Let’s clarify one thing about this blog before we begin: It is not about age discrimination.
As cruise lines search for entertainment lightning rods to attract passengers to ships, they are reaching further into the…uh, age bag. They are recruiting entertainers of our age, and older. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
However, it does come with some risks.
It was announced this week that Norwegian will host a Simple Man Cruise. It’s named after 
a song made famous by the group without a vowel — Lynyrd Skynyrd. The southern rockers will be joined on the ship by other musical performers of their era, their style and their age. Most notable of them is the Doobie Brothers (right), and two of the Doobies might be “don’t bies” when the Norwegian Pearl sets sail from Miami on October 12.
The group’s drummer (Michael Hossack) and touring bassist (Skylark) have been sidelined since 2010, due to unrelated health concerns. There is no guarantee they’ll be back drumming and bassing by fall.
Having seen Frankie Valli of the Four Seasons in concert at the age of 70, we’re quite enthusiastic about seeing talented musicians no matter how old they are. The operative word is talented. It’s just that, at our age, it can be risky business promising so far in advance that they’ll be there at show time.
DAILY DEAL:
Celebrity Century
15 nights
April 20, 2012
San Diego (return): Honolulu, Lahaina (Maui), Kona, Kilauea Volcano (cruising); Hilo, Ensenada (Mexico)
Oceanview $1,699
www.celebritycruises.com
Tags: Celebrity Century, Celebrity cruises, Cruise deals, Cruise ship entertainment, Finding Bargains, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Norwegian, Norwegian Pearl
Today, it’s time to make three port stops, all of which are enjoying their changing associations with cruise ships…
New Orleans: It’s almost like people who cruise just re-discovered what a great place New Orleans is to visit. In 2011, the port showed an increase of 39 per cent to 738,908, the most cruise passengers New Orleans has ever had. Four ships (two Carnival, one Norwegian, one Royal Caribbean) home-port in NoLa and this week two more ships stopped for a visit — Fred.Olsen’s Balmoral and P&O’s Oceana, bringing in another 4,000 visitors.
Vancouver: Disney made news this week by announcing it will return the Wonder to its previous home, Vancouver, in 2013, following a one-year diversion to Seattle as the shared embarkation point for its Alaska cruises (this year’s cruises are Seattle to Vancouver via Alaska, and vice-versa). Apparently, Disney cruisers expressed a preference for Canada’s Olympic city for its on-shore experience. Hmm, maybe cruise lines really do listen to customers.
Miami: The Disney Wonder is this week’s newsmaker among cruise ships, because when it’s not in Vancouver it will be in Miami, the line’s first ship to be based in what is being called PortMiami with the arrivals of “home” ships from MSC, Costa and Regent Seven Seas. Until this, Disney ships in Florida were all based in Port Canaveral, just east of Orlando. Ironically, on the Disney website the Wonder’s repositioning cruise through the Panama Canal (above) only goes as far as Los Angeles, its present home.
Conventional wisdom is that a cruise ship in a port means $1 million a day for the local economy.
These are three winners of the cruise lottery.
DAILY DEAL:
Holland America Rotterdam VI
15 nights
April 17, 2012
Fort Lauderdale, Funchal and Lisbon (Portugal), Brest and Cherbourg (France), Rotterdam
Inside $799
www.hollandamerica.com
Tags: Alaska, Carnival, Costa Cruise, Cruise deals, Cruise ports, Cruise ships, Disney, Finding Bargains, Fred.Olsen, Holland America, Miami, MSC Cruises, New Orleans, Norwegian, P&O, Panama Canal, Regent, Royal Caribbean, Vancouver
Either there’s been a dip in the advertising by major cruise lines, or it just seems that way. Everybody’s just a little gun shy about promoting cruises when bodies are still being discovered off the shores of Italy.
The cruise pendulum continues to swing towards river cruising, and there is no shortage of 
advertising these days by the river cruisers, almost all of which are adding ships to their fleets.
Meanwhile, the ocean-going companies are taking heat.
Carnival, for example, was heavily criticized for commercials that ran on NFL playoff telecasts two days after the tragedy involving a ship from a cruise line it owns, Costa. Given that the accident was Friday night and the telecasts were Sunday afternoon, the criticism seems a little harsh…nevertheless, scheduled ads were pulled from NBC by Tuesday.
Yesterday, Carnival spokesman Vince Gullicksen told examiner.com:
“We are actively evaluating marketing across the brands and geographic regions with each brand being sensitive to their specific audiences. For the Carnival Cruise Lines brand, we have suspended broadcast and digital advertising, as well as direct mail marketing for the time being.”
Princess and Avalon are offering an ocean-river cruise combo, giving passengers a chance to get a taste of both worlds and do some head-to-head comparison. The two cruise lines tested the market last summer and obviously found it to be fertile.
In May, the Emerald Princess leaves Copenhagen on a tour of Baltic and Scandinavian cities, returning to the Danish port 11 days later. Passengers who take the new “cruisetour” are transported to an Avalon Waterways ship to cruise the Rhine River, from Basel to Amsterdam, for a week.
Since the Emerald carries 3,000 passengers and Avalon ships carry fewer than 150 passengers, it’s not for everyone.
Like all innovations, it will likely be copied, for the benefit of both ocean and river cruise lines.
Passengers, too.
DAILY DEAL:
Celebrity Infinity
7 nights
September 7, 2012
Seattle (return): Ketchikan, Juneau, Tracy Arm/Inside Passage (cruising), Skagway, Victoria
Inside $809
www.celebritycruises.com
Tags: Advertising, Avalon Cruises, Carnival, Costa Cruise, Cruise deals, Emerald Princess, Finding Bargains, Princess cruise, River cruises
It was our intention to write about something other than the Costa Concordia today.
However, it’s difficult to find a story anywhere on cruising that doesn’t include more than a passing reference to a ship almost nobody had even heard of three weeks ago. In fact, most of the stories about cruising these days are ALL about the Concordia’s carnage.
At the risk of adding to the list and offending readers who simply have had enough, we thought it was appropriate to identify some of the subjects that have risen to the surface, like some monster of the sea that has been hibernating down where the water is clear and no human ever goes. We list 10 food-for-thought items, without opinion…
1. Venice, which has seen its fragile land eroded by big ships, is getting international attention for its plight, and there is even talk (facetiously) of erecting a monument to the captain of the Concordia for exposing “the dangers posed by these floating multi-story hotels.”
2. Ships are simply too big to be safe because the sheer weight of them makes them vulnerable to having their hulls ripped apart when they meet an immoveable object, like rocks.
3. The world is deluged with comparisons between the Concordia and the Titanic almost 
exactly 100 years ago even though the Titanic was a flawed design in icy waters, was the largest luxury liner in the world at the time with “just” 2,200 passengers, and left behind a death toll of 1,517.
4. Cruise-ship crews are not really trained well enough to save passenger loads of three or four thousand people.
5. People who used to say cruise ships provided the safest transportation option in the wake of 9/11 are having second thoughts.
6. Muster drills are flawed exercises because there is always somebody who’s not paying attention and whose voice is so loud that those within earshot are unable to pay attention.
7. Safety regulations for cruise ships may differ slightly from country to country, but the bigger problem is policing the regulations.
8. Passengers are sometimes plied with alcohol, by cruise-ship crews, to the extent that in an emergency they wouldn’t know the difference between their muster station and their stateroom.
9. It’s a miracle a disaster like this hasn’t happened in the middle of the ocean, where lifeboats are the ONLY survival option.
10. Cruise ships are not unsinkable after all.
The tentacles of tragedy reach every facet of this industry. Along with the never-ending photos of the Concordia on its side and the ongoing search for unaccounted victims, that is why this story just won’t go away.
DAILY DEAL:
Diamond Princess
23 nights
February 4, 2012
Sydney, Airlie Beach, Port Douglas and Darwin (Australia); Hong Kong; Taipei (Taiwan); Nagasaki (Japan); Busan (South Korea); Shanghai, Dallan and Beijing (China)
Inside $1,799
www.princess.com
Tags: Costa Concorida, Costa Cruise, Cruise deals, Cruise ships, Finding Bargains, Ship accidents, Titanic
One last postscript on the cruise-ship accident that nobody wants to read about any more…
This wasn’t supposed to be the Costa Concordia’s final cruise, so there are passengers 
booked on future trips that won’t happen. What happens to them?
In addition to probably millions paying in liability to those on the ship, Costa will compensate booked customers who were booked on the Concordia, or who simply don’t want to sail Costa — any ship — for obvious reasons.
According to Cruise Critic, here is what Costa is offering:
• No fees for either re-booking on another ship or just canceling
• A $150 per-person supplement for booking an 11-night cruise on the Serena or neoRomantica by mid-March
• Price protection for booking on another ship after mid-March
• Up to $200 in airline change fees resulting from re-booking
It’s trivial compared to what Concordia passengers have gone through, but it’s just one more complication from such a tragedy.
DAILY DEAL:
Norwegian Jewel
7 nights
February 25, 2012
New York (return): Port Canaveral, Great Stirrup Cay, Nassau
Inside $499
www.ncl.com
Tags: Costa Concorida, Costa Cruise, Cruise deals, Cruise ships, Finding Bargains, Norwegian, Norwegian Jewel
Ice breakers leading the way to reach the fuel-starved people of Nome, on the far west coast of Alaska. Elsewhere in the state, there are snowbanks towering 15 to 18 feet high. Good time to think about an Alaskan cruise?
The answer is yes.
It is now that cruise companies start promoting this year’s cruises to Alaska, so if you want to pick the optimum time for going, this is the time to start looking.
Optimum time?
This is always problematic with Alaska. Also unpredictable. Preparing cruisers for the uniqueness of booking an Alaska cruise is the job of cruise agents, and we came across one — Vacations To Go — that has done an excellent job of the “five key factors” when planning a cruise to Alaska.
Here they are, in capsule form:
Price
Discounts are available right now on virtually every departure from May to September. Shipboard credits and other free amenities are also available on many sailings and you’ll find the lowest rates on departures early and late in the season. If for some reason you must sail on a specific ship on a specific date, or you require special cabin needs, you should lock in your rate while there are still cabins that will accommodate you on nearly every ship. However, if you are flexible rates for many cabins are likely to be reduced about 90 days before departure.
Itinerary
There are two types: Inside Passage cruises that sail round-trip from Vancouver, Seattle or San Francisco; and Gulf of Alaska cruises that sail one way between Vancouver and Seward or Whittier. The round-trips offer two advantages: 1) you can book closer to departure because there are many flights and 2) airfare is less because no flights to/from Anchorage or Fairbanks are required, and flights to those cities is limited and fill early with cruise and cruise tour passengers, which makes it more risky to wait for a last-minute deal on a one-way, where there’s the opportunity to explore the interior on a land tour. Keep in mind that tour buses, rail cars and lodges can sell out early and booking no later than the end of February is recommended.
Weather
It’s unpredictable, but the warmest temperatures are generally in July and August, when average highs are in the low- to mid-60s. Precipitation can rise a bit in late August and early September, but don’t avoid that time for that reason. Weather is part of the experience in Alaska.
Wildlife
Different species of wildlife are active at different times.
• Humpback and killer whales: summer in large sounds and straits along the coast.
• Brown and black bears: grassy tidal flats starting in May and near salmon streams and 
berry patches in July and August.
• Moose and caribou: calving in May and cow moose and their young near thickets along roadsides and rivers in May and June.
• Bald eagles: plentiful and spotted at the water’s edge in the summer, particularly near salmon-spawning streams.
• Tufted puffins and other seabirds: nesting colonies on coastal islands in May. Shorebird watching is popular in August and September, as species begin migrations south.
• Harbor seals: visible throughout the season and with their pups on and around the icebergs of Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay during June.
• Sea lions: start becoming visible in September.
• King salmon: runs from May through August; late May through June best for saltwater king salmon fishing, and July-August for freshwater.
• Sockeye (red) salmon: fill freshwater streams and rivers on spawning runs from late June through July.
• Chum and pink salmon: saltwater fishing best in July and August, and freshwater fishing peaks in August.
• Coho (silver) salmon: in saltwater areas from late July through early September, and in freshwater areas during September and October.
• Halibut: most abundant in salt water from late June through August.
Passports
Passports are required for all travelers who enter or re-enter the U.S. by air from any other country, which means U.S. citizens and residents who fly back to the U.S. from Canada are required to have a valid passport. It is also required for anyone who enters or re-enters the U.S. by land or by sea. There are a few exceptions but passports are always recommended.
DAILY DEAL:
Carnival Conquest
7 nights
March 4, 2012
New Orleans (return): Key West, Freeport, Nassau
Inside $489
www.carnival.com
Tags: Alaska, Carnival, Carnival Conquest, Cruise deals, Cruises, Cruisetours, Finding Bargains, Vacations To Go
Here’s one of the New Year’s resolutions made in our house: By the end of 2012, we hope we will no longer be able to say we’ve never been on a river cruise.
Clearly, river cruising is becoming a significant part of the “cruise community” and it’s time for us — so that we can properly serve you — to get on board, so to speak.
Besides, there are more choices than ever.
On the Danube, Avalon River Cruises has two new ships arriving in May, the Vista and the Visionary, and calling them the latest “Suite Ships.” Avalon will then have 18 ships in its fleet.
On the Rhine, as well as the Danube, Viking plans to have six new ships on the water before the end of 2012. They call them “the longships.” By then, there will be 31 Viking river cruisers.
On the Mississippi, there are three river cruise companies and two new ships — one of them the Queen of the Mississippi — mark the return of paddle wheelers to the river for the first time in two decades. The message is that cruising the Mississippi is making a comeback.
Geographically, that would make the most sense for us. However, there is one caveat. It’s those tales of Mississippi gamblers…
DAILY DEAL:
Royal Caribbean Voyageur of the Seas
7 nights
February 11, 2012
New Orleans (return): Falmouth, Grand Cayman, Cozumel
Inside $469
www.royalcaribbean.com
Tags: Avalon Cruises, Bargains, Cruise deals, Danube River, Mississippi River, New cruise ships, Queen of the Mississippi, Rhine River, River cruises, Royal Caribbean, Viking River Cruises, Voyageur of the Seas
One of the allegations surfacing about the captain of the Costa Concordia from its horrific accident is that he may not have been on the bridge, driving the ship.
At the risk of sounding like we’re defending the captain, who is being blamed with much more than absentia, the possibility that he would not be on the bridge should 
not be a surprise. These behemoths of the sea are a far cry from being captain of a freighter, on which (perhaps) the captains are required to have more of a hands-on approach.
On cruise ships, captains are responsible for much more than making sure the ship is going in the right direction, and maybe unfairly so. That fundamental purpose is delegated to staff captains, among others, who delegate it to the computers that have made driving a cruise ship so automatic.
The first report we saw said that the captain of the Concordia was “at the bar.” This is doubtful. Captains we have met unanimously say they never drink when on board, such is the enormity of their responsibility.
So where was this captain?
Well, he could have been welcoming guests at a cocktail party, as he is expected to do. He could have been hosting a dinner with VIPs or frequent cruisers, as he is expected to do. He could have been posing for photos with passengers who want to go home and drop his name because that, too, is one of his duties. At times he is expected to be entertaining, even funny.
There is no cruise ship captain who’s on the bridge 24/7. This captain may indeed be guilty of doing things wrong in events leading up to this nightmare. But being away from the bridge is not one of them.
Maybe one of the industry changes to emerge from this tragedy will be a recommendation for cruise lines to lessen the social demands on their ship captains.
DAILY DEAL:
Celebrity Summit
7 nights
February 18, 2012
San Juan (return): Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten, St. Thomas
Inside $609
www.celebritycruises.com
Photo courtesy Phil Reimer, Ports and Bows
Tags: Celebrity, Celebrity cruises, Celebrity Summit, Costa Concorida, Costa Cruise, Cruise deals, Cruise ships, Finding Bargains, Italy, Ship accidents