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| << June02, 2003 - 7 Seas Cruise News |
June16, 2003 - 7 Seas Cruise News >> |
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Greetings, Cruise Fans! Welcome to another edition of the 7 Seas Cruise News, brought to you by Pat, your cruise buddy and your source for the best prices on cruises-anywhere and any time. A hearty "welcome aboard" to our new subscribers. Let us know what you think and what you want to see more of. We try to talk about the current goings-on in the cruise industry and offer an opinion or two. And we also like to mention the best prices of the week. Your comments and reviews are always welcome, too. Those Cunard people are laying it on thick in anticipation of the debut of the Queen Mary 2. I am quite taken with the language they are using to describe the ship. Tres elegant. And pretty compelling, too. Here's a sample, straight from their most recent e-mail??¦ "On January 31, 2004, Queen Mary 2 will set sail on her Maiden Caribbean Voyage to azure waters and white sands. For 11 days, guests will savor the glowing sun, duty-free bargains and charming flair of the islands while enjoying the on board atmosphere of the newest member of the Cunard fleet. Departing from Ft. Lauderdale on a round-trip journey, QM2 will make her maiden calls at Puerto Rico where guests can visit El Yunque, North America's only rain forest. St. Kitts salutes QM2 from Brimstone Hill and Martinique is the perfect place for sightseeing and island exploring. Barbados, St. Lucia, Dominica, and St. Thomas round out the symphony of Caribbean ports. Can you wait for the beach by day, the stars by night, and luxuriate at the first Canyon Ranch SpaClub?® at sea in between? Have you ever wanted to experience a Middle Eastern Rasul Ceremony? Does a Stone Massage or Mango Sugar Glo body scrub sound enticing? In an exclusive partnership, world-famous Canyon Ranch health resorts will design and operate the spa, beauty salon, wellness and fitness facilities on board QM2. The 20,000-square-foot facility - called the Canyon Ranch SpaClub - will feature state-of- the-art spa and fitness facilities located on two decks and employ 51 staff. With 24 massage, body and skin care treatment rooms, a gymnasium and weight room, and juice bar, guests will be immersed in the ultimate spa experience. The spa menu will feature an array of rejuvenating treatments, including massages and therapeutic bodywork, mud, aromatherapy, ayuvedic and seaweed treatments, facials and masks, conditioning body scrubs and therapeutic body cocoons. For those guests who simply want to sit back and relax, a Thalassotherapy Pool featuring airbed recliner lounges, neck fountains, a deluge waterfall, air tub and body massage jet benches will be the perfect end to a busy day on board or ashore. The pool area will have a whirlpool; and a Thermal Suite features an herbal sauna, Finnish sauna, reflexology basins and an aromatic steam room." Kind of makes you want to pack your bags, doesn't it? Love that "symphony of Caribbean ports"! More news in a minute, but first a couple of prices??¦ Sail from Vancouver to Los Angeles on the Norwegian Sun on 9/21. This unique 5-day adventure calls at Seattle and San Francisco and costs only $449 for a balcony cabin. The Alaska bargain of the season may be the Dawn Princess between Vancouver and Anchorage. Sail 6/30, 7/7, or 8/4 for $549 per person in an inside cabin. Sail 7/14, 7/21 or 7/28 and the inside cabin is $549 or an ocean-view cabin is $649 per person, double occupancy. Prices and dates are similar for the Sun Princess, too. If Bermuda intrigues you (and it is beautiful!) , inside cabins fares begin at $700 and ocean- view fares at $825 per person, double occupancy on Celebrity this summer. For the Caribbean, Celebrity offers a 10- or 11-night cruise for $900 inside or $1000 ocean- view. (per person, double occupancy on the Galaxy, sailing 6/20, 6/30, or 7/11) And time is running out for space in our group sailing 11/22 on the Carnival Jubilee from San Juan. Low group rates vanish if not booked by the end of June. Inside cabins are $455 per person, double occupancy, and ocean-view cabins are $545 per person, double occupancy. These fares include all taxes and port charges- everything but airfare. And Pat has arranged chocolates and a bottle of champagne in each cabin, too. If you'd like to come along, don't worry. You'll have complete privacy, but if you need us, we'll be on board to help out with anything you need. Call Pat if you're interested. 1-866-424-1090 is the toll-free number. Or you can e-mail him at cruiseplanners7seascruises@msn.com or drop by the Website, www.7seascruises.com anytime! And now, back to the news??¦ Celebrity Cruises, the industry's only cruise line to charge a fee for joining its past passenger program has switched to a no fee program. For those who had paid the $35 fee, Celebrity is providing a $50 onboard credit certificate, which must be used by December 31, 2004. Past Celebrity passengers who never paid up to become a Captain's Club member should call the Captain's Club line at 1-800-760-0654 or visit celebrity.com/captainsclub. The Captain's Club has three tiers. Highlight of "classic" status (one-to-five cruises) is priority embarkation and disembarkation. Those in the "select" category (six-to-ten Celebrity cruises) also get complimentary custom air choices when they purchase Celebrity's air/sea packages. And those in the "elite" level ( eleven-plus cruises) receive, in addition to all perks available to other past passengers, priority tender service when the ship is at anchor. Royal Caribbean will have a major presence in the "Big Apple" next year. The 142,000-ton, 3, 838-passenger Voyager of the Seas will spend the summer offering alternating cruises to Maritime Canada (5-day) and the Caribbean(9- day). Voyager is the first ship of that class to sail someplace other than the Caribbean and the New York season runs from May 16 to October 22, 2004. Ports of call on the five- day Canadian cruise are Halifax, Nova Scotia and St. John (New Brunswick); the nine-day Caribbean itinerary will include Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Georgetown, Cayman Islands; Freeport, Bahamas; and Royal Caribbean's private beach at Labadee, in Haiti. At this point, the only Royal Caribbean ship that offers New York-based trips is Nordic Empress, which sails to Bermuda. Just after Monarch of the Sea's repositioning to the Los Angeles-Baja Mexico for the short cruise assignment, Royal Caribbean announces it will also send Vision of the Seas to the West Coast. The 2,000-passenger Vision of the Seas will sail seven day itineraries, roundtrip from Los Angeles, beginning September 28. Just after the re-positioning, Vision of the Seas will get a makeover, with the most prominent addition being Royal Caribbean's signature rock-climbing wall. Vision of the Seas will sail to the usual Baja ports-of-call, Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerta Vallarta. As a result of a damaged propeller on Radisson Seven Seas' Voyager, the cruise line canceled the June 3rd sailing. The ship, which only debuted last month, apparently hit a submerged object Sunday while making port-side maneuvers in Dubrovnik. Voyager managed to limp back to Venice roughly on schedule (it was a few hours late) and did complete the voyage (which wound up on May 27). After a temporary fix in Venice, the ship sailed off for its next scheduled trip. Now, the week-long Rome to Monaco trip on 6/3 is cancelled, but the cruise line says the next scheduled trip, a ten-day cruise from Monaco to Southampton starting 6/10, will go on schedule. Summer plans have been announced by several of the cruise lines, and this year, perhaps more than ever before, the programs for kids are fascinating! I can't help but think about daughters 1 & 2, both great actresses, and how much they would have enjoyed Celebrity Cruises' "Summer Stock Theater," which offers kids the chance to run lights, direct and act in a play. (Sorry, M and M, you're too old to enroll.) Meanwhile, NCL offers "Circus at Sea" this summer, where kids can learn genuine circus tricks and participate in a circus for the adults on board. Windjammer Barefoot Cruises offer kids (called Junior Jammers) the chance to help hoist the sails. And the grand-daddy of all kids' programs, Camp Carnival, now offers port lectures just for kids and entertaining geography lessons about the ports each ship visits. What fun! That's it for now. Until next week, I'm going to think seriously about the Queen Mary 2's Thalassotherapy Pool. Care to join me under the deluge waterfall? Teri |
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June16, 2003 - 7 Seas Cruise News >> |
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