Etchings from our cruise notebook…
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Somewhere in the warm waters of the Mediterranean today is the Carnival Breeze, embarking on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Launched in June, the Breeze will arrive in Miami two weeks from today to begin its life in the Mediterranean.
Carnival's newest Fun Ship is the most eco-friendly vessel of the 25 in the company's fleet. It cost almost three-quarters of a billion dollars, is 15 stories high and carries 3,690 passengers. It belongs to the Dream Class, following in the wakes of the Magic and the Dream, and it will stay in Miami in perpetuity…or until it's needed somewhere else, whichever comes first.
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When the Wind Surf comes out of drydock next month — it goes in on Monday — Windstar Cruises will have completed an $18-million renovation of its entire fleet.
That's a fleet of three, all of them like private yachts. The Wind Surf is the flagship and the biggest ship of the three, with room for 310 passengers. In five days at a shipyard in Portugal, it will undergo a bow-to-stern renovation — amazing what can be done in five days, isn't it? — before sailing across the Atlantic, sans passengers, in time for its first Caribbean cruise on December 1 from St. Maarten.
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Mea culpa…we have taken wine onto cruise ships…we have paid corkage in restaurants…we have avoided corkage because "the authorities" didn't find the wine in our luggage…in short, we have done it all to be able to have a late-night sip of "our wine" in a cabin.
Cruise lines are starting to make it easier.
Royal Caribbean now allows two bottles per stateroom during embarkation. The rules and regs say the bottles can't have been tampered with (opened), can't be larger than 750 mils (no magnums) and are subject to $25 corkage if consumed in a public place.
Most competitors do variations of the same thing. Frankly, paying corkage to have a nice bottle of our own wine with dinner is entirely acceptable…and having an allowance makes passengers feel less like criminals.
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Among the perks for being in the military is the latest one from Carnival.
This month, military personnel (active or retired) can book up to three cabins for 3-to-5-day cruises on Carnival ships for $189 per person, 6-and-7-night cruises for $354 and 9-to-12-day cruises for $629.
Good deals, and they should be when that's what you do for a living.
Windstar Wind Surf
7 nights
December 8, 2012
St. Maarten (return): Martinique, St. Lucia, Roseau, St. Kitts
Oceanview: $1,299
Cost per day: $185
www.windstarcruises.com