November 19, 2004 -- Learn about the restoration of an classic explorer, free legs to Beijing, Melissa Etheridge performances, a family vacation sweepstakes and more in this cruise news roundup.
Carnival News: New Ship Name, New Cousteau Project
It's like they say about married couples and mortal enemies: Over time, they start to act alike. So it is with Carnival and Royal Caribbean, the cruise world's number-one and number-two players. Just eight days after Royal Caribbean named its upcoming Ultra-Voyager ship Freedom of the Seas, Carnival (tel. 800/CARNIVAL; www.carnival.com) has gone and named an upcoming Conquest-class vessel Carnival Freedom. The fifth in the Conquest series, the 2,974-passenger Freedom is scheduled to debut in spring 2007, following the introduction of sister-ships Carnival Valor and Carnival Liberty, due to arrive December 15, 2004, and July 20, 2005.
More interesting and immediate is a bit of philanthropy just announced last week, in which Carnival Corporation and the Cousteau Society agreed in principle to restore the Calypso, Jacques Cousteau's legendary research and expedition vessel, which has been berthed in La Rochelle, France, since a 1996 accident put her out of service. Following a $1.3 restoration that will bring her back to life while maintaining her historical accuracy, Calypso will become a center for science and the environment, at a location yet to be announced.
"As the world's largest cruise operator, Carnival Corporation's success relies on the health of the world's oceans," said Giora Israel, Carnival's VP of strategic planning. "The restoration of the Calypso will serve to expose new generations to the Calypso story and allow this famous ship to continue to educate the public on the importance of protecting our precious natural resources."
NCL Buys a Bunch of Buses
With two Hawaii-based ships currently bringing in thousands of travelers a week and two more ships on the way, it's only logical that Norwegian Cruise Line (tel. 800/327-7030; www.ncl.com) should seek to shore up its shoreside infrastructure, and that means buses -- lots of buses. Last week, the line plunked down $5 million for Polynesian Adventure Tours, one of the largest tour bus companies in the state. Licensed to operate tours on all four of Hawaii's main islands, Polynesian has been in business for more than a quarter century.
By 2006, NCL expects to bring approximately half a million vacationers a year to Hawaii.
Royal Caribbean Sweepstakes Offers Family Vacations
To promote its family appeal, Royal Caribbean is launching a sweepstakes that will send nine whole families packing. Through February 28, 2005, would-be cruisers can sign on to www.royalcaribbean.com or www.royalcaribbeanenespanol.com and enter to win one of three 7-night cruises for 12 to their destination of choice (Alaska, the Caribbean, or Europe) or one of three 7-night cruises for four to the Caribbean. Visitors to either site on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, can enter to win one of three 4-night Bahamas cruises for four.
Melissa Etheridge to Perform on Eastern Caribbean Cruise
Two-time Grammy winner Melissa Etheridge has signed on to perform aboard Holland America's Westerdam during an eastern Caribbean charter cruise by lesbian-oriented tour operator Olivia (tel. 800/631-6277; www.olivia.com). Etheridge's acoustic performance in Ft. Lauderdale kicks off the weeklong cruise, departing April 3. Other scheduled performers include comedians Suzanne Westenhoefer, Vickie Shaw, Jennie McNulty, and Amy Boyd, plus more than half a dozen emerging artists.
Etheridge is only the most recent in a series of high-profile guests to appear on Olivia's cruises, following recent performances by singers Shawn Colvin, the Indigo Girls, and k.d. lang, as well as an appearance by the cast of Showtime's The L Word. Country singer Wynonna Judd is also scheduled to perform aboard the company's 4-night Caribbean cruise, departing Port Canaveral January 29. Folk legend Mary Chapin Carpenter will perform aboard an Alaska cruise departing Vancouver on May 8, while the Indigo Girls make a return engagement aboard a Mexican Riviera cruise next October 29.
HAL Ups the Active at Half Moon Cay
It's the one-year anniversary of Holland America (tel. 877/724-5425; www.hollandamerica.com) announcing its multi-year, $225 million Signature of Excellence initiative, designed to comprehensively upgrade its dining, accommodations, service, and activities by the end of 2006. This week the topic is the line's 2,500-acre private island, Half Moon Cay, where a series of new options have been added to the activities roster:
- Horseback Riding by Land and Sea: Guests travel by tram to a corral where they receive a brief orientation before saddling up. Winding trails, accessible only on horseback, lead to a panoramic vista of Half Moon Cay and the surrounding islands. Once back at the corral, horses are "dressed" for swimming in special saddle pad and halter, then head down into the surf, with their riders still aboard.
- Stingray Adventure: Anyone who's visited Grand Cayman will be familiar with this kind of experience, in which guests have the opportunity to swim or snorkel with a group of stingrays. Yes, they're big and weird and sort of scary-looking -- like aliens, really -- but they're docile as a pack of basset hounds, flopping around swimmers and hoping for a handout from the squid bucket.
- Personal Watercraft Adventure: A guided tour by personal watercraft (read: Jet Ski/Waverunner-type deals) from Half Moon Cay's inner saltwater lagoon out along the island's shoreline, navigating around natural reef formations, inlets, islands, and sand spits, with a sort of buoy slalom allowing riders to test their skills.
- Half Moon Lagoon Aqua Park: On the shore of Half Moon Cay's main beach, the new water park features 21 large water "toys" in the shapes of marine life such as whales, octopi, sharks, and dolphins. A pirate ship shoots water from cannons, while on shore a boardwalk leads guests to a large sundeck and the palapa-covered Half Moon Saloon, where, following libations, guests can use a slide to get back in the water.
These new activities augment the island's regular excursions and activities, which include scuba-diving tours, catch-and-release deep-sea fishing trips, eco tours by glass-bottom boat, kayak trips and parasailing, as well as a Club HAL children's playground, volleyball, shuffleboard, basketball, a network of nature trails, a designated wild bird reserve and beachside massage.
Crystal Tacks Free Beijing Stay to Asia Trips
To drum up interest in its March/April 2005 Asia sailings, Crystal Cruises (tel. 866/446-6625; www.crystalcruises.com) is offering complimentary three-night stays in the Chinese capital, Beijing. Offered as pre- or post-cruise component of the cruise (depending on departure date), the "Adventures in Beijing" showcases the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall, the Summer Palace and the Sacred Alley, and concludes with a private dinner at the Great Hall of the People -- which is sort of a Marxist oxymoron, but we'll let it slide. All accommodations, sightseeing and transportation, porterage, gratuities and English-speaking tour escort are included. The tours extend Crystal Harmony's 10- and 11-night cruises visiting ten ports of call in China, Japan, and Taiwan, including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Osaka, and Hiroshima.
On board, Crystal's lecture program includes speakers on geopolitics as well as Asia experts from Sotheby's and the Smithsonian Associates, Japanese language courses from Berlitz, and crafts classes in Chinese brush painting, silk painting, and origami.
Crystal Harmony kicks off the season with an 18-day Trans-Pacific crossing departing from Los Angeles to Hong Kong on February 24, followed by the "Ancient Dynasties" cruise (March 15-28, Hong Kong to Beijing), the "Kingdoms of Pearls & Gold" cruise (March 22-April 5, Beijing to Hong Kong), the "Mysteries of Asia" cruise (April 5-19, Hong Kong to Beijing), and the "Treasures of Ancient Empires" cruise (April 13-27, Beijing to Yokohama, Japan). On April 26, Harmony concludes her 2005 Asia season with a 14-night sea/land cruise from Yokohama to Vancouver that begins with a one-night pre-cruise hotel stay in Tokyo. The full 13- and 14-day itineraries, including the Beijing land program, start at $2,995 and $3,995 per person, double occupancy, respectively. Trans-Pacific fares start from $2,695.
Radisson's Seven Seas Mariner Stars in Hollywood Adventure
New Line Cinema's After the Sunset, which opened in theaters November 12, is the kind of film the cruise industry loves, with James Bond's Pierce Brosnan and Frida director/star Salma Hayek portraying a jewel thieves out to steal the world's most valuable diamond aboard a luxury cruise ship. Cheers alum and lefty activist Woody Harrelson and Oceans 11's Don Cheadle costar.
New Line chartered the 490-guest Seven Seas Navigator from Radisson Seven Seas (tel. 800/285-1835; www.rssc.com) in December 2003 for a week of principal filming. The vessel is featured prominently in the film, with scenes shot on deck and en suite. Crewmembers acted as extras in many scenes.
Seven Sea Mariner resumes the route sailed in the film in January, offering 5-, 7-, 10- and 11-night eastern and western Caribbean cruises at special two-for-one fares, many with complimentary one-category upgrades attached. Cruises depart round-trip from Fort Lauderdale January 8, 18, 25; February 8, 19; March 2, 18, 25; and April 22 and 27, with prices from $1,498 per person include two-for-one savings, all shipboard gratuities, wine with dinner, and an in-suite bar set-up.