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Five Reasons Why A Carnival Cruise May Very Well Be Your Best Cruise Vacation Value

Guests on board the new Carnival Magic try out SkyCourse, the first-ever ropes course at sea in which participants can traverse suspended cables with views 150 feet to the sea below. The course is part of an expansive outdoor recreation area on the ship called SportSquare. Photo by Andy Newman/Carnival Cruise Lines

Carnival Cruise Lines is the largest cruise line in the world, annually sailing more families, more seniors and more everything in-between than any other cruise line on the planet. One of a host of nicely differentiated Carnival Corporation brands, Carnival Cruise Lines recently positioned their latest effort, Carnival Sunshine at the port of New Orleans, adding a second ship sailing from the Big Easy. Right now, across the board, for any cruise traveler, a Carnival cruise is a best value vacation.

Coming Off A Round Of Negative Publicity

A while ago, it was as though Mr Bad Luck had Carnival’s number and was calling frequently. But from technical problems with Carnival vessels has come a comprehensive fleet review and implementation of what will be an industry-leading ship maintenance program that goes as far as pollution scrubbers that have environmentalists drooling.

Also coming off that round of negative publicity: fabulous fares. Don’t expect them to last forever but right now, Carnival has some of the lowest prices offered in recent memory.

A Diverse Fare Qualifying System

Carnival considers more factors that could result in a lower fare more frequently than any other cruise line. Already competitively priced, Carnival ship fares are fair with a high percentage of passengers rating their experience high and exceeding their expectations.

Almost always available:

  • Past Guests Almost Always Come Out Better– Carnival almost always has a deal for their VIFP (Very Important Fun Person) passengers that brings a lower price and the maximum in-category upgrade
  • Military Members Honored Year-Round- What other cruise lines offer from time to time to fill up ships, Carnival has all the time. Discounted rates for those who serve or have served are some of the lowest offered.
  • Highly- Discounted Third/Fourth guest rates- While all cruise lines discount third/fourth guests in a cabin, Carnival’s discount is more generous. Only Costa Cruises (where kids sail free) discounts more than Carnival.
  • Everyday Low Prices- Booking at the last minute, cruise travelers can find low rates on a number of lines. Looking at Carnival pricing, day in and day out, we find the lowest fares when looked at on a $ per person, per day view.

Got Kids? Carnival Has You Covered

Carnival Cruise Line’s award-winning youth program that includes branded age-appropriate experiences for different age groups continues to evolve. Camp Carnival offers tons of activities designed for children in three different age groups: 2 to 5 years, 6 to 8 years, and 9 to 11 years.

Hate Kids? Carnival Has You Covered

Adults only areas of the ship are quiet or have the sounds of others having fun masked by fountains, walls and location.

On The Verge Of Something Big

Coming up next month, Carnival will launch a new initiative, said to be a follow up to their re-defining Funship 2.0 initiative. Stay tuned on that. A big announcement coming up in December should tell the story and we’ll bring you that information as it happens.

MSC Divina Completes Maiden Voyage to Miami

MSC Divina Completes Maiden Voyage to Miam
MSC Divina

The MSC Divina has made cruise history this morning, when it was escorted into PortMiami by a fleet of high-powered FIAT personal watercraft. With today’s arrival, MSC Divina becomes the first MSC Cruises ship to sail year-round from North America.

With today’s show-stopping entrance, MSC Divina concludes her 18-night Atlantic Ocean crossing to Miami from Venice, Italy. During the voyage, a fabulous Rosso Brillante (metallic red) Fiat 500, or Cinquecento as it is known in Italy, was loaded onto the ship to accompany MSC Divina across the Atlantic.

“With MSC Divina’s debut, we are thrilled to welcome one of our finest and most innovative vessels to North America,” said Richard Sasso, President and CEO of MSC Cruises USA. “Today marks an important milestone for MSC Cruises as we continue to grow in this region, offering more destinations and appealing to wider audiences. We look forward to offering North American cruisers something new and fresh.”

“Like the MSC Divina today, the FIAT brand made a trip from Italy to America two years ago to bring Italian style, European technology and great value for money into this market,” said Olivier Francois, Chief Marketing Officer, Chrysler Group LLC and Head of FIAT Brand Worldwide. “We have been welcomed by the American customers and, as we expand our portfolio, we will continue to offer to them vehicles that are unique and that celebrate their individuality in true Italian style.”

MSC Divina guests will experience several new, exciting features. Two entirely unique dining venues created in partnership with Italian restaurant emporium Eataly in Manhattan, New York will include the upscale Ristorante Italia and spectacular regional steakhouse, Eataly Steakhouse, fashioned after the famed restaurant in Eataly’s Manhattan location. Eataly was founded by Oscar Farinetti in 2007 and launched in the U.S. in partnership with celebrity chefs Mario Batali and Lidia and Joe Bastianich.

MSC Divina will also be the first ship to offer Aqua Cycling at sea. Reported as this summer’s latest fitness craze by Extra TV and highlighted on Good Morning America, New York Times and Time Magazine, among other media, Aqua Cycling will allow MSC Divina guests to take spinning to new heights while cruising the Caribbean.

Unlike any other luxury onboard experience, MSC Divina will also feature the MSC Yacht Club for the first time in North America. Our unique “ship-within-a-ship” will now be available in the Caribbean for guests looking for unparalleled indulgence, luxury and comfort. From personal butler, 24-hour concierge service and complimentary select wines and spirits available any time of the day, guests booked in the MSC Yacht Club Suites are pampered throughout the MSC Yacht Club’s exclusive lounges and pool area. This oasis of premium tranquility provides several private venues, including Le Muse panoramic restaurant, Top Sail Lounge, pool and relaxation area as well as private access to the MSC Aurea Spa.

For more information about MSC Divina’s first season in the US and its unique new features and special offers, please visit www.msccruisesusa.com.

The Fiat 500 personal watercraft have made multiple appearances this year, including the iconic waterfront of San Francisco and Chicago, in addition to this summer’s Vans US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, California.

A review of Carnival Miracle in Alaska and Cruise News

Carnival Miracle

We talk to Nancy Schretter of the Family Travel Network. Nancy gives us her review of her 7 night sailing on the Carnival Miracle. Stewart Chiron joins us with cruise news.

Pre-Cruise Checklist Can Eliminate Headaches Later

Pre-Cruise Checklist
Pre-Cruise Checklist

Seasoned cruise travelers know that getting ready for an upcoming cruise vacation takes more than just packing and making sure they have the right travel documents. Those two things are important but becoming familiar with the ship, the ports of call and taking a good look at other elements of the cruise experience before boarding is just as critical.

Getting Ready Can Be Easy

Not to say passengers should make a job out of getting ready to cruise but taking advantage of resources provided by major cruise lines and travel agents before sailing can elevate a good vacation to trip-of-a-lifetime status easily.

Getting ready to sail on a Princess Cruises ship, we received a series of emails from the cruise line to help in the process. One of them asks and answers common questions with links to information about a variety of topics. Reminders, checklists, directions to the pier and more were found here, giving even the most experienced Princess passenger critical information. The thoughtful email even tells us what movies will be playing on board, invites us to join the Princess Book Club and more.

This is not something we will find in advertisements for the line, but paying attention to details like this series of pre-cruise emails that all passengers can have access to can add real value to our cruise experience…if we are aware of it.

This is just one reason why completing online registration with the cruise line as soon after booking as possible is important. Without our email address, none of this information would be available.

Cruise Boarding Pass Is Not Line Airline Boarding Pass

Often, booked guests on a number of lines look a pre-cruise registration much like printing a boarding pass for an airline flight, something to do at the last minute. As we can easily see, there is a whole lot more to be gained from registering early than the piece of paper that makes getting on the ship easier. That’s important too but the benefits of receiving pre-cruise information, only available via email, is staggering compared to not having it at all.

Cruise line websites too allow booked and registered guests to access a wealth of information on a number of lines. Carnival Cruise Lines has a similar program that features a countdown to cruise clock, updated every time we log on. Royal Caribbean‘s Pre-Cruise Planner allows much more than simply booking shore excursions and printing a boarding pass too.

It May Be Personal But It Needs To Be Correct

Aside from all these benefits, booked guests get to see their personal information as it appears on the cruise line records which may not always be the same as an invoice created by a travel agency. I can’t count the number of times when passengers have told me they did not realize that “Bobby’s” real name that appears on his passport, the document used to board the ship which must match cruise line records or boarding could be denied, is really “Robert”.

Meet Carnival Imagination’s Cruise Director Skip Lyons

We meet Skip Lyons, the Cruise Director of the Carnival Imagination in this in-depth interview. We learn about his life and work at sea. Skip offers us advice for having a great cruise vacation and much more.

Woman Reportedly Jumps From Cruise Ship

Ruby Princess
The beautiful Ruby Princess at sea.

A 54 year old woman reportedly jumped from the Grand Princess just northeast of Hawaii on Wednesday afternoon. According to a statement from Princess Cruises, the women was later seen intentionally jumping overboard on the ship’s video surveillance.

Once Princess Cruises had learned of the overboard, crew members from the Grand Princess contacted the US Coast Guard and the FBI. The Coast Guard arrived on scene shortly after and assisted the ship in a search and rescue operation. According to Princess, crews searched waters approximately 650 miles northeast of Hilo.

At this time, the women has not been discovered and is presumed dead.

The Grand Princess was three days into a 15 day round trip Hawaii sailing when the incident occurred.

Carnival Sunshine To Arrive In New Orleans This Week, Fun To Ensue

The amount of work it took to transform Carnival Destiny into Carnival Sunshine is evident to those who had sailed the ship in the past. Initially, they remember what was where before, but quickly those old memories fade, replaced by shiny new venues and features. That’s what past Carnival guests are likely to experience when Carnival Sunshine makes her way to New Orleans this week to sail a series of Caribbean cruises.

What was the aft pool area has been replaced with a water park. The mid-ship pool area hosts Guys Burger Joint, the dueling Red Frog Pub and Blue Iguana Cantina and serves as the nerve center for on deck activity. The forward teen make out deck is gone, replaced by an adults-only serenity area. Of the 25 branded elements of Carnival’s energizing Funship 2.0 initiative, 12 of them are on the top deck. Response from passengers has been so overwhelmingly positive that many are choosing not to go ashore.

We took a look at those venues last summer while Carnival Sunshine was docked in Marseilles with the French countryside as a backdrop.

Carnival Sunshine Waterworks

We begin with Waterworks, an on board water park that features five different slides, 40 interactive water features and a 150-gallon drenching bucket and more.

  • Splashzone – a kids water play area with slides just for kids and other kid-friendly features.
  • Speedway Splash– dual side-by-side, 235 foot water slides with special lighting effects where racers compete and times are displayed.
  • Twister Slide– At 335 feet long, the enclosed Twister slide is Carnival’s longest.
  • SportsSquare- is an outdoor recreation area with a full-sized basketball court, a two-level nine-hole mini-golf course, a jogging track, foosball, ping pong, pool tables and more. Also features SeaDogs, a hot dog-shaped cart within the SportSquare offering complimentary all-beef franks and traditional toppings.
  • SkyCourseis part of SportsSquare and a ropes course where guests strap into a safety harness and choose from a beginner or intermediate levels
  • Youth Program Headquarters – Camp Carnival (ages 2-11), Circle “C” (12-14) and Club O2 (15-17) are youth program venues located appropriately close to SportsSquare
  • Guy’s Burger Joint – moving mid-ship we have Guys Burger Joint, developed in tandem with Food Network Star Guy Fieri.
  • Blue Iguana Cantina – has authentic tacos and burritos that can be personalized by diners at a limitless salsa and toppings bar- Also a great place for breakfast with custom-made breakfast burritos
  • Red Frog Rum Bar is a poolside adaptation of the RedFrog Pub offering the refreshing Caribbean rum-based frozen drinks and beers including (personal favorite) Thirsty Frog Red.
  • Blue Iguana Tequila Bar is a poolside watering hole, directly across from the Red Frog Pub offering tequila-based frozen drinks and beers

What is Cruise Ship Etiquette?

woman cup girl faceless
Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

Contributor of USA Today and blogger for Porthole Cruise Magazine, Fran Golden, joins us with her recent article on cruise ship etiquette. This is a must listen for all cruisers!

Stewart Chiron, The Cruise Guy® stops by with Cruise News:

What is Cruise Ship Etiquette
Norwegian Getaway
  • Norwegian Getaway was floated out of the shipyard
  • Two ships are Florida bound from Europe, Carnival Sunshine and MSC Divina
  • Allure of the seas is experiencing some propulsion problems
  • Vision of the seas just emerged from dry dock
  • Norwegian Cruise Line released earnings