|
7 Seas Cruise News Archives Index
|
Subscribe
|
|
| << December27, 2004 - 7 Seas Cruise News |
January17, 2005 - 7 Seas Cruise News >> |
|
Greetings, Cruise Fans, Welcome to our New Year edition of the 7 Seas Cruise News. Pat and I hope the holiday found you healthy and content and ready to make some good resolutions. We decided that " more cruises" was a pretty good resolution. And we will try to keep that one! Pat has found some excellent prices for cruises in the next couple of months, so it you are thinking of a warm weather getaway, give him a call. The toll-free number is 1- 866-424-1090 and Pat would love to hear from you! You can send him an email at cruiseplanners7seascruises@msn.com. And if you just want to shop around, visit the website at www. 7seascruises.com. Just one reminder: Pat can get you better prices than those you see advertised on the website. Those prices come directly from the cruise lines and are what you might expect from a cruise company that doesn't discount. Pat does! Except, of course, for Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. For those lines, he will hunt for group fares for you and, at worst, offer you the best individual fare offered in the U.S. He can get those prices based on his volume. Neighborhood travel agents can't match him. Ok, so we were discussing the Indian Ocean tsunami tragedy this week and someone asked what a tsunami feels like if you are in a ship on the ocean and the tsunami passes below you. The answer is: basically you don' t feel it at all. Tsunamis, unlike waves formed by tides or winds, radiate out in all directions from the epicenter of an undersea earthquake. From there, it may hit nearby coastal areas in seconds, or it may travel thousands of miles across open oceans before reaching land. At sea, away from shallows and coastlines, a tsunami is undetectable, with waves of no more than 3 feet. That's why there have been no reports of damage to any ships in the area, except for boats or ships close to shore or docked in the area. Hundreds of smaller docked boats and ships have been destroyed. Tsunami speed is determined by the depth of the ocean. In this case, the tsunami traveled about 500 miles per hour as bore down on Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and the islands of Indonesia. Once in shallow water, the tsunami slows to 20 or 30 miles an hour and begins to rise above sea level - in this case to a height of 20 to 40 feet before it hit the shore. Tsunamis don't break like typical waves, they simply rise and rush forward. Wind- borne waves come 5 to 20 seconds apart. Tsunami waves may be minutes or hours apart, consisting of 3 to 10 waves. Each wave can carry objects or people out to sea as it flows back from the shore. Of the world's earthquakes, more than 95% occur beneath the Pacific. A tsunami warning system protects the US Pacific Coast, Alaska, Hawaii and most Pacific Rim countries. Expect a similar system to be installed in the Indian Ocean following this tragedy. And now, some cruise news??¦ Steadily increasing demand for Celebrity Cruises' vacation experiences in Europe has led the line to deploy a fourth ship to the region in 2005. The 1, 750-guest Century, previously scheduled to sail 9- and 10-night Caribbean cruises next spring and summer, will join Celebrity's Constellation, Galaxy and Millennium in Europe, offering vacationers the greatest capacity and broadest array of options Celebrity has offered to-date in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. Following a 14-night transatlantic cruise departing from Fort Lauderdale on May 7, Century will sail a series of 12-night Baltic cruises roundtrip from Amsterdam, a unique Norwegian Fjords cruise, and 10- and 11-night Mediterranean cruises, before returning to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., departing roundtrip on alternating 9- and 10-night Caribbean cruises. The new European sailings open for booking on Tuesday. Itineraries include a 14-night transatlantic cruise departing Fort Lauderdale on May 7, with an overnight visit to King's Wharf, Bermuda, and calls on Lisbon, Portugal; Vigo, Spain; and LeHavre (for Paris), France, concluding in Amsterdam. From Amsterdam, Century offers roundtrip 12-night Baltic cruises on May 21; June 2, 14 and 26; July 8 and 20, with calls on Copenhagen, Denmark (overnight); Oslo, Norway; Stockholm, Sweden; Helsinki, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia (overnight), and Tallinn, Estonia. On August 13, Century visits the stunning Norwegian Fjords from Amsterdam on a 7-night cruise calling on Bergen, Olden, Alesund, and Flam, Norway. The August 20 repositioning cruise visits Zeebrugge (for Brussels), Belgium; LeHavre (for Paris), France; Vigo, Cadiz and Malaga, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; Civitavecchia (for Rome) and Livorno (for Florence/Pisa), Italy; and Villefranche (for Nice/ Monte Carlo), France, concluding in Barcelona, Spain. The Balearic Islands - and Celebrity's first calls on both Ibiza and Valencia, Spain - await guests on Century's September 2 and 23 sailings, also calling on Marseilles/Provence and Villefranche (for Nice/Monte Carlo), France; Livorno (for Florence/Pisa) and Civitavecchia (for Rome), Italy; and Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Holland America Line announced that in 2006 it will deploy the 1,848-passenger ms Noordam for its inaugural Caribbean season sailing from New York City, the line's former headquarters. The premium cruise line will sail 13 Caribbean cruises from its new North American homeport beginning with the Noordam's inaugural cruise on February 22. Two transatlantic sailings also include New York as a gateway. The addition of New York completes Holland America Line' s Caribbean homeports in 2006 with Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Norfolk, and, now, New York. New York Caribbean cruises will feature a 10-day Eastern Caribbean program that visits Grand Turk, Turk and Caicos; Tortola, British Virgin Islands; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. An 11-day Southern Caribbean itinerary calls at Tortola, British Virgin Islands; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Roseau, Dominica; Bridgetown, Barbados; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Royal Caribbean International's Sovereign of the Seas re-entered service on Monday, Dec. 13, after an extreme makeover that includes bow-to-stern renovations and several new entertainment and dining options. Sovereign, which offers year-round three- and four-night Bahamas cruises from Port Canaveral, also added 62 individual balconies on Deck 10, creating the ship's first balcony staterooms. Entertainment is high-octane on the new Sovereign of the Seas. Boleros Latin lounge is sure to be the ship's hottest nighttime spot, with drink favorites from Brazil, Cuba and Central America, such as caipirinhas, mojitos and specialty tequilas, as well as dueling piano players and live Latin jazz performances. The newly refurbished Follies Theater features two musical production shows that take guests back in time with favorite songs throughout the ages. "Dancin' Thru the Movies" brings back classic movie soundtracks, including Dirty Dancing, Saturday Night Fever and The Blues Brothers. "Flashback" revisits ?’50s to ?’80s music with songs from legends from Elvis to Aretha to Prince. Sovereign serves up several new dining options, including a new casual dining concept, the Windjammer Marketplace, which builds on the line's Windjammer Cafe' concept. Windjammer Marketplace features multiple self-service islands, each offering regional dishes. Initial island themes include Asian, Latin, Mediterranean and American/ Eclectic. A cooked-to-order pasta station, carving station, deli, and soup and salad bar round out the Marketplace offerings. Above the Windjammer, guests can grab a slice at the new pizzeria, Sorrento's, or enjoy juicy hamburgers and thick shakes at the specialty restaurant, Johnny Rockets an all- American diner at sea. They also can sip specialty espresso drinks from Seattle's Best Coffee , and sample their favorite flavors from Ben & Jerry's at the sit-down Latte'tudes coffee shop and ice cream parlor. Fitness buffs have everything they need for a full workout at the relocated and expanded ShipShape Fitness Center and Sovereign Day Spa. The new facilities feature a bigger gym with additional cardio equipment, and a full-service spa with a hair and nails salon and 11 treatment rooms, including a two-person room for couples. Royal Caribbean's younger set now have more space just for them in an expanded Adventure Ocean Youth Program center. Teens can stake out their own turf in three exclusive areas - the ultra-hip Fuel nightclub; a cool hangout lounge called The Living Room; and The Back Deck, a sun deck with an outdoor dance floor. Sovereign of the Seas offers three- and four-night Bahamas itineraries year-round from Port Canaveral, calling at Nassau and CocoCay. Through Royal Caribbean's Explorations! shore excursions program, guests going ashore can snorkel with stingrays or follow in the footsteps of pirates in Nassau, or wade into the many water sports at CocoCay - from parasailing, kayaking and snorkeling to a sun-filled day at Caylana's Castle Cove Aqua Park. That about wraps up the news for this week. Here's wishing each of you a great New Year! Pat reminds you it's time to plan spring break cruising! And for those who really like to plan ahead, we'd like to invite you to consider joining us for our 2005 Friends and Family Cruise! This time, we've selected the 8-day Carnival Legend Central American cruise from Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades) departing on November 17 ( a Thursday) and returning to Port Everglades on Friday, November 25. Ports of call include Belize City, Belize; Puerto Limon, Costa Rica; and Colon, Panama. From Colon, you can take a shore excursion that visits the Panama Canal or you can try sea kayaking in the canal. (Don't ask me how that works! I presume it is either in Gatun Lake or in the channel that leads to the Canal.) Pat has arranged fabulous too- low-to-advertise group rates for all of us and an additional $50 per cabin shipboard credit, too. So, give Pat a call or drop him an email for more information. Then plan to join us! We had a great time on the Mexican Riviera in 2004. Central America will be great in '05! Have a great week and start this year off right! Teri |
|
| << December27, 2004 - 7 Seas Cruise News |
January17, 2005 - 7 Seas Cruise News >> |
|
7 Seas Cruise News Archives Index
|
Subscribe
|
|
|
Archives powered by Zinester's Mailing List Service
Details on 7 Seas Cruise News |
Browse for more newsletters at Zinester's Ezine Directory
Managed by Zinester's Mailing List Management |