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MSC Favolosa delivered in June 2012

Three days after the MSC Magnifica flag ceremony at the STX Europe shipyard in Saint-Nazaire (France), MSC Cruises signed a letter of intent for the delivery of a new ship in June 2012, to join the eleven new vessels built in the last 7 years. Measuring 333.3m in length and 38m in beam, MSC Favolosa will have a total of 1751 cabins and will be able to travel at speeds ofup 23.7 knots. Thanks to award-winning naval architects De Jorio Design International the new addition to the Fantasia class, technically called V32, will herald a state-of-the-art concept in space management, which will...

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Princess Revives Nostalgic Cruising Tradition with New Bon Voyage Experience

Passengers Can Once Again Invite Friends and Family Aboard Ship On Embarkation Day SANTA CLARITA, Calif. -- Reviving a signature tradition from the early days of cruising, Princess Cruises is debuting an innovative, new program giving passengers the opportunity to invite their friends and family aboard their ship on embarkation day to wish them "bon voyage" and get a taste of the onboard experience. Called the "Bon Voyage ExperienceSM," the program is a new twist on the departure celebration of bygone days, when friends and family would routinely come aboard to see off pas...

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CRUISE PLANNERS DONATES $18,000 TO FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION

MIAMI , FL – Cruise Planners/American Express, the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the cruise industry, donated $18,000 to the Fisher House Foundation as part of its CP Cares initiative. The funds were collected at the company’s annual convention late last year through Cruise Planners t-shirt sales and a silent auction. “Cruise Planners has shown their commitment to improving the quality of life both locally and nationally by donating such an impressive gift,” said Mary Berrocal, director of the U.S. Department of Ve...

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The Insider - Cruise Planners e-Newsletter

      The newest edition of our Cruise Planners Insider Online Newsletter has just been posted to our website. This new Winter 2010 edition features stories on the new class of ships from Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Celebrity and current trendy traveler hot spots.  Check it out here!        

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Azamara Cruises Becomes "Azamara Club Cruises"

Azamara Cruises - the two-ship brand launched in 2007 with the 694-guest Azamara Journey and sister ship Azamara Quest - today became "Azamara Club Cruises," with a newly refined focus, and a series of new attributes designed for upmarket, experienced travelers."This isn't a strategy of going 'from good to great'," said Azamara Club Cruises President & CEO Larry Pimentel. "This is about taking an already great product and making it exceptional."Tapped to take the helm of Azamara Cruises in July of this year, Pimentel spent several weeks talking with travel agents, past guests and press ...

Posted on 11/12/09 in
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Families Loving the Love Boats in Alaska

For 2010, Princess Cruises has added a 12-night cruise-tour designed for families including features that are not usually part of the package. Participants will have the opportunity to travel on a jetboat, pan for gold, take an interactive tour of Denali National Park and experience what Alaska is like in the winter.The ‘Family Fun’ cruise-tour is offered at a 25% discount for all berths, so all members of the family are included in the special pricing.The program includes a seven-night ‘Voyage of the Glaciers’ sailing plus a five-night land tour featuring one nigh...

Posted on 2/11/09 in
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Royal Protection

Royal Caribbean International is reminding vacationers that they can enjoy the benefits of booking early and the peace of mind of receiving the best advertised prices with the line’s Best Price Guarantee program. By booking early, vacationers have access to a much wider selection of staterooms and availability on their desired departure date. If the guest then finds a lower fare advertised by Royal Caribbean for the same ship, sail-date and stateroom category, they can receive the difference in price as an onboard credit to spend on beverages, cocktails, spa services, specialty dini...

Posted on 14/10/09 in
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World's Largest Cruise Event

CORAL SPRINGS, FL, October 12, 2009/PRWeb – For the month of October 2009, Cruise Planners will join thousands of cruise-selling travel agents in World’s Largest Cruise Event, an exciting event designed to showcase the incredible choice, diversity and value of cruise vacations—an excellent chance to improve anyone’s CruisitudeSM. Travel agencies across North America will team up with 24 member lines of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) to provide consumers with information on cruise vacations and exceptional offers. If they choose, area residents can fi...

Posted on 12/10/09 in , , , , , , , ,
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Perking Along at Holland America

Holland America Line beefed up its loyalty club with the Mariner Society Rewards Program, providing on-board discounts while sailing, special rates on select cruises and reduced or free third and fourth rates when booking future cruises.Based on past cruises recorded as cruise days, members now get Star levels and automatically collect additional cruise day credits based on their on-board spending or by purchasing one of the line’s suite options.  The Star Mariner level gives a gift, special offers on select sailings, 50% discount for third and fourth passengers on select saili...

Posted on 12/10/09 in
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Ship Shape Shopping

Delivering the very best in overall guest experiences is the central motivator behind the design of Royal Caribbean International’s newest ship, Oasis of the Seas. When she debuts in December 2009, the most cutting-edge amenities and activities ever seen at sea will be complemented with a variety of retail venues – 13 stores, including open-air shopping that cover more than 10,000 square feet. With many products exclusive to Oasis, the shopping experience will be one of a kind in terms of both the items offered and the setting on the largest and most revolutionary cruise ...

Posted on 20/9/09 in
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Waves of Comedy

Cruise ships keep getting bigger and bigger these days and the additional space provides more opportunity to entertain in a variety of ways. Carnival has been famous for large scale comedy and revue shows and is now raising the bar higher on the new Carnival Dream. The ship will debut in September with a comedy club being featured in the new entertainment spot lineup. The 425-seat Burgundy lounge will feature six shows on four different nights per voyage. There will be both family-friendly and adult-only offerings in the club from a variety of comedians. The shows late at night will be l...

Posted on 11/9/09 in
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Royal Caribbean Cruisitude Sale

Royal Caribbean joined the Cruisitude movement. You should too!  We’ve teamed up with Royal Caribbean to deliver you an exclusive offer that is valid through August 15, 2009. This special promotion offers 50% reduced deposits and an onboard coupon booklet valued at up to $425, PLUS there are numerous combinable add-ons to choose from. These choices include free spa treatments, complimentary specialty dining, onboard credit of up to $200, dollars off, priority VIP-check in, Johnny Rockets meal vouchers, kids Soda cards, and more! Why not book now? There are many incredible ships ...

Posted on 7/8/09 in
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Pass the Ketchup

Dining options on Carnival Dream, debuting in September, range from a two-level casual eatery featuring a new Italian pasta station and a burrito bar to Ocean Plaza, an indoor/outdoor café and live music venue. In outlining the ship’s food selection, Carnival Cruise Lines emphasized that most choices are included in the fare. Exceptions are the reservations-recommended steak house and specialty coffees and select patisserie items. The two-level buffet restaurant’s new pasta bar gives a choice of noodles, sauce and ingredients, and the burrito bar will let diners c...

Posted on 28/7/09 in
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Amazing Views of the World’s Largest Cruise Ship

Royal Caribbean’s chairman, Richard Fain, has been a busy bee travelling back and forth from the Miami headquarters to the shipyard in Turku, Finland where the Oasis of the Seas is being fitted out.  And he brought his camera with him on this last trip to share some amazing photos of the ship as it nears completion.  You can see them all at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/royalcaribbeanintl/sets/72157621384522642/show/ Here are some comments on the photos  from the cruise industry trade group Seatrade Insider Newsletter: From bird’s-eye views of Central Park to a...

Posted on 21/7/09 in
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A Good Buy on a Lanai

What is a Lanai, anyway?  You have probably lived in an apartment or house that claimed to have one but never quite figured out the difference between a patio and lanai.  Well it would appear that they are one and the same.   So, why the buzz from Holland America about “lanai staterooms” being introduced on the Veendam?   Well, it’s due to the fact that oceangoing lanais are a rarity and Holland America seems to be cornering the market on them.  These staterooms offer direct access to the open decks.  It is funny how old things becom...

Posted on 10/7/09 in
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Back (up) to the Future

If you stand along the banks of the Ems river in Germany near the Papenburg shipyard you are bound to see an amazing sight.   A giant cruise ship going down the river - backwards!   Is this a prelude to a parallel parking test for the Captain’s driver’s license exam?  No, but it is certainly a huge challenge.  Like cars and trucks, the most efficient direction for a ship to move is forward.  However,  when ships are being built at Meyer Werft yard in Papenburg, the layout of the assembly buildings dictate that they enter the structure head...

Posted on 9/7/09 in
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Royal Caribbean MEGA SALE

UPDATE: OUR MEGA HAS ENDED, BUT THE FALL CARIBBEAN AND FALL EUROPE PROMOTIONS BELOW ARE VALID UNTIL JULY 24TH! Hey Royal Caribbean Fans, listen up!  We just announced an exciting and exclusive MEGA SALE.  To celebrate Cruise Planners 15th anniversary, we are picking up the tab for gratuities on all cruises booked from June 22 through June 29, 2009  July 1, 2009 that sail from July 1 to December 31, 2009.   And if that isn’t impressive enough, we’ve negotiated to have deposits reduced by 50%. FREE GRATUITIES AND REDUCED DEPOSITS!!!!! You can rese...

Posted on 20/6/09 in
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Things go better with . . . Pepsi?

No offense to our friends at Coke headquarters in Atlanta, but Pepsi loyalists have won another round in the battle of the brands.  Norwegian Cruise Lines recently announced that it was changing out its long standing exclusive use of Coca Cola products on its fleet of ships in favor of Pepsi and related brands.  To kick off the switch, NCL and Pepsi are celebrating summer by offering up to two complimentary soda packages per stateroom on any seven-night sailing or longer.  Guests who book a cruise on one of Norwegian Cruise Line’s 11 Freestyle Cruising ships through Oc...

Posted on 15/6/09 in
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A Celebrity Catches some Sun

Celebrity Equinox saw daylight for the first time Saturday, June 6th, during her official "docking out" from Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. The 1,425-guest ship is the second in Celebrity's widely heralded Solstice Class fleet.   Celebrity Equinox will sail from Papenburg down the River Ems June 19th or 20th, depending on the winds and tides, and following various provisioning activities, sea trials and inspections, will host a series of invitation-only special events for press, travel agents and consumers from Southampton, England, from July 23rd until enteri...

Posted on 13/6/09 in
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Location, Location, Location.

Important in business, real estate and even on cruise ships.  How can you make sure that you pick the best location in your chosen stateroom category?  A good answer for this question is to view the ship’s deck plans in the cruise line brochure or on the web.  While the plans are often not exactly to scale and cabin size is not always in proportion to the drawings there are a few things that are very helpful.  First, locate your cabin on the plan and then look up, down, left, right, and forward of your cabin.  What’s there?   And knowing what t...

Posted on 10/6/09 in
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