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To cruise hurricane season, or not seems to be a hot topic when summer is right around the corner. With hurricane season starting in June and running through November, people are always asking certain questions, like is it safe to cruise hurricane season? My answer to that is yes it is. Here are the top 4 reasons to cruise hurricane season this year.

1. Reduced Pricing – Cruise lines will reduce pricing during this time to entice people to fill the ships and go on vacation. Prices can hit all-time lows with up to 20 or 30 percent off. You will want to watch these prices very carefully on the cruise line you are interested in, as cabins will get booked quickly.

2. Special Amenities – Cruise lines will try to coax people to buy with an extra amenity while they are on the ship. This could be a shipboard credit, free dinner or coupon booklet to use at restaurants and shops on the ship. A lot of times these special amenities will be better acquired through a travel agency, since the cruise companies will work directly with them on special promotions.

Great discounts can be found if you cruise hurricane season.

3. Cruise Ship is Always Moving– If you book a land vacation down in the Caribbean and a hurricane hits, you will probably have to cancel the trip. If you do cruise hurricane season the ship is moving everyday to keep you out of reach of the hurricane. The Captain does not want to put in you harms way, so they will navigate the ship to safe areas. You probably won’t even realize that there is a hurricane going on while you are down there.

4. Fewer Crowds – For some reason certain people won’t cruise hurricane season. This is excellent for you! There will be fewer crowds in the ports that you visit. If you have ever been on a cruise before, then you know this can be a good thing. You will have quicker trips into town and entering/exiting the ship will be much easier too.

These are just a few things to keep in mind if you want to cruise hurricane season. They can be extremely beneficial for you, if you are looking for an affordable getaway to the Caribbean.

Here is a list of other important things to remember if you cruise hurricane season:

• Never under estimate travel flight times or potential delays. Get to your embarkation port a day early. This will ensure that you are there and ready to board when you need to.
• If your cruise schedule is altered and you have to stay an extra day at sea instead of going into port, most of the time you will receive the port fees refunded to you. This usually occurs in a shipboard credit to spend how you want.
• Always have your passport and a photo of it. This will allow you to board the ship and the picture will be a useful backup in some of the ports you visit.
• Travel insurance is key to have, especially if you cruise hurricane season. In case there is a cancellation or injury on board, it is easier to deal with the insurance company then the cruise line directly.
• You should be flexible with your cruise vacation during this time. If the storm changes direction, the ship will adjust accordingly possibly missing a port or exchanging one out for another.

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Sapphire Princess recently had an intense three-week renovation. This makeover will bring a well-needed face-lift to the Sapphire Princess adding some new sensational features and amenities.

Passengers can enjoy a brand new Piazza atrium with an International Café and Vines Wine bar, along with the new Alfredo’s Pizzeria during its current sailing to Hawaii.  If you are looking for more fun aboard the vessel, look no further than the large Movies Under the Stars screen. If you are looking for something more in the “adult” category, then venture down to the Pocket of Tranquility, which is an adult-only Sanctuary.

Sapphire Princess

Princess Cruises Executive Vice President, Jan Swartz was interviewed about the new improvements to the Sapphire Princess. “Making these changes to Sapphire Princess was an important step to ensure that our signature shipboard features can be found wherever our passengers want to sail.”

Want to see more in depth views of the renovation process? Look no further than Princess Cruises Flickr page. You will be able to see the transformation single handedly.

When you venture onto the Sapphire Princess next time, be sure to look at the many changes that took place. For reference here are the changes that took place:

Piazza Atrium – The atrium on board the ship was redesigned to encapsulate the full essence of a Princess cruise. The European-inspired section of the vessel has many light meals and quick delectable bites of food to satisfy any hunger you might have. On top of food and beverages, shopping, entertainment and guest services are available. Inside the Piazza is the International Café. You can get fresh salads, Panini sandwiches, cookies freshly baked or a multitude of drinks at any moments notice. The new Vines wine bar is also featured in this area and should not be taken lightly with their selection of spirits. There is a selection of 30 wines by the glass along with sushi and tapas. If you do find the wine of your dreams, then you may purchase it from the wine shop and enjoy it later in your cabin.

Alfredo’s Pizzeria – Expanding from its first location aboard Grand Princess, Alfredo’s has found a perfect fit on board Sapphire Princess to serve a mouthwatering meal while at sea. The menu can’t be described with its over abundance of options of individual-sized pizza that are hand stretched and freshly prepared just for you! Alfredo’s Pizzeria, named after the cruise lines master executive chef, Alfredo Marzi dose more than just feed you. It also has features an open kitchen where you see all the action in making a fresh pizza-pie with your own eyes.

Movies Under the Stars – Looking for a nice enjoyable evening with family or friends? Then take in a film poolside aboard Sapphire Princess. The giant movie screen sits poolside and showcases the finest entertainment in feature films, awards shows, sports events and concerts. Enjoy this memorable moment while comfortably laying on one of the ship’s many padded loungers wrapped up in a cozy, fleece blanket. On top of these amazing shows are complimentary treats and popcorn.

The Sanctuary – A tranquil retreat for adults is exactly what Sapphire Princess needed to secure its place in cruising comfort. One of the most peaceful locations on board, many enthusiastic passengers can’t resist to try it for themselves. With Serenity Stewards attending to the passengers every need, giving them the most enhanced and enjoyable comfort with refreshing snacks and beverages. Along with a pre-loaded MP3 player and an Evian atomizer emitting a cooling mist, passengers are sure to see the hours melt by day after day.

The Sanctuary

Other areas aboard the vessel that were renovated included the Internet Café, Library, Art Gallery and the Photo-Video Gallery. Along with that new carpet, upholstery and tile work were added all around the ship. Also, all staterooms now feature a new flat-screen television to help you unwind after a long day of shore excursions.

Sapphire Princess is re-releasing itself to the public with an exotic 14-day Hawaiian Island cruise, sailing February 4^th roundtrip from Los Angeles. This will be only the first of many more comfortable journeys the Sapphire Princess will take with her new accommodations.

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Why do I need travel insurance?

Why do I need travel insurance is something that is asked a lot when going on a cruise.  There are so many different elements that can come into play before you leave for vacation, or while on it.

People like to have the assurance that if something does go wrong they will have that support from the travel insurance provider that they have picked.

While it is your option to get travel insurance, just remember that you are spending a lot of money on a cruise and it might be better to have the coverage than not to have it.

What does travel insurance cover?

Before making your decision on whether or not to get travel insurance, below are some areas that it will cover while on your cruise vacation.

Medical Expenses – When you least expect it you could injure yourself onboard the cruise line or while exploring the ports.  This is the perfect situation for travel insurance.  You will receive treatment with little to no costs to you.  If you are in a country where you have to pay upfront at the hospital, your travel insurance provider will reimburse you for it.

Trip Cancellation – If anything happens to you or your cruising companion before the cruise sails, you will be able to cancel the cruise without an excessive penalty from the cruise line.  This will insure that you won’t lose out on the value of your trip, since nobody wants to pay for a vacation and not be able to go on it.

Baggage Delay/Baggage Loss– If you get off the plane and your bags aren’t there, don’t fear.  With travel insurance they will have your bags to you by the next port or two.  If the bags are totally lost, the insurance policy will cover the loss in full so go buy some new clothes.

Trip Delay/Missed Flight Connection – If anything happens while on the way to the airport or some sort of flight delay causing you to miss embarkation, travel insurance will assist you with getting onboard your cruise at the next port.

Trip Interruption – If you are on your cruise vacation and the captain informs you that there are mechanical issues and the cruise can not continue, you along with the other hundreds of passengers will need to disembark at the next port.  This part of the travel policy will reimburse you for the hotel or any other out of pocket costs that you might have while arranging your flight back home.

Emergency Evacuation – If something drastic happens like a heart attack and you need to be taking by a helicopter to the hospital due to being too far out at sea, travel insurance would cover the costs of this.

Terrorism– If there are terrorist acts while you are on your trip, almost often than not you will be covered.  Read this portion closely as it might pertain to certain areas or a time length from embarkation.

What is not covered by travel insurance?

Weather – If the weather during your trip is storming the whole time you are unable to file a claim for this.  If your trip were impacted by a hurricane, this would fall under trip cancellation or trip delay.

Itinerary Changes – You are not able to file a claim if the itinerary is changed.  This happens sometimes during inclement weather to keep everyone safe.

Are there any travel insurance add-ons?

Yes there are additional add-ons for your travel policy, but research them well and determine if you will need them.

Car Rental Collision Coverage – This can be added on to your policy for $10 or less per day if you know you are renting a car while in port.

Cancel For Any Reason – Read the fine print if you get this add-on.  Some travel insurance providers will give you the full 100% reimbursement or 50% reimbursement.  These policies are usually on the more expensive side and should be looked at closely if you will need it or not.

Airline Accident Coverage – This add-on can be bought in increments of dollar coverage in case of an accident.

So to answer the question of why do I need travel insurance, the answer is simple.  To protect you in any instance that could interrupt your cruise vacation.  If you do decide to get travel insurance read over the policy very carefully to make sure what is exactly covered.

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Top 10 Cruise Message Boards

Cruise message boards or cruise discussion boards are found all over the Internet trying to help a first time cruiser or an experienced cruiser with any of their questions or concerns.  This brought on some curiosity as to what cruise message boards were best out there. (Click the header of each section to view website)

10. Cruise Talk

This site rounds out our top 10 cruise message boards list with its informative topics for someone looking for an answer to their question.  Cruise Talk shows you 14 different topics that you can chose from to dive into further.  Some of the cruise forum topics are; Cruise Line, Cruise Videos, Young Cruisers and Ports of Call & Destinations.  It gives you a brief description of each topic and what to expect when you enter each forum.

When you are in a cruise forum it just gives you each topic that people have started.  There is no way to search for terms or questions you are looking for, so it can be a little frustrating trying to find the info you want.  It is pretty active as you can see that there are a lot of people in the forums posting on a recent basis.

9. Cruise Buggie

This is a very clean looking site with a lot of different cruise forums to choose from.  Cruise Buggie has its main forums at the top of the page.  Underneath the main forum, there is another section for each individual cruise line, past and present.  Once you scroll past that, there is another forum for Ports of Call around the world and then a separate forum for ports in the United States.

You are able to search the cruise forum, which is a great tool to use.  There currently are only 2,735 registered users, so response time is a little sluggish and some topics have not been answered in months or even years.  There are a lot of topics in this forum, so you are able to find almost everything you need.

8. SinglesCruise.com

If you are single and looking for some cruise info, then this could be the site for you.  It is strictly for single cruisers with one forum open to people asking questions.  There is a separate singles cruise message board that they offer if you purchase one of their “singles only” cruises.  They will then also give you your own forum for everyone that is going to be on the cruise so that you can pre-mingle.

The cruise forum that is open to everyone doesn’t have any indexing of the topics or questions that people were asking, so it is a little overwhelming to look at.  There is a search option to use, but to post you need to be signed in.  There aren’t a lot of users for this forum, but the questions seemed to get answered within a few days of posting.

7. DISboards.com

This site is strictly for Disney Cruises.  With Disney being one of the most used “family” cruise lines around, this site holds a great amount of info to answer certain questions.  The Disney cruise message boards have a main forum with questions in no particular order.  It also gives you two separate sub-forums, Disney Cruise Meets, where you can meet up with other people going on the same cruise as you and a Trip Report section to give proper feedback on recent Disney cruises.

The forum doesn’t break it down into separate topics, so the information is a little jumbled around.  You are better off using the search button located in one of the menu bars.  This site is very active with a lot of quick replies to questions asked.  If you are cruising on Disney, then you should have your question answered here.

6. Cruise Line Fans

One of the cleanest looking cruise message boards around, Cruise Line Fans is extremely informative.  Each forum is listed out with a small description about the area.  It also shows the sub-forums that are in each main forum.  For instance the forum Cruise Places gives you a description of it, then shows multiple links for the sub-forums to different destinations.  This is great so that you can skip a step or two and go directly to the area you need.

This is one of the better cruise message boards around with almost around 30,000 members.  They are very active on the site ad helpful.  With all of the info it is easy to find your answer and more for your cruise.

5. Cruise Reviews

Like most other cruise message boards, Cruise Reviews holds a lot of info with around 30,000 registered users.  The forum is broken up into different topics like Cruise Lines, Port Chat and General Questions.  It is easy to manage and get around on.

The cruise forum sections need to be broken down a little further.  For instance under Cruise Lines it lists some ships individually for their own forum, but then clumps some other major cruise lines that should have their own forum into an “All Other Cruise Lines” forum.  Questions do get answered, but it seems that most are a one or two day turn around before something comes up.

4. Cruise @ddicts

With one of the higher registered users, just under 50,000, Cruise Addicts has the answer to most questions.  It seems to be a place where a lot of cruise enthusiasts go to talk about cruise lines or get the most up to date info on the ships and feedback from passengers.

The site is easy to navigate and has a lot of replies to the questions or comments posted.  It feels like a true community on this cruise message board.  They break down the forums pretty well, but leave out some areas like in the “Cruise Lines” section they only have 6 different cruise lines listed.  To find questions on the other ships you will need to search for them.

3. Cruising Talk

One of the better cruise message boards around the web.  Forums come first on this site, making it a direct resource for people that want to talk about cruising.  The site is extremely easy to navigate.  The forums are all broken down very well with a lot of sub domains to make searching for your question even easier.

Cruising Talk does want you to register for full access to their site, which would be beneficial if you are an avid cruiser.  The site only has around 15,000 users and questions get answered within about a day at the latest.  Everyone on the site really knows their stuff as well and will give you the answer or point you in the right direction.

2. Cruisemates

A very clean-cut cruise forum that has many main categories, starting with every cruise line available, Cruisemates has a vast amount of information.  It then breaks it down into a practical advice section where a first time cruiser or experienced cruiser can get the answers they need.

Cruisemates has just fewer than 60,000 registered users that are very knowledgeable.  The site has a lot of updating and answering of post daily, so questions won’t go unanswered making this cruise discussion board one of the better cruise forums out there.

1. Cruise Critic

If you are looking for the best of all the cruise message boards, look no further than Cruise Critic.  With its easy to read, non-confusing website development, you are sure to find anything you are looking for here.  Each cruise forum is laid out perfectly with multiple sub-forums underneath them.

With the unbelievable registered member count at 745,000 and growing, CruiseCritic really does have the answer to any question asked.  The turn around time for a reply to a post is literally hours.  You can come on here to look at dress codes for the cruise line you will be on and end up getting all of the things you should do and not do while on the cruise.  This should be your only stop for any cruise questions.

Hopefully this insight into the Top 10 Cruise Message Boards was insightful and will help you in your task of finding that perfect answer to your question.

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Norwegian Cruise Line Alters Smoking Policy

It was announced today by Norwegian Cruise Line, that they will be altering the smoking policy for its entire fleet of ships.  This is due to the changing guest preferences for smoking on board cruise ships.

Changes are to officially take place January 2012 aboard all vessels.  The Norwegian Cruise Line smoking policy will no longer allow guest to smoke inside their stateroom.  If you have a stateroom with a balcony, you will be allowed to smoke cigarettes on it, but not cigars or pipes.  Ashtrays are available for your balconies and are available upon

Norwegian Cruise Line has restricted smoking aboard their fleet of ships.

request form the housekeeping staff.

Smoking will still be allowed in the casino and ashtrays with signage will be in place.  It will not be permitted in the more general areas including conference room, bars, restaurants, staircases or corridors.  Guests are allowed to smoke in the cigar bars, which are only on a handful of ships in their fleet.

Guests are allowed to smoke cigarettes, cigars and pipes in all of the outdoor locations, unless it is next to areas serving food, children’s pool, jogging track, sport complex or in The Haven outdoor areas.

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Oceania Cruises Delays Maiden Voyage of Riviera

Oceania Cruises announced today that their newest vessel, Riviera, would be sailing her maiden voyage 10 days later than originally scheduled.  The 1,258 passenger ship is currently under construction and will match its sister ship, Marina with all of the same bells and whistles.

Riviera’s first revenue-cruise will now be embarking April 24, 2012 from Athens, Greece.  The 12-day Middle East voyage will feature Alexandria, Port Said, Kusadasi and an overnight stay in Istanbul as just some of the stops for guest aboard the ship.

Riviera will now have its first revenue cruise April 24, 2012.

Oceania Cruises decided to delay the cruise to allow the new staff to familiarize itself with the newest ship in its

fleet.  Guests who booked the original 10-day maiden voyage will be moved to the new 12-day sailing at no additional charge.  They will also be automatically credited a $250 shipboard credit per guest for the delayed sailing.

If passengers that booked the original 10-day sailing decide to book another departure, Oceania Cruises will give them a $250 per guest future cruise credit that they may use towards the new booking.  If they wish to cancel the trip, they will receive a full refund.

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Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 Passes Sanitation Re-Inspection

Recently in June, Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 failed a sanitation inspection.  During the inspection human hair was found in the ice machine, chemicals stored in non-safe areas and the pool had unsanitary water in it.

The vessel needed an 86 to pass, but failed with a score of 84 and was given a “not satisfactory” review.  This was big news in the cruise line industry, as most larger ships do not fail the sanitation inspection.

Since then Cunard has done an overhaul to the ship and had the sanitation inspectors back on to re-test it.  During the July 27^th re-inspection, the Queen

Queen Mary 2 in Geiranger Fjord

Mary 2 received a quality score of 92 in New York.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vessel Sanitation Program examine all cruise lines twice a year with surprise inspections.  This is to ensure that guests aboard these vessels are given suitable conditions while on their vacations.

Cunard will continue to strive to meet and exceed the scores needed to pass the inspections.  It is very rare for larger vessels to fail, but the quick actions taken by the QM2 to resolve the issue seems to have not had a negative impact with their current or future clientele.

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Crystal Cruises to go "All-Inclusive"

Crystal Cruises Becomes All-Inclusive in Spring of 2012

It was announced today by Crystal Cruises, that starting in the spring of 2012 their cruise fares will become all-inclusive.  This has been long awaited from one of the top luxury cruise lines in the industry.  They will be joining the likes of Regent Seven Seas, Silversea and Seabourn, to name a few.

The first voyage to showcase their new all-inclusive cruise fares will be March 19, 2012 aboard the Crystal Symphony sailing a transatlantic itinerary.  The Crystal Serenity will then follow on May 8, 2012 with a transatlantic itinerary as well.

The new all-inclusive cruise fares now include, beverages (except for ultra premium liquors and wines), roundtrip coach airfare from select airports, dining throughout the ship at the specialty restaurants, the fitness center/classes, self-service laundry, a children’s program, lessons with a PGA golf pro, gratuities, enrichment programs and shuttles in the ports.

With deciding to take the cruise fare all-inclusive, Crystal Cruises will not be giving guests the “As You Wish” shipboard credit anymore.  This credit ranged from $500 to $1,000 per person.  This was a big hit with the passengers onboard, as they would use it for shore excursions, spa treatments or the onboard stores.

Crystal Cruises has been a top luxury cruise line and has received many positive reviews from guests and awards throughout the years.  It will be interesting to see how everyone will react to the new all-inclusive cruise fares.