THE RIGHT PRICE…………………….$399
October 17, 31, 2010:
Eastern Caribbean: Miami round-trip 7 days
Ports: Miami, Samana, St. Thomas, Tortola, Great Stirrup Cay
Ship: Norwegian Pearl
Contact: ncl.com
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As gossip columnists go, she was one of the originals (anybody old enough to remember Louella Parsons?) and by today’s tell-all standards, Rona Barrett would probably be tame by comparison. Cunard passengers will find out just how tame she is, at age 75, 
when she entertains them on the Queen Victoria during a 14-day Hawaiian Adventure from Los Angeles.
She’s been pretty much out of the public eye for two decades, growing lavender on her California farm, but in the ’60s and ’70s she was the queen of celebrity gossip, on TV and in her own magazine, Rona Barrett’s Hollywood. She’ll re-live those days for cruisers with an abridged version of her new show, called “Rona Barrett: Nothing But The Truth.”
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Oceania Cruises, an upscale line of four ships come February, released its winter itineraries this week for 2011 and 2012. The word in the industry is that they sell out quickly, sometimes within hours. Sure enough, at least four of the sailings we checked on were wait-list only, for inside cabins.
However, for passengers booking before March 31, Oceania is offering 2-for-1 prices that include air fare. So what it sounds like is that people badly want to sail Oceania at non-Oceania prices, and they gobble up the best deals in a hurry.
The Marina will complete the fleet with its inaugural sailing on January 22, from Barcelona to Miami, its departure point for an 18-day voyage through the Panama Canal to San Francisco. Oceania’s first new ship since 1998, the Marina is almost twice the size of the other three, with room for 1,258 passengers.
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Beer on ships, yes. Beer by ships? That’s what Carnival is doing, in creating its own brand of lager, ThirstyFrog Red. It’s really just putting its toe in the hops, so to speak, because the beer will be available only on the Carnival Dream, and only in the new ship’s watering hole, the RedFrog Pub.
Since we’re not beer drinkers, you’ll have to interpret Carnival’s description yourself: “Medium-bodied lager with a rich red color made with noble aroma hops but with a Caribbean twist.”
Now, if it was wine…
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It used to be that major-league baseball players who won’t be swinging bats after the first weekend in October would be swinging golf clubs. Now, more of them are going on cruise ships, in the ever-ending world of theme cruises.
The latest are the Detroit Tigers (or some of them) including this season’s hard-luck pitcher, Armando Galarraga, who lost a perfect game because of an umpire’s mistake. He’s the drawing card at a Fantasy Camp on board Holland America’s Eurodam, leaving Fort Lauderdale on January 8.
Yes, he’ll be back in Florida before spring training.
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That’s it, we’re done.