Tag Archives: cruise ships

Does It Pay To Show Your Loyalty To A Cruise Line?

Posted: June 13, 2022

Onboard Features, Tips and Advice,

Cruise Lines love when we show our loyalty, giving you incentives to continue to cruise with them as you climb the loyalty program ladder. From free internet and beverages to prior check-in and boarding, invitations to members-only cocktail receptions and  more.

We see it constantly on social media, people claiming that one cruise company is better than another.  I will say this only once, unless you on a cruise lines payroll. One of my favourite sayings is “Keep your options open, so that when the world surprises you, it won’t be that surprising”.

Yes its true, giving preference to one or two cruise lines over others.  But, why limit yourself to just one cruise line.  With that in mind, here are some whys and wherefores as to why you should keep your options open.

Call Into Different Ports

Discover Papua New Guinea and experience places rich in culture and history

Not every cruise line stops in the same ports.  If you only cruise on Royal Caribbean, you will miss great ports like Papua New Guinea.  On the other hand, if you only cruise on P&O Cruises, you will never visit Hawaii.

Each Cruise Line Shows Diversity

Enjoy your favourite cocktail served by robots in the Bionic Bar on Royal Caribbean

Has one cruise line totally mastered the dream cruise? No, but each cruise line collectively outdo each other in diverse regions.  By not putting all your eggs in one basket, you can experience different things and enjoy the musical performance on Carnival’s “Fun Ships”, keep your kids entertain on Disney, and enjoy your favourite cocktail served by robots in the Bionic Bar on Royal Caribbean.

No Two Cruise Lines Are The Same

Each cruise line offer different features that set them apart

Although cruise ships from different lines have a great deal of common with each other, they each offer different features that set them apart.  From the SVEDKA Ice Bar aboard the Norwegian Epic, The SVEDKA Ice Bar aboard the Norwegian Epic, has the only planetarium at sea onboard Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, and One of the highly advertised experience on Royal Caribbean’s Quantum Class observation capsule that takes passengers more than 300 feet above sea level for stunning views of the area around you.

Cuisines That Are Poles Apart

Animator’s Palate on the Disney Fantasy brings the magic of Disney animation into the dining room

While the majority of cruise lines offer traditional dining, “anytime or freestyle” has changed the way we dine at sea.  However, some cruise lines offer cuisines to keep the most fussiest eater coming back for more.

Each cruise line also offers different specialty restaurants, if it’s a child friendly environment then try Animator’s Palate onboard Disney, if the finest aged beef, cut, weighed and char-grilled to your exact specifications, double-cut lamb chops, lobster tail and grilled fish fillet is what wets your appetite then Nouveau Restaurant onboard Carnival is a must.

Variety in life keeps the world from being insipid.  There is nothing wrong if you prefer to only cruising on one cruise line.  But don’t be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.  Enjoy the variety that makes each cruise line unique, and keep on cruising.

Ever Wondered Why A Cruise Ship Is Referred To As Female?

Posted: May 2, 2022

Australia, Countries, Tips and Advice, ,

It is actually lost in history as to the reason why cruise ships are referred to as “she” or female.

While there are an abundance of interpretation’s, most give the idea to be hearsay, false or thought up after the fact as a tactic to make sense of the marvel. Cruise ships are a really fascinating when it comes to the English language, as they are amid the solitary nonliving objects that take a gendered pronoun, while most other objects are referred to as it. Countries are likewise known as she.

One conceivable notion is that cruise ships are for the most part given female names. It has also been assumed that all cruise ships were formerly dedicated to goddesses, and later to significant mortal women when belief in goddesses diminished. Fascinatingly, even though male captains historically credited the spirit of a benevolent female figure to their ships, actual women were reflected very bad luck at sea.

Because English is an Indo-European language, it is most likely that it once had grammatical gender and lost it, since it would be highly doubtful for all the other Indo-European languages with grammatical gender to have attained the feature autonomously instead of receiving it from a common background. Linguistic historians have suggested that proto-Indo-European, the putative “mother language” to all present Indo-European languages, originally had two genders: living and non-living. The non-living category later split into feminine and neuter, giving three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. As each language progressed, so did this structure, so that it has become different in each modern-day Indo-European language. For example, Germans refer to cruise ships as “he”.

Whether the fact that cruise ships are referred to as she is a resemblance to an ancient system of grammatical gender that has died out from English in all but a few occurrences, the marvel is one of the greatest thought-provoking irregularities in Modern English. In recent times, supporters of gender-neutral or non-sexist language have recommended that cruise ships be referred to as it, like any other lifeless object.

Vanuatu’s Mystery Island’s brand new tender pier opens

Posted: May 1, 2022

Countries, Press Release, , , , , ,

Mystery Island brand new tender pier was opened Wednesday by Vanuatu’s Acting Prime Minister, Joe

Iconic Mystery Island SIgn

The iconic sign

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] ‘Today is a very proud day for tourism in Vanuatu and we are extremely grateful to Royal Caribbean for their assistance in ensuring the continued success of cruise ship visits to our country,’ Natuman said.   [/pullquote]
[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] ‘Tourism is incredibly important to our economy and the well-being of our people,’ he said. ‘We are committed to working with Royal Caribbean to ensure we can continue to bring Australian, New Zealand and international guests to our beautiful country into the future.’    [/pullquote]

The new pier supplants an aged, smaller pier which has been recurrently impaired throughout cyclones and now guarantees that Mystery Island can carry on to accept cruise tourists year-round. 

The superior pier paves the way for more and more larger cruise ships and it shadows the earlier renovation of the cruise berth in Port Vila where Royal Caribbean supported the addition of four new bollards capable of berthing its Voyager Class ships, the largest cruise ships operating in the pacific.

In partnership with the Vanuatu government, Royal Caribbean has devoted more than A$4m in shipping infrastructure in Vanuatu over the past 12 months.

Adam Armstrong, Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand, said the investment in Mystery Island and Port Vila are the first of several potential infrastructure projects in the South Pacific islands where the company is investing significantly to ensure the region continues to benefit from cruise tourism as the size of ships increase and the number of passengers grows.

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] ‘Cruises to the South Pacific are the most popular itineraries for Australian travellers and Vanuatu is one of the highest rated destinations for our guests,’ Armstrong said.    [/pullquote]

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]‘Our investment solidifies Royal Caribbean’s long-term commitment to cruising in the South Pacific.’[/pullquote]

The Apple Isle Is Booming With Cruise Ships

Posted: April 13, 2022

Australia, Press Release, , , ,

Tasmania will have a significant boom next season with Hobart, Port Arthur, and Burnie profiting from the vast majority of increased visits.

Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff announced that the total of cruise ships visiting Tasmania would climb by 60 per cent to 94 cruise ships in season 2016-17.

Burnie, which will shortly have a new $1.5 million dock to provide accommodation for larger cruise ships, will see 19 ships dock next season compared to 11 over the past year.

Hobart welcomed 34 ships this summer with 47 planned to call into the city this forthcoming season.

At Port Arthur the number of cruise ships will increase from 10 to 22.

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “This is a good news story for all of Tasmania but particularly regional Tasmania,” Mr Rockliff said.   [/pullquote]

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “In the year just gone we welcomed 160,000 passengers and those passengers injected $30 million into the communities they visited.”   [/pullquote]

Cradle Coast Authority regional tourism manager Ian Waller said tourism operators needed to lift their game to ensure the high expectations of the thousands of visitors on board the ships were met.

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “I am heartened by the numbers and to see Burnie’s cruise ship schedule rebuilding back to where it was in the past when we greeted 23 ships in one year,” Mr Waller said.   [/pullquote]

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “Tasmania is at the top of the tourism tree at the moment. While cruise ships passengers do not put a demand on beds they do put demands on other infrastructure such as Cradle Mountain which needs to be enhanced to meet visitor expectations.   [/pullquote]

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“The tourism industry has the opportunity to step up and make sure we exceed those expectations. In some instances that is not happening right now.”[/pullquote]

 

Cunard To Make An Entrance In The Chinese Market

Posted: March 29, 2022

Countries, Press Release, , , ,

Cunard’s iconic flagship Queen Mary 2 will enter the Chinese market in 2017, commencing a seven-night roundtrip from Shanghai.

shanghai cruise port

The exterior of Wusongkou Cruise Terminal

Cunard said this marks the first time Cunard has a roundtrip from any Chinese cruise port. The seven-night roundtrip will start from Shanghai and call destinations in South Korea and Japan.

To catch the wave of travellers anticipated to sail out of China over the next few years, cruise lines are capitalising deeply in new and remodelled ships, and, in some circumstances, are repositioning their most contemporary and luxurious ships to China ports.

Shanghai is the most vital homeport for cruise ships in China, which controlled 320 homeport cruise calls and approximately 1.6 million homeport passenger trips in 2015.

Princess Cruises, the third largest cruise line in the world and part of Carnival Corporation & Plc, announced in February the expansion of its presence in China by launching a new homeport in Xiamen, this year, and debuting the cruise ship Majestic Princess that is specially tailored for the China market in 2017, with its homeport in Shanghai.