General News

The largest NCL cruise ship ever, the “Norwegian Breakaway” will be making New York City her home port.

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The spaciousness, the convenience of no waiting on lines and not having to save lounge chairs or theatre seats is a relaxing luxury. The theatre has a very intimate atmosphere, unlike the larger ships. And how often are you able to disembark a cruise ship, go through customs, pick up your luggage from the baggage area and depart the terminal in 10-15 minutes?! 

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Beaches, Negril located on the breathtaking stretch of the world famous 7-Mile Beach in Jamaica; this wonderful luxury all-inclusive resort for families. The fun & laughter never stop with supervised camps for kids of all ages.

There are 5 specialty restaurants & a beach bistro; 3 pools (2 have swim-up bars); scuba diving programs; spa & fitness; Sesame Street themed activities; Kid Kamp & Nursery; Pirates Island Waterpark with its gushing lazy river; state-of-the-art XBOX 360® Game Garage; teen-only nightspot called Liquid, DJ Academy classes and so much more.

I took pictures with the Sesame Street Characters Elmo, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Count Dracula & Zoe.  What Fun!!!!

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Just spent 4 days in Sandals, Whitehouse, Jamaica.  It’s a luxury all-inclusive couples resort with three European-inspired villages – Italian, French and Dutch.  Each room & suite are oceanviews offering magnificent views overlooking the two-mile long beach, some with Butler Service.  We had the butler service.

At first, we couldn’t think of what to do with a butler…???  One night, a small, frog (Whistling Frog) got into our suite.  I wanted to call the butler to help us get rid of it, but I felt a bit embarrassed asking, so we didn’t….we did however, have breakfast on our porch and he drew a hot bath for us (without us asking).

There’s unlimited gourmet dining at seven restaurants with unlimited brand drinks and Beringer wines at 6 full service bars including 2 signature swim-up pool bars.  They have tennis courts, squash, fitness room, Red Land Spa, 2-story amphitheatre, pool tables, great entertainments, water sports, including a terrific scuba diving program.                 

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Just returned from seeing Sandals, Negril which is a luxury all-inclusive couples resort. They offer suites called Beachfront Crystal Lagoon Suite which are set upon a relaxing pool where you can dip your toes right outside of your patio.  That's where I'd like to stay next time I return!!

The resort has seven miles of unbelievable silky white sand beach.  Spectacular sunsets can be seen sinking into the sea from this westernmost tip of Jamaica.  Great watersports & scuba diving.  Unlimited gourmet dining at their restaurants with unlimited brand drinks and Beringer wines including swim-up bars.  What a fantastic resort!

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Keep track of your children on the Oasis of the Seas!  No, not by following them around. The muster station wristbands that all young children on cruise ships must wear will be enhanced with an electronic device that will allow their parents to track them in real time as they wander the ship; an industry first.

Guests can also rent Royal Connect phones for $17.50 which can be used to track their children, call and text other passengers who have Royal Connect phones and call cabins.

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Delta Air Lines has launched direct flights from Detroit Airport hub to Seoul, Hong Kong and expanded service to Shanghai. This is Delta’s development of Detroit as a major gateway to Asia

This new service from Detroit is part of Delta’s summer 2010 schedule - the first fully consolidated schedule published following the airline’s merger with Northwest.

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The 2010 World Expo in Shanghai has brought in more than 8 million visitors in the first month since it opened on May 31, 2010. The largest daily total was 503,600 visitors. More than 190 countries and more than 50 international organizations have registered to participate in the Shanghai World Expo, the largest ever.

China expects to receive almost 100 foreign leaders and millions of people from across the world to come and visit the World Expo. More than 70–100 million visitors are expected to visit the expo, which would make it the most visited in history.

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Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell signed legislation Thursday that will sharply lower the state's tax to $34.5, with additional savings of up to $15 for ships that stop in Juneau and Ketchikan.  Most cruises to Alaska include a stop in Juneau and Ketchikan.

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All four of Celebrity's Solstice-class ships will be in Europe 2011 – the ships are Solstice, Equinox, Eclipse & Silhouette.

Celebrity Silhouette sets sail for the first time in July 2011.  It will offer a maiden voyage from Hamburg to Rome and a nine-night Mediterranean voyage. Then, it will operate 12- and 13-night Holy Land sailings roundtrip from Rome. After Celebrity Silhouette makes its debut in Europe, it will homeport in Bayonne during winter 2011-12 with a series of 12-night Caribbean voyages.

Celebrity Equinox also will sail from Rome, offering 10- and 11-night roundtrip Mediterranean cruises.

The Constellation (although a Millennium class ship) will undergo a series of refurbishments later this month which are inspired by the Solstice-class vessels.  The Celebrity Mercury & Constellation will also be in Europe, This marks the first time Celebrity will have six ships in Europe.  In total, Celebrity will visit 70 ports in 23 countries in Europe,

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How does this sound on a cruise ship?  Morning Tai Chi, Sudoku, afternoon Pilates, Wii bowling, yoga, step classes, spinning, Golf Challenge, ballroom dance classes, team trivia, and more……ready to sign up?!  Explore Wellbeing has extended the offerings of the Greenhouse Spa to incorporate new entertainment. 

Other interesting activities include the Party Planner hosting Explore Food & Entertaining events in the Culinary Arts Center.  More than 70 culinary experts come onboard each year, in addition to classes and demonstrations on every sailing.

The Techspert will offer Explore Technology classes and Digital Workshops where guests learn how to blog, work with digital photos, arrange a digital scrapbook, create a slideshow or edit a movie. On cruises lasting 14 days or more, there will be a book club.

The Travel Guide will be giving multimedia presentations about the ship’s itinerary and be a one-stop source for port-of-call information.

This is what you call “Edutainment”!!

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Carnival Dream, the newest and largest ship of the Carnival fleet earned a perfect 100 score on its first full U.S. Public Health inspection conducted in Port Canaveral, Fla.  The Carnival Splendor also earned a 100 score on its USPH inspection two weeks earlier.

In order to earn a 100, cruise ships must receive perfect marks on all 42 items that comprise the USPH’s Vessel Sanitation Program checklist. These inspections are unannounced and are conducted twice a year.  The checklist includes proper food handling, preparation and storage procedures, proper filtration of water supplies used in spas and pools and overall galley cleanliness. This is required for any cruise ship with an international itinerary calling at a U.S. port.

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Crystal Cruises has added a “first time ever” overnight visit to Ashdod, Israel. This is in addition to an overnight stay in Egypt.  This 12 night “Ruins & Relics” Mediterranean cruise on Crystal Serenity departs Athens for Rome Oct. 19, also visiting Naples and Sicily, Italy, and Valetta, Malta.

           Western Wall, Israel               Caesarea, Israel

This itinerary allows visits to Caesarea, Temple Mount, to Israel’s Western Wall (formerly Wailing).  Also the Great Pyramid and the treasures of King Tutankhamen in Egypt; Herculaneum and the excavations at Pompeii in Italy and Athens’ Acropolis.

On board, experts in world affairs, including former White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater, will host presentations and workshops.

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Norwegian Cruise Line announced that the Norwegian Spirit would begin sailing year-round out of New Orleans.  Norwegian Spirit will operate weekly seven-day Western Caribbean voyages every Sunday from April 2011 through April 2012.

The itinerary will take the ship to Costa Maya and Cozumel (Mexico); Roatán, Bay Islands (Honduras); and Belize City (Belize).

Three months earlier, it was announced that Carnival Triumph was coming to New Orleans.  This is the first time since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that a vessel of its size has sailed out of the city.

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Princess Cruises will be starting a new program in March which will allow non-cruisers to board ships on departure day.  This gives them the opportunity of coming onboard to wish their friends and family a "bon voyage."  This was a common practice which stopped more than twenty years ago as security procedures tightened.

Princess says visitors who sign up for the new program will get a four-course dining room lunch with wine on the ship, a tour of the vessel and a souvenir photo. They and their passenger friends/family will have access to priority embarkation.  A charge of $39 for the four-hour experience can be applied to a future Princess cruise.

The program will debut in March in the ports of Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale, and later to New York, San Francisco and Seattle. Princess says passengers will be notified about the program through the pre-cruise emails they receive from the line as their cruise date approaches.  In-port visits can be booked through a travel agent or by calling Princess beginning 120 days before a cruise and up to six days before the sailing date.

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