Celebrity Cruises
No matter where you go in Alaska, you’re guaranteed to see sights you’ll see nowhere else in the United States.
But the way you see them – the vantage point and the experience – can vary greatly, depending largely on which type of ship you choose, particularly its size.
Alaska cruise ships range from small yachts that carry a dozen passengers to mega-ships capable of hauling 2,500 people or more. For many cruisers, the larger ships — operated by Carnival, Celebrity, Norwegian, Holland America, Princess, Disney, and Royal Caribbean cruise lines — have a lot to recommend. (Disney, by the way, is geared toward adults as well as kids.)
Averaging around 2,000 passengers, they’re geared toward satisfying a wide variety of tastes — visiting the most popular ports and serving up near-round-the-clock food and entertainment — and are loaded with abundant shipboard… Continue reading
At the “What’s New in the Cruising World” industry trade seminar at the New York Times Travel Show in Manhattan this weekend, representatives from six major mainstream and premium cruise lines talked up some innovations that cruisers can expect to find on their latest ships in 2014.
The six did their best to try to wow travel agents (and some from the media) and get them fired up to sell and promote the new cruise season, which should be of interest to many cruise-loving baby boomers — and to some new cruise converts as well.
The innovation that impressed me most was Royal Caribbean’s “virtual balcony,” coming to its Quantum of the Seas ship scheduled to debut later this year.
What’s a “virtual balcony?” Well,… Continue reading
No one — or almost no one — goes on a cruise expecting to lose weight. (A few specialty cruises do prepare diet or vegan meals intended to at least not add weight).
My friend Ed, a baby boomer who has struggled with a weight problem for years, has recently dropped 32 pounds through a strict diet averaging 1,300 calories a day supplemented by a vigorous walking routine. When I saw him a couple of months ago, I was impressed by his new look and his discipline at the dinner table.
He and his wife just got back from a Celebrity cruise in the Mediterranean that sorely tested his resolve, however. So I asked him how the diet went onboard, and here was his reply:
“The most difficult aspect of the trip for me was staying true to my year-old… Continue reading