From the inaugural department:

When you pack for a trip, you just don’t exactly realize everything you are going to need until you actually get there and actually need it. You just can’t think of everything.

The same is true with a new ship. Literally everything has to be brought aboard in the last month before the ship leaves the shipyard. If there’s something they haven’t thought of, you just don’t have it for awhile.

I’m aboard Holland American’s Eurodam today as it is leaving Southampton for the first time. I just got all settled in bed and decided to watch the news on TV before I go to sleep. There’s a nice flat screen TV over in the corner, but I searched the cabin high and low for the remote to turn on the TV. I knew it had to be here somewhere in some cute little place that has been standardized where the stewards should always return them each day. It was probably right out in plain sight, but I couldn’t find it, so I finally gave in and asked. As it turns out, they forgot to load them for all the staterooms on my deck (and who knows how many others). They say we may get them when we get to Rotterdam.

In the mean time there are buttons on top of the TV. This must be how they had to do it in Abe Lincoln’s day.

Carnival Dream's Features Begin to Be Revealed

In an artist's rendering, Carnival provided a detail of one of the "Scenic Whirlpool" aboard Carnival Dream. In the background along the Promenade Deck, the indoor/outdoor Piazza entertainment area can be seen. Carnival Dream is set to debut in the fall of 2009.

The complete article appeared in the June 23, 2008, edition of Cruise News Daily.

Clubbing on NCL

Earlier this week in Las Vegas, Norwegian Cruise Line president and CEO, Colin Veitch, revealed elements of the nightlife aboard their next generation of ships. Here he briefly describes, Las Vegas style, each of the four clubs and the Ice Bar.

The complete story appeared in the June 20, edition of Cruise News Daily.

NCL Redefines Nightlife at Sea

Wednesday evening in Las Vegas, Norwegian Cruise Line revealed the second integral element of their new generation vessel, F3. This event revealed the nightlife.

There will be five distinctive nightlife venues, but they aren’t just for the night, rather they will start entertaining passengers in the morning (some at sunrise) and morph from one distinct atmosphere to another throughout the day and the night.

Some will be open to everyone, some just to suite passengers, and some will have a charge. Some will feature quite unique entertainment, even to the point of saying it hasn’t been attempted on a cruise ship before. And the venues have been designed specifically to support these concepts.

To get you thinking along the right track, remember this reveal about "nightlife" was held in Las Vegas for a reason. Think the unusual production shows with visual effects; think the club scene.
The nightlife may not be for everyone, but it is going to be like nothing currently on any other cruise ship. If the "nightlife" isn’t quite for you, there will be plenty of other entertainment, which will be revealed later. Like the new type of staterooms we’ve already seen, NCL, no doubt, has a twist ready to apply to the standard of cruise ship entertainment too.

You will be able to get a taste of the nightlife later today at the special F3 website at http://f3.ncl.com/

Full details will appear in Cruise News Daily.

From the on the way home department:

Last Saturday, on its way back to Miami, Carnival Valor spotted a raft with migrants aboard and carefully pulled close to investigate.

They found six men and a woman on the raft, and in line with regular procedures, they advised the US Coast Guard, which said they would send a ship to pick up the people. Carnival Valor remained with the raft until the Coast Guard arrived to make sure the people would be safe. While they were waiting, they supplied the people with fresh water since they had been without for five days.

But not all the communication was with the Carnival crew. The passengers usually want to know why the ship has stopped and quickly understand the situation. Even though it's a routine (and regular) occurrence for cruise ships, for the passengers, it's quite unusual.

In this case, according to local Miami media, the passengers were shouting back and forth to the migrants and even taking pictures. At one point, one of the men on the raft shouted a Miami phone number to some women on a balcony and asked them to call his relatives and let them know that he was alive.

The Coast Guard eventually did come and take the people aboard their ship, and Carnival Valor continued on its way back to Miami. Under US policies, since the people did not actually land on shore, it's doubtful they will be allowed to remain in the US.