SeaDream Caribbean Yachting Adventures

56 Couples - 95 Crew - 5-Star Service Inclusive

   "It's yachting, not cruising" - Enjoy the difference

Enjoy SeaDream's Caribbean yacht voyages with all its natural beauty - miles of white sand beaches, hidden coves, famous yacht harbors, brilliant turquoise waters - all in casual luxury aboard your SeaDream yacht.

Each voyage is designed to highlight the very best of the Caribbean. More Marina days and late evening or overnight stays in St Barts to enjoy the nightlife!

Check out all the Caribbean voyages for 2014 & 2015

4 Extraordinary Offers from Holland America

Cruise the world with four extraordinary offers

Make your next voyage an incredible value with the new Explore 4 Offers. 

When you book select 2014 sailings - and Dec 2013 Holiday cruises - you will receive all four offers listed below:

1. Free Signature Beverage or Beverage Card
2. Free Specialty Restaurant Dinner
3. Free or Reduced Cruise Fares for 3rd/4th Guests
4. 50% Reduced Deposit

Get all the details
http://www.hollandamerica.com/explore4

Luxury Small Ship Specials from Paul Gauguin Cruises

Save 50% on all 2013 and 2014 m/v Tere Moana sailings - Take advantage of these great savings on all of our Europe, Caribbean, and Latin America voyages

 m/v Tere Moana - newest ship in the Paul Gauguin Cruises fleet

• Save 50% plus Included Airfare from Los Angeles on all 2013 and 2014 sailings of the m/s Paul Gauguin - 50% off standard cruise fares plus included roundtrip airfare from Los Angeles!
• FREE Overnight Hotel Stay in Singapore - free hotel overnight at the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore for guests who book a 14-night “Australia & Southeast Asia” voyage by Dec. 31.
• FREE Ambassadors of the Environment Youth Program - Youth Program is now FREE on select 2013 sailings of the m/s Paul Gauguin—a $299 value per child. Note: Program will not be offered in summer 2014
• Tahiti Special Hotel-And-Cruise Package - Enjoy special pricing on a hotel-and-cruise package 

More details at http://www.pgcruises.com/offers

Costa Cruises Introduces “Slow Cruising” Experience

First there was “slow” food and then “slow travel”  -  Now Costa Cruises is introducing “slow cruising” 

The "slow cruising" experience includes longer, leisurely itineraries and extended time, including many overnights in port.

Costa neoRomantica

The Italian line’s two smaller ships, Costa neoRiviera and neoRomantica, will focus on local foods and wines while offering small-group shore excursions.

The ships offering these experiences are smaller - Costa neoRiviera has 624 cabins and Costa neoRomantica 789 cabins - so they can visit smaller ports and offer more personalized service. 

Before sailing on these two ships, guests can consult a team of experts to book shore side tours that match their interests. Once on-board, a concierge can assist in choosing shipboard and shore side amenities, such as the new candle-lit gourmet “Dinner Under the Stars.”

The Costa neoCollection kicks off with a 62-day voyage departing Dubai on Feb. 9. The “Grand Africa Tour” will visit India, islands in the Indian Ocean - including the Seychelles, Maldives, Mauritius and Reunion - Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia, St. Helena, Senegal, Cape Verde, the Canary Islands and Morocco, ending at Savona, Italy. Segments are available.

Next spring and summer, the neoRiviera will sail a 12-day “Mediterranean Heart” itinerary departing Savona on April 11, April 22, May 3, May 25, Sept. 12 and Oct. 4. The cruises call at Toulon, France; Salerno and Livorno, Italy; Valletta, Malta; Porto Empedocle, Sicily; and an overnight call at Barcelona, Spain. 

The May 3 Costa neoRiviera departure also includes Genoa, Italy. The “Mediterranean Spirit” itinerary from June 5 through Sept. 1 departs from Savona and calls at Toulon; Propriano, Corsica; Olbia, Sardinia; Trapani, Sicily; Valletta; Capri and Salerno, Italy, and Portoferraio, Elba.

The Costa neoRomantica also will offer 13- to 15-day summer Northern Europe cruises in the Baltic and Norway. Among them are the 13-day “Kingdom of Light” cruises departing Amsterdam on June 1, June 13, July 21 and Aug. 14.

http://www.costacruise.com/

Source: TravelPulse

Astronaut Headlines Luxury Caribbean Cruise

Former U.S. astronaut Thomas David Jones, a veteran of four space shuttle flights, will headline the Dec. 5 voyage of the Silver Spirit out of Ft Lauderdale

The 540-passenger Silver Spirit is the newest and largest of Silversea's luxury vessels

The eight-night trip includes calls in Key West; Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico; Santo Thomas de Castilla, Guatemala; and Belize City, Belize. Fares start at $2,750 per person.

An astronaut from 1990 through 2001, Jones spent a total of 53 days in space on his four space shuttle missions. He holds a Ph.D in planetary science and also has worked as a planetary scientist and space operations consultant. He also is the author of four non-fiction books.

Unveiled in 2009, the 540-passenger Silver Spirit is the newest and largest of Silversea's vessels. Click through our photo tour of the ship in the carousel below for a glimpse of its public areas and cabins.

Silversea Silver Spirit

Source: USA Today Cruise Log

HAL Cancels Entire Western Mediterranean Cruise Season

Holland America Lines has canceled an entire cruise season next year as a result of ongoing unrest in Egypt

The line has redeployed ms Noordam to the central and western Mediterranean for spring and summer 2014 rather than the Eastern Mediterranean.

In July, HAL cancelled all port calls to Egypt throughout the rest of the season, prompting the line to alter all the ship's itineraries. HAL is notifying passengers and travel agents of the changes. 

Passengers can select any 2014 Europe 11- to 14-day itinerary and receive the same stateroom category for the original cruise fare paid, plus a shipboard credit based on the stateroom category previously booked. 

Passengers booked on longer voyages will also be offered comparable sailings and a shipboard credit.

A statement from HAL said: “We sincerely regret impacting the travel plans of those guests already booked and are committed to making the process of re-booking to another sailing as smooth as possible. All guests may choose to receive a full refund if they elect not to re-book.”

Source: Cruise Critic

American Cruise Lines New Riverboat Itinerary

American Cruise Lines is now offering new one-way itineraries between St. Louis and New Orleans

Beginning August 2014, the Queen of the Mississippi will offer 7 night sailings with stops in Memphis; Vicksburg and Natchez, Mississippi; and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The new 7-night sailings will cover a longer stretch of the Mississippi River than before, and will pass through six states.  

The 150 passenger Queen of the Mississippi is the first new paddle wheeler designed for overnight travel on America's rivers in nearly two decades. The exterior has an authentic, 28-foot-wide paddle wheel, combined with a modern interior, and spacious cabins with balconies.

Fares start at $4,195 and include all meals; complimentary cocktail hour; and wine and beer with lunch and dinner.

There are actually 7 Mississippi River Itineraries to Choose From:

• New Orleans, LA to Memphis, TN
• New Orleans, LA to New Orleans, LA
• St. Louis, MO to St. Paul, MN
• St. Louis, MO to Cincinnati, OH
• Memphis, TN to St. Louis, MO
• Memphis, TN to Nashville, TN
• Nashville, TN to St. Louis, MO  

More details at the site

Salvaging Costa Concordia - 60 Minutes Inside Report

By all accounts, the Costa Concordia — the half-sunken passenger liner marooned off the coast of Tuscany is a surreal sight





“


"You’ve got this giant thing that’s three football fields long sitting on a slanted mountainside underwater,” says 60 Minutes producer Rich Bonin, whose story on the Costa Concordia salvage project aired on the broadcast this week. 

“It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before.” Twice the size of the Titanic, the ship remains in the spot where it sank about a year and half ago, and for the 60 Minutes crew, the challenge was to get our cameras as close to the hulking wreck as possible. 


Article Source - Skift.com 

Disney Prohibits Smoking on Balconies

Disney Cruise Line will prohibit smoking on stateroom balconies effective November 15, 2013. 

Portions of open-air decks on each ship will continue to be designated as smoking areas. 

Guests found smoking in their staterooms or on their verandahs will be charged $250 for air filter replacement, carpet extraction, verandah cleaning and cleaning and replacement of drapes, comforters, blankets and pillows. 

Guests and travel agents with verandah stateroom booked will be contacted by email about the change, and guests will be reminded of the policy when onboard.

Source: TravelPulse

Quark Expeditions - The Leader in Polar Adventure

Quark’s new Antarctic season includes two extended voyages . . . 

Unlike any other cruise you will take in your lifetime!

The voyages will offer passengers Southern Ocean and Antarctica once-in-a-lifetime adventures in and around the 7th continent. With 33 departures starting November 5, 2014, Quark offers more Antarctic voyages than any other Polar operator.  

In addition, Quark returns to the Canadian Arctic. The usual stellar line-up of Arctic voyages to Spitsbergen and the North Pole, the 2014 season features three new Canadian Arctic expedition itineraries. Make your reservation by July 31, 2013 and receive up to 20% off as an early booking incentive.

Quark Expeditions has been specializing in polar expeditions since 1991, and the base camps are ships purpose-built for high latitude cruising.

Nuclear-powered icebreaker crush the way to the North Pole. Quark's Polar Adventure Ships explore Spitsbergen, Svalbard, with kayaking options to experience channels and bays through which icebreakers cannot sail.

Many of Quark's Expedition Team members have decades of experience in the Arctic and Antarctica. They understand ice conditions and the impact of weather on ships and helicopters. They are experts in polar history, marine biology and glaciology. 


http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/ - http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/blog/

Scenic Cruises 19 Day Budapest-Amsterdam Cruise

Based on guest requests, Scenic Cruises announced a 19-day version of the “Jewels of Europe” river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam for the 2014 season

The longer “Treasures of Europe’s Waterways” itinerary adds Hoorn, Edam and Volendam in the Netherlands. Scenic Cruises is also offering free flights with standard staterooms or $2,000 in savings per couple for balcony cabins on select departures booked by October 31, 2013. 

Prices on the 19-day cruise start at $8,670 per person, double and include unlimited beverages, meals, butler service, all excursions, Wi-Fi throughout the ship, daily mini-bar replenishment, airport transfers and tipping and gratuities.

http://us.scenictours.com/scenic-cruises/

Source: TravelPulse

Celebrity Cruise Mobile Apps

Celebrity Cruises has introduced a suite of easy-to-use mobile apps 

After downloading Celebrity's free mobile vacation apps for iPads or Android tablets, you will find the next best thing to actually being on the cruise . . . 

In addition to the Celebrity Xplorer application, the company has also rolled out a mobile-optimized site.

Celebrity Cruises sails to Alaska, Australia/New Zealand, Bermuda,California, Canada/New England, the Caribbean, Europe, Hawaii, the Pacific Coast, Panama Canal, South America, and year-round in the Galapagos Islands.

Get the free apps

MSC Divina Coming to Miami

MSC Divina due to arrive in Miami in less than 100 days . . . 

Here's the Divina's Caribbean lineup for 2013 and 2014

11-Night Caribbean from Miami
Fares start at $899 p/p
Miami, Falmouth, Oranjestad, Willemstad, Cristobal, Cozumel
Departing December 10, 2013

6-Night Caribbean from Miami
Fares start from $499 p/p
Miami, Georgetown, Cozumel, Great Stirrup Cay
Departing January 12, 2013

7-Night Caribbean from Miami 
Fares start from $609 p/p
Miami, St Maarten, San Juan, Great Stirrup Cay, Miami
Departing November 23, 2013 and January 18, 2014

7-Night Caribbean from Miami
Fares from $609 p/p
Miami, Falmouth, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Great Stirrup Cay, Miami
Departing January 25, 2014

Get details at MSC site

Royal Caribbean Celebrates 50 Million Guests

Royal Caribbean International recognizes an important milestone in its 45-year company history as it welcomes its 50 millionth guest on board its fleet of 21 ships. 

The momentous occasion kicks off a year-long celebration honoring the cruise line’s guests, business partners, employees and crew. 

“For more than 45 years, Royal Caribbean’s guiding principle has been to deliver the WOW to our guests, providing them with experiences, services and amenities that can only be found on Royal Caribbean,” said Adam Goldstein, President and CEO, Royal Caribbean International. “The men and women on our ships who deliver these WOW moments are what inspire our loyal guests to return to sail with us again and again.” 

Read more 

Carnival Chefs Plus Fall/Winter Cruise Deals

Photo courtesy of Carnival Cruise Lines

What's for Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner & Midnight Snacks? 

Check out all dining options!

AND

Fall & Winter Cruises Up to $400 Off