The Cruise Report With Cruise Specialists Cruise Reporter Ralph Grizzle

From our series, Cruising The Holy Land: The Top 10 destinations for historical interest, lovely landscapes, super shopping, spectacular cities and village life experiences.

From our series, Cruising The Holy Land: The Top 10 destinations for historical interest, lovely landscapes, super shopping, spectacular cities and village life experiences.

Accessed from either Port Said or Alexandria, Cairo heads any must-see list simply because of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids of Giza, one of the world’s Seven Wonders. But the largest city in the Arab World has more to recommend it. With its many minarets, Cairo is a showcase for Islamic architecture, and the Egyptian capital, which dates to the 10^th century, has long been a center of the region’s political and cultural life.  Read more... (282 words, estimated 1:08 mins reading time)

From our series, Cruising The Holy Land: The Top 10 destinations for historical interest, lovely landscapes, super shopping, spectacular cities and village life experiences.

If you are familiar with the classic film Lawrence of Arabia, you may remember Aqaba as the destination of Lawrence’s first campaign across the desert. But for modern travelers, Aqaba is probably best known as a diving and beach resort, with gorgeous coral reefs, that provides access to the remarkable archeological sites at Petra and the Wadi Rum Desert.  Read more... (218 words, estimated 52 secs reading time)

The Top 10 destinations for historical interest, lovely landscapes, super shopping, spectacular cities and village life experiences.

The Middle East may not be at the top of everyone’s list of cruise destinations, and for those who want to loll about and sip drinks on a sandy beach, the Middle East would be a poor choice. It may have sand, and it’s certainly got plenty of sun, but this is not the place for Western-style sunbathing.  Read more... (268 words, estimated 1:04 mins reading time)

Who's responsible for obtaining visas and proper paperwork for your cruise?

We all like to think that if we, as Swedes, Americans, Italians or Germans, book a cruise, the travel agent or the cruise line we book with will let us know everything we need in order to get on the ship and into the destinations where we’re sailing.  Read more... (399 words, 1 image, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Avalon Waterways is removing its single supplement on select departures throughout Europe in 2010.

“We’re opening the door to savings for solo travelers on several river cruises and tours,” said Steve Born, vice president of marketing for the Globus family of brands, which owns Avalon. “Travelers going solo will not pay a single supplement for their own room.”  Read more... (207 words, estimated 50 secs reading time)

New Logo, New Tag Line PLUS Solstice-Class Perks on Millennium-Class Ships

Dressed in a layered dress comprised of linens from Celebrity’s AquaClass staterooms, a silver mannequin greeted guests entering a Celebrity Cruises “reveal” event in New York on Jan. 7. The mannequin was a design hint about what travel partners, Captain’s Club members and media would learn during the creative evening at the Museum of Arts & Design in Manhattan.

The big news? Celebrity debuted a snazzy new brand personality entitled “Designed for You,” as the umbrella for a new logo, new look and significant hardware and product upgrades..

Celebrity’s President and CEO Dan Hanrahan explained that the new brand platform — designed to appeal to “discerning” guests – is based on six month’s of global research including interviews, focus groups and in-home visits with 10,000 individuals. “Designed for You” is a brand recipe that combines Celebrity’s recent brand enhancements (Celebrity Life, new culinary options and Captain’s Club changes), a continuing commitment to guests and an upcoming schedule that will “Solsticize” the line’s Millennium-Class ships over the next four years.  Read more... (667 words, 1 image, estimated 2:40 mins reading time)

SeaDream Yacht Club docked alongside Oasis of the Seas

During the Christmas holidays, SeaDream Yacht Club President Bob Lepisto sailed with his family in the Caribbean and captured this photo, which shows one of the world’s smallest passenger vessels, SeaDream I, docked alongside the world’s largest, Oasis of the Seas.

We are at sea off the coast of Mexico, and expecting lots of rain when we get to San Pedro. Depending on where we tie up, getting our baggage to the Limo will be a soggy schlep.

This 16-day voyage aboard Odyssey has been a wonderful experience. What is interesting is, that on a high-end luxury cruise ship, the little quirks are magnified. Some of them are just not what is expected on such a splendid ship, but they happen. It is how, and if they are corrected, that is significant.  Read more... (667 words, 3 images, estimated 2:40 mins reading time)

I have watched Cabo grow, and grow, and grow from dirt streets to a hotel, condo, and mansion paradise. A once bare hill is now filling up,

but, even with growth, the entry to Cabo is unchangeable.

All cruise ships must anchor in the bay and tender passengers into the port area.

 Read more... (619 words, 15 images, estimated 2:29 mins reading time)