Liberty of the Seas first look report: surf's up!

We had the chance to sail onboard Royal Caribbean's brand-new Liberty of the Seas recently from the line's artfully named Cape Liberty Port in Bayonne, New Jersey. Like sister ship Freedom of the Seas, Liberty is a home run for the target "active adventure cruiser" market. Take a look at our brand-new Liberty of the Seas photos, and previous Freedom of the Seas photos, to see what we mean.

Freedom and Liberty are the world's two largest cruise ships, weighing in at 160,000 tons and carrying 3,400 passengers. An evolution of the line's successful Voyager-class vessels, Royal Caribbean uses the extra space made available on these behemoths for eye- and adrenaline-popping additions like surfing and boxing, plus a general upsizing of popular Voyager-class features like the rock climbing wall, "main street" Royal Promenade, and ice skating rink.

Surely the catchiest feature remains the Flowrider surfing machine, surrounded by stadium seating for the less adventurous, on which intrepid guests can either bodyboard or stand-up surf.

Lest you think bodyboarding sounds less exciting, wait to pass judgement until you've mastered executing a barrel roll, 360-degree spin, or bodyboarding while standing on your head--all skills the staff there will be happy to demonstrate and teach. Speaking of whom, we tip our hats to the staff manning this attraction, who bend over backwards to make even raw beginners feel welcome and have fun while they learn. The fancy surfing hardware is not what makes the attraction a huge success--rather it's the terrific Royal Caribbean employees working there.

Liberty and Freedom now sail Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries from Miami. Contact us to book and for free bonuses with each booking.

We could go on and on about Liberty of the Seas, but a picture is worth a thousand words so check out our Liberty photos!

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More details trickle out on Empress of the North grounding in Alaska

The NTSB has released a few more details about the May 14 grounding incident involving sternwheeler Empress of the North, a riverboat operated by Majestic America Line. The crew was apparently trying to complete a turn, and failed, when the boat "raked across a rocky shoal" although still no word on why the turn failed.

After hitting the Rocky Island shoal about 25 miles southwest of Juneau, the boat drifted for two miles and came to rest on a reef, where the approximately 200 passengers, and many of the 75 crew members, were safely evacuated. The dual-hulled vessel's outer hull was badly damaged in the incident.

Empress of the North has since been towed to a dock for further analysis.

The next step for the NTSB is to analyze the ship's voyage data recorder, similar to an airplane's "black box," which hopefully will fill in the blanks as to precisely why this accident occurred.

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NCL decision to move Pride of Hawaii to Europe justified by larger Q1 loss

Norwegian Cruise Line just announced a wider first-quarter loss, $60.8 million versus $28.8 million a year earlier, that completes the picture surrounding the line's April decision to move Pride of Hawaii away from the islands and to the Mediterranean. At that time, NCL acknowledged the cause to be "downward pricing pressure in the Hawaii cruise market" caused by NCL's own capacity surge and new Hawaii competition from other lines sailing from the US west coast.

It is now surely a cruise buyer's market for those looking to sail to Hawaii, the Caribbean, and even Alaska to come extent.

Along with NCL's Pride of America and Pride of Aloha, Pride of Hawaii is one of only three vessels allowed to sail inter-island Hawaii cruises due to being US-flagged, whereas everyone else's foreign-flagged vessels must call at an inconvenient foreign port somewhere on their Hawaiian itineraries due to US federal laws.

In search of better pricing, Pride of Hawaii will be pulled out of service in February 2008, renamed Norwegian Jade, repainted, and switched into Mediterranean cruise service as part of the regular Norwegian fleet.

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Celebrity gives birth to Azamara, a new "deluxe" cruise line

It's rare for an existing cruise line to split itself in two, but that's exactly what Celebrity Cruises has done with its introduction of "deluxe" cruise line Azamara Cruises. "Azamara" is word invented for the occasion, from Romance language roots blue ("aza"), and the sea ("mar").

The new upscale cruise line will sail with two of the extremely popular midsize 700-passenger R-Class ships originally built for now-defunct Renaissance Cruises. One of these vessels, Azamara Journey, had been sailing already as Celebrity Journey and launched the Azamara brand in a re-inaugural voyage May 5. The sister ship, Azamara Quest, comes online in October.

Celebrity has emphasized that the Azamara brand stakes out a new "deluxe" territory between "premium" and "luxury" cruising. However, we would argue that the very successful Oceania Cruises, which has sailed with R-Class vessels since its inception in 2002, had already carved out this same niche.

Azamara Cruises President Dan Hanrahan, who also is president of Celebrity, said "Azamara Cruises is expressly designed for travel enthusiasts who appreciate what a cruise vacation has to offer, but are looking for something a little different, and a little more special. And what's special about Azamara Cruises is its distinctive combination of impeccable service, exceptional cuisine and off-the-beaten-path destinations, with truly immersive excursions."

Journey and Quest offer butler service in every stateroom and suite, as well as concierge-style amenities, including fresh-cut flowers, fresh fruit, Elemis toiletries, complimentary use of Frette cotton robes, two complimentary pairs of slippers, plasma TVs and plush European bedding.

The premium cruise lines like Celebrity have struggled for years to convince guests to pay a premium price over their "non-premium" competitors, so from the perspective of Wall Street, an effort like this one to deliver clearly enhanced benefits with separate branding, and command a higher per-diem price, will be most welcome.

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Silversea offers MiG-31 flights in Russia

Every guy dreams of piloting a fighter jet at one time or another. Well, that dream plus $29,815 will have you taking the controls of a MiG-31 Foxhound, Russia's most advanced interceptor, as part of a wild shore excursion announced by Silversea on select Baltic cruises this summer.

Silversea guests will have the chance to experience the incredible thrill of flying near the stratospheric border at 700 miles per hour as part of the new optional three-day overland tour offered from St. Petersburg, Russia.

While the adventure begins in Moscow, the actual jet flight takes place several hours away in the historic Russian town of Nizhny Novgorod.

"We tailor our shore excursions to fit a broad range of interests and our new MiG jet tour is obviously designed for the ultimate thrill-seeker," said Jim Droney, Silversea's director of land programs. "It definitely falls in the category of extreme adventures -- the kind that well-heeled, 'been there, done that' world travelers like to collect and brag about."

The new three-day, two-night "MiG-31 Foxhound" optional overland tour includes a business-class flight to Moscow, where guests have a chance to explore many of the city's highlights, including Red Square, the Kremlin and its cathedral, and the Metro, before enjoying dinner at the famous Writers' Club. The tour continues on a business-class flight to Nizhny Novgorod, where guests are accommodated for the night at a local hotel.

On the second day, guests journey to the airfield for flight training where they are issued a special flight suit that is theirs to keep as a trophy souvenir to show friends and family back home. After training, each participant boards a MiG-31 for an exhilarating one-hour flight, climbing to an altitude of 80,000 feet -- the edge of the stratospheric border. An English-speaking test pilot will assist in letting the novice pilot take the reins and perform basic maneuvers. The entire flight and ground preparations are filmed and presented to the guest. The tour concludes in the evening when guests board an express train for St. Petersburg, enjoying the cocooned luxury of a first-class sleeper cabin as they journey back to their Silversea ship.

The MiG tour is available on eight voyages this summer featuring three-day, two-night stopovers in St. Petersburg. Options include a series of seven-day cruises aboard Silver Shadow with departures from Copenhagen and Stockholm, and Silver Wind offers a ten-day voyage from London to Stockholm. Early Booking Incentive fares start at $4,925 per person, based on double occupancy.

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New Carnival beverage policy prohbits bringing onboard... a bottle of water?

Carnival has updated its policy, that till now had reasonably restricted bringing outside booze onboard, to oddly prevent bringing any non-alcoholic beverages onboard. A Carnival spokesperson declined to elaborate to us on the rationale behind the change, beyond saying that "there were some abuses of the previous policy." Now we can understand maybe preventing somebody from rolling up with, say, ten cases of soda. But even a single bottle of water?

That's right, the policy says that absolutely any soda, water, or any other drink, will be discarded without compensation if you try to bring it on a Carnival ship. The only exception is that you can bring aboard a single bottle of wine or champagne at initial embarkation.

This certainly smells like an onboard-revenue-protection plan more than anything else. Without knowing specifically what "abuses" have prompted this new policy, the plan is hard to fathom. If people were stockpiling soda and selling it onboard... then by all means Carnival should prevent it. But the draconian restrictions sure seem like using a chainsaw to cut butter!

Here's the actual text of the new policy:

• Guests are prohibited from bringing alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages onboard. However, guests (21 years and older only) may bring one bottle of wine or champagne per person on board only during embarkation at the beginning of the cruise. A $10 corkage fee per bottle will be charged should you wish to consume this wine in the dining room or a $14 corkage fee per bottle in the Supper Club.
  
  
• Any additional quantity of wine/champagne or any alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages will be confiscated and discarded without compensation. Guests may purchase a variety of beverages on board the ship. Alcoholic beverages will not be sold or served to anyone under the age of 21. We reserve the right to refuse the sale of alcoholic beverages to anyone. Alcoholic beverages purchased in the ship's gift shops or in ports of call will be retained by Carnival until the end of the voyage.

UPDATE: After a mere three weeks Carnival has rescinded the new policy as it pertains to non-alcoholic beverages... once again passengers can bring aboard non-alcoholic drinks like water and soda in "reasonable quantities."

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Wii comes onboard Norwegian in new partnership with Nintendo

Have you heard about the video game consoles where players get so involved and active that cracked TVs have resulted? Well, Norwegian Cruise Line announced that shortly all of its vessels will feature these addictive Nintendo Wii (pronounced "whee") games, displayed on huge screens in public areas, making them a good time for players and spectators alike.

The Wii has received a ton of news coverage lately as a triumph of great design over glitzy technology. While the expensive and feature-laden Sony PS3 was expected to be the new must-have gamer's toy, instead the technologically simpler and cheaper Wii seems to be triumphing thanks to its unique controllers that encourage players to take their best tennis, golf or baseball swing, or boxing punches and bowling moves.

And with all this swinging, that's how some folks have broken vases or TVs in their living rooms. Presumably Norwegian will position the games far from anything breakable.

"With its active, engaging and inviting game experiences appealing to every age from kids to parents to grandparents, the Wii is a natural fit for Freestyle Cruising," said Colin Veitch, NCL’s president and CEO. "Cheering, yelling and high-fives will be highly encouraged."

On each ship, Wii systems will be in the atrium and other public rooms allowing guests to gather and play against each other while viewing the game on large video screens. Each ship's Kid's Crew facility will also feature two Wii kiosks for kids-only fun. The ships will also host tournaments and other activities around the games.

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How to fall overboard from a cruise ship

Mainstream media has been agog the past few weeks about two bizarre man-overboard incidents, with some breathless coverage insinuating that taking a wrong turn on the way to dinner could land you in the drink. But in fact, getting over high cruise-ship railings takes work, frequently in combination with booze and imprudence.

The first of these oddball cases involved Michael Mankamyer, 35, who, following a an argument with his godson onboard Carnival Glory March 16, decided in an apparent fit of pique to disembark via a flying leap off a 60-foot-high ship’s balcony 30 miles from the coast of Florida.

Mankamyer turned up on Good Morning America last week and said he had been "ready to let loose and party," combined unspecified medicine and lots of alcohol, and didn't remember going overboard. Once in the water, he said he looked for dolphins to save him, but instead needed to wait eight hours, after drifting 20 miles, for the Coast Guard cutter Chandeleur. A Coast Guard helicopter dropped a rescue swimmer to assist Mankamyer into a basket for hoisting into the chopper. This guy should be playing the lottery with luck like that.

Wondering how the Coast Guard stumbled across this needle in a haystack 20 miles from the jump site? The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that a new computer system called SAROPS helped the Coast Guard successfully predict where the winds and tides had taken Mankamyer to narrow their search.

Some wags have theorized that Mankamyer, not a skinny guy, was protected from hypothermia, and helped to float, by his girth.

The second incident unfolded last weekend when a 22-year-old man and 20-year-old woman went over a Grand Princess balcony railing 150 miles off Galveston, Texas, in circumstances they've asked Princess not to publicize. The pair, who reportedly didn't know each other prior to the cruise, were fished out of the water naked over four hours later by the ship's rescue craft. After onboard medical treatment, the man continued on with his cruise, but the woman decided to cut her vacation short at the next port of call.

The happy endings of these cases are a testament to the sophisticated man-overboard procedures followed by cruise lines, and the search-and-rescue techniques implemented by the Coast Guard.

Meanwhile, what should somebody considering a cruise take away from all this ridiculousness? The answer is simple. Treat railings on a ship with the same care as a hotel balcony, and don't goof around near them. Maybe consider not overindulging in booze... or stay inside if you do. It takes work to fall overboard.

In the unlikely event you see somebody go overboard while on a cruise ship, notify a crew member or dial the emergency phone number noted on every phone so the bridge officers can mark the location, and toss some lifejackets or liferings overboard, since they dramatically increase an individual's visibility in the water.

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