IS THE PRICE RIGHT?…………….$699 (balcony)
November 7, 14; Barcelona to Majorca (return), 7 nights, Norwegian Jade, NCL.
Bonus: $200 onboard credit per cabin. Contact: CruCon Cruise Outlet or NCL and mention Travelzoo
SALE ENDS FRIDAY, MAY 28, 6 p.m. (EST)
All prices are per person based on double occupancy and available at time of posting.
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The world’s biggest cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas, missed stopping in St. Thomas on Tuesday, and with good reason — man overboard. 
One of the crew members on the Royal Caribbean mega ship had gone overboard, according to surveillance footage, and the ship turned around to look for him.
The Oasis had left Nassau the previous day and, after spending an unscheduled day at sea, went straight to St. Maarten, bypassing the Virgin Islands. Passengers were given a future cruise credit as compensation for the missed port.
Despite the efforts of the Oasis, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bahamanian Coast Guard, the crew member was never found.
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Cunard’s newest ship, Queen Elizabeth, will have a huge decorative panel in the grand lobby depicting the original liner of the same name, launched in 1938.
The panel, one of the first things passengers see when embarking the ship, will span more than two decks above the central staircase when the real “Queen Elizabeth” is expected to send her ship on its maiden voyage from Southampton in October.
Oh yes, the panel is being designed by Linley, the Queen’s nephew.
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If river cruising is your choice of being on the water, you’re going to have more choices. Viking River Cruises is increasing its fleet by 40% with the addition of eight ships between now and 2013.
The world’s largest river cruise line announced its $250 million investment this week, with 2011 the arrival date for the Viking Prestige and the Viking Emerald in Europe and China, respectively. The company is also doing bow-to-stern renovations on two ships, the Pakhomov in Russia and the Schumann in Europe.
In three years, Viking’s gone from 18 ships to 26. Did you say recession?
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Another new river cruiser to be launched in 2011, Avalon’s Panorama, is coming with a new view. Floor-to-ceiling windows, 11 feet wide, will be the sea-side wall in 64 suites on the top two decks, turning the whole suite into what Avalon calls “an open-air balcony”.
Hmmm. Maybe “open-view” is a little more appropriate than open-air, which implies there is nothing between you and…well, down there.
The Panorama will sail Avalon’s 14-night Magnificent Europe itinerary, Amsterdam to Budapest, most of next year and people in the “open-air balconies” will have the wall-to-wall views.
Two other ships, the Artistry (2004) and the Poetry (2005), are being retired at the end of this year. Where else but in cruising can you work five or six years and retire?
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That’s it, we’re done.