Cruise lines alter itineraries due to Hurricane Gonzalo

Posted on 15 October, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

By Tom Stieghorst

Winds and rain from Hurricane Gonzalo have forced cruise ships in the Caribbean east of Puerto Rico to alter their itineraries.

Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International are among the cruise lines that have skipped ports of call because of the storm.

Royal Caribbean said Jewel of the Seas did not call at St. Maarten on Oct. 13. The ship spent Monday at sea before returning to the scheduled itinerary, calling at Antigua on Tuesday, Oct. 14.

Explorer of the Seas departed San Juan at 9 p.m. on Oct. 13, instead of staying overnight.

Allure of the Seas is sailing a modified western Caribbean itinerary. The ship will now visit Falmouth, Jamaica on Oct. 15 and Cozumel on Oct. 17.

The storm led to Carnival Liberty staying at sea for a second day rather than calling at St. Thomas on Oct. 14. The cruise will go to Grand Cayman and Cozumel before returning to Port Canaveral. Carnival Breeze will stay at sea rather than call at La Romana, Dominican Republic, on Oct. 14.

Carnival Conquest’s original eastern Caribbean itinerary out of Miami was scrapped in favor of a western Caribbean route that will stop in Cozumel, Belize, Mahogany Bay (Honduras) and Costa Maya (Mexico).

The hurricane is expected to strengthen from its current Category 1 status and move toward Bermuda later this week.

Beyond the marketing pitches

Posted on 14 October, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

By Tom Stieghorst

Sometimes the reasons people cruise can’t be found in any catalog or sales brochure. The passenger who took 33 consecutive cruises aboard the Carnival Elation earlier this year is an extreme example.

Mark Fosselman found himself on the same itinerary over and over again following the loss of his wife, Becky. She had been in ill health, and the two had shared numerous cruises on the Elation before she passed away in April.

Fosselman told Carnival that the ship held special memories for him and that cruising was very therapeutic in helping him mourn his wife and come to terms with her death. *TomStieghorst

There are many conventional selling points to a cruise. But often it isn’t the size of the cabin, or the itinerary or the food that people care most about when they’re on a cruise.

When I asked a man on a recent cruise why he was on the ship, there was no hesitation: “I wanted to spend time with my brother,” he said. The passenger lived in Tennessee, his brother in Michigan. They didn’t see each other regularly, and a weeklong cruise was a chance to catch up.

More than marketing slogans or ad campaigns, the human need for connection and recognition often drives the choice of a cruise vacation. One passenger on another cruise I took recently was astonished to be the center of attention after his family surprised him with a cruise for his 90th birthday.

Another person on the cruise was aboard with someone who had started to show signs of memory loss. She said she took the cruise because she wasn’t sure in a year or two if her traveling companion would even be the same person.

So it is fine to have the latest and greatest technology on a ship, hot new entertainers or interesting new shore excursions. Onboard spending credits or free gratuities may be the way to seal the deal if someone is close to making a purchase.

But just as often it is the soft things, the human things, that start passengers thinking about taking a cruise. Cruise lines have started to pick up on this in their advertising, for example in Carnival Cruise Lines’ “Moments That Matter” spots or the Princess Cruises “Come Back New” campaign. They’re definitely not hard sell, but effective in the long run, it seems to me.

Royal Caribbean will expand Dynamic Dining to Allure of the Seas

Posted on 13 October, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

The largest cruise ship in the world, Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas, will be converted over to Dynamic Dining.

Dynamic Dining is the new twist on traditional cruise ship dining. Instead of a main dining room with fixed dining times, smaller restaurants are spread all over the cruise ship to offer more choice in ambiance and cuisine. Some restaurants will be complimentary while others will have a cover charge to dine there.

Earlier this year Royal Caribbean announced sister ship; UPDATE: AUGUST 28: Royal Caribbean has tweeted out more information related to the Dynamic Dining changes coming to Oasis of the Seas.

The main dining spaces will be remodelled during Oasis of the Seas’ drydock later this year but Dynamic Dining itself will not begin until March 2015

It was widely speculated Allure of the Seas would follow suit.

SEE DYNAMIC DINING CHANGES COMING TO OASIS OF THE SEAS

Royal Caribbean’s web site is now reflecting the change coming to Allure of the Seas, although the content there appears to have been copy and pasted from the Oasis of the Seas description.

Allure of the Seas is scheduled to go into drydock in May 2015 and will then offer Mediterranean cruises from May 2015 to October 2015.

Oasis of the Seas deck plan changes coming after dry dock is complete

Oct2014

Royal Caribbean is going to be upgrading Oasis of the Seas as part of her upgrades while she is in drydock and there’s quite a bit of changes coming to this ship. After receiving lots of questions related to how where the changes are onboard the ship, we’ve compiled a list of the changes coming visually.

Deck 3

Opus DIning Room changes to American Icon Grill

Deck 4

Private dining (port side) becomes Izumi
Private dining (starboard side) becomes Diamond CLub
Opus Dining Room becomes The Grande

Deck 5

Opus Dining Room has become Silk restaurant
Cupcake Cupboard has come Kate Spade Store
Focus store has become Michael Kors store
Guess store has become Regalia store

Deck 6

Seafood Shack has become Sabor
Boardwalk Bar has become Sabor Bar
Pets at Sea has become Britto shop
Ice Cream Parlor renamed to Cups and Scoops
Boardwalk Donut Shop has become Boardwalk Dog House
Inside staterooms added (6279, 6281, 6679, 6681)
Diamond Club replaed with staterooms (6593, 6591, 6589, 6587, 6585)
Pinwheels has become an Arcade

Deck 7

New staterooms added (7279, 7679)

Deck 8

Public restrooms in Central Park forward reduced in size
New staterooms added at Central Park forward (8450, 8452, 8454, 8456)
New staterooms added near Dazzles (8279, 8679)

Deck 9

New staterooms added (9279, 9679)

Deck 10

New stateroom added near forward elevators (10458)
New staterooms added near central elevators (10279, 10679)

Deck 11

New staterooms added at aft (11330, 11730)
Concierge Club is now Concierge Club & Wonderland restaurant
New staterooms added near Concierge Club & Wonderland (11279, 11679)

Deck 12

Concierge Club is now Concierge Club & Wonderland restaurant
New Grand Suites added to aft (12330, 12730)
New staterooms added near Concierge Club & Wonderland (12279, 12679)
Royal Suite 12240 replaced with new staterooms (12238, 12240, 12242, 12244, 12246, 12248)
Presidential Suite 12640 replaced with new staterooms (12638, 12648)