Archive for the 'Trivia' Category

Trivia Contest – November 30, 2012

posted by Wayne
December 7, 2012
Celebrity Reflection

Celebrity Reflection

Last week’s trivia question was a tough one which may have required a bit of research for some of you.  The question was:  “Celebrity Reflection has four godmothers.  What do they have in common?”  Either of the following qualifies as the correct answer:

– They are all employees of Celebrity or Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (Celebrity’s parent company), or;

– Either they or someone in their immediate family is a breast cancer survivor.

Congratulations to our $25 gift card winner,  Marv Dubin of Blue Bell, PA, whose name was selected from the 8 correct responses.

The breast cancer cause is one that has been adopted across the Celebrity brand, according to Richard Fain, Chariman of Celebrity Cruises and Chariman & CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.  Celebrity Cruises’ support of the cause began in 2008 with an event on Celebrity Solstice to raise funds for breast cancer screengs for low-income women.  Since then, Celebrity has shown it’s support through multiple other initiatives, both outside of and on board Celebrity ships. 

Of the four employee godmothers, two can be found aboard Celebrity ships.  Megan Mathie is a glassblowing artist who has been aboard Celebrity Eclipse and Celebrity Solstice.  In honor of her mother and sister, both breast cancer survivors, on every cruise she and her team host a “Hot Pink Glass Show” where she shares her story with her audience and through her art.  Javanka Goronjic, whose mother is a breast cancer survivor, was AquaSpa Manager aboard Celebrity Constellation before joining Celebrity Reflection for the inaugural sail. In a tribute to her mother, Jovanka donated her hair for the creation of wigs for cancer patients.

Trivia Contest – October 19, 2012

posted by Wayne
October 26, 2012

For our October 19th trivia question, we challenged our readers to name the “haunted” ship which we described as follows:

  -This ship holds the record for most people carried on a single voyage (16,683).
  -Over her career, 49 people have died on board and some of their ghosts are said to be on board today.

-One of the most often seen (and photographed) spirits is of John Pedder who was crushed to death by a closing watertight door. 

The correct response is the RMS Queen Mary.  Congratulations to Walter Baker of Warminster, PA whose name was randomly selected from the 23 who answered correctly.

Queen Mary

Queen Mary docked in Long Beach with a Russian submarine in foreground. Photo compliments of Tim McConnell.

RMS Queen Mary was a transatlantic ocean liner that sailed  from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line (known as Cunard-White Star when the vessel entered service).  This ship was built along with her running mate, RMS Queen Elizabeth, as part of Cunard’s planned two-ship weekly express service between Southampton, Cherbourg and New York City.

Queen Mary was officially retired from service in 1967.   In October of that year, she sailed from Southampton to the port of Long Beach, California where she has become a permanent attraction featuring restaurants, a museum and hotel.  In her current space, she has has struggled through multiple owners/operators.  She shares dock space with a Russian submarine.

Following Queen Mary’s permanent docking in California, the ship became a subject of rumors that it was haunted. Anecdotal reports of paranormal activity have included children crying in the nursery room, once used as the third-class playroom, and a mysterious splashing noise in the drained first-class swimming pool. In 1966, 18-year-old engineer John Pedder was crushed by a watertight door in the engine room during a fire drill, and his ghost is said to haunt the ship. One of the most “haunted” spots of the ship is Cabin B340, which is aparently no longer rented out due to the extreme paranormal activity, which is believed to be the result of the murder of an 8 year old girl.

 

Other Interesting Tidbits

 
 – RMS Queen Mary held  the “Blue Riband” transatlantic speed record in 1936, gave it up temporarily to France’s beautiful and tragically short-lived Normandie, regained it in 1938 and held it until 1952 when the SS United States took it from her.
– In 1942, off the Irish coast, Queen Mary accidentally sliced through one of her escort ships, the light cruiser HMS Curacoa, resulting in a loss of 239 lives. Queen Mary was carrying thousands of American troops of the 29th Infatry Division to join the Allied forces in Europe.  Due to the risk of U-boat attacks, she was under orders not to stop under any circumstances and steamed onward with a fractured stem. 
 – She was used in The Poseidon Adventure (the original movie).  In fact, the story was based on a true episode in the life of the Queen Mary.  She was hit broadside by a rogue wave and nearly capsized.  She was carrying 16,082 American troops at the time.  

Your Europe Survey Results

posted by Wayne
August 10, 2012

Royal Caribbean reported weak 2nd quarter financial results.  According to Richard Fain, Royal Caribbean’s CEO, anemic European bookings was the primary culprit.  He indicated that the weak economy as well as the tragic capsizing of the Costa Concordia caused folks to avoid Europe.

At Just Cruises Plus, we also noticed that European bookings were much slower this year than last year.  Although we had many inquiries about Europe, the most common reason our clients decided not to travel to Europe was high airfare rates.  Last year, round trip airfare was in the range of $800 to $900 for a round trip ticket to major European cities.  This year, rates nearly doubled mainly due to higher fuel prices (although they are beginning to drop).Europe Opinion Results

We had over 100 responses to our survey asking for your opinion of why Europe bookings were slow.  A large majority felt that the economy was primarily responsible.  Only 7 people agreed with Mr. Fain that the Concordia was a major factor.

There is one inconsistency in our survey results, theCEO’s conclusions and your opinions.  Last year, the economy was weaker by most objective measures (stock market lower and unemployment higher) but European bookings were stronger than this year.  Why?  Perhaps, because our politicians are utterly incapable of getting their act together and we are feeling uncertain about the future of the economy.

If you are a contrarian, now may be the best time to cruise Europe.  Cruise lines are offering big discounts and the Euro is lower than it has been in many years which means that you can buy more with your dollars.  For example, Royal Caribbean has some 7 day cruises leaving from Rome in October.  The price for a balcony is $599.

What’s the best time to visit Europe?  For the best chance of good weather, spring and fall in the Mediterranean and mid summer in Scandinavia.

The winner of this week’s $25 gift card drawing is Michele Nihen, of Chalfont, PA.  Michele’s name was randomly selected from all who responded with their opinion.

Give Us Your Opinion

posted by Wayne
August 3, 2012

Royal Caribbean reported a net loss of 3.6 million for the 2nd quarter.  Management said that the entire loss resulted from declines in European travel.  To quote Richard Fain, the Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean “The bummer, of course was Europe.  We all knew there were challenges there, but we had not anticipated either the severity of the financial crisis or the roller coaster ride that politicians and the media have precipitated.  And, of course, the Concordia impact there has been the greatest and the slowest to dissipate.”

What do you think is the most important factor that caused cruisers to avoid Europe this year?

Concordia

Weak Economy

Civil unrest including Arab Spring

High airfare rates

All of the above probably had a deleterious effect on European bookings.  If you had to pick the most imortant, what would it be? 

Give us your oponion and we will enter you into our weekly drawing for a $25 Visa gift card.

 

Contest Guidelines:

Everyone who responds will be entered into this week’s drawing for a $25 gift card.  Responses must be called or emailed to Just Cruises Plus by this Thursday, August 9.  The winner of this week’s contest will be announced next week.

Trivia Contest – June 1, 2012

posted by Wayne
June 9, 2012

We must have a lot of Royal Caribbean experts since 27 people got the correct answer to our trivia question, “Which ship will replace the Enchantment of the Seas out of Baltimore in 2013?”  The correct answer:  The Grandeur will replace the Enchantment out of Baltimore.  We randomly selected Will Mardis, of Holland, PA, to receive a $25 shipboard credit on his next Royal Caribbean cruise.

The recently upgraded Grandeur of the Seas will begin sailing from Baltimore on April 7th, 2013.  She replaces the Enchantment of the Seas whose last sailing from “charm city” will be a 12 night Southern Caribbean repositioning cruise on April 13, 2013.  This sailing will end in Port Canaveral, her new home port.

The Grandeur is slightly smaller than the Enchantment.   Although originally built in the same class, the Enchantment was lengthened in 2005 and carries an additional 300 passengers.

Most of the Grandeur’s sailings will be 6 or 7 night cruises to Bermuda and 7 night Bahamas cruises.  However, there will be a few 10 night cruises in late 2013 and early 2014, including a special holiday sailing on December 24th to the Eastern Caribbean.

 

Trivia Contest – May 18, 2012

posted by Wayne
May 26, 2012

We had 23 responses to our May 18 trivia contest.  The contest question read as follows:

There are several cruiseships that sail between Mexico and Hawaii or between Canada and Hawaii, but there is just one cruiseship, the Pride of America, whose itinerary begins and ends in the Hawaiian Islands.  Which unique attributes enable the Pride of America to do this itinerary?

The Pride of America can sail this Hawaiian itnerary because it is registered in the United States (i.e., US-flagged).  To obtain this status, the ship needed to be built in the United States and crewed by US citizens/permanent residents.   The Pride of America didn’t quite meet these requirements, because only the hull was built in the United States and therefore it needed a special government exemption in order to gain US registry.

It is the Jones Act, a section of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, which essentially requires that foreign flag ships carrying US citizens make a stop at a foreign port when sailing between two US ports.  Because The Pride of America is US-flagged, it does not have to stop in a foreign port.

Congratulations to Linda Knowles of West Deptford, NJ, whose name was randomly selected from those who responded correctly.

 

Trivia Contest – April 6, 2012

posted by Wayne
April 13, 2012

We had a record response to our trivia question, “What was the name of the man who canceled his sailing on the Titanic, was a railroad tycoon, had controlling interest in the White Star Line and whose name is associated with a major investment bank?”  We did not fool very many of you.  Of 38 responses to our Titanic trivia question,  31 were correct.   Congratulations to Lisa Torre of Roslyn, PA, our gift card winner, whose name was randomly drawn from those who responded correctly. 

The correct answer is JP Morgan, who had his own private suite and promenade deck on the Titanic.  It is said that he was supposed to join her for her maiden voyage, but canceled passage. 

Some folks thought that the owner was J. Bruce Ismay.  However, he was the managing director of White Star Line and survived the sinking.  He has been severely criticized for his behavior during the sinking.  It has been said that he ordered Captain Smith to run the ship fast despite warnings of ice.  He was also alleged to have dressed up as a woman in order to get into a lifeboat.  There is no evidence to support these charges but just the fact that he survived made him unpopular with the press.

There were also a couple of  “Alfred Vanderbilt” responses.  That response is fascinating because Alfred died in the sinking of the Lusitania which was torpedoed during WWI.  Ironically, he had been scheduled to cruise on Titanic’s disastrous maiden voyage 3 years earlier but cancelled at the last minute.

Exactly 100 years ago at 11:40 PM on Saturday night, the Titanic struck an iceberg.  Less than 3 hours later on Sunday morning, she was gone along with more than 1500 people.

Trivia Contest – March 24, 2012

posted by Wayne
March 31, 2012

Congratulations to Alan Heller, of Pikesville, MD, whose name was randomly selected from the 14 who responded
correctly to last week’s Trivia contest question:  What is the link between  between Celebrity’s Millennium and the RMS Titanic?

The link is that Millennium’s specialty restaurant, the Olympic, is named for the Titanic’s sister ship, the RMS Olympic.

In addition, the restaurant’s authentic paneling was obtained from the premier dining room of the RMS Olympic.  Celebrity Cruise Line found the paneling in a private English residence, and purchased it through Sotheby’s.

 

RMS Olympic

Painting of RMS Olympic located in the room adjecent to the Olympic's dining area.

Magnificent Paneling

View of the magnificent, authentic paneling in Millennium's Olympic Restaurant.

View through the Archway

View through the Archway

 

 

Trivia Contest – February 17, 2012

posted by Wayne
February 24, 2012

The winner of last weeks trivia contest is Elizabeth Pasquarello of Phoenixville, PA whose name was randomly selected from the 21 who responded correctly.

Last Week’s Question:  Name a first lady or former first lady who is godmother to a cruise ship or ocean liner and name that cruise ship or ocean liner.

Which former first lady was a godmother?

Which former first lady was a godmother?

Correct Responses:  Of the 21 responses we received,  most gave the answer that we had in mind:

– Rosalynn Carter was godmother of the MS Sovereign of the Seas.  In her role as godmother, Rosalynn ceremoniously “launched” or christened the ship by breaking a bottle of champagne on it’s bow.

We were delighted to receive two additional answers which were also correct and these were included in the random drawing as well!

– Eleanor Roosevelt was sponsor of the SS America

– Yvonne de Gaull was godmother of the SS France (later to become the SS Norway)

 

Trivia Contest – January 20, 2012

posted by Wayne
January 27, 2012

Last week’s Trivia question:  What is the original name of Celebrity’s first ship? 

Correct Answer:  Galileo Galilei

We had only two correct answers to our trivia question.   Rhoda & Matt Refsin of Huntingdon Valley,PA and Rocky Cestroni of Huntingdon Valley, PA.  gave the correct answer.   Since there were only two right answers, we decided to award the $25 credit toward a future cruise to both winners.

SS Galileo Galilei

SS Galileo Galilei

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Galileo Galilei was originally built as an ocean liner for the Italian shipping company, Lloyd Triestino. Its maiden voyage was from Genoa, Italy to Sydney Australia in 1963.  In 1977, she was reconstructed into a cruise ship and put into service with the Italian Line.

The ship was purchased by the Chandris Group in 1983 and the ship was rebuilt once more – this time with cabins added to the forward deck.  She sailed with the named shortened to Galileo under Chandris’ Fantasy Cruises brand. 

SS Galileo

SS Galileo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the late 80’s, Chandris’ executives decided to create a new up-market brand and, with this in mind, sent the Galileo to Bermerhaven, Germany for a multi-million dollar refit.  In March of 1990, she emerged as the stylish SS Meridian, the first ship of the new Celebrity Cruises brand. The Meridian cruised in the Caribbean and also sailed to Bermuda from Boston, New York and Philadelphia.

SS Meridian

SS Meridian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1997, the ship was sold to Sun Cruises, which operated her as SS Sun Vista.   Within two years, the ship experienced an engine fire and sank..  All passengers and crew were safely evacuated.