The Cruise Report With Cruise Specialists Cruise Reporter Ralph Grizzle

New York has nearly always been the final destination for European liners that began Transatlantic cruises in 1840. The city has seen ships bring waves of immigrants and scores of millionaires and movie stars. The Big Apple has welcomed the world’s greatest sailing ships, stately icons that symbolized a time of great glamour, elegance and tradition.  Read more... (208 words, 1 image, estimated 50 secs reading time)

Seabourn Odyssey, the new ultra-luxury ship from the Yachts of Seabourn, completed her sea trials last week, and she departed yesterday on her maiden 14-day voyage from Venice to Istanbul.

The first addition to the luxury market for quite some time, the Seabourn Odyssey promises to be quite an elegant experience, with accommodations, cuisine and entertainments to suit its upscale target audience.  Read more... (138 words, estimated 33 secs reading time)

The new Queen Elizabeth will make her maiden world cruise for Cunard in 2011. Cunard’s 2011 world cruises — on the Queen Elizabeth as well as the flagship Queen Mary 2 — go on sale next week, and Cunard is offering some significant early-booking incentives.  Read more... (271 words, estimated 1:05 mins reading time)

It appears that what you’ll pay for a cruise vacation has reached bottom and is slowly trending upward. The upshot: Book now for the best deals.

In a conference call to Wall Street analysts Carnival Corporation CEO Micky Arison said, “We have started tweaking pricing on a variety of brands.”

Read: Prices are increasing. However, some incredible deals are still to be found.  Read more... (199 words, estimated 48 secs reading time)

Most of us understand that you get what you pay for in life. If, for instance, you find something in the bargain bin, you are not entirely surprised if it doesn’t stand up to hard scrutiny or use. Well, times being what they are, we have had to readjust some of our thinking on the values that are now available in the luxury cruise market. We would never equate a vacation with Regent Seven Seas Cruises with a found item from the bargain bin, but we would say that the incentives that Regent is offering are some of the most attractive we’ve ever seen for a luxury cruise.  Read more... (537 words, 1 image, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)

While we probably won’t have the time to sign up for this particular global tour with Cruise West, we can’t help feeling a large twinge of envy for up to 120 lucky souls who will be departing with the Spirit of Oceanus from Singapore on March 6, 2010. What a wonderful trip it’s going to be: 242 ports, 59 countries, all part of a 335-day circumnavigation, returning to Singapore on Feb. 3, 2011.  Read more... (314 words, estimated 1:15 mins reading time)

Mid-Atlantic Ridge, March 28, 9 a.m. — My stateroom TV displays an icon of our ship on the Atlantic Ocean. Six days after leaving Miami, we have crossed the Mid-Atlantic Ridge en route to Funchal, capital of Portugal’s Madeira Islands, where we will make landfall nine days after departing south Florida.  Read more... (1355 words, 5 images, estimated 5:25 mins reading time)

Cruising clearly enjoys a strong and devoted following quite capable of recognizing a significant event. Cunard Line says it accepted reservations for all 2,000-plus berths in just 29 minutes on April 1 for the the October 2010 maiden voyage for the new Queen Elizabeth, easily making it the fastest-selling voyage in Cunard’s 170-year history.  Read more... (176 words, 1 image, estimated 42 secs reading time)

Yearning to turn back the clock to the Golden Age of Cruising? Turn it back on a transatlantic cruise.

It is a misty morning in May. Passengers cluster on the outside decks of the Queen Mary 2. Some sip cups of coffee; some stand clutching cameras; some just stand in awe. It is a memorable moment: They are coming to America by ship.

Six days earlier they left Southampton, a bustling harbor in southern England. Today, they will float past some of America’s greatest icons – the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Manhattan’s towering skyline. Within an hour, they will disembark a few blocks from Times Square, having completed a classic cruise – crossing the Atlantic.  Read more... (755 words, 2 images, estimated 3:01 mins reading time)

1. In 1840, Cunard Line’s R.M.S. Britannia became the first ship to take passengers on regularly scheduled transatlantic crossings. Today, the Queen Mary 2 continues Cunard’s tradition of Atlantic crossings.
2. Holland America Line’s first ship crossed the Atlantic in 1873, sailing in 15 days from Holland to New York. The Rotterdam carried eight first-class passengers and 128 in steerage.