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March29, 2004 - 7 Seas Cruise News >> |
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Greetings, Cruise Fans Welcome to another edition of the 7 Seas Cruise News. We have lots of news to cover tonight, but before we get started, Pat has a couple of great prices he stumbled across that he is really excited about. Holland America, which is known far and wide as an upscale cruise line has some prices that sure don't look upscale! For example, Pat can put you aboard the Holland America Zuiderdam for 7 nights in the East Caribbean on April 10 for $482 per person, double occupancy, in an inside cabin- including all taxes and port charges! Wow. Or, if you have been thinking about Alaska, Holland America has a deal for you-southbound aboard the Ryndam on May 21 in an OCEAN-VIEW cabin for $589 per person, double occupancy-including all taxes and port charges. Amazing! If either of these tickles your fancy, give Pat a call. He'd love to save you money! You can reach him any time at 1-866- 424-1090 toll-free, or by e-mail at cruiseplanners7seascruises@msn.com. And you can always visit the website at www.7seascruises.com One other thing Pat asked me to do in this edition of the newsletter is to talk about "guarantees" and what they mean. Simply, when you buy an "inside guarantee" or an "outside guarantee" or a "balcony guarantee," or a specific "category guarantee," you are usually paying less than the regular fare and the cruise line promises to put you in that type of cabin-inside, outside, balcony or specific category- or better. So, you can't lose. And you just might be upgraded! In fact, the odds are better with a guarantee than with a specific cabin assignment. So, why wouldn't you want a guarantee if it's available? Well, some people like to select a specific location. Some clients insist on mid-ship cabins. Others want to make sure they are on a specific deck. For those clients, a guarantee is not the answer. For the rest of us, it's great! If you have questions, call Pat and he'll do a better job of explaining. And now, some news??¦ MSC Cruises (Mediterranean Shipping) has an interesting offer on a great cruise! The M.S. Lirica (new last year) is offering a 11-night Caribbean cruise, round-trip from Ft. Lauderdale on April 10. And firefighters, police and military personnel can go free!! (Active or retired!) Of course, you have to have someone in the same cabin willing to pay full brochure rate, but heck, free is good! The deal applies in categories 1 through 10. The itinerary includes Grenada, San Juan, St. Lucia, St. Barts, Tortola, Nassau and Antigua. Free cruise is valid for active or retired, police, fire, and Military members when traveling with another passenger paying brochure rate in Categories 1-10. Call Pat for details! Speaking of MSC, the line has confirmed the order for two new ships to be built at Chantiers de l' Atlantique in Saint Nazare, plus an option for a third vessel. The first ship will be delivered in June 2006, the second for spring 2007. With 1,275 cabins (80% outside and three of four with veranda), the Panamax vessels boast an innovative design that maximizes sea views, MSC said. Their length is 294 meters and width is 32.2 meters. Their capacity will be about 3,000 passengers, with space for 1, 000 crewmembers. The ships will cruise in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. SuperStar Leo will be permanently deployed in the NCL fleet after her initial Alaska season and be renamed Norwegian Spirit. The ship will spend the winter in Miami sailing five- and nine-day cruises. Norwegian Spirit's innovative nine-day itinerary leaves Miami on Friday nights and travels to the Deep Southern Caribbean calling on Bridgetown, Barbados; St. George's, Grenada; Castries, St. Lucia; St. John's, Antigua; and Tortola, British Virgin Islands returning on Sundays. Cruise the Deep Southern Caribbean and only take a week off work, all with the convenience of a Miami departure, which is just a drive away for the large South Florida market or a short and affordable flight for many markets around the U.S. Norwegian Spirit's five-day itinerary will leave Miami on Sundays and call in George Town, Grand Cayman and Roatan, Honduras. Meanwhile, Norwegian Sea will be transferred to the Star Cruises fleet in Spring of 2005 enabling NCL's parent company to go forward with its plans to modify its fleet profile in Asia with relatively modern vessels of medium capacity rather than mega ships. Medium sized ships offer greater deployment flexibility and more diversification of capacity in a developing market where demand patterns have yet to be established-so the Sea is a better size for Asian cruising. In October 2005, Norwegian Dream will take over Norwegian Sea's year round cruises out of Houston sailing Exotic Western Caribbean seven-day cruises calling in Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; Belize City, Belize; and Cancun, Mexico. The company will announce a replacement ship for New Orleans shortly. About the "new" Norwegian Spirit, the ship was built by Meyer Werft in Germany in 1999 and was Star Cruises first newbuild and largest vessel. The ship is 879 feet long and 106 feet wide, slightly smaller than her big sister, Norwegian Star. Norwegian Spirit cruises at a maximum speed of 25 knots. Like Norwegian Star, which begins her first Alaska season in May, Norwegian Spirit offers a wide choice of interconnecting cabins perfect for multi- generational families of all sizes. Staterooms feature rich cherry wood finishing and the 391 balcony staterooms offer a much larger bathroom unit than other ships, containing separate WC, shower, and washstand compartments separated by sliding doors. Sixty percent of cabins are outside staterooms and 66 percent of these have balconies. Most cabins include a sofa bed or pop-up trundle bed, giving a third lower bed, and many have a fourth, pull-down berth. The ship also offers a large number of cabins (including suites and junior- suites) that can be combined to create two-, three- or four-bedroom areas suitable for small and large families. Princess' largest cruise ship to date arrived in its homeport at the Port of Los Angeles Wednesday. The line said the 116,000-ton, 2,670- passenger Diamond Princess is the largest cruise ship based at the port, as well as the largest cruise vessel to sail the West Coast (at least until its same- size sister, the Sapphire Princess, begins operations in May). The Diamond's seven-day roundtrip Mexican Riviera cruises began Saturday; on May 1 the ship travels to Seattle for seven-day roundtrip Alaska Inside Passage sailings. The ship will return to Southern California in September to resume its Mexican Riviera program. Pat and I had a great??¦wait, make that GREAT lunch aboard the Golden Princess on Saturday. Shrimp cocktails, lovely hand-made ravioli, delicious fork- tender Chateaubriand and warm chocolate souffl?©s. All fantastic--just like dining room cuisine on Princess. (We have some doubts about their buffets up top--a little monotonous.) We got a preview of the Caribbean Princess, which is due to arrive in Ft. Lauderdale on April 1 (Pat's birthday). Pat and daughter #3 will have lunch on the new ship on April 2, but for those who can't wait for the review, here is one of the ship's new features??¦ There's a 300-square foot "Movies Under the Stars" poolside movie screen. The giant Times Square-style LED (Light Emitting Diode) screen will show a variety of entertainment throughout the day, including up to three feature-length films. In addition to family cinema, first run hits, and late night movies, passengers will be able to bask in the glow of the tropics during daylight hours and enjoy major sporting events and other can't-miss programming. Complimentary chaise lounge reservations, special movie theme cocktails and casual dining will be offered to round out the ultimate poolside experience. Speaking of pools, we learned Saturday, that Princess uses fresh water in all of their swimming pools. Interesting, since most cruise lines pump in ocean water every day. Celebrity Cruises will swap itineraries of the Infinity and Millennium, and use the Millennium for two Panama Canal cruises on March 28 and April 11, which were previously scheduled for the Infinity. This will allow the company to put the Infinity in drydock to replace a thrust-bearing unit in its propulsion system. Due to this change, the March 28 Eastern Caribbean sailing of the Millennium has been cancelled. Guests booked on the sailing will receive a full refund and a voucher for a free Celebrity cruise to the Caribbean. The vessels will return to their normal itineraries on April 25. Celebrity says the swapping of itineraries would cause the least disruption for the majority of its passengers. Guess that wraps up the 7 Seas Cruise News for this week. Until next week, here's wishing you nothing but smooth sailing! Teri |
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