Friday, March 2, 2012
Cruise News Daily Headlines for March 2, 2012
* Royal Princess to Have New Stateroom Type, Features
Princess Cruises said today that the new Royal Princess will have a new stateroom type, Deluxe Balcony Staterooms, which are between a Balcony stateroom and a Mini-Suite in the hierarchy of categories. In additional all staterooms will have some subtle new features based on feedback from Princess passengers.
At the same time, to promote the new stateroom type, Princess is having an eBay auction for one, which will allow the winner to be the very first to book on the new ships. All the proceeds from the auction will go to charity.
* Disney Fantasy Christened
As christenings go, Disney has not made much of a splash in the media about the christening of Disney Fantasy. They hadn't done a lot of promotion of the event, even though it was in New York City, purportedly the media capital of the world. They didn't even announce a high-profile godmother in advance and get the publicity value of that. More- photos & video
* Other Things You'll Want to Know
CND subscribers also read about a medevac from Carnival Liberty ... videos from aboard Costa Allegra ... and the end of a search.
The complete text of these stories appeared in the Cruise News Daily and was sent to subscribers.
Video from Passengers Aboard the Disabled Costa Allegra
Passengers who were aboard Costa Allegra for three days without any power - or the conveniences it makes possible - are getting their land legs back, either at home or at a resort hotel in the Seychelles, paid for by Costa Cruises. It seems they've hardly had time to get that hot shower so many wanted, and some of them were on their computers posting videos from their time aboard the ship without power.
Some are complaining, most are not. Costa made them a very fair compensation offer, which we reported earlier. Passengers are essentially getting double their money back for the cruise and all their travel expenses (air fare, hotels, and whatever else they spent), all onboard charges waived, and either an expense-paid stay of up to two weeks in the Seychelles or a future cruise voucher equal to the value of what was left of their cruise on Monday when the fire broke out. (Passengers were disembarking at various ports over the next month.) Costa says that 481 passengers of the 627 opted for the free stay in the Seychelles; the rest departed Thursday evening on flights for European destinations.
The complaints seem to center on the crew not responding with absolute precision when the fire broke out, or that there was a fire at all.
The videos below, shot by passengers, depict the conditions aboard the ship. Conditions certainly aren't what the passengers expected, or what Costa wanted to provide on the cruise, but they also don't look as horrible as the news media keeps trying to portray them, either.
Some are complaining, most are not. Costa made them a very fair compensation offer, which we reported earlier. Passengers are essentially getting double their money back for the cruise and all their travel expenses (air fare, hotels, and whatever else they spent), all onboard charges waived, and either an expense-paid stay of up to two weeks in the Seychelles or a future cruise voucher equal to the value of what was left of their cruise on Monday when the fire broke out. (Passengers were disembarking at various ports over the next month.) Costa says that 481 passengers of the 627 opted for the free stay in the Seychelles; the rest departed Thursday evening on flights for European destinations.
The complaints seem to center on the crew not responding with absolute precision when the fire broke out, or that there was a fire at all.
The videos below, shot by passengers, depict the conditions aboard the ship. Conditions certainly aren't what the passengers expected, or what Costa wanted to provide on the cruise, but they also don't look as horrible as the news media keeps trying to portray them, either.
Disney Fantasy Christened
Disney newest ship, Disney Fantasy was christened last night in New York by godmother, singer Mariah Carey, shown in the photo and video below.
In an unusual ceremony (probably designed around the ship being christened in New York in the winter) Carey led the audience in a countdown that triggered a 6-foot tall bottle of champagne in the Atrium Lobby to erupt and shower onlookers with confetti and streamers as a traditional bottle of champagne broke against the ship’s hull.
"At Disney Parks and Resorts, we strive to be the most trusted and highest quality provider of shared travel and leisure experiences in the world,” said Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Tom Staggs. “From stem to stern, the Disney Fantasy was designed and built with the singular purpose of surprising and delighting our guests, helping them make memories to last a lifetime.”
Disney Fantasy enters service from Port Canaveral on March 31, 2012.
Disney Fantasy left New York Friday afternoon (March 2, 2012) about 4:30pm en route to her home port in Florida. As she left, one of our favorite videographers NJPhotographer62 on YouTube took this short video of the departure with the added bonus of a short concert on the ship's whistles as it says good-bye to the Big Apple.
In an unusual ceremony (probably designed around the ship being christened in New York in the winter) Carey led the audience in a countdown that triggered a 6-foot tall bottle of champagne in the Atrium Lobby to erupt and shower onlookers with confetti and streamers as a traditional bottle of champagne broke against the ship’s hull.
"At Disney Parks and Resorts, we strive to be the most trusted and highest quality provider of shared travel and leisure experiences in the world,” said Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Tom Staggs. “From stem to stern, the Disney Fantasy was designed and built with the singular purpose of surprising and delighting our guests, helping them make memories to last a lifetime.”
Disney Fantasy enters service from Port Canaveral on March 31, 2012.
Disney Fantasy left New York Friday afternoon (March 2, 2012) about 4:30pm en route to her home port in Florida. As she left, one of our favorite videographers NJPhotographer62 on YouTube took this short video of the departure with the added bonus of a short concert on the ship's whistles as it says good-bye to the Big Apple.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Cruise News Daily Headlines for March 1, 2012
* Passengers Disembark Costa Allegra
As expected, Costa Allegra arrived in Victoria harbor today about noon local time (midnight EST), and within about two hours all the passengers had disembarked.
Costa said about 70% of the 627 passengers had taken them up on their offer to continue their vacation for up to two weeks at a quality resort in the Seychelles at Costa's expense. The rest went to hotels to spend the day (to take hot showers and get hot meals, no doubt), and tonight they are on their ways home.
The big question, which had been discussed with passengers, but not made public, was what sort of compensation was Costa giving passengers for their three days of discomfort and disrupted vacations. In light of the public relations nightmare this incident was causing on top of the Costa Concordia accident, there's been lots of interest in what Costa was going to do to make this right with customers. Today that question was answered. More
* Game or No Game
If the cruise industry were a TV game show, Norwegian Cruise Line would be the winner because they got to the finish line before their competitor, Carnival.
But it's not a game show. There's just a race to bring game shows aboard the ships.
* Other Things You'll Want to Know
CND subscribers also read about a very entertaining Princess Cruise (More) ... Carnival scores a perfect 400 last month ... Washington politicians find something new to investigate - the cruise industry.
The complete text of these stories appeared in the Cruise News Daily and was sent to subscribers.
As expected, Costa Allegra arrived in Victoria harbor today about noon local time (midnight EST), and within about two hours all the passengers had disembarked.
Costa said about 70% of the 627 passengers had taken them up on their offer to continue their vacation for up to two weeks at a quality resort in the Seychelles at Costa's expense. The rest went to hotels to spend the day (to take hot showers and get hot meals, no doubt), and tonight they are on their ways home.
The big question, which had been discussed with passengers, but not made public, was what sort of compensation was Costa giving passengers for their three days of discomfort and disrupted vacations. In light of the public relations nightmare this incident was causing on top of the Costa Concordia accident, there's been lots of interest in what Costa was going to do to make this right with customers. Today that question was answered. More
* Game or No Game
If the cruise industry were a TV game show, Norwegian Cruise Line would be the winner because they got to the finish line before their competitor, Carnival.
But it's not a game show. There's just a race to bring game shows aboard the ships.
* Other Things You'll Want to Know
CND subscribers also read about a very entertaining Princess Cruise (More) ... Carnival scores a perfect 400 last month ... Washington politicians find something new to investigate - the cruise industry.
The complete text of these stories appeared in the Cruise News Daily and was sent to subscribers.
Passengers to See Princess Top Five Entertainers on One Cruise
Princess Cruises passengers on one particular cruise are going to have a unique opportunity to see the very best entertainers the line has to offer. A few weeks ago we reported that the line wanted to select the “Entertainer of the Year.” The five finalists were chosen on the line’s Facebook page. Now passengers on the April 8 sailing of Ruby Princess will see all five entertainers and vote for Princess’ “Entertainer of the Year.” There are even some reduced prices for the sailing. You can get a preview of the entertainers in the video below
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