Crystal Cruises has announced its return with a new shorter name, ‘Crystal,” a new website, and new itineraries. Its first sailing is on the Crystal Serenity for a 12-day voyage from Marseille, France to Lisbon, departing on July 31, 2023. The Crystal Symphony’s first voyage will depart Athens, Greece, on September 1, 2013, for a 7-day cruise to Istanbul. ……
UPDATE: Celebrity "Always Included" offering includes beverages, WiFi, and gratuities but ADVERTIZED rates don't include those perks Celebrity has changed its pricing once again and it is confusing buyers. After introducing its "Always Included" program several years ago, which included its Classic Beverage package, Wifi, and gratuities. Celebrity is now promoting bare-bones fares which do not include anything - no Classic Beverage package, no WiFi, and no pre-paid gratuities. (Suite guests receive the Premium Beverage package and premium WiFi, and pre-paid gratuities unless they select a bare-bones rate.) Celebrity's guests have come to expect the "Always Included" perks in ......
Let me start off by saying Celebrity Cruises has been one of our favorite cruise lines for many years and for many reasons. However, now Celebrity is making BIG MISTAKES which can damage their brand. So what’s wrong? This would be illegal in the US or Europe as False Advertising For what I’d suspect is some misguided headquarters-based bean-counting accountant’s bad decisions, Celebrity is advertising drinks with premium spirits, while they don’t have those premium spirits on the ship and are substituting other spirits, sometimes with cheap substitutes. But they are still selling and charging for the drinks as ......
One of the many highlights of our Azamara cruise was our stop in Nice. While I’ll cover Nice in a separate article, here I want to talk about our excursion to Saint Paul de Vence – a visit I’d highly recommend. Vence or St Paul or Saint Paul de Vence (it has been referred to by all three names) has been called the “second most beautiful village in France,” and for good reason. It is a few miles from the coast and about a 45-minute drive from Nice. But let’s start with some history. History Much of the ......
Many of you have emailed or called during the last few months and asked what happened to Brian? Where is he? Well, I’m here, I’m fine and right now I’m sailing on the Celebrity Equinox. Let me explain where I’ve been these last several months. It’s been quite a while since my last article. But I’m glad to be back writing again. In case you wondered what happened, well it has been a lot of things. First, in September I had surgery where my my L1 – S1 vertebrae were fused with 8 long screws and 4 rods. I’m ......
You may have noticed a significant rise in the price of cruise fares recently. We’ve been watching them rise since the resumption of sailing began over the last couple of months. There are several reasons for this increase and we’ll cover them all below. 1) Increased demand For most of us, its been nearly 18 long months of no cruise sailings and no vacations. This absence of cruises & vacations has caused demand to skyrocket as we are all ready to get out and start sailing again. Demand pushed up cruise line bookings by 30 – 40% this year ......
Starting in April 2022 & continuing in 2023, Silversea Cruises will start including one free shore excursion in each port as well as round-trip airfare. Each port will have a variety of free shore excursions that guests can choose from. Shore excursions will range from easy walking to more active excursions, and will vary to include options like culinary or wine visits, as well as historic tours. Silversea will also offer bespoke "Silversea Selected" shore excursions for an additional charge. All cruises will include round-trip economy airfare with the option to upgrade to business class for a very reasonable ......
As 2020 sails into the sunset, we all look forward to 2021 when we can begin to start cruising again. As many of you know, "Wave Season" start the end of December and runs into March. During "Wave Season" the cruise lines offer some of their best deals. With cruise lines shut down for a year, demand is high. Its even higher than the same time in 2019. The reason? People are have cooped up at home and they all want to get out and get back on the seas. We will post the various offers on this page ......
Oceania's Marina Norwegian Cruise Line today announced a partnership with AtmosAir Solutions to install continuous disinfection air purification systems across its 28 ship fleet for its three brands, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. The new air filtration system technology will feature continuous active COVID disinfection through bi-polar ionization in the air and on surfaces, an all-natural solution with no harmful chemicals, radiations or by-products. One of the advantages of the bi-polar ionization process is that it allows air purification to occur within the desired space, treating a larger volume of air, instead ......
Celebrity Edge New task-force created Two cruise industry powerhouses announced the formation of a new joint effort to develop a response to coronavirus. Royal Caribbean Group (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara & Silversea) and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (Norwegian, Oceania & Regent Seven Seas Cruises) announced the blue-ribbon task force will be headed by Mike Leavitt, former Utah governor, and Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Other panel members are globally recognized experts from public health, biosecurity, infectious disease, hospitality and maritime operations. The group is charged with developing procedures to prevent the ......