{"id":2585,"date":"2010-08-07T01:40:20","date_gmt":"2010-08-07T08:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cruisingdoneright.com\/?p=2585"},"modified":"2010-08-07T01:40:20","modified_gmt":"2010-08-07T08:40:20","slug":"new-kids-on-the-block-cruise-deals-carnival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/?p=2585","title":{"rendered":"Notes on the Boats"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE RIGHT PRICE\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.$539\"\"<\/a>
\nNovember 27, 2010:<\/strong> Barcelona<\/a>, Spain to Sao Paulo, Brazil, 15 nights
\nShip: <\/strong>Royal Caribbean’s<\/a> Splendour of the Seas<\/a>
\nContact:<\/strong> VacationsToGo<\/a> (FastDeal #10090)
\n* * *<\/p>\n

What’s the hottest ticket in cruising right now? The Epic<\/a>? American Idol? The first coming of the Allure of the Seas<\/a>? None of the above. How about “New Kids On The Block?”<\/p>\n

The boy band that used to sell out concerts more than 20 years ago now sells out theme cruises. Like, there’s a countdown (9 months, 6 days\u2026etc.) until the next cruise on the NKOTB website<\/a>. The tickets go on sale next Saturday (August 13) and if the rush is anything like previous such cruises, the booking servers will have trouble handling it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The maiden New Kids cruise was in 2009\u2026sold out. The next one was this year\u2026sold out. This one is for May 12, 2011, a four-night cruise on the Carnival Destiny<\/a> from Miami to the Bahamas, with a stop at Carnival’s<\/a> private island, Half Moon Cay. Fares start at $699, which is a premium, but then you do get to see the band in concert, at photo sessions, beach and deck parties and Q&A sessions.<\/p>\n

For those of us who missed them 20 years ago.
\n* * *<\/p>\n

It may seem like small potatoes, as they say, but the folks in the Dominican Republic<\/a> no longer want to bite the hand that helps feed them \u2014 cruises. Last week, the government dropped the $15 “airport” fee that cruise-ship passengers were being charged, while in transit despite never passing through the airport. This amounts to more than $7 million a year, but the 400 ships that currently dock in the Dominican ports generate $80 million in revenue, and there’s a five per cent increase in arrivals projected this year.<\/p>\n

Yes, what did take them so long?
\n* * *
\nThis cute story from the Orlando Sentinel<\/a>‘s Greg Dawson, who received the following letter and responded appropriately and cleverly\u2026<\/p>\n

“Dear Greg:<\/p>\n

Last October, I purchased a cruise on Princess Cruise Lines<\/a> as gift for my (then) lady friend at Christmastime. I bought “platinum cruise protection” which the agent stated guaranteed a refund in the event of cancellation. So when the cruise was cancelled, I didn’t panic. I filed the paperwork and instead of receiving a refund I was issued a credit for a future cruise. But here is the problem: a non-transferrable credit was issued in my lady friend’s name. We are no longer a couple and I have no way to use a credit in her name. I have worn myself thin trying to get Princess to issue me a credit I can use. The value is $1,000 and I had to swallow $500 in cancellation fees plus the cost of the “platinum” insurance. Robert Oakes”<\/p>\n

“Dear Robert:
\nYou’ve certainly had bad luck with Princesses! I can’t help you with your ex-princess, but I did contact the cruise line and explained your predicament: barring a reconciliation ( and that ship has sailed) the other credit is worthless. I guess a romantic in management felt your pain. “We reviewed this again and agree that it’s certainly a reasonable request,” said spokeswoman Susanne Ferrull. “Mr. Oakes will be able to use his credit to have another passenger sail with him in his stateroom.” Bon voyage! And next time maybe you should take out platinum blonde protection.”
\n* * *<\/p>\n

That’s it, we’re done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE RIGHT PRICE\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.$539 November 27, 2010: Barcelona, Spain to Sao Paulo, Brazil, 15 nights Ship: Royal Caribbean’s Splendour of the Seas Contact: VacationsToGo (FastDeal #10090) * * * What’s the hottest ticket in cruising right now? The Epic? American Idol? The first coming of the Allure of the Seas? None of the above. How about… Continue reading Notes on the Boats<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,32,25,19,15],"tags":[154,204,86,35,284,285,64,33],"class_list":["post-2585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cruise-industry-news","category-deals","category-people","category-ships","category-stories","tag-carnival","tag-cruise-ship-entertainment","tag-cruise-ships","tag-cruises","tag-dominican-republic","tag-new-kids-on-the-block","tag-princess-cruise","tag-royal-caribbean","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2585\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaluna.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}