Port Canaveral has surpassed Port Everglades as the No. 2 port for cruisingin the United States, with a 13 percent gain in passengers in 2006, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Cruise Lines International Association.
According to the study, the Caribbean showed its strength as the No. 1 destination among cruisers, and Port Canaveral continues to play an important role in getting visitors there.
“Most of the first-time cruisers will have a Caribbean experience,” said Terry Dale, president and chief executive officer of the Cruise Lines International Association. “The Florida ports and the cruise lines have a partnership with the Caribbean that is so important, and I’m very optimistic about the future.”
The study, commissioned by the association and researched by Business Research and Economic Advisors of Exton, Pa., covered the economic impact of the North American cruise industry on Florida, other states and the nation as a whole.
Florida leads the nation, not only in the number of passengers boarding their cruises from the state’s ports, but also in the number of residents who take cruise vacations.
Last year, 5.02 million people, or nearly 56 percent of total U.S. cruise passengers, boarded their cruises from one of Florida’s five cruise ports — Jacksonville, Miami, Port Canaveral, Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) and Tampa.
Archive for August, 2007
The colorful ports of the Caribbean highlight Princess’ 2008-09 cruise season as the line’s amenity-filled ships offer up fresh itineraries for escapes to these tropical waters, and a new vessel, Ruby Princess, makes her debut.
In total, seven Princess ships will sail on 11 itineraries to all corners of the Caribbean, featuring the youngest fleet of any major cruise line in the region. This array of modern vessels, ranging from 710 to 3,100 passengers, offers the highest percentage of balcony staterooms in the Caribbean - perfect for enjoying the idyllic island scenery and crystal blue waters. The line’s wide array of itinerary options includes the opportunity to explore some of the lesser-visited ports in the Caribbean with more 10- and 14-day cruises in the Caribbean than any other line.
Two new itineraries make their debut, including a new Caribbean Collection 14-day itinerary on Grand Princess featuring the best of the Caribbean with nine ports - among them La Romana (Dominican Republic), Curacao, Trinidad and Barbados. Royal Princess offers three special Caribbean Calypso 14-day escapes to several boutique, less-visited ports and sails as far south as Devil’s Island in South America. In addition, Crown Princess will sail on an enhanced seven-day Eastern Caribbean itinerary with the added port of Grand Turk, along with passenger favorites Princess Cays, St. Maarten and St. Thomas.
Rounding out the program, the new Ruby Princess makes her debut with a series of seven-day Western Caribbean sailings. Caribbean Princess sails the Southern Caribbean offering alternating Classic and Explorer seven-day itineraries out of San Juan, while Emerald Princess returns with two 10-day roundtrip itineraries from Ft. Lauderdale. And Sea Princess returns with another series of 14-day sailings from Barbados, featuring a new call to Samana, in the Dominican Republic.
via About.com
Thinking about something different for a change? One lesser known way to cruise is to ride aboard a Cruise Ship. About.com explains more:
“Fares are generally one-third to one-half the total for conventional luxury cruises. The average total cost aboard a freighter is about $100 USD/day per passenger.
There are no planned activities, but the trade-off is there are no crowds. A typical freighter only can accommodate about 20 passengers–and many take less than that. You can spend the day on deck in a lounge chair, reading your favorite book with no disturbances.
Many freighters do offer basics like an exercise room, reading room and VCR movies.
One traditional cruise activity that will be better on a freighter is the bridge tour. The ship’s officers are likely to have much more time for your questions. Many freighter passengers actually forge life-long friendships with crew members.
One good website to book a freighter cruise is Freighterworld.com. They offer a variety of schedules around the world.”
Photo by Portrayer
NCL got the rules changed in Congress twice in order to sail under a US Flag. In 1886, the U.S. Congress passed the Passenger Vessel Services Act, which forbids passenger ships from operating itineraries entirely within 
States
There first success was through intense lobbying in the year 2002 in Congress led to a deal in which NCL was able to have NCL hulls built out at a German shipyard yet still sail under the U.S. flag.
A second success occurred earlier this year, when Hawaiian Senator Daniel K. Inouye and Representative Neil Abercrombie succeeded in attaching a rule change to the Defense Authorization Bill, which will allow NCL to hire a quarter of all staff aboard each U.S.-flagged ship from within the pool of international crew currently employed by the rest of the NCL fleet. To qualify, staff must have served for at least a year aboard one of the other NCL ships. In turn, they’ll receive the same rate of pay as the ships’
Photo by m!Chou
Cruise West, the leader in small-ship cruising, will refurbish and upgrade the 138-guest Spirit of Yorktown in fall 2007. Four Balcony category cabins will be created that will include private teak-floored balconies with enough room for a cafe table and chairs for two. Numerous additional upgrades will be completed throughout the ship, including redecoration and renovation of public corridors, lobby areas, and the panoramic Observation Lounge, the ship’s Living Room. Updates will be completed in November and December, just in time for the first Sea of Cortes Holiday cruise departing December 22, 2007. The combined cost of all renovations is approximately $2 million.
“The Spirit of Yorktown is a beautiful ship that will look better than ever,” said Dick West, chairman and managing director. “We are particularly pleased with the new art program, which gives us the opportunity to share some of our cherished family memories. One such piece is the beautifully hand- embroidered fur coat worn by my mother during her coronation as Alaska’s first Miss Alaska in 1936! Cruise West strives to support local communities and create meaningful cultural experiences for our guests, so it is fitting to include art from Alaska, where our company has such deep roots.”
The four Balcony cabins located on the sun deck will undergo an extensive remodel that includes a new layout and the addition of queen beds, mini refrigerators and private balconies, which will provide sweeping views. New cabinetry, fixtures, carpet, and lighting will be installed in the cabins as well. Discerning guests will enjoy the added comfort and privacy.
Photo from Cruise West.
Cruisers, we’re just too impatient. As soon as school’s out and the weather gets hot, we’re racing out the door. We simply must board that cruise ship yesterday, and can barely make it to August for our vacation at sea. Many of us can’t even wait for summer’s official start, and are crowding ships in Europe in May and early June.
But what if I told you a little patience could translate into a lot of savings? Ah, I see you pausing on the gangway. Yes, it’s true, if you want the best deal on a cruise, you should sail in the fall. Here are a few reasons why.
The start of school and the end of hurricane season are a one-two punch to the Caribbean in the fall. Families try to take their vacations while the kids are on break, and couples with more flexible schedules often sail when there’s less chance of tropical storms. Because of these factors, fall cruises sell far more slowly than summer itineraries and routinely have last-minute availability.
What’s a smart cruise line to do? Discount the itineraries and lure travelers with cheap fares. When I checked, I found three- and four-night cruises in September starting at $199 on Carnival, and seven-night fall cruises starting at $479 on Norwegian and $499 on Princess. All those prices are well under $100 a night, which means you’re getting accommodations, food, entertainment, and transportation for less than you’d pay for many land-based hotels.
If you’re still unsure about braving the storms, you can also find fall deals on the last Alaska sailings of the year, as well as on an occasional Europe cruise.
A dinner boat cruise is a great way to get a cruise experience without sleeping overnight. One such example is Dandy Restaurant Cruises. According to their official website:
“Dandy Restaurant Cruises is a fine dining dinner-boat pioneer with over 26 years of successful operating experience and is world renown for excellent food and service in an elegant atmosphere.
They are moored in beautiful, Historic Old Town
With Dandy Cruises you’ll get a great view of
In addition to regularly scheduled luncheon, brunch and dinner cruises aboard Nina’s Dandy, both the Dandy and Nina’s Dandy are available for private and semi-private cruises offering Mid-Day, Breakfast at Midnight®, Continental Breakfasts, and Midnight Dance Cruises.”
Photo by andertho
Looking for the best cruise price? The following tips from AssociatedContent.com may just be your answer.
“Begin by choosing an off-peak time to sail - you’ll get a much better deal. Consider taking a cruise sometime from October to April. This is not the most popular travel season and
you’ll save quite a lot of money.
Spend some time shopping around to see who has the best deal. Check website deals, travel agents, online auctions, as well as calling the cruise line itself. You can go online and compare cruises, and cruise lines, side-by-side to see which offers the best value.
Book your cruise way in advance. Booking your cruise far in advance not only saves you money but allows you to be one of the first to choose the room you want. If you book a cruise early, then have to cancel, there will likely be some fees you’ll have to pay. Most people think a cruise will cost more if you go through an agent but sometimes they’re the ones that know of the very best deals.
Cruise one-way instead of round-trip. One-way cruises are cheap, and even though you may have to ride a plane home, you’ll still save over a round-trip cruise. Also, consider taking a smaller room to save money.
Always check the itinerary – don’t just assume you’ll be visiting certain sites in the area. Booking a really cheap cruise could mean the itinerary is cut short or the food isn’t spectacular. It could also mean that some things aren’t included in the price.”
Photo by CCCPxokkeu
Though this story is rare, events like this do occur. The story occurred March 25, 2007.
“A couple went into the Gulf of Mexico off the Grand Princess about eight hours after leaving the 
Guzman dove into the Gulf of Mexico after her. Friends inside the cabin say the two were on the cabin balcony about 1:30am, when they heard screams. Arriving on the ninth story balcony, the couple was nowhere to be seen, and the friends alerted the man (and woman) overboard alarm.
The ship notified the U.S. coast guard and turned around about 10 minutes after getting the man overboard report and launched their rescue boats to search for the two missing passengers.
The ship’s crew used high-powered spotlights and rescue boats in the search. One passenger was rescued by the ship’s boats at 5:30 a.m. and the other at 6 a.m., according to a statement by the cruise line. However, that man was found naked. Later he was seen on deck in a wheelchair.
Passengers said that at about 6:00am they heard the captain say, “We think we hear a woman. Please everyone, complete silence”. Everyone ran out onto their balconies and looked into the water. Then, they heard the woman screaming “help”. She was waving her arms and swimming. The rescue boat threw a rescue loop to her, which she put over her head, and then under her arms so she could get pulled up out of the water.”
Photo by Penny T
One hundred and five days and 40 ports around the world — from Fort Lauderdale to Fort Lauderdale going west.
That was our cruise that departed in January on Holland America’s beautiful MS Amsterdam. We cruised through the Panama Canal, around the West Coast of South America to Easter Island, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, up through India and Egypt, Israel, Turkey, the Mediterranean countries and back across the Atlantic.
We lost a day at the International Date Line, but gained 24 welcome hours of extra sleep in compensation.
The thought of 40 ports in 105 days was intimidating. I confess that even as a seasoned traveler, I’m still squeamish about health, safety and comfort issues in Third World countries. Yes, I lost some sleep over this. And in Bali and Mumbai, for example, some caution might be justified. Looking back, however, the anxieties were far outweighed by the adventure.
The highlights? Exotic faraway places and great modern cities. In the former group is Easter Island, quite unlike anyplace else on Earth; Noumea (New Caledonia), a picture-postcard blend of island primitivism and Gallic urbanity; the ruins of Ephesus (Turkey), where one can walk as the ancients did on the very same stones.
