Carnival's Free Caribbean Cabin Upgrade

Here's a neat incentive to join a sparkling Caribbean cruise with Carnival Cruise Lines this year - a FREE cabin upgrade for the sailing in March.

Sailing from Port Canaveral, Florida – just a short hop away from the thrills of Orlando - to the heavenly Western Caribbean, the voyage features visits to Cozumel, Mexico’s only Caribbean island (brimming with silver and colourful crafts) and beautiful Belize, boasting its own special brand of eco-tourism and the world’s second largest barrier reef, before cruising on to the new Mahogany Bay resort on scenic Isla Roatan, and then Costa Maya, gateway to ancient Mayan temples and white sand beaches of the Mexican mainland.

The ship involved, the spectacular 3,646-passenger Carnival Dream, features some of the best resort amenities afloat, including deck after deck of spacious private balconied staterooms offering breathtaking panoramas, plus 18 bars and lounges, a duty-free shopping mall, a huge Cloud 9 health spa and gym, including a hydrotherapy pool, “Serenity” deck areas for adults only, a glittering casino, a 2,400sq ft children’s area, four swimming pools and several cascading water slides.

This 9-night Caribbean fly/cruise onboard the Dream starts from just £1,099 per person, including a free upgrade from an inside to a sea-view stateroom. This holiday departs from London on March 1 and includes scheduled flights between London and Orlando, one night pre-cruise hotel (room only) and a 7-night cruise, full board basis per person based on inside twin accommodation. 

For booking details, be sure to check out this link with the UK's luxury cruise specialists, The Cruise Line Ltd.

Time To Go Carnival Dreaming

With the winter drawing in, there’s no better time to think about a relaxing Caribbean cruise - and Carnival Cruises have some spectacular offerings for British holiday-markers to Florida this winter.

Their weekly Western Caribbean itinerary now sails conveniently from Port Canaveral, less than an hour from the holiday Mecca of Orlando and features a truly eye-catching route, visiting Cozumel (Mexico's only Caribbean island), brimming with silver and colourful crafts); beautiful Belize, which boasts some fascinating eco-tourism and the world’s second largest barrier reef; tropical Isla Roatan; and peaceful Costa Maya, with its white sand beaches and historic Mayan pyramids.

The eye-catching 3,646-passenger Carnival Dream (above) is one of the line's newest ships (and a sister vessel to the Carnival Breeze, which is due to set sail in the Med next summer), and features some of the best resort amenities afloat, including deck after deck of spacious balcony staterooms offering breathtaking panoramas, plus 18 bars and lounges, a duty-free shopping mall, a huge Cloud 9 health spa and gym, including a hydrotherapy pool, “Serenity” deck areas for adults only, a glittering casino, a 2,400sq ft children’s area, four swimming pools and several cascading water slides.

A 9-night Caribbean fly/cruise on Carnival Dream starts from just £1,099 per person, departing London on January 20 and including scheduled flights between London and Orlando, one night pre-cruise hotel (room only) and a 7-night cruise, full board (based on inside twin accommodation). It costs just £50 per person (less than £8 per day) to upgrade to an ocean view stateroom.

For more info and booking details, be sure to check out this link with the UK's leading cruise agent specialists, The Cruise Line Ltd.

Vote for your 'Most Anticipated' ship in 2011!

There are eight all-new ships due to join the world's cruise fleet this year, from the latest ship for Disney Cruise Line to the boutique little Sea Cloud Hussar of Sea Cloud Cruises.

And we are having our own little Poll here at Time Spent At Sea to see which ship people are most looking forward to. Just scroll to the foot of our Home Page and you will see the voting options.

The eight ships are as follows:

Disney Dream, Disney Cruise Line; due Jan 2011 - 128,000 tons, 2,500 passengers

Marina, Oceania Cruises (above); due Jan 2011 - 65,000 tons, 1,260 passengers

Costa Favolosa, Costa Cruises; due Apr 2011 - 114,000 tons, 3,012 passengers

Carnival Magic, Carnival Cruises; due Apr 2011; 130,000 tons, 3,652 passengers

L'Austral, Ponant Cruises; due May 2011; 10,600 tons, 264 passengers

Seabourn Quest, Seabourn; due June 2011; 32,000 tons, 450 passengers

Celebrity Silhouette, Celebrity Cruises; due Aug 2011; 122,000 tons, 2084 passengers

Sea Cloud Hussar, Sea Cloud Cruise; due Sep 2011; 136 passengers

PS: Disney Dream is the early leader after just 1 day with 100% of the vote!

PPS: Just go to the bottom of our home page http://timespentatsea.blogspot.com to see the poll in full.

Ready, Shrek, Go!

Once upon a time, there was a little cruise line. And the little cruise line had a Big Red Boat. And on the Big Red Boat were Disney characters. And all the little children on the Big Red Boat were happy.

Then Disney started its own Cruise Line and all their characters jumped ship, leaving the Big Red Boat to struggle along with Loony Tune characters....

But, in the big wide world of cruise ship marketing, a major trend had been started, and everyone took notice. While Disney Cruise Line officially set sail in 1998, 'Fun Ship Freddy' joined Carnival Cruises in 2002 and a trend had become a major onboard entertainment feature.

Then, earlier this year, NCL announced a major tie-up with Nickelodeon to use their characters aboard the forthcoming Norwegian Epic. And now comes another move in this direction as Royal Caribbean staged a major press conference yesterday to unveil a marketing alliance with DreamWorks Animation.

The details - which add the likes of Shrek and Donkey; Kung Fu Panda; the characters from the Madagascar series (notably the hysterically funny penguins); and an Ice Show based on the recent film 'How To Train Your Dragon' - reveal that Royal Caribbean believe they need to not only acknowledge this trend but take it to a whole new level.

To that end, the new Allure of the Seas - due to sail this December - will be the line's trailblazer for this new tie-up between one of the world's biggest cruise lines and one of the most successful animated film studios.

The alliance will see a whole raft of new children's programming and activities (naturally enough) for a cruise line that already boasts a fantastic option for families with their Adventure Ocean kids areas (for 3 to 11-year-olds), but DreamWorks boss Jeffrey Katzenberg made it clear they really wanted to push the possibilities with this deal, and that has led to some interesting additions to Allure's onboard entertainment quotient.

As well as the themed Ice Show, there will be DreamWorks characters added to the AquaTheater show in the ship's signature after show area; there will be a new 3-D film capapbility in the main theatre, so passengers can see the latest movies in 3-D as well as past DreamWorks favourites.

Add in character breakfasts, parades, special events and other photo opportunities (weith the DreamWorks options also being added to Oasis, Freedom and Liberty of the Seas after Allure) and you have an amazing new package - and a whole new style - of cruising from Royal Caribbean, and just one more reason to consider taking a holiday with them next year.

Whether you have kids or not!

TOO Good for Kids?

Royal Caribbean have gone to a lot of trouble and effort (not to mention money) in putting some of the most elaborate kids facilities ever seen into their forthcoming Oasis of the Seas.

Carnival have made a signature feature of their water-slides and Camp Carnival programmes. P&O seemingly have kids' clubs coming out of their ears, and NCL's new Norwegian Epic will also boast some of the most extensive children's facilities at sea.

With the exception of the truly deluxe, six-star operators, virtually everyone figures that the family market is key, and that therefore they have to have the biggest, brightest and downright fanciest gadgets and gizmos to keep the youngest cruisers happy.

It is an old adage in holiday circles that happy children equals happy parents, and that is certainly true in cruise terms.

But are the cruise lines doing TOO MUCH for kids?

Part of the attraction of cruising is in the places you visit, the different experiences on offer and the variety of cultures you can appreciate along the way. There is not much of that to be found in the kids clubs, where the junior landlubbers remain locked into their Wiis, Playstations and Nintendos.

While ships get smarters and more high-tech, the level of sophistication devoted to children is practically off the charts. Gone are the days when a couple of counsellors and a good game of football on the sports deck was about as organised as it got.

At the risk of sounding like the crustiest of curmudgeons, back in my day, we had just as much fun playing shuffleboard and doing scavenger hunts as all the clever, themed environments provide for today's kiddie cruisers.

And we also took an active interest in our ports of call, marvelling at each new harbour and the downright 'foreign' nature of the immediate vista. I can vividly remember my first visit to Gran Canaria and Madeira (back in 1969!), when the islands loomed out of the sea like some lunar landscape, full of mysterious possibilities and unimaginable delights.

Nowadays, if the average 9-year-old gives a new port even a passing glance, it is probably only because they are wondering if their Gameboy will work if they have to go ashore.

There seems to be no sense of awe and wonder, perhaps because children are fortunate to travel more often, but most likely because they don't have to use their imagination when it comes to cruising. The kids club provides that all for them.

So, perhaps the next big, mass-market cruise line that is considering the next generation of children's facilities might like to stop and ponder that, rather than build in another amazing, all-singing, all-dancing high-tech wonderland, they should perhaps realise that less can be more, simple can be good, and challenging can be rewarding.

And then some children might at least disembark at the end of the cruise knowing that Lisbon was the place that launched a generation of explorers and adventurers, and not just "some place in Portugal."

Laugh A Long A Carnival!

It’s definitely that time of year. There are new ships on the horizon and we are being bombarded with information and glittering facts and figures about them on an almost daily basis.

Royal Caribbean are giving us regular (large) doses of their forthcoming Oasis of the Seas, fittingly in instalments to go with their weekly ‘webisodes’ on the ship’s own website, providing a growing and in-depth catalogue of everything you ever wanted to know (and some of what you didn’t) about the world’s largest cruise ship.

The drip-feed of info has been so steady and so constant it feels like we know the ship already, even though its official launch is still more than two months way (and we have a full preview of it in the Autumn issue of World of Cruising magazine – out on September 15!).

At the same time, Carnival have been trying to keep up with their first new series of vessel for several years, the 130,000-ton Carnival Dream.

Now, unable to claim it is the ‘biggest this’ or the ‘largest that,’ the world’s largest cruise line have had a harder time coming up with fascinating facts and interesting tidbits to make the public sit up and take notice (kind of hard when they are already reeling from Oasis overkill!).

So instead, Carnival have opted for a more laid-back approach, focusing on the vessel’s new attributes, like the superb Ocean Plaza indoor/outdoorlive music venue, the Seaside Theatre (above) and onboard features, like the line’s widest range dining alternatives, which include a Tandoori restaurant and burrito bar.

Now they have moved full tilt to elaborating about their entertainment offerings, and have hit on a really eye-catching contribution from an old tried-and-trusted formula given a new spin.

The Comedy Club idea has been tried before without taking the cruise world by storm (by Disney Cruise Line, when their Disney Magic and Wonder first came out in 1998 and 1999 and promptly ditched after just a couple of seasons).

But now the Carnival entertainment team reckon they have the approach to make their guests sit up, take notice, and have a right good laugh.

The Comedy Club a la Carnival Dream will utilise the 425-seat Burgundy Lounge and feature six 35-minutes shows over four separate nights on a typical week-long cruise. Comedians will vary from family friendly to adults-only, and feature a wide range of comedy types.

Here’s their press release in full:

MIAMI (August 26, 2009) – Building upon its reputation for offering the most diverse entertainment choices at sea, Carnival Cruise Lines will introduce the line’s first comedy club on its new 130,000-ton Carnival Dream. The club will feature six comedy shows on four different nights during each voyage.

The new 3,646-passenger Carnival Dream – the line’s largest ship – is set to debut Sept. 21, 2009.

Presented in the 425-seat Burgundy Lounge, Carnival Dream’s comedy club will highlight a wide variety of comedians offering both family-friendly and adult-only performances each night.

Six 35-minute shows will be presented nightly, with show times at 6, 7:15, 8:30, 9:45 and 11 p.m., and 12:15 a.m. The last two performances will be R-rated adult-only shows.

Carnival Dream’s comedy club will showcase the talents of both the line’s established comedians and up-and-coming performers, many of whom have appeared on television specials and in comedy venues throughout the country.

“Guests choose a Carnival vacation to relax, laugh and have a great time, and comedy shows are one of our most popular entertainment offerings,” said Roger Blum, Carnival’s vice president of cruise programming. “On the Carnival Dream there will be 24 performances during each voyage, providing guests multiple opportunities to enjoy a highly talented roster of comics providing endless laughs in a fun and entertaining environment.”

Carnival Dream’s comedy club is one of several entertainment options aboard the spectacular “Fun Ship” that will offer guests an unparalleled mix of entertainment and activity choices from early in the morning to late at night.

These include three high-energy revues – “Dancin’ in the Street,” “Get Ready” and “X-Treme Country” – each of which will feature elaborate sets and costumes, state-of-the-art video technology and sophisticated special effects to keep audiences enthralled and entertained.

Offered for the first time on Carnival Dream, Ocean Plaza is a stunning indoor/outdoor café/live music venue with activities and entertainment planned from 9 a.m. until 1 a.m. Here, guests can relax with specialty coffees and sweets while enjoying a variety of live music, from rock and roll bands to a Latin trio, classical pianists, solo singers and more.

Located on Promenade Deck 5, Ocean Plaza will also serve as the venue for activities ranging from scrapbooking classes and trivia contests to karaoke, and art, spa and photo seminars. Jugglers and magic shows also will be presented, while the Fun Force, Carnival’s energetic acrobatic troupe, will amaze guests with their high-flying antics.

Other diversions on Carnival Dream will include solo entertainers along the Dream Street Promenade, a karaoke lounge, rollicking sing-a-longs in Sam’s Piano Bar, steel drum and Calypso bands on Lido Deck and live bands playing everything from rock to Latin to disco. Carnival Dream will also feature Carnival’s Seaside Theatre, a massive LED screen on Lido Deck showing movies, concerts, sporting events and other programming.

Carnival Dream debuts Sept. 21, 2009, with the first of three 12-day Grand Mediterranean cruises operating round-trip from Rome (Civitavecchia), followed by a 16-day trans-Atlantic crossing from Rome to New York Oct. 27 - Nov. 12.

Carnival Dream will operate two eight-day Bahamas/Florida cruises departing Nov. 15 and 23 from New York. The ship will then reposition to Port Canaveral, Fla., for a special nine-day Caribbean cruise departing Dec. 3. Carnival Dream will launch year-round seven-day Caribbean service from Port Canaveral, Dec. 12, 2009.

From Shining Century to Admirable Equinox

Southampton has played host all week to the new Celebrity Equinox, the second of the cruise line's Solstice-class ships and the first to be named in the UK.

And the initial review, feedback and gossip all suggest one thing - this is a HUGE success for Celebrity that brings them firmly back into the front rank of cruise ship hierarchy once again. Back in the limelight, and loving it!

I vividly remember all the hype and hoopla around their Century class ships back in 1995/96, when then Celebrity chief John Chandris led various press trips to the superb Meyer Werft shipyard at Papenburg, Germany.

The Century itself, quickly followed by the slightly larger Mercury and Galaxy (the latter of which is now sailing for TUI Cruises as Mein Schiff), proved to be something of a revolutionary vessel, breaking the existing mould of other new-builds at that time which were either horribly traditional and dull (P&O, NCL) or outrageously garish (Carnival).

For the first time, here was a new, European-styled cruise ship which was completely modern and stylish but also kept things in perspective, maintaining a solid cruise tradition with some revolutionary touches like their AquaSpa, expansive Sky Suites and a grand, two-level main Dining Room that offered a truly classic touch.

The Century was a beautiful ship to sail on, big enough to provide a choice in almost evertything you did but small enough to be comfortable and highly quality-conscious. You never felt you were on a vessel of 70,000-plus tons, and her two sisters were equally impressive.

The follow-up Millennium-class quartet slightly lost the plot, however. They weren't massively bigger at 91,000 tons compared to 71,000/77,000 but there was something horribly bulky and blockish about their design. The smooth, refined service which was a notable feature of the Century-class vessels wasn't quite so smooth and the standout feature of their main dining and alternative dining didn't measure up the line's Chandris-era standards.

Celebrity needed a game-changer to put them back at the forefront of the current welter of new-builds (greater quality from Carnival; more glitz from Costa; huge diversity from NCL; extra glamour from Holland America; and more of everything from Princess) and they opted to go for the bigger-still policy.

November 2008 saw the advent of the 122,000-ton Celebrity Solstice, a kind of combination of the original Century series and Royal Caribbean's massive Voyager-class. But this time, instead of just enlarging the blueprint and losing the focus, Celebrity kept things sharply in line, adding new features like their AquaClass staterooms and manicured Lawn Club (a surprisingly attractive novelty) and a truly indulgent alternative dining line-up.

Now, without allowing any grass (ho, ho) to grow under their feet, the line has made sure their new series is showcased firmly for the UK audience, hence the 7-day Southampton prelude to her first full inaugural sailing.

And it really looks like they have a massive hit on their hands. The travel trade has been suitably wowed, the grand Southampton naming ceremony was a complete headline-grabber and a 'taster' cruise for an assemblage of cruise and travel writers also seems to have been wamly received.

There is a good reason for this, of course. In April 2010 the third of these glamorous new-builds, Celebrity Eclipse, will hove into view and take up semi-permanent residence in Southampton for a seven-month season, becoming a 'British' ship in all but name (Equinox is off for a summer season in the Med shortly).

Celebrity badly needed Equinox to blaze an impressive trail for Solstice to follow. And, by the look of the past 7 days, they have achieved all that, and more besides.

An admirable Equinox indeed.

Time for a moan

OK, I've watched all the press releases roll in this week saying how the new SS Fantastic is going to be the greatest ship ever and the forthcoming Ocean-Going-Behemoth-Of-The-Seas will have the most amazing dining features in the whole world, but I'm also detecting a worrying pattern on sneaky extra onboard revenue earning. And I don't like it. At all.

The one that really set me thinking was Carnival's new 'Behind The Fun' guided tour, an "informative three-and-a-half-hour tour that offers participants a behind-the-scenes look at a wide range of shipboard venues that are normally off limits to guests. During the tour, key shipboard personnel, including the captain, chief engineer, chef de cuisine and other department heads, share their vast knowledge in their particular area of expertise."

Now I know this is really only bandwagon-jumping on Carnival's part (both Princess and NCL have already announced similar onboard revenue opportunities, I mean tours, in the past 12 months), but it does raise the question - is there nothing cruise lines can't now package as a ship 'tour,' 'experience' or 'programme'?

We fully understand cruise lines need to raise the revenue they have cut back on by offering a large range of discounts this year, all aimed at keeping passenger numbers up in the face of the economic meltdown.

But, if they keep adding new ways to separate passengers from their money whilst on board (and Carnival's new 'Behind The Fun' tour is 'only' $95 per person), then people are quickly going to cotton on to the fact that cruise ships are nothing more than large fleecing machines aimed at luring the wary and then emptying their pockets while they're not paying attention.

Providing 'alternative' dining options that all come at an extra cost was only the start, it seems. How much longer before they start charging for cabin service ("Changing the linen? That will be $10 per person, per night, please."), basic meals ("Only $15 a head for breakfast!") and even the dreaded "resort fee" because ships provide things like state-of-the-art fitness centres and casinos (even though many may not even use them)?

It may be a bit of a leap to go from a new paid-for guided tour (albeit, the kind of thing many ships did for free in the past) to completely deconstructing the all-inclusive nature of cruising, but there is something about these recent moves that make me deeply uneasy.

Or am I just being cynical?

Carnival's Enhanced Protection Plan

Interesting news release this morning from Carnival. A smart move but definitely a sign of the times.....

CARNIVAL INTRODUCES SEVERE WEATHER AND JOB LOSS PROTECTION UNDER ITS CRUISE VACATION PROTECTION PLAN

MIAMI (July 15, 2009) – Carnival Cruise Lines has enhanced its Cruise Vacation Protection Plan (VPP) to include severe weather watch/warning protection, as well as job loss protection. The enhanced features apply to plan purchases made July 15, 2009 and after.

The severe weather watch/warning protection provides reimbursement in the event the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and/or National Weather Service issues or maintains a severe weather watch or warning within 48 hours of a cruise departure. Should the watch or warning affect either the cruise departure city or the guest’s route to that city, the plan will allow for cancellation and reimbursement up to the full amount of the cruise cost.

Another new weather protection feature provides that if a guest is traveling to the cruise departure port via a common carrier (airplane, bus, train, etc.) and inclement weather ultimately causes the guest to miss 50 percent or more of the cruise vacation, the guest may receive reimbursement up to the total cost of the cruise.

The new job loss protection will provide reimbursement up to the total cruise cost if individuals who have booked a cruise and purchased the plan are subsequently terminated by their employer and have worked for that employer for at least one continuous year.

The above enhancements will further strengthen the current plan which offers a variety of other benefits, including trip cancellation/interruption, trip delay, emergency medical evacuation, medical, baggage loss and baggage delay. The program also provides a 24-hour emergency assistance hotline.

“These enhancements to the Cruise Vacation Protection Plan are designed to provide consumers with an assurance that their vacation investment will be protected in the unlikely event severe weather or job loss occurs – important factors given both the unpredictability of Mother Nature and the current economy,” said Ruben Rodriguez, Carnival’s executive vice president of marketing and guest experience.

Carnival’s Cruise Vacation Protection Plan is administered by BerkelyCare, a recognized leader in travel insurance. The plan must be purchased at least 14 days prior to the cruise departure date. Prices begin at $49 per person and vary by cruise length. Travel agents receive 10 percent commission on the sale of VPP coverage.

For additional information on Carnival’s Cruise Vacation Protection Plan, please visit bookccl.com.