Cruise Aficionados

05/08/2022

The new terminal and future of cruising in Texas takes shape!

05/08/2022

Updates and suggestions of good news soon.

As communicated through RCI's travel agent channels moments ago. Seems to be a thaw in the testing protocols. Note they are only speaking to cruises through August 14th, and are advising people to await updates for other future dates.

RCI's email begins:
"As the cruise sector continues to evolve and adapt to an everchanging environment, we look forward to moments where we can share progressive movement. While continuing to prioritize the health and safety of our guests, crew, and the communities we visit, we are excited to begin transitioning to a point that more closely aligns with other travel and hospitality sectors. With that, we are pleased to announce the easing of test requirements for most U.S. itineraries.

Testing Update: For your clients sailing from the U.S. August 8 - August 14th, 2022:
Fully vaccinated guests will only have to show a test result at boarding if the sailing is 6 nights or longer.
Unvaccinated children will still need to show a test result to board all sailings, regardless of length. However, they will not need to test again at the terminal.
Guests will now have the same test standard, regardless of vaccination status: You can show a negative test result from a supervised PCR or antigen test taken within 3 days of boarding day.
This revision does not apply to guests whose itinerary visits Canada or Bermuda. These clients will still need to follow our current testing protocols until further notice.

Please note that guests confirmed on U.S. sailings departing on or before August 7, 2022, should adhere to protocols previously communicated.

For those clients booked after August 14, 2022, please await the specific protocol details from us related to those sailings.

As we begin to transition to a point where everyone, regardless of vaccination status, will be able to sail with us once again, we continue to work closely with our destination partners. Additional information will soon follow, however, until then, current vaccine guidance remains unchanged.

We look forward to providing you and your clients updates in the coming days."
End of RCI message.

02/08/2022

"An end, is only a beginning."

01/08/2022

Editor’s note: TPG’s Gene Sloan accepted a free trip to the shipyard in Italy that is building Norwegian Prima in order to get an early look at the vessel.

29/07/2022

From Carnival just now, on pre-cruise pandemic testing.

"UPDATE TO OUR HAVE FUN. BE SAFE PROTOCOLS FOR SAILINGS BETWEEN AUGUST 4, 2022, AND DECEMBER 31, 2022.



Dear Travel Partner,
We’re pleased to announce that we are adjusting certain protocols to reflect the lifting of CDC requirements for the U.S. cruise industry. We are making the below updates to our Have Fun. Be Safe page for sailings between August 4, 2022, and December 31, 2022.

These changes will be made in phases, with the first of these updates effective on Thursday, August 4, 2022 and focused on short cruise itineraries of 5 days or less.

Effective for embarkations on or after Thursday, August 4:

• No pre-cruise testing for fully vaccinated guests booked on cruises with itineraries 5 days or less.
• Pre-cruise testing for itineraries 6 days or longer can be conducted three (3) days before departure.
• There will be no in-terminal testing for unvaccinated guests on day of departure, but all unvaccinated guests ages 2 and older must provide proof of a negative result of a lab-administered or supervised self-administered antigen COVID test taken within three (3) days before embarkation.

We encourage all travel partners, and clients to continue to carefully review all pre-cruise communications and refer to the Have Fun. Be Safe. page on Carnival.com for more information.

We remain, as always, committed to the health and safety of your clients (our guests), crew and the communities we serve.

Sincerely,
Carnival Cruise Line"

Carnival cruise deals and cruise packages to the most popular destinations. Find great deals and specials on Caribbean, The Bahamas, Alaska, and Mexico cruises.

29/07/2022

This echos a lot of chatter among the articles covering the last week. Not truly back to normal, but solid and improving. Still good deals to be found, but that too will change as the need to pass costs along seep into the fares.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/royal-caribbean-profit-earnings-51659011709

The cruise company's second-quarter results top analysts' expectations.

28/07/2022

Port Everglades, the Harbor Master's tower.

21/07/2022

There aren't many places you can wake-up and see this outside your window.

20/07/2022

As of noon today, no change in COVID testing protocols. However, RCI's Vicki Freed, senior VP of sales and trade support and service made it clear the travel agents need to watch their email. RCI may update as soon as the CDC sends its revised guidance. That may happen as early as today or later this week.

I am reading tea leaves at this point. However my gut take, based on the tone and urgency of the demand, is that if the CDC doesn't present a block to doing so, pre-cruise testing will end. Though no longer part of the formal Royal Caribbean group, that line has dropped its pre-cruise testing. Norwegian has begun to wind-down pre-cruise testing.

18/07/2022

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/environmental-health/and-just-cdcs-covid-19-program-cruise-ships-has-ended?NL=ST-002&Issue=ST-002_20220718_ST-002_844&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_campaign=STRADE_News_Seatrade%20Cruise%20News%20Breaking%20Headlines_News_NL_07182022_3450&utm_emailname=STRADE_News_Seatrade%20Cruise%20News%20Breaking%20Headlines_News_NL_07182022_3450&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&utm_MDMContactID=05ac38ac-ff6c-46ec-9e93-f023bd5e3e20&utm_campaigntype=Newsletter&eM=0b3a752a61251b4b73a597f90eb29e6f19e06949242d3eabb940147da60c9122&eventSeriesCode=ES_SEATRDCRSCTNT&eventEditionCode=MTM00SCC&sessionCode=S_STRDCRSNWSBRK&sp_eh=0b3a752a61251b4b73a597f90eb29e6f19e06949242d3eabb940147da60c9122

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID-19 program for cruise ships is no longer in effect, the agency announced today.

18/07/2022

18/07/2022

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/expedition-cruising/silversea-victor-intense-competition-crystal-endeavor

It's official: Royal Caribbean Group acquired Crystal Endeavor for Silversea Cruises for $275m and the expedition ship — renamed Silver Endeavour — is to debut in Antarctica in November.

13/07/2022

Don't forget to visit us on Youtube!

https://www.youtube.com/c/Cruiseaficionados

The YouTube channel of Cruise Aficionados! When you can't be onboard, be online!

06/07/2022

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings today announced it will no longer require guests to complete pre-cruise COVID-19 testing unless required by local regulation...

06/07/2022

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/american-queen-pitches-field-dreams-experience?NL=ST-004&Issue=ST-004_20220705_ST-004_529&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_5&utm_campaign=STRADE_News_Seatrade%20Cruise%20News%20Weekly%20Headline_News_NL_07052022_3412&utm_emailname=STRADE_News_Seatrade%20Cruise%20News%20Weekly%20Headline_News_NL_07052022_3412&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&utm_MDMContactID=05ac38ac-ff6c-46ec-9e93-f023bd5e3e20&utm_campaigntype=Newsletter&eM=0b3a752a61251b4b73a597f90eb29e6f19e06949242d3eabb940147da60c9122&eventSeriesCode=ES_SEATRDCRSCTNT&eventEditionCode=MTM00SCC&sessionCode=S_STRDCRSNEWS&sp_eh=0b3a752a61251b4b73a597f90eb29e6f19e06949242d3eabb940147da60c9122

American Queen Voyages is offering an extraordinary experience on its Upper Mississippi River sailings that’s certain to be a home run for sports fans and movie buffs alike.

30/06/2022

27/06/2022

It is my great pleasure to announce that next year's President's Cruise will be sailing onboard Allure of the Seas, out of Galveston, Texas, on July 23, 2023 !

Our new state-of-the-art cruise terminal will be the perfect place to take off for our 7-night Western Caribbean cruise that visits Roatán, Honduras, Puerto Costa Maya, and Cozumel, Mexico !

Tap the link for more President's Cruise 2023 itinerary details ! 🔗 bit.ly/3u3BtiB
📸: Rune R.

20/06/2022

The Lines that Bind.

It's easy to give into cynical sentiments these days. But cruising did have a special place in my relationship with my father.

I lost my father in the early hours of this past Memorial Day 2022. True to his nature and wishes there was no formal memorial or ceremonies. He and I lost my mother in the summer of 1995. Each left behind a lifetimes worth of memories from travel and experiences together. One trip we were never able to take as a family before her loss was a cruise. My dad and I would cruise eventually it would prove a common love we shared. “You hooked me on cruising. I thank you for that.” He told me during our last visit. The comment was sincere and will remain with me the rest of my days.

There was much history behind his comment. Years prior (and in a past age of cruising), my family visited the Sitmar Fairsea at the invitation of friends who had recently honeymooned aboard her. It was the Port of Los Angeles in 1984 and we were able to walk up the gangway and tour the ship like something out of an episode of The Love Boat. Until the final call for those not sailing to return to shore, we had the run of the ship. We strolled the decks, had a beverage in a lounge, and sampled the potential of travel at sea. Afterward we ate dinner not far away along the water as the Fairsea put to sea, followed closely by the Pacific Princess. In those hours was born my lifelong desire to cruise.

Sixteen years later I became the first member of my family to take a Caribbean cruise, aboard the historic Sovereign of the Seas in 1999. Along with the obligatory souvenir model of the ship, I bought a “pre-order” DVD box for a documentary featuring the construction of the Voyager of the Seas. The three part, two hour fifteen minute video, was hosted by Rolland Smith and produced by Fred Ashmen. Seminal figures in Royal Caribbean history and ship design, Richard Fain, Harri Kulovaara and the late Njal Eide told the story of creating the Voyager class. It can fairly be called the model for similar videos that fill travel channels about cruising. The ideation, construction, to the first arrival in Miami were documented in vivid detail. A couple of years later, armed with hundreds of photos on my laptop from two cruises and the DVD, I walked my remarried dad and family through my experiences. I left the DVD with him, and told him he would find it amazing and he had to watch it. He did.

My dad became a career electrician after serving in Vietnam with the U.S. Marine Corps from 68-72. He met my mother working equity waiver theater in Burbank, California about this time. They worked theater on the technical side many years, including my own time from age 7 through mom’s passing. We all shared a love of knowing the marvels of what went on behind the scenes of anything. Knowing how things worked around us was something we gained a richer appreciation of entertainment and more. So I knew the DVD would hook my dad. It did. After watching the DVD dad simply had to cruise on a Voyager class.

Dad would take his family on several cruises with Royal Caribbean. Eventually however my step sister graduated and began her own family and tragically her own mother passed away. For the first time in his life my twice widowed dad did not have to look after a family and sought solace in something he had learned to love, cruising. Dad branched out to cruise on Princess. In part because the brand experience resonated with him personally and also as a way to avoid competition and allow his son his own line that “belonged to him.”

Dad indulged himself in ways he never had opportunity too as a two time father and husband. Thermal suites, evenings with his nights gambling budget in the casinos, sitting for hours watching the sea pass and the sun set became is bliss. Each cruise resulted in dinners at our mutual favorite restaurant afterward to compare details of our most recent cruises. In a way it was like having been there with him, even if we never cruised together.

Some cruise stories were more amusing than others. Dad related sitting on the promenade of the Regal Princess with an hour before his main seating. He wearing his formal, simple collarless black suite jacket and slacks. Another gentleman sat next to him and simply began to spill his guts to him. It seems the man had also recently lost his wife and the cruise was his first time traveling alone. After half an hour, the man seemed to have spent himself sharing with my father. He rose, shook my dad’s hand and said simply “Thank you Father” and walked away. The legend of Father Patrick is a frequent travel story now in my family.

Cruising can be surrounded by conflicting worldviews, politics and social justice topics. For my father and I, cruising was about what it is supposed to be about. The experience, memories, seeking one’s bliss, and appreciating with awe and joy the result of so many people working tirelessly to make it all possible.

Dad thanking me during our last visit will always remind me that I introduced something to him that genuinely meant as much as it did. I will remember that day at Port Los Angeles with him and mom where it all began. I suggested to my sister that in the near future, we should cruise aboard his favorite ship with our families and raise a toast to him. It is one ceremony in his memory I know he wouldn’t mind.

15/06/2022

Timing.

Timing.

08/06/2022

More than 100 people, many of whom were elementary school students, were evacuated safely from the Spirit of Norfolk dining cruise on the Elizabeth River near Naval Station Norfolk on...

07/06/2022

Like our sister page and group! There is never too much cruise joy, when you can't be onboard, be online!

New direction, renewed spirit and the longest legacy of an fan of Royal Caribbean, since 1998 I've made RCI my line of choice and have enjoyed sharing my joy at sea with the net.

23/02/2022

The last of the original three Royal Caribbean ships, ex-Sun Viking has beached in Pakistan for scrapping.

DRAGON

12/02/2022

Germanys Meyer Werft completed the float out of a new 144,000 gross ton cruise ship being built for...

29/11/2021

14/11/2021

Get ready — because the President’s Cruise is BACK! And this time we’re taking the celebration to the Last Frontier for the first time ever onboard Ovation of the Seas. There’s no one we’re more excited to share this journey with than our loyal Crown & Anchor Society members. From glacier gazing to snow chasing, we’ll take in all of Alaska’s boldest highlights in between exclusive events, live performances and so much more. And it all begins June 24, 2022 — sailing from Seattle.

04/08/2021