Unless the powers that be at the new, Google-owned Frommers.com have plans they haven't told me about, Monday will be this blog's final day. I did my first post here more than four years ago, on November 11, 2008, and have posted cruise-related news, opinion, supposition, wishful thinking, and snark nearly every weekday since. It's been a good ride, and I'm going to miss it.

At endings come reflection. I've often thought about what it is I like about cruise ships — a necessary question on my part, since I'm not your dictionary-definition "cruiser": I don't particularly like warm-weather destinations, beaches, or lounging around the pool; I don't much enjoy taking tours; I'm not big on glitzy dinners or Vegas-style musical revues; and I don't get off on piling up my plate at the buffet. As far as all the cruise cliches go, I'm mostly a no-show.

So what it is? I have a few thoughts:

1. I like the sea. How much of our world is covered by water? And how little do we know about it? The sea sits out there, its depths a weird and alien universe, its tides reflecting the gravitational push and pull of the cosmos. We enter it at our peril, but it's also our ancestral home. It's beautiful and changeable like nothing else but the sky, and its quiet roar as it heaves against all the planet's shores is the finest music I know.
   
   
2. I like ships. Craft can hold great romance, and of all the works of man, ships may be the most evocative. They have the cred, after all: For all of human history until just the past 100 years, ships were the great engines of adventure and exploration — the only way of getting between some places, and the best way of getting between others. Consider Odysseus's adventures returning from the Trojan War. Consider Columbus's and Leif Erikson's voyages to the Americas, or Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation of the world. Consider Captain Cook's Pacific expeditions or Roald Amundsen's three-year voyage through the Northwest Passage. Consider Zheng He's voyages to China's "Western Ocean" in the early 1400s, leading a fleet of 200 ships and almost 28,000 crew to more than 30 kingdoms as far distant as East Africa and Arabia. Said he, "We have beheld in the ocean huge waves like mountains rising in the sky, and we have set eyes on barbarian regions far away hidden in a blue transparency of light vapors, while our sails, loftily unfurled like clouds day and night, continued their course as a star, traversing those savage waves as if we were treading a public thoroughfare." That's what ships do, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
   
   
3. I like traveling slowly and enjoying my leisure. Much as I'm continually amazed at stepping onto a plane in the morning and being 3,000 miles away by evening, I don't particularly like to do that. Travel, to me, is something best done slowly, so you can savor it. While today's cruise ships can't truly be called "slow," they sure are by comparison, and I like that about them. Why rush, when the point is relaxing? For me, there's great pleasure in arriving at a ship, getting to my cabin, and letting care fall from my shoulders. I can settle into a cabin as well and truly and (it seems) permanently as I would into a new house or apartment. That cabin is home, at least for a while, and it's a home where I don't need to do anything or worry about anything at all, ever.
   
   
4. I like taking a holiday from adulthood. My recent thinking on cruise psychology is that being a passenger on a cruise ship is like being a child at the playground or a dog at a dog park: You get there not knowing anyone, but within a few minutes you get the vibe of the place, find some companions, and start playing. That's the joy, I think: You're out on the sea in a ship, you have time on your hands, and no one is expecting you to produce or accomplish anything — not work, not chores, not nothing. You can do what you want and be who you want, and everyone is in the same boat. The only thing that counts is how well we all play together.

Have fun on your next cruise.

Fin.

Earlier today, Royal Caribbean International confirmed that it has placed a firm order with the STX France shipyard for a third vessel in its world-record-holding Oasis class.

The original two Oasis-class ships, 2009's Oasis of the Seas and 2010's Allure of the Seas, are the largest cruise ships in the world by far, measuring in at 225,282 gross register tons and carrying 5,400 guests. The newly ordered vessel will presumably be identical or nearly identical in size and configuration, with tweaks to her attractions and amenities.

One main difference between Oasis/Allure and sister number three? Provenance. The two earlier Oasis vessels were built at the STX shipyard in Turku, Finland, but Turku's failure to secure adequate financing from the Finnish government apparently prompted Royal Caribbean to move the project to STX's yard in Saint Nazaire, France. The new ship is slated for delivery in mid-2016, and STX France has provided Royal Caribbean with a one-year option for delivery of a fourth Oasis-class vessel in mid-2018.

"The Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas have fundamentally transformed the cruise experience for our guests," said Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., in a press release. "These ships have consistently generated outstanding guest satisfaction ratings and continue to produce superior financial results. We are thrilled to be adding a sister to this extraordinary class of vessels at a compelling price. Being back building in France just adds to the pleasure."

"STX France is proud to partner with Royal Caribbean again and continue our decades-long relationship by building the third Oasis-class ship," said Laurent Castaing, CEO of STX France. "Royal Caribbean has always been an important part of our shipyard's success, and we are delighted to add this highly innovative and spectacular ship to the list of vessels we have built together."

In its earlier incarnation as Alstom's Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, the STX Saint Nazaire facility produced Royal Caribbean's Sovereign of the Seas, Monarch of the Seas, and Majesty of the Seas between 1987 and 1992, and in 2000 it built Millennium for Royal Caribbean's sister-line, Celebrity Cruises.

The addition of a third Oasis sister to the RCI fleet get a big thumbs-up from the Frommer's Cruise Blog. Oasis and Allure are, in my opinion, the most amazing cruise ships ever built, embodying dazzlingly forward thinking in passenger ship architecture and interior arrangement. If cruise ship design is destined to move beyond the general model that's dominated for the past quarter century plus, these are the ships that'll show the way.

I'd probably call this one enlightened self-interest: This week, small-ship line The Boat Company filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska challenging the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) program for monitoring discard (bycatch) in large-volume trawl fisheries.

"Bycatch" is a term used to describe fish caught unintentionally while attempting to catch a different fish species. Trawl fishing involves pulling a large net through the water behind one or more boats. A single trawl net can scoop up thousands of target fish and bycatch.

The Boat Company's complaint addresses bycatch of halibut, salmon, and other species that are "important to Alaska's commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries." According to the company, the past five years have seen substantial declines in populations of halibut and Chinook salmon available to these fisheries. Its press release states that the company "has serious concerns about the level of discard (bycatch) that results from the deployment of non-selective trawl gear in federal fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska." The company's complaint seeks changes to the NMFS monitoring program, which, it contends, fails to concentrate enough resources on trawl fishing operations, which "remove the largest volumes of halibut and Chinook salmon as discard (bycatch)."

Without adequate data from monitoring, the suit contends, fishery managers "will not be able to make scientifically sound decisions that will arrest substantial declines in the highly valuable Chinook and halibut populations that inhabit or migrate through the Gulf of Alaska."

The Boat Company has a vested interest in safeguarding Alaska's fish populations. For more than thirty years, the company has offered trips that sail among the islands and coastal wilderness of the Tongass National Forest, building in substantial opportunity for passengers to fish from the skiffs carried aboard its two 20- and 24-passenger ships. Trips are loosely structured, sailing completely in wilderness areas and giving passengers the change to hike, take out kayaks, and go wildlife-watching excursions by inflatable launch.

As you might expect, these are very expensive trips, with per-person fares for most weeklong sailings coming in at $6,895. There's an important footnote, though: Because The Boat Company is a not-for-profit cruise line that channels all revenues after operating expenses back into conservation efforts in Southeast Alaska, passengers can write off a big chunk of their cruise fares on their taxes.

A Boat Company executive put it this way when we spoke in 2010: "Because The Boat Company is a nonprofit, our clients as well as foundations and other organizations are able to make tax-deductible donations to us for general overhead operating expenses or even program-related issues" — that is, you can write off the portion of the trip equal to the amount that the line contributes to its conservation mission, an amount that can sum to more than $2,500. The company sends out statements after its fiscal year-end telling each passenger the amount of the charitable contribution they can deduct.

A great, nature-oriented small-ship cruise that's structured so you can write off a big chunk of your fare on April 15? That might be considered enlightened self-interest too.

We have a rarity today: A guest post from one of my longtime colleagues in the marine-writing trade. Due to [cough-cough, hmm, hrrmm], I can't use his real name here, so let's just call him "Deep Draught." Here goes . . .

* * *

Occasionally, good things do come from bad. In 2010, we were saddened by the demise of Cruise West, a family owned, American-flagged small-ship cruise line. Blame overeager expansion on their part, plus the baggage of operating a clapped-out hodgepodge fleet, but the psychic payoff was the same, calling into question yet again the viability of independent American cruise lines.

Enter American Safari Cruises. Although the company has been cruising in Alaska since 1997, it has sailed below most cruisers' radars, operating a fleet that was (and partially still is) more yacht than ship. And then there was the old "If you have to ask about the price, you probably can't afford it" thing. Still, they've always been solidly run, taking a financially conservative business approach that put them in a good position to capitalize on the market hole that Cruise West's demise opened.

Soon after CW closed its doors, American Safari bought a choice pick of its assets, including three ships (the former Spirit of '98, Spirit of Endeavour, and Spirit of Discovery), the line's website (which became a billboard for American Safari), and the line's customer mailing list. Dramatically announcing itself as a major player in Alaska, American Safari and sister-brand InnerSea Discoveries quickly became the most significant small-ship operation in the state, with plans to have no fewer than seven ships there for 2013.

This past summer, Safari Endeavour (the former Cruise Wester Spirit of Endeavour) began sailing for American Safari after a winter-long refit, and I joined a mid-summer sailing to see the changes. This stylish ship with its slender bow and raked funnel was a standout in the Cruise West fleet, and the results of American Safari’s extensive refit were obvious.

Capacity was slashed from 120 to 88, via changes that included the merging of several formerly too-close-for-comfort cabins into four expansive suites with private balconies. Soft furnishings were redone and massage rooms and hot tubs were added. A watersports platform was built to carry a fleet of kayaks and paddleboards — the latter a rare and unexpected idea in Alaska, but it works: They were a major hit on my sailing. A "serve yourself" wine bar was added and drinks became complimentary. Cuisine, meanwhile — including an indulgent feast of Dungeness Crab bought fresh from local fisherman — was upgraded to American Safari's standards, creative and delicious.

Like most every other small-ship line worth its salt, Cruise West kept its itineraries flexible to account for the unscheduled nature of nature: If a pod of orca whales popped up around the ship, for instance, they'd sit still rather than rushing to make their next stop. American Safari does the same, but with one crucial difference: Whereas the Cruise West vessel was probably heading from whale-watching to a standard-issue call at one of Alaska's tourist ports, American Safari espouses a more adventurous and active vibe, substituting anchorages in cozy coves where passengers can take out a kayak or go for a hike in bushy old-growth forest.

Endeavor's sports options did not disappoint during my sailing. One day, passengers got a first-hand look at a glacier’s anatomy on a trek that began just beyond a moraine and finished on undulating ice waves. Another afternoon, we kayaked hard for over three hours, huddling our kayaks close together as two humpback whales approached within a few hundred feet, their massive expulsions of breath breaking the otherwise still Alaskan afternoon.

One day, caught up in the natural joy of a brilliantly blue day in Glacier Bay, we jumped into the water from the stern and learned the true meaning of "cold." Invigorated to the core, we hauled ourselves quickly back aboard and raced to the hot tub, where an amused waiter poured us hot chocolate spiked generously with Bailey's. Admiring a sparkling glacier and a weathered mountain looming nearby, we thought life couldn’t get much better.

Cruise West may be missed, but as we raised our mugs and toasted the new Safari Endeavour, we were happy to see that some things do get better with age — and change.

Click here for more on American Safari's 2013 Alaska program.

It gets . . . slow . . . around here . . . the closer . . . we get . . . to Christmas.

I get emails that say, "Wishing you and your family a very joyous and safe holiday season!," and I think, Ah, another company has packed up and gone home until the new year.

And so, the news today is slim, if good for those of you that have (a) adequate if not over-the-top income, and (b) kids.

It's this: On four sailings this coming summer, in the Mediterranean and the Baltic, luxe line Crystal Cruises is offering a "Kids Sail Free" deal, when said kids share a stateroom with two full-fare adults. Here're the dates and whatsits:

• July 6 Mediterranean, 7 nights, Istanbul to Rome/Civitavecchia: Visiting Kusadasi (Turkey), Mykonos (Greece), Taormina (Sicily), and Sorrento (mainland Italy). Fares from $2,495 per adult person, double occupancy.
• July 20 and 25, 10 nights, Stockholm to Copenhagen: Visiting Tallinn (Estonia), St. Petersburg (Russia, for a two-night stay), Helsinki, and Berlin. Fares from $4,850 per adult person, double occupancy.
• July 30. 10 nights, Copenhagen to Stockholm: Visiting Berlin, Helsinki, St. Petersburg (for a two-night stay), and Tallinn, Estonia. Fares from $4,850 per adult person, double occupancy.

On all four sailings, cruisers age 17 and under can travel for free when sharing a third-berth stateroom with two adults. Fares listed above are capacity-controlled and must be booked by December 28. More info here.

Cruise ships . . . Hurricanes . . . When you're in a business that puts your most valuable assets out on the open sea pretty much 24/7, a mitzvah or general charitable good deed or two is probably a good idea, to keep Poseidon on your side.

So, this: Earlier today, Carnival Corporation — parent company of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Ibero Cruises, P&O Cruises, and P&O Cruises Australia — announced that it was donating $2 million to four charities engaged in relief and rebuilding efforts related to October's Hurricane Sandy, which did such a number on New Jersey and New York.

The Robin Hood Relief Fund will receive $1 million, Habitat for Humanity International will receive $500,000, Save the Children will receive $250,000, and the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City will receive $250,000.

"Super Storm Sandy was one of the most devastating natural disasters in U.S. history and on behalf of the 90,000 global employees of Carnival Corporation & plc we are pleased to provide this financial support to those who were affected by the storm," said Micky Arison, Carnival Corp.'s chairman and CEO.

The Robin Hood Relief Fund launched a large-scale relief effort to aid those in the tri-state area within hours of the storm, providing more than $17.6 million in grants to more than 160 different groups. The organization now is moving into phase two of its recovery effort, providing for the long-term needs created by the storm including: housing, job-training, legal counseling and more, with 100 percent of donations going to Sandy relief.

Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit organization that builds houses for people in need. Carnival Corporation’s donation has been earmarked for the five Habitat chapters that have been affected by the storm and are assisting with the recovery efforts. Following the storm, Habitat for Humanity International launched a multiphase response to help affected communities. This effort includes a range of services that will address both the short-term and long-term need for safe and decent housing.

Save the Children's domestic emergency response teams were dispatched to New Jersey and New York within 48 hours of the storm to work with children and families in shelters, and with communities to identify both short- and longer-term needs. The organization also is coordinating with national partners to assess the critical needs of families impacted by the storm.

The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City is assisting with immediate and long-term restoration efforts throughout New York City’s five boroughs. The fund is accepting financial donations to support hurricane relief efforts, and 100 percent of donations are being dispersed to relief efforts and organizations.

Like all luxury lines, Crystal Cruises isn't cheap. However, if you can book soon and don't insist on a really long cruise, you can get a deal that puts luxe kinda-sorta close to weeklong mainstream prices.

Through December 28. Crystal is running a sale on six 5- and 6-day “Crystal Getaways” sailings aboard Crystal Symphony:

• January 29, 5-day New Zealand sailing from Auckland to Wellington, with port calls in Tauranga and Napier. Includes overnights on board in Auckland and Tauranga. Fares from $1,725 per person.
• March 7, 5-day Southeast Asia sailing from Singapore to Bangkok, with overnights on board in both ports and a day sailing the Gulf of Thailand. Fares from $2,365 per person.
• April 24, 5-day Alaska sailing from Seward to Vancouver, visiting Glacier Bay and Ketchikan. Includes overnights in Fares from $1,470 per person.
• May 23, 5-day New England/Canada sailing, New York City to Halifax, with port calls in Newport, Boston, and Bar Harbor. Includes an overnight stay on board in New York. Fares from $1,630 per person.
• January 5, 6-day Australia/Tasmania sailing from Melbourne to Hobart, visiting Adelaide. Includes overnights on board in all three ports. Fares from $1,365 per person.
• January 11, 6-day Tasmania/Australia sailing from Hobart to Brisbane, visiting Sydney. Includes overnights in Sydney and Brisbane. Fares from $1,365 per person.

The sale also includes deals on the following 7-, 8-, and 11-day cruises:

• March 23, 7-night China sailing from Hong Kong to Shanghai, visiting Xiamen. Includes an overnight on board in Hong Kong and two nights on board in Shanghai. Fares from $3,235 per person.
• April 5, 7-night Asia sailing, Shanghai to Kobe, visiting Pusan and Nagasaki. Includes overnights on board in Shanghai and Kobe. Fares from $3,080 per person.
• February 3, 8-day New Zealand/Australia sailing, Wellington to Sydney, visiting Picton, Christchurch, and Dunedin. Includes an overnight on board in Sydney. Fares from $2,755 per person.
• March 12, 11-day Southeast Asia & China sailing, Bangkok to Hong Kong, visiting Ho Chi Minh City, Chan May, and Hanoi. Fares from $5,200 per person.

More info here.

Going green on the deep blue sea? Something like that — or at least as green as you can be while burning a bazillion tons of fossil fuels. Anyway, here's the story: Seems Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., parent company of Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises, and a couple European brands, has been listed on the NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability Index, which NASDAQ's self-description says is "designed to track the performance of companies that are taking a leadership role in sustainability performance reporting. These companies have voluntarily disclosed their carbon footprint, energy usage, water consumption, hazardous and non-hazardous waste, employee safety, workforce diversity, management composition and community investing." The index includes just 100 companies, putting Royal Caribbean in rarified, uh, company.

In part, Royal Caribbean's reporting takes the form of its annual Stewardship Report, which tracks recent sustainability performance, progress, and activities related to its three U.S. brands. You can view the 2011 report here.

This is some kinda record, for sure: This week, Viking River Cruises announced that it had ordered ten new vessels on its 190-passenger "Viking Longship" design, bringing the total number of Viking river vessels on order or introduced over the past year to 24.

"The river cruise segment is rapidly growing, as more travelers are inspired to experience old destinations in a new way," said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking River Cruises, in a press release. "Because of the overwhelmingly positive response we have seen from our passengers in the first season of our revolutionary new Viking Longships, we are pleased to continue our expansion to meet that demand."

Viking launched the first four of its Viking Longships in March 2012, and plans to follow that up with the simultaneous launch of eight more this coming March, in Amsterdam. Like the previous and other currently on-order Longships, the vessels ordered this week will be built at Germany's Neptun Yard, an affiliate company of Meyer Werft, one of the best and most prolific builders of large cruise ships.

The Viking Longships all offer classy, wide-open, and light-filled designs by Yran & Storbraaten, the naval architects behind the look of Seabourn’s, Disney’s, and Oceania’s newest ships. Highlights include eight different accommodation types, starting at 150-square-foot standard staterooms and working on up to 445-square-foot large suites, and including 47 cabins with balconies and another 22 with “French balconies” (sliding balcony doors with a railing you can lean against just outside). Highlighting the ships’ public areas is the indoor-outdoor Aquavit Terrace, offering spectacular views and al fresco dining at the bow of the ships.

In addition to the river ships, Viking River Cruises' start-up sister company, Viking Ocean Cruises, currently has four 47,000-ton, 944-passenger luxury cruise ships on order with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. More on that here.

If you've been to Key West and visited the Ernest Hemingway Museum, you've seen them: fifty of so of them, slinking around in the heat, sunning themselves around the grounds, and drinking from the enormous urinal that Hemingway himself allegedly trucked down from Sloppy Joe's bar to serve as their water fountain. We're talking cats, of course, the many descendants of Hemingway's own Snowball, who have taken over karmic ownership of the property since Papa died. Like Snowball (and like my own cat, coincidentally), most of these cats are polydactyl, with more than the usual number of toes on their front feet. They look as if they're wearing catchers' mitts.

Anyway, there's a point to all this: According to a story on National Public Radio and an article in the Christian Science Monitor, a visitor to the Hemingway House filed a complaint with federal authorities a few years back, alleging that the cats were not being treated well. A ruling on that complaint recently came down from the courts, saying that under the federal Animal Welfare Act and Constitution's commerce clause, the U.S. Department of Agriculture can in fact regulate how the museum feeds and cares for the cats. It may even mandate building a higher wall to keep them safe, or giving them each their own sleeping crate.

Is this a CATastrophe of CATastrophic proportions? Will the Tea Party start complaining about the excesses of ObamaCATcare? Who knows. Mostly, I just think it's kind of a hoot. Or maybe a howl. Yeah, that's it: a howl.