; minus a few onboard attractions.

Closer to home, Carnival Cruise Line announced weather-modified itineraries on four ships. Carnival Fascination skipped Key West and spending the day at sea, Carnival Freedom is skipping Key West too and will call on Cozumel Tuesday. Carnival Sensation, scheduled to call on Freeport in the Bahamas will spend a day at sea also. Carnival Inspiration due back in Tampa at 8a.m. today was delayed due to weather conditions as were two cargo vessels.

Weather-related events often cause modification of cruise ship itineraries cancelling plans of guests for shore-side shopping, sightseeing and shore excursions. While the safety of guests is of primary importance to the cruise lines, they know that getting off the ship in port is a highlight of the vacation, one they desperatley want to make happen. As a result, cruise lines commonly provide onboard credit for guests confined to the ship to spend on board.

In the case of Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas, the cruise line said in a statement today “As a gesture of goodwill, and to thank guests onboard Brilliance of the Seas for their understanding during this difficult situation, Royal Caribbean International has provided guests with an onboard credit, as well as a full refund of their cruise fare paid for the sailing”

Not bad for an experience they’ll surely remember for the rest of their lives.

Cruise ship tossed around, passengers sent flying

by Chris Owen on

Large waves and heavy winds caused Royal Caribbean’s 2,110-passenger Brilliance of the Seas to list heavily several times early Sunday.

Passengers, furniture, and pretty much anything not tied down went “flying back and forth” as the ship was tossed around by inclement affecting the middle east recently reports cruisecritic.com.

“Listing” is a vessel’s angle of lean or tilt to one side. “List” can be caused by improperly loaded cargo or flooding on ships. On cruise ships, extreme listing is rare and most often caused by weather related events and high seas.

It all happened as Brilliance of the Seas approached Alexandria, Egypt around 2:15 a.m. causing injuries to about 30 passengers and damaging some of the public areas. Later, Alexandria closed its port because of the weather and the ship was diverted to Valletta, Malta. Brilliance of the Seas was on a 12-night sailing from Barcelona.

Royal Caribbean reports the ship has full power and is sailing as normal now with onboard programming returning within a few hours. Photos on MSNBC’s Photoblog show the damage done in areas ranging from individual passenger cabins to common areas shared by all guests.

Flickr photo by Twiga269

Coast Guard ships would-be migrants back to Cuba

by Chris Owen on

Seventeen Cubans found at sea over the last week, some in in home-made rafts, were returned to Cuba Saturday morning. An eighteenth would-be migrant was taken to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to determine if asylum in a third country is possible.

While most were intercepted by the U.S Coast Guard, six were saved from a sinking raft by Royal Caribbean’s Monarch of the Seas last Monday when a passenger on board spotted them in distress. “We gave them medical treatment. They were dehydrated,” said Royal Caribbean’s Cynthia Martinez adding “They were on the ship for less than 24 hours”

The Miami Herald reports that in the course of the week they were moved first on Monday to a 45-foot response boat, the 87-foot patrol boat Cutter Shrike, and then to the 110-foot Ocracoke out of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Shipping would-be migrants back to Cuba falls under the United States Wet Foot/Dry Foot policy. Dating back to the Clinton administration, the policy states that Cubans intercepted/rescued at sea are taken back to Cuba while those who make it to shore are allowed to stay.

Flickr photo by gnr