A to Z Savings from Azamara Cruises

Azamara Cruises announced booking incentives for guests to mark the first anniversary of Azamara Quest in October. The ‘Quest for Europe’ sale began September 22. 

Passengers who book 2009 Europe cruises by October 19^th will receive on-board credit of $600 per suite, $400 per veranda and $200 per ocean-view room.  Deposits will also be reduced by 50% during the promotional period.

Azamara Cruises’ 2009 Europe season will include 20 new ports, more overnight stays and a wide choice of seven- to 15-night itineraries.

 

 

 

 

Weather Alerts

Grand Turk and its cruise facilities suffered substantial damage from Hurricane Ike over the weekend.

Carnival Corp., which owns and operates the Grand Turk Cruise Center, said it is going to take some time for the island to recover. The company could not estimate a reopening date for the cruise facilities which suffered an estimated $5 to $10 million in damage. The pier, built to withstand up to a category 5 hurricane was reported to be undamaged.

Foul weather has created a multitude of itinerary changes on both coasts due to 3 tropical systems – Hanna, Ike and Lowell.  Please check with your cruise agent for the latest information. No cancellations are reported but many port calls have been changed, dropped or re-scheduled.  Operations are expected to return to normal for this weekend’s sailings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mama Mia! – Saving Dough for Costa Past Passengers

The new Costa Club past guest program in the United States gives special offers and privileges based on the number of days cruised and purchases made on board.

Members earn 100 points for every day they sail and 40 points for every $60 spent on board as registered by their cruise card. There are three membership levels: Aquamarine for up to 2,000 points, Coral for 2,001 to 5,000 points and Pearl for 5,001 points or more.

Members save 5% on early booking fares on a wide variety of select itineraries, and extra discounts on certain sailings will be advertised during the year. Other perks include access to a dedicated Costa Club information desk, a captain’s cocktail party and photo, in-room amenities and discounts on Costa merchandise, Internet use, wine packages, laundry service and select salon items.

Coral and Pearl members are entitled to privileged boarding and disembarkation.

Orient Lines Returns with New Owners

Orient Lines, recently acquired from NCL Corp. opened bookings to the general public on Monday September 8 for Marco Polo II’s 2009 Europe season..

Europe itineraries from 11 to 37 days are priced starting at $2,399 per person, double occupancy. New for 2009 are free air from 20 North American gateways, two-for-one fares and a free shore excursion in selected ports.

Orient Lines’ website (orientlines.com) is up and running, effective today.

Love Boat Upgrades

Princess Cruises has announced that Star Princess, Caribbean Princess and Golden Princess – will get new signature features such as The Sanctuary, an adults-only area, and the Piazza, the atrium gathering place with a café, wine bar and street entertainment. Star Princess will get those additions during dry-dock later this month, Caribbean Princess in January and Golden Princess in spring 2009. Eventually, The Sanctuary will be added to the entire fleet. The jumbo video screen that shows Movies Under the Stars will be added fleet wide, except for the three small ships — Royal Princess, Pacific Princess and Tahitian Princess.

China’s Yangtze in Style

Victoria Jenna, the eighth and largest ship in the Victoria Cruises fleet, is scheduled to enter service on April 26 with an abundant number of suites.

The five-passenger-deck vessel will be able to carry 378 travelers in 189 cabins, including 149 standards, 35 junior suites, three deluxe suites and two Shangri-La suites.

All accommodations have a balcony, private bathroom with a shower and tub, and television with HBO and CNN.

Victoria Jenna offers a single seating main dining room and an a la carte restaurant, a fitness room, lecture room, library, the Yangtze Club (a theater-style night club), cocktail lounge, beauty salon, gift shop, observation deck, business center, Internet access, health clinic and an atrium lobby.

CruiseJungle Storm Watch

Tropical Storm Hanna is moving past to the east of Florida and will skirt the U.S. East Coast over the next few days.

Hanna, which has already drenched the Bahamas, is expected to shower heavy rain over a number of states this weekend. A hurricane watch remains in place in parts of North Carolina and South Carolina. A tropical storm watch is still in place across parts of Georgia and Virginia and has been extended northward to parts of New Jersey.

The Bahamian port of Nassau is open for business, and Freeport will be open as Saturday September 6^th.  Grand Turk will welcome its next ship on Wednesday as scheduled.

At this point, cruise lines have not announced any further itinerary changes due to Hanna. Weekend turnarounds in Florida should go off as planned. Hurricane Ike is currently churning in the Atlantic and may make land fall early next week as a category 2 or 3 storm and could impact S. Florida based ships.  Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean altered itineraries due to the storm’s path earlier this week.

More Fun for Mobile

Carnival Cruise Lines will increase capacity at Mobile by 42% when the 2,056-passenger Carnival Fantasy replaces the 1,452-passenger Holiday on year-round four- and five-day cruises beginning in November 2009.

Carnival operates Mobile’s only year-round cruise program. With Carnival Fantasy, the company expects to carry approximately 170,000 passengers annually from the Alabama port.

This fall, the ship is scheduled to undergo an upgrade under Carnival’s ‘Evolutions of Fun’ program and will add an aqua park, adults-only deck retreat and a new resort-style pool area.

A True Love Boat

In celebration of National Romance Week, Princess Cruises has announced that Trista and Ryan Sutter, who met on “The Bachelorette” TV show, will christen the Ruby Princess on Nov. 6 in Fort Lauderdale. The Sutters will celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary this fall and will mark the event during the Ruby Princess’ inaugural, which will be themed around “romantic moments and milestones.”

The 3,070-passenger Ruby Princess will feature a piazza-style atrium with small-bite eateries and a changing array of street entertainers. Other dining venues will include Sabatini’s Italian trattoria, the Crown Grill steak and seafood restaurant, and The Sanctuary, an adults-only dining venue.

The Ruby Princess’ inaugural season will offer seven-day weekly sailings from Fort Lauderdale to the Western Caribbean. Calls include Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; Cozumel, Mexico; and Princess Cays in the Bahamas. Next spring, the ship will move to Europe for 12-day sailings in the Mediterranean and Greek Islands.

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