April 18, 2003 -- When you bring your kids on a cruise, you expect the usual: a playroom, a video arcade, and maybe a ball-jump, a kiddie pool, and/or a teen center.
You do not expect Henry Higgins or Emily Post.
This week, luxury line Crystal Cruises (www.crystalcruises.com) announced an "Etiquette Training for Juniors" program, created in partnership with California-based Gollatz Cotillion, which has been tutoring young people in proper etiquette for over seventy years. Available on each of Crystal Harmony's 2003 12-day Alaska itineraries, sailing roundtrip from San Francisco, the program will offer activities designed to enhance social etiquette, poise and public speaking and will also include instruction on swing, salsa and ballroom dancing, with music tailored to kids' tastes. Classes and activities, all offered in a spirit of fun, according to Gollatz Cotillion owner Darcee Gollatz-Klapp, will use contests and games to teach the proper order of silverware use and the correct way to break and butter a dinner roll. No rulers across the knuckles here.
Etiquette activities will be offered for kindergarten- through high-school-age kids (approximately ages 5-17) on each day and half-day at sea. They're free of charge, and are conducted on a basis of one instructor for every twelve children. The 12-day departures (June 2 and 14; July 8 and 20; August 1, 13, and 25; and September 6) visit the Alaskan ports of Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, plus Vancouver and Victoria in British Columbia. Children 12 and under sail free on all of Crystal's 2003 Alaska cruises when sharing a cabin with two adults.
No Etiquette (and No Kids) Here: Windjammer's "Pirate Weeks"
At the exact opposite end of the spectrum from Crystal's new etiquette program, Windjammer Barefoot Cruises (www.windjammer.com) announced it would hold its first adults-only "Pirate Bash" cruises this October, offering five-night themed sailings aboard the tall ships Polynesia, Yankee Clipper, Mandalay, and Legacy.
"Halloween week seemed to be a natural time for it," said Susan Burke, Windjammer's president and daughter of the line's founder, Captain Mike Burke. "And, with no children on board, shipmates can really cut loose with some swashbuckling fun." Judging by the levels of "swashbuckling fun" on normal Windjammer sailings, these cruises should be pretty darn over-the-top. Bring eye-patches. Bring beer holders. Bring Tylenol.
Cruises begin October 20 and October 27, with Polynesia, Yankee Clipper, and Mandalay sailing together from Grenada. Daily, passengers can participate in costume parties, ship-to-ship competitions, contests, treasure hunts, and talks on pirate lore. Legacy, sailing from Aruba to the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao), will also have a pirate theme those weeks, but will not sail in tandem with the other ships.
Standard fares begin at $800 per person, with a $200 savings if you book before June 15. Passengers wishing to sail both Pirate Weeks get the second week for half price.
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