May 4, 2012 Cruise Notes from Mary

Cruise Notes from Mary Mary Engram, CTA/MCC Travel Consultant May 4, 2012 Happy Friday Everyone Princess to Base Ship Year-Round in San Francisco Princess Cruises will base the Grand Princess in San Francisco year-round, beginning in May 2013. The renovated ship will offer Alaska cruises during the summer followed by Hawaii, Mexico and California coastal sailings during the fall 2013 to spring 2014 season. It should be noted that in 2011, the Grand Princess underwent the largest dry-dock in Princess history, adding new features found on the line’s newer ships. During the 2013-14 season, Grand Princess will offer 10-day Inside Passage sailings between May 10 and Sept. 7, 2013. Two 10-day cruises to Mexico will depart on Sept. 17, 2013, and March 5, 2014, visiting the new ports of Loreto and La Paz as well as Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta. California coastal cruises will visit Santa Barbara, Long Beach, San Diego and Ensenada with departures scheduled for Sept. 27 and Oct. 19, 2013, and March 15 and April 6, 2014. Princess will offer 12 departures of 15-day Hawaii cruises between Oct. 4, 2013, and April 28, 2014. The voyages will visit the Big Island (Hilo), Oahu (Honolulu), Kauai (Nawiliwili), Maui (Lahaina), and Ensenada. Royal Caribbean’s Explorer to Sail from N.J. in Winter 2013-14 Royal Caribbean International will offer 22 winter 2013-14 cruises on Explorer of the Seas from Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, N.J., to Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. The ship will operate 16 itineraries to eight tropical ports. The season begins with an 11-night Southern Caribbean cruise, departing Nov. 3, 2013, to San Juan, St. Maarten, Antigua and St. Kitts. The ship also will operate nine- and 10-night Eastern Caribbean itineraries that visit Labadee, the company’s private beach destination on Haiti, as well as San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Kitts and Samana in the Dominican Republic. Seven-night Bahamas cruises call at Nassau, Port Canaveral and private island CocoCay. The Dec. 22 and Dec. 29 departures will celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Day, respectively, at Nassau, while the March 21, 2014, sailing will offer an eighth night at sea. In April 2014, Explorer of the Seas will offer a pair of five-night Bermuda and nine-night Bermuda and Caribbean itineraries. The shorter sailing features an overnight at Kings Wharf, while the longer itinerary calls at Kings Wharf, St. Maarten, San Juan and Labadee. Oceania’s New Riviera Offers Art Classes, Culinary Tours Oceania Cruises’ new Riviera, scheduled for a May 11 christening, will feature an array of enrichment opportunities. Artist Loft will feature artists-in-residence who will offer instruction on watercolor painting, needlepoint and more. Artists scheduled to sail include watercolorist Barbara Ashton and interiors and landscapes artist Nan Hass Feldman. Ashton will join Riviera’s Lisbon-to-Rome itinerary, Sept. 14 to 24. Feldman, a founder of the Danforth Museum of Art, will sail the 10-day “Mediterranean Tapestry” voyage, May 16 to 26. The Bon Appétit Culinary Center will cater to all culinary skill levels with new classes, such as Oceania Highlights, which features some favorite recipes from the line’s signature restaurants; Healthy Cooking, inspired by the line’s collaboration with Canyon Ranch; and Emerging Cuisines, focusing on Moroccan, Peruvian and Asian-fusion dishes. New one-hour classes include “Beyond Brie: the Innovative Cheeses” and “Favorite Pairings with Favorite Foods.” In addition to the onboard program, Riviera will debut Culinary Discovery Tours, which let guests explore local food markets in small groups with an expert chef. Tours to a produce or fish market, cheese maker, chocolatier or vineyard will incorporate mini-lectures, demonstrations or lunch before returning to the ship’s culinary center for a cooking class drawing inspiration from the local market. In Barcelona, where Riviera is being christened on May 11, guests will go on a Spanish olive oil tasting, shop at the Santa Caterina Market and finish the day with lunch at a tapas restaurant. New Carnival Breeze to Debut Sushi Restaurant, Outdoor BBQ Venue Carnival Cruise Lines’ new Carnival Breeze, which will enter service June 3, will feature two new restaurants—a full-service sushi restaurant called Bonsai Sushi and an open-air barbecue venue called Fat Jimmy’s C-Side BBQ. Located on Promenade Deck, Bonsai Sushi will offer sushi, sashimi and rolls along with bento boxes and an interpretation of a sushi boat—a “sushi ship”—with prices ranging in price from $1 for appetizer-sized portions to $15 for a “sushi ship” for two. It will have contemporary decor featuring artwork by graffiti artist Erni Vales, koi kites flown during impromptu celebrations, and several Bonsai trees. Fat Jimmy’s C-Side BBQ will offer complimentary open-air dining on Promenade Deck. The menue includes barbecued chicken breast, kielbasa, Italian sausage and pulled pork sandwiches, along with traditional sides like baked beans, potato salad, cole slaw and mini-corn muffins. Other eateries on Carnival Breeze include Fahrenheit 555, a classic American steakhouse with a surcharge; The Comfort Kitchen, a new venue in Lido Marketplace offering American-style comfort food; The Taste Bar, which will serve complimentary bite-size offerings; and, starting in November, Sea Dogs, a hot dog-shaped cart in the SportSquare outdoor recreation area. Thought for the Month - Three Parachutes Four people are in an airplane, the pilot, the smartest man in the world, the richest man in the world, and a teenager. The airplane experiences some difficulties, and the pilot informs the three passengers that the plane is going to crash, and there are only three parachutes on the plane. The richest man in the world takes one, because he says that his lawyers will sue everyone else on the plane if he doesn't survive. The smartest man in the world takes a parachute, because he thinks that the world would be a worse place without him. The pilot says to the teenager "There's only one parachute left, I'll fight you for it." "That won't be necessary," said the teenager, "The smartest man in the world took my backpack." Wishing you a great weekend Mary Engram, Your Personal Travel Consultant