Tag: Cruising
Ben Bradlee Cruises “the Slot”
by Michael Yessis | 09.27.06 | 7:20 AM ET
This week’s New Yorker features a piece I’ve been looking forward to since March: Legendary newspaper editor Ben Bradlee’s story about taking a cruise in the waters of the Pacific where he served on a United States Navy destroyer in World War II. It’s a great read, with Bradlee weaving war remembrance in with travels.
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Yahoo! Buzz“Girls Gone Wild,” the Ocean Cruise?
by Jim Benning | 08.09.06 | 1:53 PM ET
As scary as that sounds, the idea is apparently being discussed. It’s mentioned, though only in passing, in a profile of the video company’s founder in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times Magazine. I can see the TV commercials now: Scantily clad women frolicking—I mean, “going wild”—in the ship’s pool to Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life.” Many rightfully thought that song was an awful choice for Royal Caribbean’s commercials (as one Slate reader put it: “Nothing says maritime comfort like a song about shooting up junk”). It would be perfect for “Girls Gone Wild” cruises: “Here comes Johnny Yen again / With the liquor and drugs / And a flesh machine / He’s gonna do another strip tease.”
Princess Cruises: Human Error Caused Listing Accident
by Jim Benning | 07.26.06 | 11:43 AM ET
As we noted here, the Crown Princess departing from Port Canaveral, Florida last week listed suddenly, injuring hundreds of passengers. On Monday, the cruise company published a letter apologizing for the accident: “[W]e can confirm that the incident was due to human error and the appropriate personnel changes have been made.”
The Crown Princess, The Norovirus and Titanic
by Michael Yessis | 07.20.06 | 11:12 AM ET
It’s been a tough week for cruisers. Almost two days after the crowded Crown Princess rolled 15-degrees to its left while sailing off the coast of Florida, the injury total has reached more than 200. All who were thrown out of swimming pools and onto railings were expected to recover, according to the Miami Herald. We’re also seeing the day-after rush of on-board video and reaction from passengers. Miami’s CBS affiliate has some good home video of the post-tilt aftermath. Kudos to the local anchor who kept a straight face when he ended the segment with the revelation that the scheduled movie aboard the Crown Princess the night of the accident was Titanic.
Freedom of the Seas: The New Biggest Cruise Ship
by Michael Yessis | 04.18.06 | 11:45 AM ET
The former biggest cruise ship, the Queen Mary 2, is six meters longer, but Royal Caribbean’s new 4,375-passenger capacity Freedom of the Seas is 15 meters wider, reports the BBC. As we mentioned a few months ago, this is the one with the FlowRider “surfing pool” on board, and it’s creating a stir in Hamburg on the eve of its maiden transatlantic voyage. Waiting in the wings to become the next new biggest ship, though, is a $1 billion cruise liner, which Royal Caribbean hopes will make its debut in 2009. After that, I imagine we’ll welcome the $2 billion cruise ship, a Delaware-sized vessel with a 32 screen multiplex, 17 Starbucks coffee outlets and a NASCAR oval.
South Florida: Home of the Major Cruise Ship Lines and the Lawyers Who Love Them
by Michael Yessis | 03.31.06 | 12:00 PM ET
The Miami Herald published a fascinating package of stories last week about attorneys who specialize in representing cruise ship passengers and crew members. According to the Herald’s Amy Martinez, about 15 South Florida lawyers have created a thriving cottage industry by suing the big cruise lines.
Bradlee Heading for “The Slot”
by Michael Yessis | 03.23.06 | 1:04 PM ET
We’re not usually in the business of teasing a travel story that hasn’t been written yet, but this looks like it will be a good one. According to Editor and Publisher, Ben Bradlee, the Washington Post editor who stood with Woodward and Bernstein during the Watergate saga, has been commissioned by the New Yorker to write a story about cruising with his son, Quinn, through the South Pacific waters where he fought during World War II.
Carnival Cruise Ship Rescues 28 Cuban Migrants
by Michael Yessis | 03.21.06 | 5:52 AM ET
According to the Houston Chronicle’s Cynthia Leonor Garza, the Cubans—25 men and three women—were found off the coast of Jamaica last Wednesday and brought on board Carnival’s Conquest cruise liner. The migrants, she writes, soon will be taken into custody on a U.S. Coast Guard boat so that immigration officials can interview the migrants and hear asylum claims. It’s the second time in a month that the Conquest has picked up Cuban migrants on the open seas.
Cruise Lines Release Crime Data
by Michael Yessis | 03.06.06 | 10:01 AM ET
Twenty-eight people disappeared from cruise ships during the past three years, and only five of them have been found, according to figures released last week by Holland America Lines, Royal Caribbean Cruises and other major cruise companies. The disclosure of these and other crime statistics on the high seas comes in advance of hearings Tuesday by a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee that’s looking into cruise ship safety. The hearings were triggered in part by the July 2005 disappearance of honeymooner George Allen Smith IV from the Royal Caribbean Line’s Brilliance of the Seas as it sailed the Mediterranean.
New Zealander Captures Eerie Image of Sunken Soviet Cruise Ship
by Michael Yessis | 02.27.06 | 6:06 AM ET
Ghostly, isn’t it? Ken Grange of New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research used an ultrasound device to capture this image of the ill-fated Soviet Union cruise liner the Mikhail Lermontov, which sank more than 20 years ago in New Zealand’s Marlborough Sounds. The ship was the largest cruise liner to sink since Titanic, and is now a popular dive spot as well as a magnet for conspiracy theorists who believe the ship may have been used as a spy vessel by the Soviets.
Queen Mary 2 Greets Queen Mary in Long Beach Harbor
by Michael Yessis | 02.23.06 | 7:13 PM ET
I just got back from watching the Queen Mary 2 float into Long Beach harbor where, for the first time, it saluted its namesake, the Queen Mary. I’d planned to drive downtown for an up-close view of the sister ships, but that was wishful thinking. I live a couple of miles away from the harbor, and the traffic was backed up as far as I could see.
Cruising: A “Kiss of Death” for Japanese Marriages?
by Michael Yessis | 02.23.06 | 12:51 PM ET
The divorce rate is on the rise in Japan, and some marriage counselors say long-term travel by recent retirees is part of the cause. According to a Reuters story, here’s the logic: Japanese men devote long hours to their jobs, essentially living apart from their families. When these “salarymen” retire they take celebratory cruises with their spouses, where, with a lot of time on their hands in a confined space, they find they barely know each other. Divorce ensues. Marriage counselors are calling the phenomenon “retired husband syndrome” and are prescribing day trips as a treatment.
It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s…a Flying Cruise Ship?
by Jim Benning | 02.14.06 | 12:59 PM ET
In fact, “a sort of flying Queen Mary 2” is how writer Joshua Tompkins describes the Aeroscraft, a wild-looking airship now being developed by a California company called Worldwide Aeros Corp. The airship, which would dwarf most airplanes, would transport vacationing travelers across oceans or nations as they live the good life and take in the sights below. According to the company’s owner, Igor Pasternak, a prototype is scheduled for completion in 2010.
Queen Mary 2, Meet Your Namesake
by Jim Benning | 02.08.06 | 1:36 PM ET
The Queen Mary 2 could use some good press after angry passengers threatened to stage a sit-in recently like anti-war protesters in the ‘60s. A little could come Feb. 23, when the Queen Mary 2 is scheduled to sail into the Port of Long Beach near Los Angeles and “greet” the original Queen Mary for the first time with a whistle salute. The event is being billed as “A Royal Rendezvous.” A Web site has details.
The $1 Billion Cruise Ship
by Jim Benning | 02.06.06 | 12:29 PM ET
Like passenger jets, cruise ships are getting bigger. Much bigger. The AP is reporting that Royal Caribbean International has ordered the construction of the world’s largest and most expensive cruise ship ever. When delivered in 2009, the ship is expected carry 5,400 passengers, which is 46 percent more than the current record holder, due out in April. It will be 1,181 feet long. According to Oslo-based Aker Yards ASA, which will build the ship, Project Genesis is “the most valuable ship ever ordered in the history of commercial shipbuilding.” USA Today has the details.
Jam Band Cruises: “You Won’t Have People Selling Grilled Cheeses to Get Money to Get on the Boat.”
by Michael Yessis | 02.03.06 | 12:35 AM ET
But music fans are still laying out gobs of cash to be able to scuba dive with String Cheese Incident and play bingo with the Disco Biscuits. In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Evan Serpick reports that musical cruises are a hot travel ticket.
Cunard Offers Queen Mary 2 Passengers a Full Refund*
by Jim Benning | 01.26.06 | 5:24 PM ET
If you’ve been following the story, you know that guests aboard the fabled luxury liner this week have been threatening a sit-in when the ship arrives in Rio to protest Cunard’s offer of a 50 percent refund after three port stops were cancelled. But reports CruiseCritic.com this afternoon: “Cunard has increased the original compensation offered to guests disembarking in Rio, which was a 50 percent refund. These guests now have two options: Receive a refund of full cruise fare including air, or take 50 percent of their refund in cash, plus another 75 percent as a future cruise credit for another Queen Mary 2 departure between now and the end of December 2007.”
World Hum’s Not-So-Exclusive Interview with a Defiant Queen Mary 2 Passenger
by Jim Benning | 01.24.06 | 9:18 PM ET
When we heard that passengers aboard the Queen Mary 2 were threatening to mutiny after propeller problems led to canceled port stops, we began linking to news reports. Then this afternoon, 61-year-old Brian Adler of Manchester, England posted a comment to our site—from the very wired QM2 itself. He wasn’t a happy cruiser. “The ship is very bumpy due to reduced employment of stabilisers to maintain speed so that the 1500 boarding at Rio will not be inconvenienced at all,” he wrote. “Many passengers have been seasick.” After exchanging e-mails with Adler, we dialed him up via satellite phone. (“Queen Mary 2,” a ship operator answered in a suprisingly chirpy British accent before patching us through to his cabin.) Adler spoke to us as the ship steamed toward Rio de Janeiro, where he is considering joining other passengers in staging a protest Friday before disembarking and returning home.
World Hum: Sorry to hear about the cruise.
Adler: It’s very sad, really, the way things have turned out. We just needed a bit of cooperation from Cunard and everything could have been sorted out.
Queen Mary 2 Mutiny Update: “They Say There Is Anarchy!”
by Michael Yessis | 01.24.06 | 5:34 AM ET
They’re still restless aboard the Queen Mary 2. BBC News has solicited feedback (scroll to bottom) from cruisers aboard the ship and others affected by the QM2’s problems, and at least one respondent has quite the inflated sense of the enormity of their plight.
Mutiny on the Queen Mary 2?
by Michael Yessis | 01.23.06 | 10:41 AM ET
The AP is reporting that some passengers cruising aboard the Queen Mary 2 are threatening to remain on the ship at its next port of call to protest a last-minute itinerary change.