Cruise Holidays Irish Cruise Blog

Royal Caribbean outlines 2012-13 season

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

Royal Caribbean has confirmed 13 ships - including Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, the largest and most revolutionary cruise ships - will sail the Caribbean during the 2012-13 season.

Along with Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Enchantment of the Seas, Monarch of the Seas and Majesty of the Seas will continue sailing a range of Caribbean and Bahamas itineraries year-round.

Six additional ships, Adventure of the Seas, Brilliance of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas, will offer four to 12-night Caribbean itineraries in winter 2012-13.

Royal Caribbean International’s 2012-13 Caribbean cruises onboard Adventure of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas, Brilliance of the Seas, Enchantment of the Seas, and Explorer of the Seas are open for booking immediately, while 2012-13 sailings onboard Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas, Majesty of the Seas and Monarch of the Seas will open next week.

“Royal Caribbean International’s 2012-13 Caribbean cruises onboard some of the world’s largest and most innovative cruise ships are perfect settings for families and couples of all ages to create memories that will last a lifetime,” said Betsy O’Rourke, senior vice president of Marketing, Royal Caribbean International.

“Our unmatched ships, great onboard staff and crew, and exciting itineraries are all part of the phenomenal experience that we deliver to guests on every cruise.

“There’s something for everyone onboard, relaxing in the solarium, participating in the DreamWorks character parade, attending a Broadway musical, enjoying a multitude of dining options and much more.”

Highlights from the 2012-13 itineraries include:

  In 2012, Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas continue to alternate seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries. Every weekend, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas sail from Port Everglade in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, while Freedom of the Seas sails from Port Canaveral.

  Throughout winter 2012-13, Brilliance of the Seas will take over from Serenade of the Seas and join Adventure of the Seas in offering seven-night Southern Caribbean sailings from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

  Explorer of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas continue their year-round departures from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey and Baltimore, respectively, to the Caribbean

  Explorer of the Seas offers seven-night Bahamas and nine to 11-night Eastern and Southern Caribbean itineraries. In mid-April 2013, holiday makers can choose a five or six-night Bermuda or a nine-night Bermuda and Caribbean itinerary.

  Enchantment of the Seas, will sail seven-night Bahamas, nine-night Eastern Caribbean and 12-night Southern Caribbean itineraries throughout the season.

  Sailing seven-night Western Caribbean itineraries, Navigator of the Seas will replace Voyager of the Seas from New Orleans, while Mariner of the Seas will sail from Galveston again.

  Jewel of the Seas will continue four and five-night cruises from Tampa, where the new five-night itinerary will alternate calls at Cozumel and Grand Cayman or Cozumel and Key West.

  Liberty of the Seas also will offer four and five-night Western Caribbean itineraries from Port Everglades.

  Monarch of the Seas and Majesty of the Seas continue to sail three and four-night Bahamas sailings from Port Canaveral and Miami, respectively, calling at Nassau and CocoCay, Royal Caribbean International’s private island in the Bahamas.

 

Carmen & Shakespeare at Sea

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

Cunard have revealed some fantastic new additions to entertainment and enrichment aboard Queen Mary 2 for the transatlantic season.

Passengers will be dazzled by 3D films, interactive song writing workshops, and RADA 'street theatre' performance workshops.

In June, the opera Carmen - produced by RealD and London’s Royal Opera House – will be featured in 3D, and shown in the Illuminations theatre.

Other 3D blockbusters will be shown including Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

Also new this year, Chris Difford -- double Ivor Novello award-winner and former member of the 70's band 'Squeeze', will conduct songwriting workshops with four other professional song-writers as part of the Professional Insights series.

With Difford’s songwriting programme, guests will have the opportunity to collaborate in small groups with musicians from Queen Mary 2’s performance company. The best songwriters then be able to record their songs in a studio on board to take home.

Difford and the songwriters also will be performing well-known Squeeze favourites during the voyage.

This year, RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) will go beyond the Royal Court Theatre to feature several new interactive offerings including dramatic 'street theatre' style performances throughout the ship. Guests can expect to enjoy classics such as Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales and Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing.

In the theatre itself, a different Canterbury Tale will be performed each month, resulting in the complete works over the course of two years. At the end of each performance, the audience will be encouraged to choose their favourite tale; the actors will then ask for short stories to be called The Cunard Tales to be written by members of the audience; these will then be workshopped and performed by the actors and participants in Workshop 3.

Holland America Line selects trans-Atlantic essay contest winner

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

Holland America Line announced today that it has selected Maria Henderson’s essay as winner of the contest held to commemorate the line’s 40th anniversary of its transition from offering scheduled trans-Atlantic crossings to becoming entirely dedicated to pleasure cruising. A panel of judges chose the winning essay from more than 400 entries.

For her literary winning story, Henderson will receive a cruise for two on ms Rotterdam’s July 12, 2011, celebratory trans-Atlantic voyage from New York to Rotterdam.

“We were touched by how many wonderful and moving essays we received from people who were so greatly affected by Holland America Line and our historic crossings,” said Richard Meadows, CTC, executive vice president, marketing, sales and guest programs for Holland America Line. “Maria’s story was especially emotional with the many twists of fate she encountered.”

The “Your Trans-Atlantic Story” contest focused on classic Holland America Line crossing experiences during the line’s nearly 140-year history, whether told firsthand or through a family member or friend.

Henderson’s essay told the story of her family’s crossing from Rotterdam to New York City in 1956 aboard ss Groote Beer, a Holland America Line ship at the time. She, her four sisters and her parents made the journey to America to fulfill her father’s desire to become a U.S. citizen after being liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945. Throughout the years Henderson and her family continued to take Holland America Line cruises, including one in December 2010 where she met two American men who served in Gen. George S. Patton’s army that liberated her father in 1945. Making the tale even more incredible was that she also met a fellow guest who, she discovered after a chance encounter in the dining room, was on the same trans-Atlantic crossing aboard ss Groote Beer in 1956.

Upon hearing that her essay had won, Henderson said the news was yet another emotional twist of fate in her relationship with Holland America Line.

“It was on April 13, exactly 55 years ago, that my family and I sailed past the Statue of Liberty and into our American life,” she recalled. “I am excited to cruise back, hopefully with my siblings, to greet our cousins in Holland that as children waved good-bye to us from the banks of Rotterdam’s River Maas those many years ago. I feel I have come full circle, this is a dream come true!” added Henderson.

A winner from the Netherlands, Hendrik Verbree, also was selected and won passage on the July 3, 2011, Rotterdam to New York crossing.

Honorable mentions went to Johanna VanGeloof and Yvonne Garcia. Holland America Line received so many interesting and compelling stories that the top 30 entries will be published in a book that will be available for purchase on the two July crossings.

The trans-Atlantic sailings on ms Rotterdam will feature enriching activities, guest lecturers and chefs, giveaway items and plenty of opportunities to celebrate the line’s heritage. Special entertainers and events will ensure that both crossings create memories to last a lifetime. A commemorative keepsake poster—harkening back to classic Holland America Line posters—will be given to guests as a memento of the crossing. Guests seeking to learn more about the company’s history can visit the Crow’s Nest, which will be set up as a temporary “Museum at Sea” during both crossings, or attend a lecture by a renowned maritime historian.

 

Royal Caribbean passengers preach 'End of the World'

Most people heading on a cruise holiday are interested in relaxing and seeing some of the world, however on a recent Royal Caribbean voyage a group of travellers had a another mission in mind.

According to USA today, a group of 30 or so passengers aboard Explorer of the Seas wore bright yellow t-shirts emblazoned with 'Judgement Day 5.21.11' to warn others the world is coming to an abrupt end.

The group who belong to a religious fellowship in New York, staged rallies during a 2-day visit to Bermuda to warn locals that the end of the world is just a few weeks away.
 
"We are warning as many people as possible," the group's leader, Simeon Daliy, said. "There is biblical evidence that the end of the world is almost here."

Apparently, the group follows the teachings of a California preacher who had previously predicted the end was coming in 1994. He later said he'd gotten his calculations wrong...Go figure!

Cunard’s first female Captain talks about life at sea

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

Inger Olsen, who is Cunard's first female captain, wasn't dreaming of a life at sea when she signed on to a cargo ship at age 16.

"I was looking for a job after school and on weekends," Olsen recalled from her home in Svendborg, Denmark. "I didn't have any idea what I wanted to do."

She applied to become a cadet and joined the Cunard Line in 1997.

"I thought I'd do it for a few years and then go ashore and have a family," said Olsen, 43. "But one year led to another."

In December 2010, Captain Inger Olsen took the helm of the 90,000-ton luxury liner Queen Victoria to become one of only a few women cruise ship captains in the world.

"I think if you look at cruise lines there's only two or three," she said.

Her ship, which carries 2,000 passengers, is the youngest of Cunard's three Queens, joining the fleet alongside the Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Mary 2 in 2007.

The 1,000 crew under Olsen's command keep the crystal chandeliers glittering, the mahogany polished and the ballroom dance floor shipshape.

"Each ship has its own feel," Olsen said. "Once you get used to a particular ship, get the training in it, that ship seems like the best one for you."

Olsen said fulfilling the hopes of her passengers is her greatest reward.

"When people say this is fantastic, the greatest time of life, then you know that we have delivered what we promised."

Olsen said her voyage through the ranks has been mostly smooth sailing in fair weather.

"People have welcomed me all the way through," she said. "It's only been extremely positive."

On leave until she sails from Southampton, England in May, Olsen is enjoying the pleasures of dry land.

"When I'm home I have my house, my garden, my family," she said. "I go to concerts, spend time with friends. Just enjoy, really. "

She thinks a seafaring life may not suit every woman.

"You're away for three or four months," she explained. "Most women who have kids don't want to be away for that long."

But for Olsen there's bounty in the sea lane less traveled.

"At least I can say that I've done it. I did it all the way," Olsen said. "But it wasn't really a dream, I think. It was more just circumstances, really."

Cruise Alaska next year with Royal Caribbean

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

Bookings are now open for Royal Caribbean International’s 2012 Alaska cruises onboard Radiance of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas, marking the brand’s 23rd consecutive year sailing in the region.

Radiance of the Seas will sail seven-night north and southbound itineraries between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Seward, Alaska, while Rhapsody of the Seas will sail a series of seven-night cruises, roundtrip from Seattle. Royal Caribbean International is also introducing a brand-new series of 20 cruisetours, ranging from 10 to 18 nights.

Betsy O’Rourke, senior vice president of Marketing, Royal Caribbean International said:
“Experiencing the pristine beauty of Alaska is high on many holiday makers’ to-do lists and Royal Caribbean International’s portfolio of Alaska cruises and cruisetour land packages will provide guests with adventures of a lifetime.”

For 2012, Royal Caribbean International will debut three new Alaska cruisetours onboard Radiance of the Seas’ seven-night itineraries between Vancouver and Seward, creating 10 to 13-night cruise and land holidays. Included is a 12-night programme geared toward families, featuring a Resurrection Bay & Wildlife cruise, where participants can take in the region’s dramatic cliffs, alpine glaciers, marine life and seabirds, with a trip to Fox Island – a nature lover’s delight; and excursions to the Anchorage Museum & Imaginarium, where families learn and explore art, history and science through play. The cruisetour also includes an excursion to Denali National Park, complete with experiences designed specifically with families in mind.

A Canadian Rockies six night cruisetour will combine the destinations of Calgary, Banff, Jasper, Vancouver and Victoria with an overnight train journey aboard VIA Rail and accommodation at world-renowned Fairmont hotels. An 18-night Ultimate Cruisetour couples the Canadian Rockies pre-cruise with a five-night post-cruise Alaska land tour.

Radiance of the Seas’ seven-night northbound cruise schedule, from Vancouver to Seward, will cruise the Inside Passage and call at Alaska’s Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Hubbard Glacier (cruising). The southbound journey will reverse the itinerary. Sailing from Seattle, Rhapsody of the Seas’ seven-night cruises will sail the Inside Passage, calling at Juneau and Skagway, sailing past Tracy Arm Fjord and Sawyer Glacier.
Guests can enjoy an array of shore excursions for an additional charge, for example:
At Icy Strait Point, guests can take a ride down a 1,300 ft. mountainside on the world’s largest zip line, for birds-eye views of Port Frederick, Icy Strait and the expansive wilderness.

The Bering Sea Crab Fishermen’s Tour at Ketchikan takes guests onboard the Aleutian Ballad crab boat to explore the coastline scenery and learn about Alaskan sea life
Alaska Gold Rush & Skagway Highlights is a family friendly adventure onboard the White Pass and Yukon Railway with a stop at the Klondike Gold Fields to offer guests a chance to pan for their own gold.

Radiance of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas are both fitted with multi-deck glass windows, offering views of Alaska’s landscape. Guests can climb to the top of the ships’ rock-climbing walls for an even more thrilling view from the ship’s highest point.

Disney to launch cruises out of New York

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

The rapidly expanding Disney Cruise Line plans to offer voyages out of three new ports in 2012: New York, Seattle and Galveston, Texas.

The cruise division of the Disney theme park empire says the 1,754-passenger Disney Magic, currently alternating between home ports in Florida and Spain, will move to New York in May 2012 for a series of 20 voyages through autumn. The ship then will reposition to Galveston in September for a series of 12 voyages.

The company says the 1,754-passenger Disney Wonder, which is spending this coming summer sailing to Alaska out of Vancouver, B.C., will move to Seattle for the summer of 2012 as it continues sailings to Alaska.

Disney's new voyages out of New York, to be announced today will include three different itineraries:

Eight-night Bahamas cruises that include stops in Nassau, Bahamas; Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas; and Port Canaveral, as a gateway to Disney World near Orlando. Disney says passengers will receive a one-day Disney World Park Hopper ticket and roundtrip transportation between Port Canaveral and Disney World to use during the Port Canaveral stop.

Five-night cruises to Canada that includes stops in Halifax, Nova Scotia; and Saint John, New Brunswick.

Two-night sampler cruises that offer a single day at sea and no port calls. There will be three such departures in 2012, on June 15, July 13 and August 10.

The new Galveston sailings on the Magic, beginning September 22, 2012, will be seven-night trips to the Western Caribbean. The ship will call in Grand Cayman and Mexico's Costa Maya and Cozumel.

The Disney Wonder's new sailings to Alaska out of Seattle will be similar to this summer's sailings out Vancouver. Starting on May 28 2012, the ship will sail a total of 14 seven-night cruises from Seattle with stops in Tracy Arm, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan, Alaska, as well as Victoria, British Columbia.

Disney says the Disney Wonder also will sail a series of four seven-night Pacific Coast cruises in 2012 from Los Angeles to San Francisco, San Diego and Ensenada, Mexico.

In addition, for the first time, the Disney Wonder will offer a single 15-night voyage to Hawaii from Los Angeles, with calls on Hilo; Kahului, Maui; Honolulu, Oahu; Nawiliwili, Kauai and Ensenada, Mexico. The Disney Wonder also will continue to offer a number of sailings to the Mexican Riviera out of Los Angeles in 2012.

Celebrity Cruises to offer first cruises in Asia

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

Celebrity Cruises this week announced plans for its first season of voyages in Asia, to take place over the winter of 2012-13.

The 1,950-passenger Celebrity Millennium will sail a series of 14-night voyages between Singapore and Hong Kong that include stops in Bangkok, Thailand; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and Halong Bay, Vietnam.

The season also will include two 14-night sailings roundtrip from Singapore with overnight stays in Bali, Indonesia.

In addition to the newly announced all-Asia sailings, Celebrity Millennium will sail two trans-Pacific voyages to and from the region.

The westbound trans-Pacific cruise, scheduled for November 2012, is being timed to coincide with a total solar eclipse that will be viewable from the ship as it sails between Fiji and New Zealand.

In April 2013, the Celebrity Millennium will reposition from Hong Kong to Shanghai on a cruise featuring overnight calls in Hong Kong and Beijing (Tianjin), China. The ship then will continue eastbound across the North Pacific to Alaska with stops in China, Japan, and Russia.

Celebrity also announced its first Asia cruisetours, which combines one of its new Asia cruises with a five-night pre- or post-cruise escorted land tour out of Hong Kong. The cruisetours will feature trips to Xian and Beijing to view the famed Terra Cotta Warriors and the Great Wall of China.

 

Cruise Italy with Oceania

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

Italians seem to have it all, great weather, fascinating history, beautiful people, dramatic scenery and exquisite food. Indeed many people proclaim it as their favourite holiday destination and perhaps that’s why Oceania Cruises is introducing two 2011 voyages timed for autumn foliage in Tuscany as well as the French Riviera.

Inspired by the strong response it received to its new seven-day itineraries for 2012, the upper-premium cruise line has created two week-long Saturday departures this autumn in the Mediterranean.

“Tuscan Charms” sails from Barcelona on October 29, 2011, to Rome, visiting Provence (Marseille), Monte Carlo, Portofino, Florence/Pisa/Tuscany (Livorno) and Sorrento/Capri en route.

“Italian Treasures,” from Rome to Venice, departing November 5, 2011, calls at Amalfi/Positano, Taormina, Corfu, Bari and Dubrovnik. Guests enjoy an overnight aboard ship in Venice at the end of the cruise.

“These two cruises depart on Saturdays so that our working guests can enjoy a week in Europe,” according to Oceania Cruises’ President Bob Binder. “Fall is one of the best times to visit the destination because there are no crowds and the weather is pleasant.”

Travellers will cruise the Mediterranean and Adriatic aboard Oceania Cruises’ 684-guest Insignia – an intimate ship acclaimed for its open-seating dining in four gourmet restaurants, all with no surcharge; luxurious public rooms, sumptuous accommodations, and warm, attentive service.

Are you tempted?