How's this for a shower stall?

Celebrity Reflection is scheduled to enter service on October 12, 2012, sailing a 9-night European cruise from Amsterdam to Barcelona.

Renderings courtesy of Celebrity Cruises.

So many New England/Canada cruises do things the easy way, visiting Boston and maybe one other New England port, hitting Halifax, and calling it done. This year, Crystal Cruises is going for a little more depth with Crystal Symphony's New England/Canada season, planning visits to three new, off-the-beaten-path ports as well as seven more standard ports, and offering 29 new shore excursion options.

Highlights of Symphony's 7- to 11-night itineraries include:

• Saint-Pierre & Miquelon: Located in the northwest Atlantic near Canada, the islands are a self-governing overseas territory of France—the last vestige of France's New World territories.
• Sept-Iles: The northernmost town in Quebec, where passengers can hop a train to a marshland Innu camp for immersion into traditional First Nations life.
• The Magdalen Islands: A small archipelago in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, close to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, but part of Quebec, it offers miles of white sand beaches and picturesquely eroded sandstone cliffs.

Other port calls include Quebec City, Halifax, Bar Harbor, and St. John, plus the embarkation/debarkation ports of New York, Boston, and Montreal.

"New England/Canada is one of the most storied and stunning regions in North America and offers so much to explore and discover. Each year, we strive to not only expand our offerings with new ports, but also re-invent the journey with new experiences in traditionally popular destinations," saID John Stoll, Crystal's VP of land and port operations, in a media statement.

Cruises sail September 19 (11 nights, New York to Montreal), September 30 (7 nights, round-trip Montreal), October 7 (7 nights, Montreal to Boston), October 14 (7 nights, Boston to Montreal), and October 21 (10 nights, Montreal to New York). Cruise-only fares start at $2,355 per person, double-occupancy, through August 31.

Solo travelers get ripped off regularly by the cruise lines, which make their revenue plans on the basis of two travelers per cabin. When someone is traveling solo, they usually have to pay the infamous "single supplement" above and beyond the regular per-passenger fare.

But sometimes there are deals, like this one: On select cruises between August and January, Cunard Line is offering solo cabins aboard Queen Mary 2 for only $899, plus fees and taxes. The offer applies to the following 7-night sailings:

• August 28, 2012, New York to Southampton, UK
• October 28, 2012, New York to Southampton
• November 20, 2012, Southampton to New York
• November 27, 2012, New York to Southampton
• December 15, 2012, Southampton to New York
• January 3, 2013, New York to Southampton

The $899 offer applies to a Category D8 inside stateroom, is capacity controlled, and expires on August 15. When booking, reference promotion code PEB.

Located in the heart of Hollywood, the Magic Castle has for nearly 50 years been the private clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts, Inc., a group dedicated to promoting public interest in the art of magic. Now, through a partnership with Crystal Cruises, the Academy and its members will be proselytizing their abracadabra and alakazam on the high seas.

The arrangement, orchestrated by Master Magician Rich Bloch, will bring magicians from the members-only Magic Castle aboard Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity to perform intimate evening shows and daytime children's shows, give enrichment lectures on magical subjects, and teach complimentary magic classes for adults. As a bonus, audience members get an official invitation to visit the "by invitation only" Magic Castle when they're in Los Angeles.

Performances on Symphony and Serenity will also be invitation-only, with advance, complimentary invitations (aka tickets) available at the ships' libraries. Guests can choose from multiple half-hour performances over the course of several nights, with performances staged in a lounge that's been redecorated into a suitably Victorian, spooky ambience. Attendance will be limited to just 25 people per show.

Shows will begin immediately aboard Crystal Symphony, and on August 6 aboard Crystal Serenity. Magicians will perform on 13 of Crystal's European cruises this year, and on every voyage in 2013.

The other day I wrote about the first-ever Moody Blues cruise, designed to appeal to folks who were young or youngish in the late 60s. Today I write about the first-ever Coachella Festival at sea, designed to appeal to folks who are young or youngish right now.

Here's the scoop: On December 16–19 and December 19-23, the folks behind California's Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival are taking over Celebrity's beautiful Celebrity Silhouette for two "S.S. Coachella" sailings offering performances by some two dozen Coachella artists, plus "additional planned activities and surprises."

Headlining the festival is British alt-rock band Pulp, now in their second year of performing since getting back together in 2011. Other confirmed performers include Hot Chip, Yeasayer, Girl Talk, James Murphy (DJ Set), Sleigh Bells, Simian Mobile Disco, Z-Trip, !!!, Warpaint, DJ Harvey, El-P, Killer Mike, Black Lips, The Gaslamp Killer, Grimes, Cloud Nothings, Jason Bentley, The Rapture (DJ Set), Father John Misty, Tokimonsta, and Alf Alpha.

"We're thrilled to be providing the setting for S.S. Coachella," said Dondra Ritzenthaler, Celebrity's Senior VP of Sales, in a media release. "Just as the Celebrity Cruises name is synonymous with modern style, service and cuisine, the Coachella name is synonymous with cutting-edge, of-the-moment music trends."

The December 16 cruise sails from Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas, while the December 19 cruise sails to Jamaica. All artists will perform on both cruises. Reservations, bookable through www.sscoachella.com, open Saturday, July 21 at 1pm eastern time, with fares starting at $500 per person. More info is available here.

Yesterday, in Australia, billionaire businessman Clive Palmer released preliminary drawings for his Titanic II, a ship designed to be a close replica of the famous liner that sank 100 years ago.

Created by Finland-based ship design and engineering company Deltamarin, the preliminary general arrangement plan envisions a ship of nine decks, divided into first, second, and third class. Unlike the original Titanic, the re-do includes a "Safety Deck" between Decks C and D, equipped with the correct number of lifeboats, plus safety chutes/slides and new common public rooms.

According to Palmer, decks from Deck 3 upward have been designed so that the public rooms, passenger stairs, cabins, and other features are located similar to their position on the original Titanic. Separations between first, second, and third class have also been retained. Elements required by modern safety regulations (such as escape stairs and fire-zone bulkheads) have been harmonized as closely as possible with the layout of the public rooms.

The final design is subject to approval of the board of Blue Star Lines, for which the vessel would sail. If all goes according to plan, the ship will be built at China’s CSC Jinling Shipyard for delivery in late 2016. Titanic II would then sail from China to England before beginning her official maiden voyage, which would mimic the original, full-length route Titanic was to have taken, ending in New York.

Images of the ship's deck plan can be seen on Blue Star Line's website.

Rendering courtesy of Blue Star Line.

Old rock bands never die, they just sail away. Proof positive: The first-ever Moody Blues Cruise, set to sail from Ft. Lauderdale on March 20–25, 2013, presumably aboard MSC's MSC Poesia. (That's not in their literature at this point, but Poesia is the only 5-night cruise leaving from Ft. Lauderdale that day, so . . .)

Taking place a little over 45 years since the debut of Days of Future Passed (and its big hit, "Nights in White Satin"), the cruise will feature longtime band members Justin Heyward, John Lodge, and Graeme Edge, plus the rest of the current lineup, and will include the usual music-cruise mix of concerts, Q&As, "surprise musical guests that influenced the music of the 70s and beyond," and other special events.

Poesia will call at Ocho Rios (Jamaica) and Georgetown (Grand Cayman) and spend two days at sea. Tickets aren't quite on sale yet, but there's a mailing list on the cruise's website so you can be informed when they are. You can also sign up on the cruise's Facebook page, which already has 454 "likes" at this writing, plus lots of comments from longtime fans. Fan Kelley Knitz says, "I AM SO EXCITED!!!! I cant wait to tell my 6 sisters who rock to the Moody Blues and have for over 40 years!!!" Another fan, Gary Hansen, boasts "I have seen them 24 times since 1968."

Gotta love the folks who stick with ya'.

Paul Gauguin Cruises, the latest entity to operate the lovely Paul Gauguin, which has been a fixture in the South Pacific since its 1997 launch, this week unveiled details about its newest ship, the 90-passenger Tere Moana, due to launch this coming December.

The ship will have, according to the press release, "a luxurious new look—chic and stylish with Polynesian touches." A multi-million-dollar renovation will be undertaken in November, with the ship receiving new furniture, upholstery, art, lighting, wall coverings, carpeting, ceiling finishes, window treatments, paint schemes, flooring, and floor coverings for staterooms and public spaces. Here are some artist's renderings of what she'll look like when complete:

• Eight of Moana's 45 staterooms will offer private balconies.
• All staterooms will feature an ocean view; a queen-size bed, convertible to twin-bed configurations, with fine linens, feather-down duvets, robes, and cotton slippers; a flat-screen TV; a DVD/CD player; an in-stateroom refrigerator replenished daily with soft drinks, beer, and bottled water; and a bathroom accoutered with high-end bath products.
• Moana will offer two dining venues and its cuisine will incorporate culinary influences from the ship's sailing regions. The L'Etoile restaurant will showcase creations by Jean-Pierre Vigato, Chef Proprietaire of the two-star Michelin-rated Apicius restaurant in Paris. The indoor-outdoor La Veranda restaurant will serve casual breakfast and lunch and be transformed into a reservation-only dining venue nightly.
• In the evenings, Le Salon will feature live piano music and lectures.
• In some ports, the ship's watersports marina will offer kayaking and paddleboarding.

Tere Moana will officially enter service on December 29, 2012. In December and March, the ship will sail 7-night Caribbean voyages from St. Martin, visiting islands in the French West Indies, British Virgin Islands, and the Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis. In January and February, she'll sail 13- and 14-night Panama Canal cruises, visiting Cartagena (Columbia) and the wildlife reserves of Costa Rica. From April through November, Moana will operates a variety of European voyages. Fares for weeklong cruises in the Caribbean start around $2, 995 per person.

Earlier today, Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri entered into an agreement with new company Viking Ocean Cruises for the construction of two 47,000-ton, 944-passenger cruise ships.

Viking Ocean Cruises is an offshoot of Viking River Cruises, which has lately seen a massive build-up in its own fleet. As I noted here in April, the new line might well amount to a rebirth of the old Royal Viking Line, which 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 folded its ships into its own fleet. Royal Viking's CEO, Torstein Hagen, went on to found Viking River Cruises in 1997, and he's now the CEO of Viking Ocean Cruises as well.

"We are very excited to be working with Fincantieri," said Hagen earlier this year, when the two companies reached an initial understanding. "We started Viking with the goal of bringing the destination back to cruising and we are excited to bring this same destination commitment back to ocean cruising. The ship designed by Ficantieri has a fresh and innovative design well suited to our commitment to destination cruising."

Measuring approximately the same size as Crystal’s Crystal Symphony, the ships are scheduled for delivery in early 2015 and early 2016

Between now and August 31, Italian line MSC Cruises is offering deals on select sailings, whereby travelers can book a balcony stateroom at the regular early-booking rate for a windowless interior stateroom. Trips available include:

• MSC Divina’s 7-night “Divine Mediterranean” itineraries, sailing from Bari and calling at Venice, Katakolon, Izmir, Istanbul, and Dubrovnik. Rates for balcony staterooms start at $919.
• MSC Splendida’s 7-night “Splendid Mediterranean” cruises, sailing from Barcelona or Rome and calling at La Goulette, Valletta, and Messina. Rates for balcony staterooms start at $669.
• MSC Magnifica’s 7-night “Autumn Iberian Discovery,” sailing from Barcelona and calling at Genoa, Malaga, Lisbon, and Casablanca. Rates for balcony staterooms start at $819.
• MSC Musica’s 7-night “Greek Islands in the Sun,” sailing from Venice or Bari and calling at Katakolon, Santorini, Mykonos, Piraeus/Athens, Corfu, and Dubrovnik. Rates for balcony staterooms start at $769.
• MSC Orchestra’s 11-night sailing from Rome or Genoa, calling at Heraklion, Piraeus/Athens, Istanbul, Messina, and Valletta. Rates for balcony staterooms start at $969.

Rates are per person, double occupancy, and valid only for residents of the U.S. and Canada. Government taxes and fees are additional. Ask for the "balcony promo" deal when booking.

More info here.