Archive for October, 2008

The first cruise ships sail to Alaska in May and the last ones depart in September. And though the weather can be unpredictable during the months that mark the bookends of the Alaska cruise season, shoulder season is a good time to visit for a variety of reasons, according Tania Hancock, tourism sales manager with the Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau.  Read more... (549 words, 2 images, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

In a Finnish shipyard, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is building the world’s largest cruise ship. Capable of carrying more than 6,000 passengers, Oasis of the Seas will be 40 percent larger than the company’s Freedom-class vessels, which currently reign as world’s largest cruise ships. 

Royal Caribbean has repeatedly expressed confidence in its ability to build and operate ever larger ships — thanks in no small part to one man: Harri Kulovaara, the company’s executive vice president, maritime. 

“Yes,” Kulovaara chuckles, “maybe we do like building big ships. The purpose, however, is not just to build the biggest ships. The purpose is to build outstanding vessels that provide great facilities for our guests. And we need a lot of real estate for that. That’s the reason we’ve constantly been growing the size of our ships. We have a lot of good ideas that we want to incorporate in the ships.”

If you think Oasis may be too big, consider Royal Caribbean’s history.  Read more... (570 words, 1 image, estimated 2:17 mins reading time)

You’ll feel like you’ve paddled into paradise when cruising the Hawaiian islands.

Cruise ships weren’t the first vessels to bring ocean-going passengers to Hawaii. Outrigger canoes were. Polynesian settlers paddled to the islands more than 1,000 years ago. Their first glimpses of Hawaii revealed much of what cruise passengers today see: verdant volcanic peaks forming a backdrop to fertile valleys of sugar cane, thick groves of coconut palms and ocean as blue as Windex.  Read more... (158 words, 1 image, estimated 38 secs reading time)

Thirty years ago, a 21-year-old boy from North Carolina ventured all the way to Los Angeles and hopped a flight to Tahiti. What possessed him to pursue such a notion? Coconuts. I know, because that boy was me. Months before my journey, I had seen a photograph of one of the Tahitian isles — a island characterized by verdant volcanic peaks shrouded in wispy clouds, ocean as blue as Windex and thick groves of coconut palms. I wanted to be there, among the coconut groves, and so I charted a course for this picture-perfect paradise.  Read more... (769 words, 4 images, estimated 3:05 mins reading time)

Celebrity Cruises is gearing up for its biggest season ever in Europe. Five ships, including the new Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Equinox, will offer more itineraries in Europe than ever before for Celebrity Cruises.  Read more... (211 words, 2 images, estimated 51 secs reading time)

Where Tecate and tequila meet whales and cactus.

Fifteen nautical miles off the coast of Baja California, Holland America Line’s Oosterdam is making 21 knots toward San Diego. For the more than 1,800 passengers on board, seven days of ocean cruising ends tomorrow. The excitement on the last full day at sea, however, is as palpable as it has been on preceding days. Dolphin and whale sightings send spectators scurrying to the over-sized windows in Windstar Cafe, the ship’s coffee and pastry shop. Each time a whale blows its spray, a chorus of oohs and aahs competes against the steamy hiss of the espresso machine.  Read more... (306 words, estimated 1:13 mins reading time)

Is Norway’s dramatic coast more beautiful than Alaska’s?

From the top deck of Norwegian Coastal Voyage’s 464-passenger Nordkapp, the city of Bergen beckons. The picturesque waterfront is only a short distance away, and I am aching to explore. But poor planning on my part put me here too late. Our voyage to the north is about to begin, and for the next half hour, I can only watch as one of the world’s loveliest towns recedes into the distance.

Bergen is the departure port for the Nordkapp’s 12-day roundtrip cruises (one-way cruises also are available) to Kirkenes, near Norway’s border with Russia. The journey ahead will be unlike any I have ever experienced. Nordkapp will show me and my traveling companions some of the world’s most beautiful scenery; we will sail into breathtaking fjords, cross the Arctic Circle (twice), witness the Midnight Sun and call on the world’s northernmost town during our journey along Norway’s spectacular 1,250-mile west coast.  Read more... (1060 words, 8 images, estimated 4:14 mins reading time)