Monthly Archives: September 2013

Today’s Cruises – September 19, 2013

There are nine ships departing on new cruises today, including:

a 12-night Northern Europe cruise from Copenhagen on Norwegian Star – which is also the first piece of a 24-day Transatlantic cruise, as Star crosses the Atlantic to Miami after returning to Copenhagen 12 days from now;
Voyager of the Seas is starting a 6-night Asia cruise from Tianjin, China heading south to Korea;
Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas starts a 10-night cruise from Quebec City to Cape Liberty (Bayonne, New Jersey).

Looking six months and a year ahead: there are currently four cruises scheduled to depart on March 19, 2014 and 18 cruises scheduled for September 19, 2014.

Today’s Cruises – September 18, 2013

Another light Wednesday with only five cruises departing today, but that short list does include an interesting, exotic and lengthy 16-night cruise from Honolulu to Sydney on Rhapsody of the Seas, with visits to Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu. After arriving in Sydney, Rhapsody of the Seas will be spending the next six months bouncing around Australia and New Zealand.

Looking ahead: Two months from today you could be starting a 14-day Transatlantic voyage from Barcelona to Miami on Oceania’s Riviera!

Today’s Cruises – September 17, 2013

Tuesday’s are a light day for cruise departures, but there are still 8 cruises leaving port today, including a couple of interesting ones offered by Princess Cruises…

We don’t hear much about cruises originating from the port of San Francisco. Grand Princess (capacity: 2,602) starts today on a 10-day trip down the Pacific coast to Cabo San Lucas and the Mexican Riviera. Grand Princess will be making regular 15-night round trips from San Francisco to Hawaii from October 4th through the end of April 2014;
The much smaller (up to 670 guests) Ocean Princess is in the process of moving to the Pacific and leaves Civitavecchia (that’s the port nearest Rome) today on a 28-night cruise eastward on the Mediterranean, through the Suez Canal, across the Indian Ocean and culminating in Singapore. From October 15, 2013 through March 17, 2014, Ocean Princess will be sailing around the South Pacific with cruises originating in Papeete, Sydney and Honolulu.

Looking ahead: Four months from today you could be starting the new year with a real “Cruise of a Lifetime” as the luxury cruise ship Seven Seas Voyager departs from Auckland, New Zealand on a 136-night voyage that hits all the high spots in New Zealand, Australia, China, Vietnam, Thailand, India and the Mediterranean before arriving in Southampton, England.

Today’s Cruises – September 16, 2013

There are 21 cruise ships starting voyages today, September 16, 2013, including:

We’re near the end of the Alaska cruising season so it’s time for some ships to move to new home ports for the winter: Norwegian Sun leaves Vancouver today on a 23-day “repositioning cruise” to Miami, where it’ll spend the next six months making 10-night and 11-night Southern Caribbean cruises;
Perhaps the most interesting cruise departing today is ms Prinsendam’s 28-night cruise from Barcelona to Piraeus, with stops at ancient spots in the eastern Mediterranean like Igoumenitsa, Heraklion, Rhodes and Istanbul;
It’s Monday, so that means there are a bunch of 4- and 5-night cruises to the Bahamas departing from Charleston, Jacksonville, Port Canaveral and Miami.

Looking ahead: If you’d like to schedule a little break in the middle of the Holiday Season, there are 18 cruises scheduled to depart on Monday, December 16, 2013 – most of them getting you back home just in time for Christmas.

Today’s Cruises – September 15, 2013

There are 30 cruise ships starting cruises today, including departures from…

Fort Lauderdale: Allure of the Seas starts another of its never-ending series of 7-night Caribbean cruises;
Galveston: Carnival Magic is off on a 7-day cruise through the western Caribbean;
San Juan: You may not be aware that Carnival Valor spends its days making week-long cruises out of Puerto Rico;
Vancouver: ms Zaandam departs on a 4-day cruise from Vancouver to San Diego – the first leg of an 18-day cruise from Vancouver to Fort Lauderdale;
Amsterdam and Budapest: the Viking Tor and Viking Var start at opposite ends of a 14-night Grand European river tour, going from Amsterdam to Budapest (Tor) or Budapest to Amsterdam (Var).

Looking ahead: Six months until Tax Day in the U.S: Plan to celebrate with one of the 10 cruises scheduled for April 15, 2014 – maybe blow your refund on a 29-night cruise from San Diego to Tahiti?

Today’s Cruises – September 14, 2013

There are 35 ships setting forth on various cruise-type adventures today…

the longest cruise starting today is a 29-day marathon on Norwegian Jewel that starts in Seattle and ends in New Orleans – visiting Alaska, Vancouver, San Francisco, LA, Cabo, the Panama Canal and Cartagena – also sailing as a week-long Seattle to Alaska to Vancouver cruise;
it’s Saturday so that means lots of 7- and 8-day cruises starting, including trips to the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Alaska;
we’re at the beginning of “leaf peeping” season in North America, so the ms Veendam is starting a 7-day cruise from Quebec City to Boston – and back again, if you can take two weeks off.

Looking ahead: Only five months ’til Valentine’s Day, with 14 cruises scheduled for departure on February 14, 2014. 02/14/2014 is kind of interesting, numerology-wise.

Today’s Cruises – September 13, 2013

There are 13 cruises scheduled to sail today, including:

a 16-night round trip cruise from Southampton to Italy on Adventure of the Seas;
a 10-day voyage along the Pacific Coast on Celebrity Solstice, starting in Seattle and ending in Ensenada, Mexico;
a 14-night cruise through northern Europe from Stockholm to Southampton on Oceania’s Marina;
and four different 3-day mini-cruises to the Bahamas.

Tomorrow is Saturday and that means it’s a big day for cruise departures: 35 ships leaving on September 14th. Looking ahead a couple of months: 29 cruises on October 13th and 5 on November 13th.

Featured Ship: Seabourn Quest

Seabourn Quest is the newest ship in their fleet, having made its initial voyages in 2011. Like the other five Seabourn ships, a Quest cruise is a luxury experience – suites, more suites and nothing but suites. The room sizes range from 295 to 1,682 square feet so some suites are, well, sweeter than others. But all 225 have ocean views and most have verandas.

The top of the line accommodations are the five “Owner’s Suites” (up to 1,062 square feet) and four two-bedroom “Grand Suites” (up to 1,682 square feet). Although smaller (around 530 square feet), the 22 “Penthouse Suites” live up to their name and are located on Quest’s upper decks. Penthouse Spa Suites are located near “The Spa at Seabourn” – which claims to be the largest spa facility on any cruise ships.

Dining on Quest includes the indoor-outdoor cafe “The Colonnade”, the Patio Grill and two primary dining rooms known as The Restaurant and Restaurant 2. Bars and lounges include the Observation Bar, Sky Bar, Patio Bar and The Club. It wouldn’t be a cruise ship with an entertainment venue, called the “Grand Salon” on Quest, featuring lectures, cooking demonstrations and movies during the day plus dancing and live performances at night.

Seabourn guests can stay active in the top deck swimming pool, in the well-equipped fitness studio or the shuffleboard and putting green of “The Retreat”. When the water is warm, the captain has option of opening the “Marina”, an opportunity for guests to do some sailing, canoeing and swimming off the aft end of the ship.

TheCruiseNexus.com has a complete schedule of upcoming Seabourn Quest cruises, as well as the rest of the Seabourn fleet. Quest currently spends the northern hemisphere summer cruising the Mediterranean. The rest of the year is spent in the southern hemisphere (where, conveniently, it’s summer again) cruising around South America and making some exceedingly memorable 21-day cruises to Antarctica.