If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is probably worth, what?, maybe 4,000? Tough to quantify, but there's no denying that visuals help sell, which is why Holland America Line has just revamped its website, adding 325 short videos tagged to the various ports they visit and the shore excursions offered there.

"Videos are the best way to show our guests what's in store when they book a tour and to let them know what they can expect," said Richard Meadows, HAL's executive vice president of marketing, sales, and guest programs. "We have more than 4,000 shore excursions, so these videos help our guests select the right tour that fits their desires."

Currently, the bulk of video coverage concentrates on HAL's Alaska itineraries, with 275 videos dedicated to the 49th state and its various activities.

When last we talked about new line Viking Ocean Cruises, a sister-line to Viking River Cruises, it had just ordered two 47,000-ton, 944-passenger luxury cruise ships from Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. Now, this week, the fledgling line — essentially a relaunch of the old Royal Viking Line, led by Royal Viking CEO and Viking River Cruises founder Torstein Hagen — has doubled down, signing an agreement with Fincantieri for two more sister-vessels, and with an option for two more on top of that.

“This additional order indicates just how strong early response has been to our ocean cruise concept which focuses on small ship destination cruising at a great value," said Torstein Hagen in the press release announcing the order. "We are very excited to have Fincantieri as a partner as we work to bring the destination back to ocean cruising.”

Royal Viking Line was the top name in luxury cruising between 1972 and the late 1980s, when it was purchased first by Kloster/Norwegian Caribbean Line and then by Cunard Line, which eventually folded its ships into its own fleet. The new and clearly gung-ho Viking initiative represents the most significant recent investment in the luxury segment of the cruise industry, outdistancing Seabourn's three-ship construction flurry of 2009–2011. The first of the new Viking ships are scheduled to launch in early 2015 and early 2016. The two newly ordered sisters will presumably follow.

I'm just back from Celebrity's new, 126,000-ton, 3,046-passenger Celebrity Reflection, and I have this to report: She's gorgeous, she's beautifully appointed, she serves great food (and serves it nicely), she's hung with fantastic art, her accommodations are stylish and comfortable, and — at least this past weekend — she offers truly lousy internet connectivity, which explains why I didn't live-blog from the ship as planned. All things being equal, I wasn't really too disappointed, since it gave me more time to enjoy being aboard.

The fifth and final of Celebrity's fantastic Solstice class, Reflection is the best of the bunch, offering all the innovations of last year's 5-star Celebrity Silhouette as well as a whole new deck of suites, a greater width that makes many of the public spaces just a little more spacious, and some nice upgrades of existing spaces.

Like Silhouette, Reflection offers a redesigned Lawn Club, a top-deck half acre of grass and light that's been a highlight of the Solstice class from the beginning. Engineered at great trouble and expense (due to a combination of weight restrictions, drainage challenges, and the difficulties of growing lush grass in a high-traffic area in salt-air conditions, on a moving ship), the Lawn Club on the first three Solstice-class ships (Solstice, Equinox, and Eclipse) was and remains an intriguing but underused space: Aside from taking a quick stroll, bonking around a croquet ball, or sitting in a chair, there isn't much to do — unless, of course, you go there to see the glass-blowing shows put on by the Corning Museum of Glass at the adjacent Hot Glass Studio, which was (and remains) an entertaining experience that nevertheless has no logical connection to the lawn space where it's located. On Reflection and Silhouette, however, the Lawn Club offers a number of relaxation options, including a small art studio where guests can take informal classes; The Porch, an indoor-outdoor dining spot offering light breakfasts and lunches for 48 guests; and eight "Alcove" cabanas that are available for private rental and come with little signs that read, "This Alcove is reserved for _________." Designed to pamper two to four guests apiece, each offers cushy seating, retractable shade, and a telephone you can use to call if you need someone to peel you a grape. Folks without so much expendable cash can opt instead for one of the eight comfortable hammocks set up just meters away under the Lawn Club's high partial canopies — or, if they want an Alice in Wonderland experience, opt for one of the two fantastically oversized Adirondack chairs that sit like sculpture at the lawn's aft end.

One of Celebrity Reflection's private, rentable Alcove cabanas (photo: Matt Hannafin)

Where Solstice, Equinox, and Eclipse offered their hot glass shows, Silhouette and Reflection instead offers hot meals courtesy of the Lawn Club Grill. Designed with an open-air feel (though with a protective glass roof and windbreaks), the 58-seat Grill is a casual spot offering views of the lawn and sea all around. Diners can have their meat dishes and pizzas prepped for them by the chefs or strap on an apron themselves and do the honors. Typically, each table elects one pizza-maker and one meat-griller, and each of these is encouraged to bring their wine or beer with them while they do the honors. It's kick-back by design, but that doesn't make it any less kick-back, or any less fun.

Aft of the Lawn Club, Reflection offers something new: a vastly more interesting take on the Sunset Bar. Located at the very end of the ship, and previously consisting of a traditional long bar running across the deck, with miscellaneous seating nearby, the Sunset Bar on Reflection has been turned into an experience, with a round bar (with sunken serving area) sitting near the rear railing, surrounded by low stools that glow with an inner purple light after dark. Decor and seating recall a Moroccan lounge, while the sky, the wake views, and the soft live guitar music provide all the atmosphere you could want. For my taste, it's the best bar on the ship.

Inside, a new feature shared by Reflection and Silhouette is The Hideaway, an elaborate, modernist treehouse located just off the atrium on Deck 7. Intended to be a place where guests can commune quietly with themselves — reading, surfing the web on an iPad, or napping — it's one of the chillest chill-out spaces in the cruise business, appointed with super-comfortable high-backed leather chairs, pod-like white plastic chairs, and three private "nests."

There's more, of course — including the fantastic Qsine restaurant, with its theatrical menu and presentation; the wonderful staterooms and suites (including one with a shower that protrudes out over the side of the ship); Blu, serving spa cuisine to select suite guests; and Michael's Club, serving the world's beer to the people — but I need to save some ammo for more blog posts. For now, let's just say of Reflection that she offers probably the most high-style cruise experience you're likely to get for rates that can go as low as $650 per person for a weeklong cruise. Celebrity touts its experience these days as "Modern Luxury," and while Reflection can't be said to offer a true luxury experience to all guests — it's just too big for that, carries too many people, and charges for too many incidentals — it sure does a good impression, especially for the buck.

Celebrity Cruises' newest, the 126,000-ton, 3,046-passenger Celebrity Reflection, was transferred from Germany's Meyer Werft shipyard to the line on October 8 and has been sailing in Europe ever since, but now U.S. guests are about to get a crack at the new hotness. On Saturday, Reflection will sail her first cruise from U.S. shores, a short media/travel industry preview, and I'll be aboard to send back the skinny. Expect some live blogging during the event, plus a wrap-ups and a full photo slideshow starting next week.

For those who haven't been following the shipbuilding thread, Reflection is the fifth and last of Celebrity's extremely successful Solstice class, following Celebrity Solstice (2008), Celebrity Equinox (2009), Celebrity Eclipse (2010), and Celebrity Silhouette (2011). Rather than being an exact copy, though, Reflection is a larger version, with a whole extra deck and a greater width that allows for a greater feeling of space in the public rooms. The new deck allows the addition of 72 new accommodations, including 32 large AquaClass Suites that come with complimentary access to some spa services and to the specialty spa restaurant Blu.

Other aspects of Reflection largely follow the mold of older sister Silhouette, which last year debuted fantastic innovations like an indoor/outdoor restaurant where guests can grill their own meats and get tips from the chefs; a retooled Michael's Club lounge, which has been transformed into a high-end beer bar; a hideout called the Hideaway, which is probably the most stylish and artistically designed reading room at sea; and a new arrangement at the outdoor Lawn Club, which sports better dining and lounging options than aboard the older three Solstice ships. For Reflection, expect similar, and more, including a transformation of one of the most traditionally frumpy rooms on any cruise ship: the card room. Rather than being a place where excitement goes to die, Reflection's card room, called "Game On," is designed more like a video arcade, with six card-table-shaped touchscreen display tables that offer eight different digital games for multiple players.

Mo' details when I'm aboard. See you then.

There's no such thing as a free lunch — or free air, for that matter. Still, if you're planning to go to the Galapagos anyway, and want to do so on a high-end, super-educational ship, Lindblad Expeditions is sweetening the deal on five winter 2013 departures, throwing in round-trip airfare between Miami and the Galapagos by way of Guayaquil, Ecuador.

The deal is good for new bookings made by December 31, 2012, on five 10-night sailings aboard Lindblad's 96-passenger National Geographic Endeavour, departing on January 11, January 25, February 22, March 15, and April 5. As with all Lindblad cruises, Endeavour will sail with a large staff of naturalists and experts in ornithology, geology, photography, marine life, and other disciplines. These experts lead off-vessel hikes and small-boat excursions and conduct enrichment lectures and discussions on board.

As for that free lunch, Lindblad's Galapagos sailings sell for a cool $4,990 per person, double occupancy, so the concept of your airfare being "free" is straining the meaning of the word a bit. Still, airfare's included on these sailings and not on others, so if you're going, you might as well save a dime — or 8,000 of them. (Galapagos airfare from Miami is currently running upward from about $800 per person.)

More info here.

Totems: The world is full of  'em. If you're a doctor, you wear a stethoscope. If you're a banker, you wear a suit. If you're a steakhouse, you have big knives and heavy furniture. And if you're a Mississippi riverboat, you have a steam calliope. Got to, just got to: 'Cause it's what people expect.

Thus, this: Today, small-ship operator American Cruise Lines announced that it has acquired a 132-year-old Nichol steam calliope (a.k.a. steam organ) to adorn its recently launched paddlewheel riverboat Queen of the Mississippi.

The instrument was originally a fixture of the Washington, a paddlewheel steamboat that operated on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers from 1880 to 1938. It's currently being restored, from its keyboard to its original brass whistles and valves, and when complete will be placed aboard Queen of the Mississippi to provide a historically accurate soundtrack to the ship's history-soaked voyages.

Queen of the Mississippi launched this past August, joining American Queen Steamboat Company's American Queen in a competitive relaunch of Mississippi River cruising, which had ceased to exist in 2008 following the collapse of river operator Majestic America Line. Majestic America had earlier swallowed up the fabled Delta Queen Steamboat Company. Delta Queen's ships all had calliopes, including American Queen, which was once part of its fleet. Delta Queen also had an extremely loyal following, and those folks liked them their calliope music — and still do. And thus, Queen of the Mississippi's new calliope.

Like I said: totems.

Queen of the Mississippi sails weekly 7-night voyages on the Mississippi River system, from ports such as New Orleans, Memphis, St. Louis, St. Paul, Cincinnati, and Nashville.

With Thanksgiving only hours away, it’d be nice to talk about a new cruise restaurant themed on turkey, apple pie, and mom, but we’ll have to settle instead for gourmet French cuisine. Poor us.

Here’s the deal: This week, Windstar Cruises announced that the alternative restaurant on its flagship vessel Wind Surf will be transformed during this month’s renovation, changing from a Mediterranean bistro called “Degrees” into “Stella Bistro,” a contemporary dining room with “a French twist.”

Debuting in early December, the 86-seat Stella Bistro will serve entrees such as Coquille St. Jacques Provençale (a seared, skewered scallops dish served on pappardelle and tossed with artichoke hearts, spinach, and capers in a light white wine sauce) and roasted Magret of duck (duck breast and duck confit on cherry sauce paired with parisienne potatoes and French beans); starters such as escargots bourguignon, cream of wild mushroom soup, and goat cheese soufflé; and desserts such as apple aumoniere (a combination of apples, marzipan, and honey baked into a filo pastry and served in vanilla custard) and chocolate Napoleon (a pastry with layers of creamy chocolate and praline).

Dining at Stella Bistro will come at no extra charge, though diners have the option of choosing extra-cost wine-pairings, featuring three selections chosen by the executive chef. The restaurant itself will be adorned with antique mirrors and vintage photographs, accenting an interior that's been completely updated with new furniture, wine displays, and lighting.

Following what Carnival is describing as “an extensive, multi-million dollar renovation,” Carnival’s 2003-vintage Carnival Glory returned to service this week, outfitted with eight new dining/drinking/entertainment venues and other aspects of the Fun Ship line’s new “Fun Ship 2.0” initiative, a quiet but distinct quasi-rebranding of Carnival for modern times and tastes. New venues on board include:

• Guy’s Burger Joint, a complimentary poolside venue offering burgers, fries. toppings, and condiments created by Food Network personality and chef Guy Fieri, whose midtown Manhattan restaurant was recently the subject of a New York Times review so mind-bogglingly scathing that it went viral almost immediately. As for Guy’s aboard Carnival’s ships, my experience wasn’t quite as bad, though I did vastly prefer . . .
• The BlueIguana Cantina, a free-of-charge Mexican cantina where you can get made-to-order tacos and burritos featuring a wide range of ingredients, with a salsa and toppings bar so you can top things off just the way you like 'em.
• Alchemy Bar, a cocktail “pharmacy” where mixologists create custom cocktails “prescribed” for what ails ya.
• EA SPORTS Bar, an interactive sports bar with big TVs, EA SPORTS video games, and a 24/7 sports ticker.
• RedFrog Rum Bar, a poolside Caribbean-themed watering hole offering a variety of regional rums and beers, the latter available both in normal sizes and in a yard-long tower that sweats appealingly on hot days.
• BlueIguana Tequila Bar, a friendly, across-the-deck rival to the RedFrog Rum Bar, specializing in frozen cocktails and Mexican beers.
• The Punchliner Comedy Club Presented by George Lopez, with comedians selected by TV personality Lopez. Those same comedians also appear at the Punchliner Comedy Brunch, offered on sea days. It’s free, and the menu is pretty interesting (cereal-crusted French toast, anybody?), but the comedians only do five-minute teaser sets, on the hour.
• Cherry On Top, a fun but pricey candy shop selling sweets from bulk bins, including nostalgic favorites for the 40- and 50-something sets.
• New entertainment will also be added over the next few weeks. Hasbro, The Game Show will allow passengers to participate in game shows adapted from Hasbro’s classic board games. Meanwhile, Carnival’s stage shows will be retooled to mix live performance with synched video and special effects.

Carnival Glory cranks up her winter schedule beginning November 18, sailing weekly 7-night Caribbean voyages. Next June, the ship will reposition to Boston for a series of 4- and 5-night Canada voyages, then head to New York for 4- to 7-night Canada/New England departures through October.

As anybody who's tried to surf the web or send e-mail aboard ship knows, connectivity at sea can be slooooooooooow. (And let's not even talk about trying to update your cruise blog from ship: You spend half your cruise trying to connect and the other half cursing.) Now, though, MTN Satellite communications, the company that provides satellite internet service for many of the world's cruise fleets, is set to roll out MTN Nexus, a next-generation technology that it says will "deliver connectivity and communications to a degree never realized before at sea and in port."

“There is no communication network like MTN Nexus in the world,” said Errol Olivier, CEO and president of MTN, in a press release. “For 30 years, we have innovated new ways to deliver connectivity and content where no terrestrial wireless or wireline networks could connect vessels far out at sea. But passengers and crew no longer accept limitations — they want to stream video, post their updates on Facebook and share vacation images with friends . . . or even family members sailing with them on the same ship."

A hybrid combining a satellite and land-based wireless network, MTN Nexus will rely on new satellites that will beam enhanced bandwidth direct to areas of the Caribbean and Mediterranean that typically see high cruise traffic. MTN is also building new ship-to-shore wireless systems in major ports in the Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, and elsewhere: Ships approaching these ports will switch from satellite to land-based signals seamlessly, allowing even higher connection speeds. Meanwhile, the company will be outfitting ships with more advanced systems able to cache large data files (such as steamed Netflix videos) and reuse them within the ship's closed data system, rather than having to beam them in again the next time a passenger wants to view them.

MTN's new satellites are reportedly due to launch in 2015 and 2016, so don't expect the speedy internet future to arrive quite yet. But someday, someday . . .

In the latest round of self-imposed safety upgrades flowing from last January’s Costa Concordia disaster, cruise industry trade groups Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and the European Cruise Council (ECC), which together represent most of the world's large cruise fleets, have just promulgated three new safety policies.

• The "Location of Lifejacket Stowage" policy builds on an existing policy whereby oceangoing cruise lines of CLIA and the ECC carry substantially more adult lifejackets than required for the number of passengers and crew onboard. Under the new policy, lifejackets equal to or greater than the number required by international regulations and the ship's flag state are to be stowed in close proximity to either muster stations or lifeboat embarkations points on newly-constructed ships.
• The "Securing Heavy Objects" policy provides that oceangoing member lines of CLIA and the ECC have procedures to secure heavy objects (pianos, treadmills, TVs, laundry equipment, and the like) either permanently, when not in use, or during severe weather.
• The "Harmonization of Bridge Procedures" policy aims to achieve consistency in operating procedures within individual companies and among brands within a commonly owned and operated fleet (for instance, Costa, HAL, Princess, and Carnival within the Carnival Corporation fleet). This new policy is designed to improve communication among officers, who often rotate among different ships.

The new policies are part of an industry-wide Operational Safety Review begun in response to the Concordia disaster. Commenting on the policy, ECC Chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio said in a media statement, "The broad range of these three new policies is representative of the truly holistic nature of the operational safety review and demonstrates that safety improvements are being made wherever there is scope to do so. Furthermore, these policies again highlight our Members' commitment to harmonising safety practices across the industry and are reflective of the cruise lines' willingness to adopt and share best practice wherever possible."

Full versions of the three new policies are available here, here, and here.