2022 In Review

Our Cruise Pause / Resumption Story

In February 2020 we were in Australia on a repositioning cruise from Melbourne, Australia to Singapore.  The Covid-19 Pandemic was about to shutdown the cruise industry. Prior to departing Melbourne, we were informed that we would not be sailing to Singapore, but instead would be flying home from Perth, Australia, just 7 days into our cruise.   The long pause in cruise travel had begun for us and our clients.

While on our Australia cruise, we had booked a South America & Antarctica cruise for January, 2021.  Unfortunately, that too would be cancelled, along with a family vacation we'd planned for the summer.

The Cruise Travel Restart

In November, 2021 we attended our National Conference on Celebrity Apex.  During that conference we were given the opportunity to book several cruises in 2022 at reduced rates in order for us to experience cruising after the restart and report to our guests.  In addition, we had several cruises, like the ones mentioned above, that we'd need to reschedule.   2022 was going to be a busy cruise year for us.

We began 2022 with a sailing on the brand new ship & cruise line - Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady.  The highlight of the year was our final river cruise on Avalon Waterways Imagery II from Prague to Frankfurt visiting several Christmas Markets.   For more details, click below for our 2022 cruise page.

Our 2022 Cruises - Click for Details

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Hurricane Fiona Impacts Cruise Ships

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Hurricane Fiona

Updated 9/20/22

Hurricane Fiona is now a major Category 3 hurricane.  Hurricane Fiona left a wake of destruction including catastrophic flooding, widespread power outages, and mudslides, as it swamped Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic on Sunday and Monday, resulting in multiple deaths and dozens of rescue operations. Turks and Caicos and the eastern Bahamas are the next areas expected to be hit, with the National Hurricane Center projecting an estimated 4-8 inches of rainfall. 

Fiona is moving toward the north-northwest near 9 mph (15 km/h). This general motion is expected to continue through today, followed by a turn toward the north tonight or Wednesday. On the forecast track, the center of Fiona will continue to move near the eastern Turks and Caicos during the next few hours, away from those islands by tomorrow, and approach Bermuda late on Thursday.

 
Several Cruise Lines have made changes to their itineraries in anticipation of the approaching hurricane.  Several ports are planning closures, which is part of the reason for the changes.
We have listed several changes below.

Airports in the region were also impacted with several of them closing or cancelling flights. This included Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, St. Croix, and Puerto Rico.  Some operations have resumed.  Businesses and airports will be closed in Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas on Tuesday and Wednesday.

If you are sailing this week or next, please consult with your travel agent or the cruise line's website for up to the minute information.  The information below was accurate at the time of publication.
 

Hurricane Fiona	1100 AM EDT Tue Sep 20 2022 ...MAJOR HURRICANE FIONA CONTINUES TO BATTER THE TURKS AND CAICOS...
WIND:	MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...115 MPH...185 KM/H
WATCHES/ WARNINGS:	CHANGES WITH THIS ADVISORY... None SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT: A Hurricane Warning is in effect for... * Turks and Caicos A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for... * Southeastern Bahamas, including the Acklins, Crooked Island, Long Cay, the Inaguas, Mayaguana, and the Ragged Islands

NHC ACTIVE STORMS (CLICK HERE)

Real-Time Cruise Ship Tracking

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HURRICANES (CLICK HERE)

• NHC issuing advisories for the Atlantic on Hurricane Fiona
• NHC issuing advisories for the Eastern Pacific on TS Madeline
• Marine warnings are in effect for the Caribbean/SW Atlantic and Eastern Pacific
• Key Messages regarding Hurricane Fiona (en Español: Mensajes Claves)

Click Here to Learn More

Royal Caribbean Itinerary Updates 
(click for latest)   


Harmony of the Seas: 

Other than keeping its originally planned visit to Perfect Day at CocoCay, Harmony is swapping out its Eastern Caribbean sailing, which departed September 18, for a Western Caribbean itinerary. In place of port calls to St. Thomas and St. Maarten, the ship will visit Costa Maya and Cozumel.

Follow @JamesVanFleet or visit the Royal Caribbean Facebook page for frequent updates.


Disney Cruise Line Weather Alert (click for latest)
Disney Fantasy: 

Disney Fantasy is keeping a scheduled call to Castaway Cay on September 23, but otherwise swapping over from an Eastern Caribbean sailing to a Western Caribbean itinerary. Instead of visiting Tortola and St. Thomas, the ship will call on Cozumel on today, Grand Cayman on September 20, and Falmouth, Jamaica on September 21.
MSC Cruises
MSC Seashore: 

Like Disney and Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises is keeping its scheduled stop in the Bahamas this week, but replacing the rest of MSC Seashore’s Eastern Caribbean itinerary with a Western Caribbean one. Instead of visiting Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and the Dominican Republic, the ship will make stops in Roatan (Honduras), Cozumel and Costa Maya. 

Norwegian Cruise Line Weather Alert (click for latest)

Norwegian Sky: 

Norwegian Sky’s scheduled Eastern Caribbean sailing, which departed Miami on September 18, has been switched to a Western Caribbean itinerary. In place of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, Tortola and Great Stirrup Cay, the ship is stopping at Costa Maya, Roatan, Harvest Caye (Belize), and Cozumel.

Carnival Cruise Line Travel Alerts (click for latest)

Carnival Legend: 

Carnival Legend, which departed Baltimore on September 17 on an eight-day sailing, will visit Nassau in The Bahamas on Wednesday, September 21 instead of Grand Turk. On Thursday September 22, the ship was scheduled to visit Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, but will now visit Bimini in The Bahamas, instead. 

Carnival Freedom: 

Carnival Freedom is currently on a five-day cruise out of Part Canaveral. On Tuesday, September 20, the ship will spend the day at sea instead of calling at Grand Turk. Instead of a day at sea on Wednesday, September 21, it will stop at Freeport, The Bahamas.

Virgin Voyages

Scarlet Lady: 

Scarlet Lady made one change to its scheduled itinerary. Instead of visiting Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic on Sunday, September 18, the ship instead called in at Costa Maya, Mexico.

Hurricane Season Dates 

Hurricane season in the Atlantic begins June 1st and ends November 30th. The Eastern Pacific hurricane season begins May 15th and also ends November 30th.
Make a Plan (FEMA) 

Read entire series (click here)

More links and information about tropical storms and other weather conditions can be found in the Weather & Hurricane Zone tabs above.


If you live in, or plan to vacation in, an area where hurricanes are prevalent, please prepare in advance by reading our series.

 

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Let's Make a Deal Princess Cruises

Princess Upgrade Program

 

One thing I love about the cruise industry is the lines love to imitate each other. If you see a new innovation, including changes in ship design, dining options, activities, or service offerings, odds are that if you wait awhile, you'll see the same or similar introduced on other ships / cruise lines. 

The latest trend is the ability to bid to upgrade your cabin. First introduced by Royal Caribbean International on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises (Royal UP), Princess Cruises becomes the latest to offer this option to passengers.

Starting next month, passengers who have paid their final payment will receive an email inviting them to bid on an upgrade to the next higher cabin category.   For example, you could purchase an Interior stateroom and bid on an Oceanview;  or an Oceanview and bid on a Balcony cabin.

Princess Cruises has not released complete details, but we would imagine they will suggest minimum bids for each of the cabin upgrades you are being offered.   The more you bid, the more likely you will actually win the upgrade.

How Does Princess Upgrade Work? 

• Check whether your cruise is eligible for bidding on an upgrade. 
• Browse through the upgrade options available and place your bid(s) to upgrade your stateroom on your upcoming cruise. Making a bid on multiple staterooms will increase your chances of being upgraded, but you’ll only pay for one. 
• Get notified via email if your request for an upgrade has been approved. If your bid is accepted, you’ll be charged for the upgrade. If not, you’ll enjoy the stateroom you already have and won’t be charged anything additional. 

Your bid is priced per person and based on two guests per stateroom for the length of your cruise. 3rd and 4th guests in a stateroom are upgraded without additional cost.

By the end of October, Princess Cruises intends to launch this new program fleetwide, but it will initially be available on five ships that sail from the U.S. Beginning September 6, guests sailing Discovery Princess, Enchanted Princess, Regal Princess, Ruby Princess, and Caribbean Princess will have first access to participate in the program.

Are You Feeling Lucky?

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Put Your Tax Dollars to Work on a Vacation

Have you had visions of Caribbean beaches and cruise ships in your dreams?  I'm sure that I'm not the only one that does...  especially after the long pause from cruising due to the pandemic.

Are you are getting a tax refund?  Help the economy grow - spend some of your tax refund on yourself - on a cruise vacation.  If you've not been on a cruise before, now is the best time as ships are still not 100% full and the experience is the best ever.

If you are like most Americans, when the pandemic started, your vacation plans went out the window.   Consequently cruise prices have remained at pretty constant low prices, but are about to start increasing.   There are still several cruise line offers available for those that want to take advantage of the lower pricing.

How about Europe Instead?

Of course, you don't need to go to the Caribbean, and in fact, European cruise vacations are on the rebound.   Why is that you ask?    The cruise lines have record deployments in Europe in recent years but the demand hadn't kept pace with the increased capacity.

That's not to imply that people aren't booking European cruises - they are.  However, there are larger ships and more of them, in Europe this summer than any other time before. Obviously, the cruise ships need to sail full for the companies to make a profit, so the consumer wins.

Comparing Cruise to Land-Based

I just did a quick search on my website for a short European cruise vacation in May.  A 9 night Greek Isles cruise was available for less than $800 pp for an inside cabin.   For those that aren't quick at math, that's about $88 pp per day or less (excluding taxes and fees).

For comparison purposes, I did a hotel search for Santorini, Greece, one of the embarkation ports, during the same period and prices for a popular hotel started from $282 Per Night.   The hotel didn't include meals or entertainment and was rated as a 4 star accommodation.    Contrasting the hotel stay and the cruise...  On the cruise it's like getting your room at less than 50%, all your meals, and entertainment onboard the ship.

Besides Santorini, you'd visit Naples, Italy • Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey • Mykonos, Greece • Rhodes, Greece • Souda (Chania), Crete. Greece is one of our favorite cruise destinations.

I've not discussed airfare, which is a large expense for a European vacation, especially in prime season.   Since the cost of air would be the same for the cruise and land-based vacation stay, I've excluded that from the equation.    Since this cruise is before the Summer Season this makes the selected cruise even more attractive.  Cruise lines often have reduced air prices.

There are many deals to Europe this Summer.   We'll feature some of the sales on our website and Facebook page.   If you are seriously considering a Europe get-away this Summer, my suggestion would be to book now while the supply is larger than the demand so that you can maximize your investment.  

The prices I've seen during my search in preparation for this article are on par with what you'd pay for a Caribbean vacation on the same or similar ships.   For the most part, the ships are the larger, newer vessels in the respective fleets.   Ships like Celebrity Beyond, Enchanted Princess, and Royal Caribbean Odyssey of the Seas are just a few of the choices you'll have.

Of course, if you want to stay closer to home in the Caribbean, Bermuda, or Disney World, we can help you sort through all the possible choices and find the best value for you and your family.  


Put Your Tax Dollars to Work for You on a Cruise / Land Vacation to Remember for Years to Come.   Cruise Europe in 2022 !!

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I recently completed extensive training and have become Travel Safety Verified. As your dedicated Travel Advisor, your safety is our priority, and it's our job to ensure you have the necessary information you need to give you confidence and peace of mind when making your future travel plans. Click the link to review our Travel Safety program with valuable resources that will answer many of your questions.

Where have you explored? 

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