The Right Price………………………………………………………….$329
Ship: Carnival Fantasy, Eastern Caribbean, 6 nights
Departure: December 3, 2011, from Charleston, SC
Ports: Nassau, Freeport, Key West
Contact: Carnival Cruise
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Have you ever wondered why ships don’t spend more time in ports, as in overnight?…We always assumed it was an economic issue, that port taxes for doing so exceeded the cost of operating the ship in open water, especially when you factor in the profits from casinos, since they’re never open in ports…Is the trend about to change, now that Oceania is spending a night in every European port, starting in 2012?…It’s a first for the company, and a first for the industry…Oceania’s four ships — Regatta, Nautica, Marina (below) and 
Riviera will sail 41 itineraries in Europe, calling at 145 ports, 12 of which are new, including Greenland for the first time…If you like to book early and/or book specific cabins, both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are now taking reservations for the 2012-13 season.
On the new Royal Princess that was unveiled — in artistic renderings — this week, the company promoted having something new (SeaWalk over the water 128 feet above sea level) and something expanded…That would be the adults-only areas on the top decks, with seven cabanas that will appear to be floating…“We’re taking the best features of our newest vessels that have been such customer pleasers, and taking them to the next level,” says Princess President and CEO Alan Buckelew…The ship will be fit for duty next spring, and be followed by a sister ship in 2013…Lots of ships have canceled or will cancel port stops in Japan, in light of the chaos and threat of radiation…So far the list includes: Oceania’s Nautica, which went to Shanghai and Kaohsiung instead; Cunard’s Queen Mary 2; Azamara’s Quest; Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas and three Princess ships in the far east — Diamond, Ocean and Sun…”Prudent” and “inappropriate” are two of the words that come to mind for explaining a change in ports, even though the lack of cruise ship traffic will impact on the Japanese economy.
European Migration Part IX: Norwegian will have four ships in Europe in 2012, for the first time…The Epic will leave Miami in May for its first summer aboard, and will sail 
Mediterranean cruises out of Barcelona on both summer 2011 and summer 2012, returning each October to Miami for the winters…The Sun is in the Balkans now, the Jade will sail the Eastern Mediterranean out of Venice, and the Spirit will be the new ship in Europe, year-round from Barcelona and Venice…Skipping Mazatlan Part XXVII: There are more ships every week bypassing the Mexican resort town on the Pacific coast, citing violence as the reason…Holland America’s Oosterdam will spent an extra day in Puerto Vallarta instead, through the end of the Mexican Riviera season in the spring…The Sapphire Princess will stay longer in Cabo San Lucas…Passengers are jittery about Mazatlan and simply don’t want to go there, and the cruise lines are responding accordingly.
Four times in four months, crew members on Royal Caribbean ships have been caught with drugs, the most recent one on Grandeur of the Seas in Jamaica, where local officials found one crew member in possession of 18 kilos of cocaine, and then found another 15 kilos in the cabin of another crew member…This prompted one blogger, Chris Owen, to quip: “But John Doe and his lovely wife Sally get the bottle of champagne they wanted to bring on board to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary confiscated upon embarkation. That, the cruise line has under control”…When Celebrity’s Summit goes in to be “Solsticized” next January, it will come out with four major upgrades that all four Millennium Class ships will 
eventually receive: AquaClass, Celebrity’s soothing, spa-inspired veranda-category accommodations; the Mediterranean-themed specialty restaurant, “Blu,” exclusive to AquaClass guests; the “Qsine” specialty restaurant; and the hip “Celebrity iLounge…The Summit is the third of the four ships to go into dry-dock, leaving only the flagship of the class, the Millennium.