The Navigator Cruise Blog

New Orleans cruising is back

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:08:00 +0000

Royal Caribbean just announced they'll launch wintertime Western Caribbean cruises aboard Voyager of the Seas from New Orleans starting in November 2011. With over 3,000 passengers, she's the largest vessel ever to sail out of New Orleans, and by joining Carnival Triumph and Norwegian Spirit there,...

Celebrity Eclipse gets back to England after volcano rescue mission

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 21:33:00 +0000

Celebrity's spanking-new Solstice-class vessel Eclipse enjoyed her delayed naming ceremony... once back at her homeport of Southampton, England, from Bilbao, Spain, after recovering 2,000 British tourists who had been stranded thanks to Iceland's very rude volcano. "We're proud of our tradition...

First female captain named for a British cruise ship

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:59:00 +0000

Sarah Breton, 45, has been named by P&O Cruises to be the first female captain of a cruise ship in Britain. In command of the 1,200-passenger Artemis, Captain Breton told The Telegraph, “Growing up near the water I always loved boats and the ocean, so it really does fulfill a lifelong...

"Gin and Titonic" ice cubes for your next party

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:00:00 +0000

We tend to find offensive things funny, and being in the cruise business we can't resist the opportunity to call your attention to an ice-cube tray that creates a sinking Titanic along with several icebergs. Gin and Titonic: the perfect way to keep your drink chilled, and conveniently available to...

Sixty injured when Carnival Ecstasy tips dodging submerged buoy

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:02:00 +0000

Carnival Ecstasy tipped by 12 degrees on Wednesday afternoon during evasive action to avoid a large, drifting, submerged buoy while on the way back to Galveston, causing 60 minor injuries. The buoy--being mostly or entirely under water--didn't show up on the ship's radar, forcing the sudden...

Cruise to avoid volcano nonsense rather than fly?

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:07:00 +0000

We had a rash of customers and friends calling with hopes of moving them by ship during the volcanic European air shutdown. Not surprisingly, Cunard told the New York Times they, too, were deluged with frustrated fliers since their Queen Mary 2 sails the last remaining regular trans-Atlantic...

Dept. of Transportation grows teeth, fines airlines for trapping passengers

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:49:00 +0000

If you travel to a cruise, you need to fly. If you fly, odds are good you've been inconvenienced by an airline. And the odds just went up a bit that when the airline really steps out of bounds, they'll have to pay. You undoubtedly recall one or more of the several episodes of truly bad airline...

Relive the 80s: Cruise with Rick Springfield

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:52:00 +0000

There's a theme cruise for everybody, including Rick Springfield fans. Remember Jessie's Girl? How about Waiting for a Girl Like You? Well, you can relive those highlights live and in person about the Rick Springfield & Friends Cruise aboard Carnival Destiny on November 12, 2009. Rick told...

Sully suggests airline add the easy-find tabs back into the emergency procedures manual

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:50:00 +0000

Did you know that, as a cost-cutting move, US Airways had removed the easy-find tabs from their emergency procedures manual? If you didn't catch Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger's interview with Jon Stewart last week, it's worth the time. The best part is at about 17:50 into the episode. Sully...

Gay cruise prods straight couple to sue cruise line

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:55:00 +0000

An Italian husband and wife are suing Grimaldi Lines for a refund, reports The Daily Mail, after finding themselves aboard "Italy's first all-homosexual cruise." It seems the unnamed couple booked the cruise direct with the cruise line, and were not informed of the theme for the 3-day trip from...

Daily Cruise Deal via Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:05:00 +0000

Customers have been asking us how to see last-minute price drops on cruises, so we're happy to introduce our Daily Cruise Deal feed in Twitter. One day, one killer cruise deal. Follow us! Every morning, we'll review over 30,000 departure dates from the major cruise lines and look for the ONE very...

Titanic-themed cruise, anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:10:00 +0000

Naturally the 100-year anniversary of the Titanic tragedy would be seen as a marketing opportunity, in this case to sell a "memorial cruise" sailing April 8, 2012 from Southampton, England. Is it just us, or is this cruise tempting fate? A British travel firm offers this "voyage of a lifetime"...

Details emerge in killing onboard Carnival Elation

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:35:00 +0000

Newly released court documents shed more light on the events leading up to the murder of Shirley McGill by her husband Robert onboard Carnival Elation in July. For one, Mr. McGill confessed repeatedly to both Carnival staff and the FBI, and for another, he was extremely drunk. Given the...

Hey dad, sorry about the dent in the ship

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:45:00 +0000

We thought it was bad to scratch the paint on the family car when we were kids. At least it wasn't a fender-bender involving two cruise ships. Carnival Legend, pulling out of Cozumel, hit Royal Caribbean's docked Enchantment of the Seas after being hit by a strong gust of wind. Nobody was...

United Breaks Guitars

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:42:00 +0000

Most of us have no choice but to get in an airplane to reach our vacation or cruise destination. No other option. Have you ever felt powerless in the face of terrible airline customer service? If so, then you'll enjoy the sweet revenge musician Dave Carroll has taken on United Airlines via a...

Costa Pacifica and Luminosa Dual Inaugural Tonight

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:21:00 +0000

Costa Cruises welcomes its two newest ships to the fleet during inaugural festivities in Genoa, Italy, tonight at 10 pm local time (4pm US eastern time). In fact, Costa reports that the dual christening, of Costa Luminosa and Costa Pacifica, represents a Guinness World Record. You might even be...

Royal Caribbean goes hip-hop; guests star in onboard Gotta Dance show

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:48:00 +0000

Putting guests in a hip-hop dance show!? We have to give Royal Caribbean credit. Ever since introducing their "Get Out There" tag line years ago, the cruise line has lived and breathed that brand essence, enabling adventurous guests to immerse themselves in out-of-the-box experiences during their...

Swine Flu hysteria ebbs; cruise lines returning to Mexico

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:25:00 +0000

As reason has gradually displaced the initial irrational hysteria about Swine Flu (yes, we know we're supposed to call it H1N1 Flu now, but choose not to), the cruise lines that had canceled their Mexico ports of call are now trickling back. To be fair to the cruise lines, they really had no...

New Norwegian Epic breaks sales records

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:20:00 +0000

Norwegian Cruise Line cheerfully announced that opening-week sales for its new Norwegian Epic--which sets sail mid-2010--broke all its previous records including those of its last two ships, Norwegian Pearl and Norwegian Gem. Epic represents a new class of ship for NCL, purpose-built with cool...

New passport rules now in effect to enter the US via land or sea

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:53:00 +0000

Finally! June 1st, 2009, marks the day when the final, much-delayed, phase of the new US passport requirements became effective. The short story is that US citizens traveling out of the country should now have a passport for re-admittance to the US from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean,...

Fuel surcharge intrigue continues

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:15:00 +0000

Back in November when Carnival Corporation announced the retroactive addition of fuel surcharges to existing bookings, we knew, first, that the rest of the industry would follow, and second, that there would be eventual pushback from customers or regulators. Nobody likes making a reservation,...

Carnival singer makes top 20 in America's Got Talent

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:55:00 +0000

The sometimes-maligned corps of professional cruise-ship entertainers got a boost from the success of Carnival vocalist Jason Pritchett at cracking the top twenty on hit TV show America's Got Talent. Pritchett, of Kansas City, Mo., performs lead male vocals during two production shows each week on...

Norwegian Majesty crew clean up Bermuda

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 17:38:00 +0000

Kudos to the crew of Norwegian Majesty, who were reported by the Bermuda Sun as having invested a day in picking up trash around the ship's port in St. George's, and planning to do so again regularly. Bermuda has a well-earned reputation for being immaculate, so no doubt this effort on the crew's...

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

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Sat, 19 May 2007 03:25:00 +0000

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...

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

noreply@blogger.com (Evan Eggers) — Sat, 19 May 2007 00:10:00 +0000

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...