Shirley Linde's Cruise Letter

Cruise News, Deals & Discounts

BREAKING NEWS -- The Panama Canal Authority is considering building a second lane to double the capacity on the Panama Canal. The construction of a second lane would cost about $5 billion and would be financed through the canal's toll system. The construction project is being reviewed by President Martin Torrijos, will be reviewed by the National Assembly and then would go to a national referendum. Possible completion in 2014.

INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY IN TROUBLE? The ICW sheltered passage along the U.S. east coast has officials concerned. Waterway maintenance has fallen behind each year as budgets are cut for dredging and repairs. Shoaling and silting have reduced depths in some spots to as little as five feet. Tow boats and barges touch bottom or run aground almost daily. Navigation charts are out-of-date. A series of meetings is underway to address the problem.

FIRST CRUISE LINE TO OFFER KILIMANJARO EXCURSION -- Crystal Cruises is offering a new land program to Mount Kilimanjaro. The nine-night land program debuts in March 2007 and is available pre- or post-cruise in conjunction with two Crystal Serenity itineraries beginning or ending in Cape Town, South Africa. The trek to the top of the mountain is offered through the line's partnership with Micato Safaris. Hiking an average of four to six hours each day with overnight accommodations at mountain huts, climbers will traverse rain forests, then grasslands, alpine desert, volcanic scree, to the ice fields and walls of the glacier. To accommodate the necessary personal preparation, the program must be reserved at least four months in advance. Participants will receive a pre-climb package including a recommended eight-week fitness conditioning program, equipment suggestions and medical requirements. The program includes flights between Cape Town and Nairobi/Arusha/Mombasa, transfers to Marangu where the climb begins, all accommodations and meals and services of expert guides and porters. Pricing is being finalized at this writing. Availability for this tour is extremely limited.

CRONKITE AND BUCKLEY AT SILVERSEA -- Silversea Cruises has signed up Walter Cronkite and William F. Buckley Jr. as celebrity lecturers on the Silver Shadow's 126-day World Cruise, which will depart Fort Lauderdale on Jan. 15, 2007. Cronkite is scheduled for the World Cruise segment departing April 27 from Alexandria to Lisbon. Buckley will travel on the voyage departing May 8 from Lisbon to New York City. Silversea has also announced that they now technology that enables guests to use their own cellular phones, laptops, and wireless PDAs while at sea. Rates will range from $2 to $4 per minute.

BE UNIQUE IN SWEDEN -- Vintage ships Juno, Wilhelm Tham and Diana, built in 1874, 1912 and 1931 and lovingly maintained, ply the Gota Canal between Stockholm and Gothenburg on journeys back in time through lush countryside to medieval castles, ancient towns, and a Viking city. Cruise tours go from May 17 to September 10 (15% discount in May, early June, and September). Packages, starting at $2,235 per person double occupancy, include roundtrip flights from New York, shore excursions, and one-night hotel in Stockholm and Gothenburg.

NEW ORLEANS -- Amtrak and Carnival Cruise Lines will resume their “Rail and Cruise” program out of New Orleans with the resumption of four- and five-day cruise service from New Orleans on Fantasy beginning in October. Amtrak is offering discounts up to 25 percent for passengers traveling by rail to and from all Carnival cruises from Chicago, Memphis, New York, Washington, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Tucson, San Antonio and other cities.

WINDSURF IN THE MED -- An 8-day cruise coincides with the Formula One Grand Prix race in Monaco and the Cannes Film Festival in France and stays one night in Cannes, two nights in Monaco, and visits St. Tropez, France and St. Florent, Corsica.

DRIVE A FERRARI AND GO ON A CRUISE -- SeaDream Yacht Club is offering a 7-day cruise in the Mediterranean this summer, and in Rome before or after the cruise you get to drive a Ferrari on a three-night adventure from Rome to Florence, either a Ferrari F430 Spider F1, an F360 Spider FI, or a 575M Maranello F1, or try all three. You also get a night at a 17th Century villa that overlooks the Tyrrhenian Sea, two nights at the Fonteverde Spa and Hotel. A local expert accompanies you throughout and even washes and fuels your Ferrari. Cost: $5,590 per person double occupancy.

NEW SHIPS --

• Norwegian Cruise Line took delivery of its third U.S.-flagged cruise ship, Pride of Hawaii, which will join the Pride of Aloha and Pride of America for Hawaii inter-island cruises. It began service this month.

• easyCruise in July will have a second vessel that will cruise weekly itineraries from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, Brussels and Antwerp. Passengers can join and leave the cruise where and when they wish, subject to a minimum two-night stay.

• Freedom of the Seas is the new ship of Royal Caribbean International. The 3,600-passenger Liberty of the Seas is scheduled to enter service in 2007.

• Costa Crociere’s new ship Costa Serena will enter service in May 2007. The ship will leave Venice on 7-day cruises with stopovers in Bari, Olympia (Greece), Izmir and Istanbul, and Dubrovnik.

• Uniworld has a new river boat River Royale cruising the Provence and Burgundy regions.

• American Cruise Lines has announced that it will build two 130-passenger vessels for delivery in 2008 and 2009 that are expected to cruise in the Canadian Maritimes, the Caribbean and Central America.

2-FOR-1 -- International Expeditions has a 2-for-1 on a cruise around Newfoundland, Labrador, and Nova Scotia in September on Polar Star. The 12-day cruise starts at $2,265. Seven Seas Mariner has 2-for-1s in September on the voyage from Vancouver to Whittier with Jean-Michel Cousteau of the Ocean Futures Society aboard and on the voyage from Whittier to Tokyo.

FREE AIR --
Yangtze -- Pacific Delight World Tours’ air-inclusive, 17-day “Grand Yangtze River SuperValue” cruise-tour, priced $2,788 to $3,158 per person double, combines a 6-night cruise on the Yangtze with Huangshan Mountain, Suzhou, Shanghai, Xi’an and Beijing. The package includes hotels, outside cabin with private balcony on a Victoria Cruises boat, free air from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Beijing until November.
Europe -- Free Air and 2-for-1 -- Cruise fares start at just $1,999 per guest with Oceania Cruises on their 2007 European cruises if booked by August 31, 2006. There is also free air (and 10 per cent discount to U.S. travelers) on Deutschland including a Black Sea cruise roundtrip from Piraeus (Athens) to Varna (Bulgaria), Odessa and Yalta in Ukraine, Constanta in Romania and Sinop and Istanbul in Turkey, Oct. 17-27.
South America and Carnival Tickets -- The 500-passenger Deutschland goes to the Chilean Fjords, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, Cape Horn Passage, the Falkland Islands and Buenos Aires Jan. 25-Feb. 14, 2007 with free air from New York City, free shore excursions worth up to $796, free reserved Carnival tickets and free airport-ship transfers. Fares begin at $5,852 per person double occupancy including air transportation.

NORWAY -- Norwegian Coastal Voyage has a 9-day theme cruise from Bergen on the life and music of composer Edvard Grieg in August, at $1,738 to $4,576, on the 674-berth Trollfjord. There is 25% off for many cabin categories on southbound cruises from Kirkenes to Bergen.

NASCAR CRUISE -- Carnival has scheduled a Rusty Wallace Cruise on the Carnival Pride in December roundtrip from Long Beach, California to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. Several racing-themed contests and giveaways will be held throughout the voyage.

SOUTH GEORGIA AND THE FALKLANDS -- Pelagic Australis is making an early season trip to South Georgia, leaving Stanley in the Falklands on Oct. 14 and returning on Nov. 4. The three week cruise to the island made famous by Shackleton will visit wildlife sites and historical points of interest, focusing on bull elephant seals battling for harems on the wild beaches of the island. By early November the bulls will have gone back to sea so this spectacular and ferocious event is seldom witnessed by visitors.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA -- In September the Sepik Spirit will be conducting two four-night exploratory cruises into the middle and upper Sepik River, a region rarely visited. The boat has a shallow draft that allows it to travel to remote corners of the Sepik River and its tributaries, with day excursions to remote villages and close contact with villagers.

LINDBLAD EXPEDITIONS -- The company returns to the South Pacific this year with National Geographic Endeavour, going to the Cook Islands, Tahiti, Fiji, Easter Island and Papua New Guinea. Geneticist Spencer Wells will share his work as director of National Geographic's Genographic Project to map the journey of humans as they populated the planet. Passengers on the July 24 and 30 cruises will submit cheek swab samples prior to traveling to learn about their individual migratory histories.

SILVERSEA SPECIAL OFFERS -- Silversea Cruises has several 30-50%-off voyages on cruises from Athens to Barcelona with calls in Libya and Tunisia, from Copenhagen to London, from Los Angeles to Miami, and from Hong Kong to Bangkok with calls in Danang, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City.

SOUTH PACIFIC AND ASIA -- Cruise West has a series of 12- to 19-day voyages with stops in Kiribati, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuamotu islands and the Marquesas. In Japan there are 14- to 17-day cruises along the coastline with stops in Miyajima, Takamatsu, Taisha and Hagi and in Pusan/Kyongju, South Korea.

GALAPAGOS FAMILY TRIPS --Eclipse has family departures to take advantage of summer holidays. There is a 30% discount for children under 12. Family cruises are scheduled in June and December.

RIVERBARGE -- If you are looking for a family vacation, River Explorer allows children age 12 or younger to cruise free when staying in the same stateroom as their parents or grandparents; those under age 18 are half price. Teachers and retired teachers are half price when traveling with a full fare companion.

ROUNDTRIP TAMPA – Several 7-day cruises to the Western Caribbean in November and December on the Veendam start at only $599 for inside cabin, $699 for outside. Also from Tampa on the Ryndam are 14-day Southern Caribbean cruises starting at $1,449 inside and $1,549 outside.