Carnival Ships to Land Supplies in St. Kitts and Grand Turk

Posted on 11 September, 2017 by Spacejunkie2

Carnival Cruise Line is stepping up efforts to aid in the Caribbean following Hurricane Irma.

The Miami-based cruise line, the world’s largest by passenger capacity, will deliver supplies to St. Kitts later this week during a call from the Carnival Fascination.

In addition, the cruise line will also land supplies in Grand Turk, and according to a statement, is working with a number of Caribbean islands to bring in supplies on a long-term basis.

This follows announcements from Royal Caribbean, which is deploying ships to aid in relief efforts, and Norwegian Cruise Line, which is sending the Sky to St. Thomas to help evacuees.

Cruises Return, Donate to Houston’s Recovery

Posted on 5 September, 2017 by Spacejunkie2

Image result for port of galveston cruise terminal

Port of Galveston, Huston.

Houston-based online cruise agency, Vacations to Go is donating one million dollars to six local charities, according to a letter sent to customers from CEO Alan Fox on Friday.

Fox reports that the company’s headquarters “suffered only minor water damage and never lost power.” Phone service was restored on Wednesday and many employees are returning to work.

Of the 800 Vacations to Go employees in the Houston area, 64 sustained serious flood damage to their homes, but all are safe and accounted for, according to Fox’s letter. Not all employees have been able to return to their homes to assess the damage, and others are still stranded in their homes surrounded by flood waters.

Cruise Lines Are Sailing Again

As water continues to rise in some Houston-area neighborhoods due to cresting of rivers and bayous, cruise operations from the Port of Galveston are expected to return to normal this week. Travel writer Cynthia Drake—who reported from Liberty of the Seas earlier this week as it detoured to Miami—reports now that the ship returned to Galveston on Friday, carrying approximately half of its original passengers.

Nearly 2,000 Liberty of the Seas passengers opted to make other travel arrangements from Miami when the ship docked there briefly on Tuesday. Royal Caribbean’s website shows normal operations for the September 3^rd sailing.

The site does acknowledge that some passengers may still be having difficulty with transportation to the port. Both Houston airports are open but still at a limited capacity. Some roads and highways in the area are still closed. The company encourages passengers having difficulty reaching the port or guests who “may not feel comfortable joining Liberty” to contact customer service at 1-800-256-6649 for assistance.

Carnival’s website shows normal operations for Carnival Freedom, Breeze and Valor resuming scheduled departures on September 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.

Vacations to Go Supporting Neighborhood Charities

The six charities Vacations To Go is supporting include Houston Food Bank, BakerRipley, Star of Hope Mission, Second Baptist Church, Memorial Assistance Ministries and the Houston SPCA.

According to Fox, able Vacations to Go employees who are “donating and collecting food, clothes, water, toiletries, disposable diapers, blankets and sheets, toys and games at our Houston office (5851 San Felipe Street, Suite 500, Houston, TX 77057) for delivery to one of the shelters in the city.”

He added that customers should, “Feel free to ship anything here that you want delivered to a shelter and we’ll make sure it gets there.”

Fox concluded by thanking customers for their words of encouragement both to him personally and to Vacations to Go cruise consultants throughout last week’s storm.

Princess Cruises’ Ocean Medallion launch on schedule

Posted on 3 September, 2017 by Spacejunkie2

“It’s all about enabling the crew to give the guests what they want, when they want it, how they want it.” — Arnold DonaldSAN DIEGO — Carnival Corp. is on track to launch its Ocean Medallion on the Regal Princess this November, CEO Arnold Donald said at the ASTA Global Convention this week.

Donald spoke about the medallion and other topics at a general session.

“We’re marching full-steam ahead, and the beautiful thing about it is while it is technology for the guests, they won’t notice any of that,” Donald said after his address during the general session, calling the technology “effortless” and “comprehensive” for cruisers.

The Medallion is a small disc-shaped device that cruisers can choose to wear as a wristband or pendant or carried in a pocket, purse or wallet. Carnival plans to use it to offer personalized experiences, among other functions. The Medallion will function as a room key.

For instance, Donald said, a guest could walk into a bar and the bartender will know his or her name and the last drink they ordered. If, for some reason, they leave the bar before their drink is ready (his example was to see a whale appearing off the side of the ship during an Alaska cruise), the crew will bring their drink to them.

“It’s all about enabling the crew to give the guests what they want, when they want it, how they want it,” Donald said. “It’s a personalized, customized service for the guest, and that’s what the technology enables.”

Currently, employees are undergoing “very extensive” training to use the technology effectively. Donald said key staff members are working with Medallion’s development team, and “their jobs are going to completely be redefined” when they start using the technology.

To outfit a ship so it’s Medallion-ready, the entire vessel has to get sensors put in place. The Medallion itself works like a beacon, Donald said, and the sensors connect the Medallion with an intelligence system. Ships have to be outfitted with portals throughout the vessel, both inside and outside of cabins, where guests can interact with the Medallion if they wish (they can also set preferences via a smartphone).

From a physical standpoint, sensors need to be placed and wiring needs to be installed in dry dock, the CEO said.

The first Medallion sailing will be aboard Regal Princess this November, and other Princess ships are scheduled to follow. A rollout to Princess’ entire fleet could take a few years.

Donald said other brands could opt to install the technology once they “decide to push the go button.”