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Cruises: By Elissa Leibowitz Poma
New destinations: As the cost of the euro continues to climb, European cruises purchased in U.S. dollars are an exceptional value, cruise specialists say. Cruise lines are positioning more ships in the Mediterranean and along the coasts of northern Europe, and are selling those cruises faster than ever. Carnival Cruise Lines will sail the Mediterranean for the first time, with eight trips scheduled from July to October. Crystal Cruises has added seven new ports of call. Radisson Seven Seas has a new series of "Top of the World" trips, focusing on northern Europe. Meanwhile, Disney Cruise Line is doing a first: It will sail from Los Angeles to Mexico this year as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Disneyland. Twelve cruises will go from Los Angeles to Mexico, then sail through the Panama Canal to the Caribbean. Passengers are also booking 2006 trips to Asia, a budding destination for American cruisers. Several cruise lines, including Celebrity, are debuting new South Pacific and Asian itineraries. Higher prices/earlier bookings: Cruise prices are creeping up. And generally, when prices rise, advance booking times increase, too. Cruise bookings are resuming their pre-Sept. 11 levels, as Americans have more confidence in traveling the seas. Travel agents are reporting that top tiers of cabins and suites are being booked six months to a year -- even 18 months -- out. As a result, this year will probably see fewer cruise discounts, aside from last-minute deals to fill ships and bargains available on specialty Web sites, such as Cruise411.com and Cruise.com. If you don't mind a small lower-deck cabin, you can still find good deals. Also look for special deals, such as free Alaskan cruises for children under 12 (with two paying adults) aboard Crystal, or Radisson Seven Seas' offer of free round-trip air travel (or $1,000 off your cruise fare) for its northern European cruises. New ships: Given that 12 new cruise ships debuted in 2004 (and 15 the year before), 2005 is a sluggish year for the building of new vessels. Just three are scheduled to launch this year. The biggest is Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America, which was supposed to cruise the Hawaiian islands starting last year before major hull repairs delayed its debut. The ship, which begins sailing in June, was designed with Hawaii's vistas in mind, meaning more cabins with balconies, lots of windows and al fresco dining. The other two launches are Carnival's Liberty (July), which will be the line's first ship in Europe, and a second NCL ship, the Norwegian Jewel (August). Royal Caribbean International is scheduled to start accepting reservations this spring for the Freedom of the Seas, expected to be 20,000 tons larger than the world's current largest ocean liner (Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2). It is slated to start sailing in April 2006 from Miami to the Caribbean. Health concerns: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts it will be a particularly hard-hit season for the spread of norovirus. Holland America had to end a two-week Caribbean cruise a half-day early on Jan. 28 because more than 200 passengers became sick with gastrointestinal illnesses. Some cruise lines such as Carnival distribute letters upon embarkation to educate passengers on how the virus is spread. East Coast ports of departure: Despite winter departures and a long haul to the Caribbean, New York is growing more popular as an embarkation port: Norwegian is adding a second ship's departures after a successful trial last year, and the port also will send off more Europe-bound ships this summer. Nearby Bayonne, N.J., which began cruise departures last year, is becoming a popular alternate port. The Port of Baltimore hasn't caught on. It went from having nearly 70 cruise departures in 2004 to only 28 scheduled for this year, all Royal Caribbean trips to the Caribbean or Bermuda. Every other cruise line has rerouted its Baltimore departures elsewhere. Critics say Baltimore never developed its port well enough for the cruise industry, and some passengers aren't pleased at spending eight hours or so maneuvering out of the Chesapeake Bay and into the ocean, says Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor of the Cruise Critic Web site. High-tech/high-end amenities: The two hottest amenities to show up on cruise ships are flat-screen televisions in passenger cabins, such as those that Holland America is adding, and wireless Internet access shipwide, as on Carnival's Valor. Cellphone connectivity also is improving. Passengers can use their phones, depending on the type, from international waters and be charged regular roaming rates. Such service is available on some Royal Caribbean and Celebrity ships now, and the rest of those fleets will have the capability by year's end. Balconies are a high-demand amenity; some luxury lines have trouble booking cabins without them. Every cabin has one on Holland America's new Noordam, set to launch in February 2006. Staterooms are expanding, with such high-end amenities as double sinks in the bathrooms and "pillow menus," such as on Seabourn. More ships are including hotel-like "concierge service" on board, meaning butler service, lobster dinners on your balcony and all-around special treatment. Cruisers like the exclusive idea of hitting a port where no other cruise ship can stop. Disney has a private Bahamian island, Castaway Cay. Holland America stops at Half Moon Cay on the 2,400-acre island and bird sanctuary Little San Salvador, also in the Bahamas. A few cruise lines, including Crystal, permit passengers who pay in full in advance to book their shore excursions, spa appointments and alternate-restaurant dinner reservations online before the trip. Activities for adults: Spas are getting snazzier, providing more treatments similar to those at land-based resorts, especially Asian-themed options. Celebrity has gone Polynesian, offering such treatments as a Hawaiian massage called lomi lomi and Japanese shiatsu. MSC Cruises has a Balinese-style spa. Want brighter teeth to go with that Caribbean tan? You can get your teeth professionally whitened aboard many ships, including Royal Caribbean. Cruise Travel magazine reports that a dozen major cruise lines now have learning or enrichment programs, such as Holland America's guest speakers series that includes a college history professor lecturing on Latin American cowboys. Active fitness and sports programs are being turned into learning experiences, too. Crystal Cruises' "Creative Learning Institute" brings PGA golfers aboard for classroom instruction, then takes passengers to golf courses during port stops. Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas, which resumes sailing in July after extensive renovations, will have "bungee trampolines" on which passengers can soar into the air while still being firmly attached to the ship. Programs for teens and kids: News flash: Teenagers are still hard to please. But cruise lines are working on it, with teen-only zones including special nightclubs and tropical-themed decks (Holland America's Ryndam), teen spa programs (Carnival) and teen coffee shops with computers and magazines (Disney Cruise Line). For the younger set, more cruise lines are forging partnerships
with outside corporations -- Fisher-Price with Royal Caribbean and
Binney & Smith, maker of Crayola products, with Celebrity, for
example -- for free children's activities. Carnival is doing its
part in getting children fit through its new "ExerSeas"
program of outdoor games. Children are getting their version of
"edu-tainment," too, such as science programs on Disney
and Carnival, and Italian lessons on Costa Cruises. |
Like
celebrities, rundown houses and reality TV show participants, cruise
lines are getting makeovers. Demand is at its highest since Sept.
11, 2001, and prices are on the rise. Here's what's new this year: