Just Cruises Plus

Virtually everyone is aware of the grounding and capsizing of the Costa Concordia and the total vilification of the captain of the ship.  We know that the ship had every modern aid to navigation and was equipped with more than enough lifeboats and life rafts.  So why did the ship impale itself on the rocky coast of Giglio Island and why did people die?

From all of the information available from the news media, it would appear that a hubristic captain and a less-than vigilant company combined to cause the destruction of the Concordia and the resultant loss of life. It appears then that the captain made the decision to steer the ship toward disaster despite having all of the information that he needed to avoid tearing the bottom out of his ship.  It appears that he chose to ignore the information that would easily have brought the ship onto a safe course.

We know that the ship has a “black box”.  Does Costa Cruises have someone who reviews each sailing to determine whether this or any other captain makes risky navigational decisions? 

What about the deaths?  No passengers should have died in this incident.  There were plenty of lifeboats and life rafts.  However, there was no leadership and very lax training as evidenced by how long it took to get people into boats.  Training is clearly the responsibility of Costa Cruises.  While the captain appears to have made major errors of judgment, we believe that Costa must bear an equal part of the blame in that abandon ship procedures were woefully inadequate.

Just Cruise Plus has not booked a client on any Costa ship since 2005.  We stopped recommending their ships as a result of customer feedback.

We have always believed that cruising was an extremely safe way of seeing the world at great comfort and convenience and we urge all of the cruise lines to review their safety policies to make certain that this kind of event never occurs again.

Do you chose your cruise based on the ports or do you choose based on the ship?

Cruise lines recognize that these are two distinct groups.  Alaska, Europe, South America, Asia and Hawaii are destinations and the ships that take you there are  the supporting actors.  The ship is not the focus of these travelers.   These cruises are selected because the passengers wish to experience the ports of call.

On the other hand, there are folks who choose their ship because of the features and amenities of the particular ship.  This is true of many Caribbean cruisers where the various islands have much in common (great beaches and lots of sun).  Since entertainment is a significant amenity of Caribbean cruises, cruise lines are partnering with entertainment companies to enhance the entertainment experience.

Disney has always been in the forefront of this cruise/entertainment marriage since the ship and the entertainment are all Disney.  In order to compete, Royal Caribbean has aligned with Dreamworks, a Disney rival, and you will see Dreamworks characters (Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, etc) on their ships.  Royal Caribbean also acquired the rights to Broadway shows like Hairspray, Chicago and Saturday Night Fever.

Norwegian Cruise Line is associated with “Second City”.  It also added the hit show “Blue Man Group”.  The theater on the Norwegian Epic was built with this show in mind.

Cunard’s three ships offer original plays based on West End (London) plays while Carnival Cruise Line has hired George Lopez to lead the comedy direction on their ships.

Finally, the Great American Steamboat Company has lined up the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Harry James Orchestra, The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Platters and The New Orleans Jazz All-Stars (sorry – no heavy metal or Hip-Hop).

New year, new look… That’s what’s in store for Celebrity Summit in January 2012, when the award-winning ship becomes the third in Celebrity Cruises’ much-loved Millennium Class quartet to complete a significant “Solsticizing,” the term Celebrity coined for its initiative to complement its Milllennium Class ships’ style and design with some of the most popular attributes found on its widely heralded Solstice Class ships.

What are some the highlights?

-       Aqua Class veranda staterooms

-       Bleu (Aqua-class) and Qsine specialty restaurants

-       Creperie and Bistro on Five

-       Café al Bacio and the Gelateria

-       Cellarmasters wine bar, including the “Enomatic” state-of-the-art wine serving system

-       The cool, ice-topped Martini Bar and Crush

-       An expanded collection of original, contemporary art

-       Updated carpeting, upholstery and other cosmetic updates

Click here for a video which contains great before and after images of the Millennium Class ships:  What Is Solsticizing?

What does this mean for you?  

The Summit, already a Bermuda favorite pre-solsticization, sold out many sailings early on last year.  In anticipation of the solsticization of the Summit, we decided to hold cabin space, at prices lower than Celebrity’s online rates, on many of its 2012 Bermuda sailings.  Bermuda cabins tend to go early, so it is not too soon to reserve your cabin now.  See our hot deals for some sample pricing on these Bermuda sailings.

Princess Cruises just announced the new 3600 passenger Royal Princess whose inaugural sailing is scheduled for May of 2013.  Does this name sound familiar?  That’s because the first P&O Princess Cruises cruise ship (1984) was also named Royal Princess.  It was one of the first, if not the first, ships to completely dispense with interior cabins.  The ship now serves in P&O Cruises fleet as the Artemis.

The latest Royal Princess, in addition to being the largest in the fleet at 141,000 tons, will feature an on-deck retreat exclusively for adults which offers passengers a secluded spa-like setting for complete relaxation.  As the first Princess had all outside staterooms and no inside rooms, the new Royal Princess has no traditional outside staterooms.  All ocean facing rooms will have balconies.

A sister ship to the new Royal Princess is expected to sail in the Spring of 2014.

Steamboat Makes a Comeback 

A new cruiseline, The Great American Steamboat Company, is re-introducing the 436-passenger American Queen steamboat to the rivers of the south and mid-west United States.  Cruises on the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee Rivers will begin in April of 2012.  The ship will depart from cities which include Memphis, New Orleans, Vicksburg, St. Louis, Louisville, St. Paul, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

The American Queen, built in 1995 and originally operated by the Delta Queen Steamboat Company, is possibly the largest steamboat ever built. It is a 6-deck recreation of a classic Mississippi riverboat.  The American Queen is actually a hybrid ship whose paddlewheel is powered by steam but which gets some of it’s maneuverability from  a secondary propulsion unit powered by diesel-electric propellers.

Voyages range from three to 14 nights.  Rates include bottled water and soft drinks, coffees and cappuccinos, wine and beer with dinner, deluxe pre-cruise hotel stays and complimentary shore excursions.

NCL Names New Ships

The next two ships from Norwegian Cruise Line will be named Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Gateway.  Despite the names, there is much to like about these new ships.  Like the Norwegain Epic, the new ships will have studio  staterooms for singles with a private lounge.  They will also have 42 oceanview staterooms that will accomodate 5 passengers so families of 5 won’t have to buy two rooms.

These 4,000 passenger vessels will be delivered in April of 2013 (Breakaway) and April of 2014 (Getaway).

Ship Fire Kills Two in Norway

An intense  fire aboard Hurtigruten Line’s MS Nordyls killed two crewman and forced passengers into lifeboats.  The ship was near Aalesund, Norway when an apparant explosion tore through the engine room.  In addition to the two deaths, nine crewmen and three rescue workers were injured.  There were no injuries among the passsengers.  “We were sent up on deck and given our lifevests,” Danielle Passebois-Paya, a French tourist told Norwegian daily Aftenposten.  It took only a few minutes after the alarm and we were in the lifeboats”  “It was a well-organized evacuation,” she added.  “The crew did a really good job.  Everything was calm and went smoothly.  There was no panic.”

The Nordlys was in danger of capsizing due to the amount of water pumped into her to fight the fires.  This is exactly what happened to the French Line’s Normandy at a New York pier during WWII which ended the short career of, what may have been, the most beautiful ship ever built.

Most ships of the Hurtigruten Line ply the craggy western coast of Norway, stopping to deliver mail and cargo to the towns and villiages along the coast.   It is a great way to get close to the people of Norway while enjoying spectacular scenery.  However, some ships sail to Antarctica and Greenland.

Irene Disrupts Cruise Line Schedules

Hurrican Irene missed Florida and passed over the Bahamas.  Fortunately, Nassau took a glancing blow and  damage was not severe.  Other than the 3 and 4 day cruises to the Bahamas, schedules for Florida departures had minor changes in the order ports were visited.

There was a serious glitch in San Juan where a Carnival ship and a Royal Caribbean ship were ordered by port authorities to depart several hours early stranding hundreds of passengers in San Juan.

Irene is expected to arrive in the NYC  area around 8 AM on Sunday.  Holland America brought the Veendam back from Bermuda a day early.  Celebrity Cruises kept the Summit in Bermuda for an extra day so it won’t arrive back until Monday.

Let’s hope that Irene gets her ill winds out of here real soon.

Crystal to Become All Inclusive

Beginning in the spring of 2012, Crystal Cruises will include the following on all cruises:  Airfare with transfers, wines and spirits, water and soda, gratuities and two specialty dining experiences.  Crystal is following many of the other luxury cruise lines in including these amenities.  Except for the free liquor, we applaud these changes.  Our concern with including liquor is that it requires non drinkers to subsidize those who use alcohol.  It may also encourage folks to overindulge.

Oil Price Drop Good for Cruisers

The price of crude oil has declined by more than 20% over the past few weeks climaxed by a precipitous $7 dollar drop in the last two days.  This is good news for cruisers.  The cruise lines have been holding a potential fuel surcharge over our heads for the past year. The decline in oil prices, combined with a sputtering economy, virtually insures that the cruise lines will not impliment a fuel surcharge over the near and medium term (as long as the oil producing countries remain stable).