Since the cruise industry takes the week between Christmas and New Years as vacation, I must rely on the general media for news.  Cruise ships and Paris Hilton are similar: anything that happens is big news.   
Apparently the British consider a ship cursed if the bottle of champagne smacked against the hull fails to break.  So imagine the British press’ [...]

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As one who would rather look forward than back, I’ll be focusing on what’s new and interesting in 2008.  New ships are frequently the most exciting part of the cruise industry so I’ll start with this. While fewer vessels will enter service in 2008 than in previous years, there will be an enormous number of new berths to fill.  Both [...]

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Click here to view my Holiday greetings!

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Every December, articles appear with tips for keeping weight off during the holidays.  Like most people I barely glance at the headline since I prefer recipes for eggnog, pies, cookies and candy.  This year it occurred to me that the holiday season is like taking a cruise: both are wonderful opportunities to put on unwanted pounds.
Of all the [...]

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Gene Sloan, a journalist who covers the cruise industry at The Cruise Log, reports that Carnival Corporation says cabins are filling up faster than a year ago.  Howard Frank, vice chairman of Carnival Corp, which owns Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America, Princess, Cunard and Costa Cruises, says that cruising is booming. 
This comes as a surprise [...]

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You’ve planned this cruise for years and finally the dream comes true: boarding the ship you set set sail for glamorous ports in ________ (Asia, South America, the Greek Islands, wherever) with equally-excited fellow passengers. 
Three days into the cruise the weather gets bad, the seas high.  The Captain’s voice over the ship’s public adress system is tentative: “Ah….ladies and [...]

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According to an Associated Press article, experts predict that Americans will vacation closer to home in 2008 due to the slowdown in the economy, a weak dollar and higher gasoline prices.   I also think that negative publicity about airport delays and cancelled flights has caused many of us to rethink travel plans. 
I live in New York [...]

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* Holland America has announced that its next new ship, the Eurodam, will make a ten-day inaugural voyage from Rotterdam July 5, 2008 visiting Norwegian fjords and Scottish highlands.  A three-day preview cruise from Rotterdam to Copenhagen is scheduled Aug. 29, 2008 before the ship repositions to New York to commence its season of New England/Canada voyages.   The 2,104-passenger Signature-class [...]

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Every ship’s officer I’ve queried has admitted that the most difficult cruise of the year is the Christmas cruise.   Not only are ships full of passengers expecting a fabulous holiday — hey, you paid enough! — but the staff and crew, who miss their own families, work overtime.
One year, aboard Celebrity Cruises’ Galaxy, I walked into the [...]

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Like most cruisers, I hate being nickeled and dimed to death.  And while surcharges and extra fees feel like that sometimes, they’re really fare increases that reflect the rising cost of doing business. 
There’s a reason cruise lines call them as “surcharges” and “extra fees”. They pay travel agents a 15% commission on the price of the cabin.  [...]

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