Breathing in the fresh sea air is one of the many reasons people choose to take cruise holidays.
But a German environmental group claims that cruise passengers are at grave risk of inhaling poisonous fumes from the ship’s engines.
Category: Cruises
Northwest Passage ho!
Would you pay a premium price for a luxury cruise through a stretch of water that was once regarded impassable and treacherous?
It seems enough people are to justify a second sailing by Crystal Cruises through the Northwest Passage that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Arctic Ocean.
My cruise update
My next holiday adventure is a cruise on the Vision of the Seas from Dubai, up and down the Arabian Gulf, and back to Dubai for a week beginning February 20.
I paid the “all-inclusive” price more than a month ago, but today I’ve bought some extras — a drinks package and internet access (which comes at a discount if you buy it before you sail).
Supersized river cruising
They may seem small in comparison to their ocean-going cousins, but river cruise ships are getting bigger and better.
Their physical size is, of course, limited by the nature of the waterways they traverse — especially the bridges that restrict their height. But the onboard offering is improving all the time.
Rise of the cruise generation
The cruise industry, long associated with older travellers, says it is having increasing success in attracting Millennials.
The Cruise Travel Report from Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) cited research saying that cruise travel has become the most popular travel preference among younger generations, creating a new “Cruise Generation”.
One size doesn’t fit all
The most depressing thing about travel stories and advertisements — be they in newspapers or magazines, on radio or on TV — is that they assume that we all want the same thing.
Sure, relaxing on a beach with a colourful drink in hand may be some people’s idea of a good time, but other (misguided, to my mind) people would rather be scaling a rockface, riding the rapids or swimming with sharks.
Fancy your own cruise ship?
I recently wrote about the list price of the Airbus fleet. So, it seems only fair that I also write about the cost of cruise ships, in case you are thinking of buying one.
Now, buying a new ship is a bit different to buying a plane — they have to be custom built, you can’t get them off the rack, as it were. But you are still going to have to have fairly deep pockets.
Hotel hygiene 101
It continues to amaze me that so many people who work in the hospitality industry don’t understand the basic rules of hygiene I learned as a child.
And how, despite millennia of experience in creating public buildings, and decades of public-health research, many restrooms (bathrooms, toilets, WCs … call them what you will) are still badly designed from a hygiene point of view.
Cruise ship mind games
“Understanding the psychographic … of our current and future guests is the key – acknowledging and realising what they want from a holiday and then providing it for them.”
That’s a quote from P&O Cruises senior vice president Paul Ludlow talking about the thinking behind the design of the company’s newest ship.
My next cruise is booked
I’ve just booked another cruise — a seven-day trip up and down the Arabian Gulf from Dubai in February — and it’s given me the opportunity to revisit the booking process and offer some, hopefully useful, tips.
As I’ve written before, it’s often more expensive for solo travellers to take cruises because a single supplement — let’s not call it a “no-friends tax” — often applies.
Know what you’re booking
If you follow the guest reviews on web forums — and, to be honest, I try not to do that too closely for fear of my sanity — you’ll notice that a lot of travellers don’t know what they are getting themselves in for when they hand over their money.
My attention was recently drawn to a review from a passenger who’d previously experienced one of the Cunard Queens and then took a cruise with another, less expensive, American line.
Cruising solo with no supplement
Despite the fact that more and more people remain, or become, single well into their adult years, most travel deals are still offered on a per-person, twin-share basis.
Quite often, that fact is buried deep into the fine print on the brochure or website, and many people have begun the booking process to find that that bargain journey is only going to be a bargain if they can find a friend.
Hola, Cuba
Cuba has survived the death of Fidel Castro, but will it survive the invasion of thousands of tourists?
The normalisation of relations agreed to by US president and Castro’s brother Raul has opened the door to direct flights and cruise ship arrivals from America.
Cruising season in the Gulf
For everything there is a season. Unless you’re on a cruise ship, because then you can just follow the sun all year round.
The beauty of running a cruise business is that you can move the big boats to where the demand is. And while some destinations are popular year-round, some are seasonal.
Cruise ships avoid Turkey
P&O Cruises, Holland America and Cunard have ditched ports in Turkey from their 2017 itineraries, replacing them with destinations in Greece and Albania.
This is a great shame, both for the Turkish economy and for the travellers who will miss out on great destinations such as Istanbul — with the Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Grand Bazaar and other attractions — and the ancient Greek-Roman city of Ephesus.
Some travel booking tips
As with any other product, the priceof travel can vary dramatically. The same journey — by plane, train, boat or whatever — can cost more or less depending on a wide range of factors.
Of course, prices are affected by the season — ski resorts tend to be at a premium during winter — and other demand factors.
But with price comparison as near as your computer or mobile device, you might be surprised to find exactly the same journey or stay, at the same time, offered at bizarrely different prices.
It pays to know the rules
I am a big fan of loyalty schemes, but I’m the first to admit that I’m no expert.
There are entire websites devoted to helping you make the most out of frequent-flyer and hotel memberships, and the credit cards that link to them.
If you really want to maximise your points, and you are prepared to change banks, juggle many cards at once and go slightly crazy doing it, I suggest you check them out. Lucky’s One Mile At A Time blog is a good place to start. You’ll be amazed at how he manages to make the system work for him, often resulting in spectacular upgrades and free trips. But it’s a full-time job. Continue reading It pays to know the rules
Sweet ceremony for Harmony
16 November
The world’s largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas, has been officially named in Miami, Florida.
In an update of an age-old “christening” ceremony, Brittany Affolter, a 23-year-old teacher who is the ship’s godmother, pushed a button that led to a champagne bottle being broken over the ship.
Boaty McBoatface sails again
Tourists behaving badly
Two news stories caught my attention within hours of each other yesterday. One was about a woman who had been ordered to pay the costs of an airline that was forced to divert due to her onboard behaviour.
The other was what, certainly at first glance, appeared to be celebration of a British man who got so drunk on holiday in Ibiza that he became part of a “hen do” (the female equivalent of a bachelor’s / stag / buck’s party).
