THE RIGHT PRICE…………….$2,695
April 10, April 17, 2011: Los Angeles to Vancouver (or return), 7 nights
Bonus: 2-for-1 offer; $500 shipboard credit; free air from 20 cities
Ship: Crystal Symphony (below)
Contact: Crystal Cruises
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Crystal’s also in the news this week — at least in our news — for moving further along the path of all things online. Passengers who are booked can now expedite the process on embarkation day with priority check-in online, submitting immigration, flight, transportation and credit card details up to seven days before sailing.
Crystal guests can also book spa appointments, shore excursions, specialty restaurants, dining preferences and other onboard activities. Previously, it was possible only to request spa and specialty dining.
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If you’ve been reading this blog for at least three months (what do you mean you haven’t?), then you’ll know that one of them was about a chef’s contest by Royal Caribbean. One lucky graduate from The Culinary Institute of America would get to spend a year on Allure of the Seas, due to hit the water in December, as Chef de Cuisine at 150 Central Park, the Allure’s signature restaurant.
That established, it’s time to tell you the lucky graduate is Maureen Brandt (left) of Stillwater, Minnesota. After five intense hours in the competition kitchens at the Institute, Maureen — or Molly for short — was the pick of six finalists whose final challenge was participating in an interview with Royal Caribbean’s panel of judges, and then cooking the judges a three-course meal.
One of 40,000 Culinary Institute alumni eligible for the contest, Maureen didn’t fall off a turnip truck. She was Food and Wine’s best student chef in 2006, then worked as an extern for the Food Network, was a teaching assistant at the Institute’s Escoffier restaurant, then at reputable restaurants in New York, Minnesota and abroad, and currently has her own chef and catering company, Cook in the Kitchen, in the Twin Cities.
Her “judges” dinner? Chilled lobster with fennel, carrots, citrus, caviar and tempura battered lobster mitt, Provencal lamb loin with Dijon potato puree, ratatouille, pattypan squash and olive tapenade, Pistachio cake with swiped rosewater creme fraiche and carbonated raspberries.
That’s funny. It’s exactly what we’re having for dinner tomorrow night.
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If you’ve been reading this blog for FIVE months, you’ll also remember (of course you will!) an item about country signer Darryl Worley (right) going on a cruise to perform for passengers who booked through an Arizona radio station.
It must have been a success.
In October, he’s going again…this time on Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas, a 5-day cruise from Tampa to Cozumel, Mexico. This one’s being promoted by Travellin’ Inc., and for anyone who likes Darryl Worley’s music (guilty!), it’s interesting, to say the least.
In five days, he’ll do three concerts and participate in other onboard activities. The Radiance departs Tampa on October 21 — one of the activities is an early Halowee’en party — and he’s offering Darryl Worley Foundation “charity packages” although it’s unclear from the website exactly what they are.
Only balconies and suites are left, starting at $849.
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This one’s getting a little old…passenger arrested in Bermuda for marijuana possession, and fined $1,500. The guilty party was a man from New York and this time the ship was the Explorer of the Seas; three weeks ago a Maryland man was picked off the Norwegian Dawn.
Not that the ships are guilty, but perhaps the cruise lines should re-visit and emphasize these regulations, especially if they sail to Bermuda.
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That’s it, we’re done.