Cruising Notes on the Boats

The right price…………………………………………………………………….……$449 February/March/April 2011: 7 nights Ship: Celebrity Summit Departure: San Juan, Puerto Rico Ports: Virgin Islands, St. Kitts, Dominica, Grenada, Tobago Bonus: Oceanview $499 Contact: cruises.orbitz.com * * * When Jimmy Buffett took a header off the stage in Australia the other night, the gasp from our resident Parrothead was likely heard in… Continue reading Cruising Notes on the Boats

Cruise-Ship Troubles Tough for Locals

There’s always trouble somewhere, isn’t there? There’s no escaping it. Egypt. Tunisia. Yemen. Afghanistan. There’s even trouble in the cruise industry. In Mexico, cruise lines are bailing out of ports. The latest one is Mazatlan, now being bypassed regularly, because of an increase in crime. Holland America, Disney and Princess have all taken Mazatlan off… Continue reading Cruise-Ship Troubles Tough for Locals

The Big Ships: One Captain's View

One of the nagging questions in our collective minds as we peer over the horizon of the cruise world has to do with the size of ships. What’s next? Is bigger better? How big is too big? Now that ships are becoming destinations in themselves, could they become just destinations? Royal Caribbean’s two sailing monsters,… Continue reading The Big Ships: One Captain's View

The Rescue of Three Men and a Cat

Here’s a trivia question about cruise ships for you and, so far, there is no answer: How long will it be until the latest cruise-ship rescue is on YouTube? Answer: Keep watching. The rescue took place on Saturday. A boat with three men and a cat (no, not a baby) sent a distress call on… Continue reading The Rescue of Three Men and a Cat

The Love Boat and its 250,000 parts

See this ship? Nice model, right? Pretty cool. Kind of makes you think of The Love Boat, the cruise ship that more than anything introduced we who are Baby Boomers to the possibility (dare I say fantasy) that one day maybe we could go on such a vacation. Love or not. TV cameras or not.… Continue reading The Love Boat and its 250,000 parts