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| << August09, 2004 - 7 Seas Cruise News |
August19, 2004 - 7 Seas Cruise News >> |
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Good evening, Cruise Fans, Welcome to another edition of the 7 Seas Cruise News. This has been one of the most disconcerting weeks in cruise history for Pat. First, we got word from Royal Caribbean and Celebrity that we could no longer advertise discounted prices. Not in newspaper, nor Internet ads, and not even in email. Next, Carnival followed suit. Pat was distressed, but figured that you know that he discounts, so all we would say is, "Prices too low to advertise," and you'd have to call or write to get the price. Inconvenient, but that's okay. Then, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity really lowered the boom. On Friday evening, travel agents received a fax that said, you can no longer sell Royal Caribbean or Celebrity cruises for LESS THAN THE OFFICIAL ROYAL CARIBBEAN OR CELEBRITY PRICE. No discounts. No exceptions. Period. Well, first off, we are pretty sure this is illegal. Sounds like price fixing to us. After all, Buick and Liz Claiborne and Whirlpool all have suggested retail prices for their products, but they cannot dictate the price at which the Buick dealer, the dress shop or appliance store actually sells the car, dress or washer! However, on the off-chance that they CAN get away with this, Pat has declared that, although he cannot discount, he CAN and WILL buy shipboard credits for his clients equal to the amount he would ordinarily discount. So, if you want a Royal Caribbean cruise or a Celebrity cruise, and Pat would ordinarily discount your fare by $75, he will buy you a $75 shipboard credit. This will be strictly between and him. He also has a few coupons that may apply to your Royal Caribbean or Celebrity cruise. He'll check for you! As for the other cruise lines-Holland America, NCL, Princess, Carnival, Costa, Cunard, Orient, Radisson, Windjammer and Windstar, plus the big fancy ones, like Crystal, Pat will continue to discount! And although we can't advertise discounts on Carnival, you'll still get them! I hope you share our shock and displeasure at Royal Caribbean and Celebrity's announcement. We are scheduled to sail on the Mariner of the Seas on August 29 with our district rep. She's a great gal. I suspect she won't be able to figure this out either, but we'll talk it over with her. Stay tuned and we will keep you posted! After all, this isn't just about Pat and 7 Seas Cruises, this is about YOU and the price you pay for a cruise! And now, some more positive cruise news??¦ There's nothing better than a great rock 'n roll show. And the "Rock N' Roll Holiday Cruise" combines thrilling live performances by three pantheons of rock - Journey, REO Speedwagon and Styx - with all the fun and excitement of a Carnival cruise, to offer music fans a one-of-a- kind vacation experience. The week-long excursion aboard the "Fun Ship" Carnival Triumph departs Miami on November 27 and returns December 4, 2004. More than a week-long rock concert and more than a vacation at sea, it is set to be an unforgettable rock n' roll voyage through the tropics. Featured ports include Cozumel, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman; and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. The Rock N' Roll Holiday Cruise provides fans of Journey, REO Speedwagon and Styx an intimate experience never before offered with these legendary acts. Each package includes: private concerts, Q&A session with band members, exclusive rock n' roll cocktail parties, and special limited edition band memorabilia. This is the first time these bands have participated in such an event. Aboard the Carnival Triumph, Rock N' Roll Holiday Cruise participants will enjoy a week of delicious formal and casual meals, spacious accommodations, a diversity of lounges, bars and entertainment venues, a 15,000-square-foot health club, a full gambling casino, a duty-free shopping mall, four swimming pools and a 214-foot-long water slide. Journey, REO Speedwagon and Styx are three of rock's biggest bands. Between them, they've sold more than 100 million records around the world, and they've filled stadiums and arenas. Now, the three come together, for a week-long trip that defines rock fantasy. Prices begin at $1,299 per person based on double occupancy. Special rates for third and fourth guests sailing in the same stateroom are also available. Request fare code CSCH from Pat. From a family reading club to a recreational fitness program and even youth spa treatments, a host of new activities have been added to Carnival Cruise Lines' fleetwide children's program, "Camp Carnival." The new activities complement the wide variety of family-friendly amenities available on Carnival's 20 "Fun Ships," which are expected to host a record 450,000 kids this year - roughly half of all children carried by the North American cruise industry. Included among the new activities is a youth spa program, recently introduced on Carnival Miracle, which allows kids ages 12-14 and their parents to experience luxurious body and beauty treatments together on port days at discounted rates in the ship's expansive Spa Carnival health and fitness center. Packages, which are available in mother/ daughter and father/ son combinations, include hair and nail treatments, health evaluations, and foot and scalp massages. Following the trial run on Carnival Miracle, the program is expected to be expanded to other "Fun Ships" by the end of the summer. Also new is " ExerSeas," a recreational fitness program designed to encourage kids to "get out and play" through intense physical activity. There's also "A-B-Seas," a new reading program in which the youth counselors read popular children's books aloud to parents and kids in the ships' libraries. The program also includes nightly bedtime stories in the children's play rooms. Following the readings, parents and kids, with the aid of the youth counselors, present their own creative interpretations of the stories through puppet shows, skits and other group activities. Also planned for this program are writing workshops where kids can hone their writing skills and express their creativity while penning short stories and essays. A new science program, H2Ocean, features a wide variety of fun, hands-on science projects. Conducted under the watchful eyes of the youth counselors, the program allows kids to partake in such activities as making their own ice cream and creating custom-made helicopters and miniature hovercrafts. The line's popular EduCruise program has also been expanded to include even more interactive projects focusing on the cultures, landmarks, history and geography of the destinations to which the "Fun Ships" sail. Through this program, kids can make their own " dream catchers" popularized by various Native American cultures and create colorful maps of various Caribbean nations. Also in the works is a new art program that goes beyond typical arts and crafts, enabling kids to create their own artistic masterpieces - paper mache, oil paintings, and watercolors, for example - while learning the techniques employed by professional artists. All of these new activities are included in the complimentary "Camp Carnival" program, which is available from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Other fleet- wide dining options include 24-hour pizzerias and ice cream stations and the "Fountain Fun Card," which for a one-time fee, provides kids with unlimited soft drinks during their cruise. Carnival ships also feature at least three swimming pools, including a children's wading pool, and a corkscrew water slide. Babysitting services, stroller and " bouncy chair" rentals are also available fleetwide. Recently the line has been increasing its emphasis on teens, with new teen shore excursions and " Action Alley" teen clubs on its 110,000-ton " Conquest-class" ships. According to Ryan Reynolds, Evansville Courier & Press, what's wrong with the U.S. is our lack of vacation time. I thoroughly enjoyed this excerpt from one of his recent columns??¦ "In America, the average worker gets 14 days of vacation time. What do workers get in other parts of the world? In Italy, they get 42 days. In France, the average is 37. Germans get 35. The Brits get 28. In Japan, of all places, they get an average of 17. "Remember when everyone here used to make jokes about how hard Japanese businessmen worked? About how they devoted themselves so passionately to their professions that it killed a few of them? "Guess what? They take more vacation than we do. Congratulations, America. We officially work harder than the guys we joked about for working too hard. "An even more stunning revelation: Americans don't even use up the sparse amount of vacation time they squeeze out of their employers. Hundreds of millions of days go unused every year. "So, between the rampant work schedules, lack of exercise and general poor eating habits in this country, there is coming a collective moment in America where, all at once, we suffer a massive, group heart attack. We will die at work, slumped over our keyboards, jackhammers and filing cabinets. The world economy will screech to a halt. Though for a moment, a few European nations will get a smug sense of satisfaction that "I told you so" vibe you and I get when we see a Corvette whip past us on the interstate at 100 mph, only to see it get pulled over by the cops 10 miles ahead. "So there's the plan, America: Increase the vacation time. Take whatever you get now and double it." Pat is standing by to take your call at 1-866-424- 1090 toll-free. He needs to hear from you. All this Royal Caribbean-Celebrity business has him pretty bummed out. And until next week, our prayers go out to our SW Florida neighbors and clients who have suffered so much damage and loss. Smooth sailing, Teri |
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