The Pain is Over - Now Spend Your Tax Refund

  

Uncle Sam Wants YOU

To Cruise

Sail from one of 23 U.S. Ports

That dreaded day is here - April 15th.  Hopefully, since you are reading this column,  your taxes are already either in the mail or filed electronically.   If not, time is running out (I don't mean to nag)...   The sooner you hit the send button, the sooner you can start doing something fun (like planning a family get-away). 

What better way to help the economy than to reward yourself and your family with a cruise vacation?

Did you know that you can begin a cruise vacation from 23 different U.S. Cities?  If you happen to live in one of those cities, you don't have far to go to get onboard a cruise ship.   For others, a road trip or flight can bring you to the embarkation port of call.  A cruise vacation is an excellent value since your lodging, meals, and onboard entertainment are included in the price.  Did I mention you only unpack your bags once?

Assuming that you are getting a refund, and that you've filed electronically, you could receive your refund before the month is over. Why not put that refund to work for you by putting a deposit on a cruise leaving later this year or even next year.    Schedules through next summer have been posted for most cruise lines.  Booking early is the key to saving money on a cruise vacation.   Due to supply and demand, last minute deals are few and far between.

If you want to leave for your trip in May or June, I'd suggest that you make your reservations before you receive your refund check, as cabins are quickly being sold out.   That might come as a shock to many of you, but people are booking early to take advantage of special pricing, so the odds of even finding a cabin at the last minute are low (especially if you need a cabin with more than double occupancy).

What explanation is there for the high booking rates?   I believe there are several factors including pent up demand (previously postponed vacations) and the excellent value that a cruise vacation offers.

If you are ready to start planning, the Cruise Finder tool  can help.

Costa Fined - No Criminal Charges in Italy for Concordia

Costa Cruises has made a €1 million ($1.3M) plea bargain settlement with an Italian court to limit its criminal liability for the capsizing of the Costa Concordia last January with the loss of 32 lives.  This move means that Costa Cruises will not face any more criminal charges and will now aim to participate in the forthcoming trial as an injured party opening the door for the company to seek damages for the loss of the ship.

A judge in Tuscany accepted the plea agreement for Costa Crociere, a division of Carnival Corporation in connection with the shipwreck off the island of Giglio in January 2012. 

Legal proceedings will continue Monday with a hearing to determine whether six of the line’s employees including Concordia captain, Francesco Schettino, and Mr Ferrarini, the company's crisis management chief.  Captain Schettino is expected to be indicted for multiple charges including manslaughter and abandoning ship before his passengers.

Although Costa Cruises has paid only €1 million in order to limit its criminal liability, the civil costs will be very much higher.  Costa still faces civil lawsuits by the relatives of passengers who drowned while trying to flee the ship, as well as by survivors who have turned down the firm’s starting offer of about €11,000 per person in compensation. Italian consumer group Codacons had advised passengers to reject the offer and instead called for a €125,000 minimum for each passenger.There has been at least one seven figure settlement already to the youngest victim of the shipwreck, a 5 year old boy.

Meanwhile, salvage operations continue off the cost of Giglio.   By late summer it is hoped that the ship will be floated off the rocks.

For Complete Coverage of this tragedy see the following blog post:

Costa Concordia Listing after Deadly Accident

In Search of Gilligan's Island

Could This Be Gilligan's Island?

Back in the 60's a popular television show had viewers watching week after week to see what the fate would be of the shipwrecked survivors of the S.S. Minnow.

They ended up on an island, much like the one in this picture following a storm.   The rainbow in this image tells us that the rain is still falling, but the sun is starting to shine painting the sky with colorful streaks.

Where was Gilligan's Island?

The show wasn't specific about the location, but we know the small ship departed Honolulu, Hawaii and set sail for it's "three hour tour".   This puts the island somewhere in the Pacific.  We think that a worthy goal would be to set sail from Hawaii in search of that island.  Anyone want to come along?

Thanks to the popular song from that series is now stuck in my head.   They held a contest to find the most popular television show theme and Gilligan's Island beat out the competition.

Since the song is stuck in my head, I thought I'd pass this along to you as well so that you can join me.
If you've never seen the show, and it happens to appear in syndication on a TV near you, I strongly encourage you to check it out.   You too may then want to join me on a quest for some South Pacific island, even if it isn't actually Gilligan's Island, do you think you'd really care?

Enjoy the video of the opening, colorized (which means it was from season 2 or 3).  

Gilligan's Island Opening Theme in Color

"The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle" (Sherwood Schwartz/George Wyle) Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, A tale of a fateful trip That started with this tropic port Aboard this tiny ship. The mate was a mighty sailin' man, The skipper brave and sure. Five passengers set sail that day For a three-hour tour, a three-hour tour. The weather started getting rough, The tiny ship was tossed, If not for the courage of the fearless crew The Minnow would be lost, the Minnow would be lost. The ship set ground on the shore of this Uncharted desert isle With Gilligan, The Skipper too, The millionaire and his wife, The movie star, The Professor and Mary Ann, Here on Gilligan's Isle!

A Royal Godmother for New Ship

Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge – Royal Princess^®

June 13, 2013 | Southampton, England

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (Catherine Elizabeth "Kate"; née Middleton), the wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, has graciously accepted Princess Cruises' invitation to become the Godmother of Royal Princess.

The Duchess is admired around the world for her style and grace, The Duchess has had a major impact on British fashion and was named on of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World" by Time Magazine in 2012. She is a supporter of several British charities including The Art Room, Action on Addiction, East Anglia's Children's Hospice, the National Portrait Gallery and the Scout Association.

Tradition & Royalty

Like her namesake that debuted in 1984, the new Royal Princess is indeed a special ship, inspiring an equally special godmother. The ship will be officially named  in a spectacular ceremony on 13 June 2013 in the port of Southampton, that will combine some nautical traditions, special British elements and contemporary touches.

The ceremony will uphold British ship-naming traditions including the blessing, a performance by the Royal Marines Band and the pipers of the Irish Guards, together with contemporary highlights.

Alan Buckelew, the line’s president and CEO said “It is a great honor for Princess Cruises that Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge has accepted our invitation to become the Godmother to Royal Princess. We are delighted that the Duchess will launch our new ship and can think of no better way to celebrate our company’s British heritage and our commitment to the country.”

Inaugural Year

Click to view PDF

Royal Princess will arrive at the Ocean Terminal in Southampton on Friday, June 7, where she will commence a series of events for customers and travel agents, including a special naming gala on the evening of Wednesday, June 12. The ship’s inaugural celebrations will conclude with her maiden voyage on June 16.

Two preview cruises will take place (June 9 and June 14). The cruises will sail round-trip from Southampton on a two-night itinerary which calls in St. Peter Port, Guernsey.   Following the inaugural voyage, Royal Princess will sail 12-night cruises out of Barcelona and Venice throughout the summer. A sister ship, Regal Princess, will arrive in spring 2014. 

Related Posts:

Royal Princess Float Out
A New Princess is Born
Introducing Princess Cruises Newest Ship

Celebrity Millennium Itinerary Change

Celebrity Millennium® Installed power: 2 × General Electric gas turbines 50,000 kW (combined) Propulsion: 2 × 19 MW Rolls-Royce/Alstom Mermaid azimuth thrusters Speed: 21.8 knots (40.4 km/h; 25.1 mph

Another Propulsion Problem

Once again a cruise ship has been forced to change its itinerary due to an electrical problem impacting the ship's propulsion.     No, it's not a Carnival ship this time.  They don't have the corner on problems after all.

Celebrity Millennium currently on a Singapore-to-Hong Kong cruise, will be making some itinerary changes as it is forced to sail at a reduced speed until the problem is resolved. 

Millennium was originally scheduled to call in Hanoi (Halong Bay) on Tuesday, April 9, and finish the cruise in Hong Kong on April 11. Due to the propulsion problem, the ship will spend both Tuesday and Wednesday at sea in order to arrive in Hong Kong as scheduled. 

The propulsion on Millennium is different than on the Carnival Legend which suffered a similar issue about a month ago, forcing it to limp along back to port.   The Celebrity Millennium-class ships have had propulsion issues over the years but they remain a solid workhorse for the line.

Engineers onboard the vessel are working on the problem and hopefully it won't have a domino effect  on other cruises.  We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as new information surfaces.   As has become standard in the industry, Celebrity will compensate the passengers for missing their planned port.

Inside a Kinderdijk Windmill

Welcome to Windmill 2

Kinderdijk

Journey with me to South Holland to Kinderdijk, which is situated in a polder in the Alblasserwaard, at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers.  Here you can step back in time to the 1740s where you'll find 19 windmills that were built to control the water levels in the area.   Today, these are no longer in use, but they have been preserved and are part of a UNESCO Heritage site.

What Was Life Like in a Windmill

You've probably seen the television commercial where a boy is telling his grandpa how good kids have it these days.   That made me think back to many centuries ago and wonder just what was it like to live in a windmill?

We visited the Kinderdijk during our Tulip Time River Cruise a few years back and thought we'd dust off these pictures and share them with our readers.   Click here for more images.

Approaching the windmill, you see signs of life in the shuttered windows - it looks cheerful and very inviting.

Stepping inside the windmill, the first thing you notice is a very small, but functional living space.  A lamp supplements the lighting coming in through the windows.  The room is filled with living essentials. There's a sewing machine, chairs, stove, pots and pans, and a table to name a few things you see.  In fact everything you need is neatly in its place.

A made-up bed is tucked into an alcove in the wall with just enough room for someone to sleep comfortably. Everyone has their private "bedroom" in the walls.

There are no squared corners in this house inside a windmill.   The rounded structure necessitates organizing belongings such that it fits in the small area.   The walls are part of the storage space with boots hanging there for easy access.

It was necessary for the occupants to get access to the top of the windmill, to make repairs for example.   Wooden staircases provide access to the upper stories of the windmill.

This was a working structure primarily with the family accommodations required so that the windmill could be monitored constantly.   The other people in the area depended on these families.    Before the windmills, there were problems with the water level.   Keeping these windmills working was very critical.

We hope you've enjoyed your short visit to this windmill in Kinderdijk.  We'll share more about our visits in Holland in other posts.

Ships Still Skipping Grand Turk

Grand Turk Cruise Center

Not Busy These Days

Q: What's missing in this live webcam image?

A: People

This once busy cruise center has been quiet since early March due to an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness, commonly known as Norovirus.

Carnival Corporation, in an abundance of caution, discontinued stops in Grand Turk for all their brands through the end of March shortly after the outbreak March 11th.

Additional Port Cancellations 

While investigations are still underway by Carnival Corporation, Grand Turk Cruise Center, and local authorities,  Carnival Corporation changed the itineraries of several more voyages for this week:

• Carnival Breeze April 1 -  replaced with Nassau
• Carnival Victory April 4 - replaced with Freeport
• Carnival Liberty April 4 - extended port time in San Juan to 10 p.m., added sea day 
• Ruby Princess April 5 - replaced with Nassau
• Holland America's Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam visits - sailing to San Juan instead

UPDATE:
Carnival Corp. confirmed that Carnival Cruise Lines and Princess Cruises ships will begin calling on Grand Turk on Monday, April 8.

Read More: 

Health Ministry Reports Decrease in Vomiting and Diarrhoea Cases in Grand Turk
Grand Turk Cruise Center