Thursday, October 27, 2011

Hurricane Rita

Hey Cruisers,

So it looks like Hurricane Rina is causing some havoc for Cancun this week. Cruisers and tourists alike have been evacuated from Cancun. Already eight ships from Carnival cruise lines have been diverted to other ports and Celebrity cruise lines announced that they would be sending one of their ships to another location. We're still awaiting announcements from Norwegian and Royal Caribbean to see if their two ships will be diverted or not.



Hurricane Rina is already a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds at 75mph. Rina is moving at 6mph and is literally slamming right into the heart of the Yucatan peninsula. Rina has already forced tourists on the mainland to flee to safety as well as many flights scheduled to Cancun have been canceled. Cancun seems to be taking it rather seriously as alcohol sales were banned last night and you can't even drive into Cancun if you wanted as the roads have been closed off.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Hot Deal of the Day: 5 night Bermuda Cruise

Alright cruisers,

If you're looking some last minute cruise deals then you  may want to look into this 3 day sale that Carnival is having! From what I see they have 3 night and 4 night cruises that are 75% of what they normally are. This means that a main interior room is costing from $150 to $300! Might be the perfect way to go on that honeymoon or just get away from it all for a few days.

Cheers to that!


Port of Call: Cayman Islands

Welcome to Cayman Islands everyone!

This is my first port of call and I'll be talking about a new one on a daily basis. I chose the Caymans as my first port of call because I've been there several times and always have a great feeling once I arrive.

When you get off the cruise ship, one of the first things you'll see is Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, which is a bit touristy but I feel like it's worth the visit. Margaritaville has all these tacky signs on the wall like, "It's 5 o'clock somewhere", and "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem", but it is charming in it's own way and the bar even has a slide that goes through it. Stop by, grab a drink and let your worries sail away.

If you're not as much into the bar scene, which I don't know who isn't if they're going to the Caribbean, but if you're not... then there is always the beach and the cayman islands has plenty of that! I think you'll find that everyone talks about seven mile beach and I highly suggest going if you can. Most of main hotels and resorts are located on this beach and they offer everything that you'd expect from para-sailing to snorkeling. I once spent the entire day at seven mile beach and became as red as a lobster. I've certainly been to a lot of beaches in my life and although seven mile beach isn't the best, it certainly is worth a visit. Margaritas, clear blue water, and bronzed skin. You can't go wrong. This beach isn't too far from the port too, and I do recall that you can even see your cruise ship from there.

Now of course I can't talk about Cayman Islands without talking about one of the main tourist attractions: Stingray City. Now, this is honestly why cruise ships go to the caymans and I do honestly feel that it's everything it's said to be. For those of you not in the know, Stingray City is a series of shallow sandbars found in the North Sound of Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, where you can literally swim with thousands of stingrays. And I'm not kidding... it's thousands. Now this isn't the only place you can swim with stingrays in the cayman islands, but this is the place where there is the most abundance of them. NOTE: DO NOT PAY FOR THIS EXCURSION ON THE CRUISE SHIP! You're stupid if you do this. The cruise ship charges you easily double if not triple what it normally costs to do it from a local company and in many ways the local companies are way better. With the cruise ships, you'll have to wait for your entire group to be ready before they put you on the big bus and ship you have to a boat where it'll take another hour to get there. With a local company, you can haggle for a better price (around 40 bucks) and they'll be able to take you really quick to their local boat which will ship you off to stingray city in no time. Trust me, it's worth it. You'll want to get there quickly in the morning and leave early afternoon so you have time to do some shopping and eating in town.

Other than that, there isn't too much other things that are as popular to do on the islands. The cayman's have a real laid back attitude, and no one is in a hurry on this island. The country is wealthy compared to the rest of the Caribbean and you can feel it with their infrastructure and how the people dress. Cayman Islands is also a banks haven, so if you have some money you need to hide away from authorities, just take a private jet down to these islands and enjoy your self while you break the law.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Is cruising slowing down?

For ten years now the cruise industry has been exponentially growing with no end in sight. But the winter of 2012 could change all of that. Port Everglades is expecting only 3.64 million passengers to walk through its' terminals this season, slightly down from 3.66 million last year. And although that doesn't seem like that much, it could be the signal of a change of winds for the cruising industry.

A major part of this is that this season, there will only 45 ships docking in Port Everglades this season, which is down from last year's total of 55. Cruise lines aren't building new ships, but cruise lines are spreading out their current fleets to newer ports, meaning there is less ships at any given area.

Most say though that this is just temporary and that the cruising industry will continue to grow at a healthy rate. What do you think?



Link to article: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/accent/travel/port-everglades-to-see-fewer-cruise-ships-this-1930416.html

Thursday, October 20, 2011

It's National Cruise Vacation Week!

H2GGCWPFFFTS And you may or may not know what that means. National Cruise Vacation Week is one of the best weeks all year where you can find discounts on all the best cruise lines. With the economy the way it is, cruise companies have taken a hit with less people spending the money to take a luxurious cruise. Mix this with National Cruise Vacation Week and you have yourself the opportunity to make one great deal. The deal is running until Sunday October 23. This may be the opportunity to take that first cruise or go back on another.



Speaking of Allure of the Seas...

 Allure of the Seas Hosts "Puss in Boots" Premiere Speaking of Allure of the Seas... the ship hosted the Puss in Boots premiere this week. The 3-D film was screened to a lucky 5,400 passengers, with a special appearances from Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek. LUCKKYYY!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Oasis of the Seas

In honor of the start of my blog, I have to pay tribute to the newest ship of the Royal Caribbean and the biggest ship in the world: Allure of the Seas. She is 1,181 feet long (2 inches longer than her sister, Oasis of the Seas), and has a gross tonnage of 225,282. Her maiden voyage was on December 1, 2010. Here's a travel channel low down on what you can expect if you book a ticket::


What is Ports of Call?

Welcome to Ports of Call. I've designed this blog as a tell all for cruising tips all over the world. I myself am an avid cruiser, having cruised eleven times since I was seven years old and let me tell you, it never gets old. I've learned many things along the way, and this blog is designed to give new cruisers and old cruisers an inside on what to do and what not to do. There is a whole world out there waiting to be explored and prices have never been cheaper than they are today.

So what are you waiting for? Like Royal Caribbean has always said "Get out there".