The Cruise Report With Cruise Specialists Cruise Reporter Ralph Grizzle

Local newspapers report that Oasis of the Seas will pass near Copenhagen at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Saturday night. And while the Avid Cruiser is excited about seeing the world’s largest cruise ship on its journey to Fort Lauderdale, an event of equal importance takes place the night before.

At precisely 8:59 p.m. Tuborg’s seasonal Christmas beer will be delivered by horse and carriage to Skovshoved Hotel, where I’ll be staying. For more about this delicious beverage, click on http://www.carlsberggroup.com/brands/Pages/Tuborgjulebryg.aspx  Read more... (130 words, 1 image, estimated 31 secs reading time)

As I turn 52 years old today, I take a moment to look back and where I’ve been and where I am headed.

“So do you have the best job in the world?” The question was asked by a waitress a few weeks ago in Toscana, the reservations-only restaurant on Oceania Cruises’ Regatta. I was there to photograph a few of the dishes, as I have done on many of the 200-plus cruises I’ve been on during the last two decades as a travel writer/photographer.

I always feel inclined to tell people that I am “on assignment” and not just some potentially weird guy traveling alone. It’s a strange introduction, I know, but I feel so privileged to do what I do for a living that I am almost embarrassed by it. Essentially, for the past 20 years, I have been paid to do something extraordinary: take vacations.  Read more... (515 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

I’ve taken my nearly 7-year-old twin boys on 20 cruises, the first when they were 9 months old, so I’ve learned the ropes from good old practical hands-on, trial-and-error experience. If you’re thinking about cruising with babies or toddlers, heed some advice from a mom who had lived to tell about it.

Make sure you know the minimum age for kids programming before you book a cruise. Many drop-off programs have a minimum-age of three; a few age one or two (Disney and Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas have drop-off programming for babies under one; three months and six months respectively).

Don’t assume your little ones will be happy about being dropped off at the nursery or playroom, if there’s too much crying, you’ll be asked to take them out. It’s never happened to me (what does that say?), but I’ve seen it happen often to other parents. Bummer to have to cancel a massage appointment or a wine tasting seminar, but it’s a possibility.  Read more... (592 words, 3 images, estimated 2:22 mins reading time)

The galleys of Silver Spirit will have their own show in Spirit’s show lounge. A new culinary programme to be introduced on Silver Spirit and extended fleetwide, “L’Ecole du Chef” will feature cooking classes and interactive workshops. One of the highlights of the programme will be “from the market to the plate,” where chefs take guests to the local market to buy ingredients then return to Silver Spirit to prepare the meal together.

Over dinner in Regatta’s main dining room, an impeccably dressed man at the end of the table says, “I gain ten pounds every contract, and lose eight when I go home.”

Meet Bruno Haag, the knowledgeable and affable concierge on Oceania’s Regatta. He has an adult lifetime of experience at sea: seven years with venerable Royal Viking Line, three years with Silversea, and six years and counting at Oceania, where it appears he has found a permanent home. (Swiss-born, Bruno’s terra-firma home is in Australia.)  Read more... (342 words, 1 image, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

For some passengers on Oceania Cruises, the favorite of four evening dining venues is the Terrace Cafe, especially when the ships overnight in destinations, such as Bordeaux, France (pictured in the background).  Read more... (93 words, 6 images, estimated 22 secs reading time)

With two new ships in the pipeline for 2011 and 2012, it makes perfect sense that Disney is expanding its horizons and cruising Alaska in 2011. This news comes on the heels of the announcement a few months back that the line is also heading back to the Med in summer 2010 and offering fist-time calls on Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Warnemunde, Germany, the gateway to Berlin and St. Petersburg, Russia.  Read more... (83 words, 1 image, estimated 20 secs reading time)

We all know how kid-friendly the mega ships are, but there are some smaller ships that deserve some credit too. For families that like taking the road less traveled, here are some atypical offerings from a handful of small-ship adventure and upscale lines.

Read more of Heidi Sarna’s report at our sister site, Family Cruise Advisor.

Peter Deilmann Cruises brought luxury river cruising into the 21st century, and now its successors are carrying the torch into the future, innovating and updating river cruise ships and services to create a modern, high-end travel experience.

European river cruising takes place in what is, at maximum, a 38-by-410-foot vessel, dimensions dictated by the locks and bridges the vessels must past through and under along Europe’s rivers.  Read more... (281 words, 1 image, estimated 1:07 mins reading time)

This week, we take a look back at some of old, but still relevant, stories. In this post, Miss Manners Speaks Her Mind, Politely, Of Course, On Travel And Cruises

She is the doyenne of decorum, the mistress of manners, a perfect lady – born, alas, to an imperfect society. For nearly a quarter of a century, she has championed the worthy cause of civility. She is Judith Martin, a.k.a. Miss Manners, and through her widely syndicated thrice-weekly newspaper column, she wisely counsels those grappling with issues of right and proper conduct in a civilized society.

As regular readers of the Miss Manners column well know, Martin is an earnest pupil of an earnest science, etiquette. Her intent is not to elevate herself socially – as is the aim of Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced “Bouquet”), the snobbish wannabe depicted by Patricia Routledge in the early 1990s BBC comedy series, “Keeping Up Appearances.” Martin’s altruistic mission is to gently prod society well within the realm of common courtesy.

Nor is hers the mindless doing of some elderly, chastising Victorian prude. After all, Martin began her Miss Manners column as a young woman in 1978, two years before her mid-centennial birthday. She is now 63 and as serious about her trade as ever. In conversation, she refers to her vocation as “the business of manners,” and begins the occasional sentence with the words, “In the manners business . . .” Clearly, this is more than a hobby.  Read more... (1540 words, estimated 6:10 mins reading time)