Beat the cost of staying connected on a cruise

Although I'm a fan of ditching technology in favor of zipping through the jungle, romping in the ocean, climbing a temple or just quality relaxing when cruising, sometimes there's just no avoiding the need to check in with the office or the family.  That said, this article gives some worthwhile tips on saving money when staying connected.

 Beat the cost of staying connected on a cruise

But really, try to keep the sun tan lotion off the keyboard!

Elderly Couple Forced Off Seabourn Ship

This from Travel Weekly: 

Seabourn is standing by its decision to force an elderly couple to disembark the Seabourn Sojourn on May 12, after the wife missed the ship’s mandatory passenger safety drill before departure from Lisbon.

The California couple had booked a 20-day, three-leg cruise from Rome to Hamburg, and had participated in the drill when the ship left Rome on May 4. At the start of the second leg from Lisbon, another drill was announced and held, per industry policy.

But the 84-year-old woman wasn’t feeling well, and since she had participated in the drill before leaving Rome, she decided to skip it. Her 90-year-old husband attended both drills.

Within an hour of the Lisbon drill, the two found themselves standing with their luggage on the pier as the Sojourn sailed off. 

Whoa ... wait a minute.  There has to be more to the story.  Lets not rush into judgement until we hear Seabourn's side.  This is a company renowned for its outstanding service and attention to detail.  It's the kind of cruise where they can't do enough for you and don't allow tipping.  Seabourn - please pitch in.  The story above is so "un-Seabourn-like" that it doesn't go down easily.

Emergency Airlift, Fun By the Pool, Winning in the Casino and So Much More

A day at sea can be relaxing, calming, serene and peaceful … or you could be with this group.  In that case a day at sea would be wild, funny, at times loud and certainly festive.  With several guests having barely recovered from the wedding, the Bloody Mary’s started to flow at about 8:00 AM.  The day dawned clear and sunny and everything was going as it should, happy campers, great time – rock on.

About 10 AM there was an announcement from the Captain that an emergency evacuation would necessitate turning the ship around so that the Coast Guard  could airlift a passenger for medical treatment.  Not something I see every time I cruise!  Most of the happy campers stayed put and kept doing what they were doing. Not moi, I’ve never seen this; I grabbed my video camera and went for the money shots.  The ones I could sell to the news at eleven guys.  I guess we were out of helicopter range, so the ship made a U-turn and piled on speed for an hour and a half while the crew prepared the aft deck for a helicopter landing.   

It never occurred to me how much work this entailed.  Security and crew members piled up over 200 lounges and tied them down so the rotor wash wouldn’t blow them around, they pulled down the lights strung from the funnel to the stern, roped off sections of about four decks to keep the decks clear, and kept back the curious (guilty as charged – I’m a cruise specialist, I need to know these things).  

First a reconnaissance or escort C-130 plane came over the ship, then the chopper circled the ship once (making sure the landing area was clear – I guess?) before they came in a second time and landed.  The escort C-130 circled the ship throughout the operation, which took about half an hour. It was fascinating to see these guys helping us out.  What professionalism!  It made every person on the ship proud of our Coast Guard, they really are there when you need them. Videos when I get back to land, they're not exciting enough - I didn't get the money shots - to spend half an hour uploading them.  Internet connection on ships is VERY slow, and expensive.

The excitement over, it was back to the pool and the party.  From what I understand some of our crowd closed the disco at about 3:00 AM.  I wouldn’t know, after the Captain’s night dinner of lobster and prime rib I wandered around the casino a bit (so far my crew has won over $850 between them), took in part of the comedy show, and called it a night at about 10:00.  Oh to be young and bullet proof again!

Carnival is known in the industry for its towel animals.  Here’s the towel animal of the day:

Cozumel up next and while some of the group will go off swimming with dolphins, a good number are heading for Carlos & Charlie’s.  Party on dudes!

Wedding on a Cruise Ship - Day 1

Day 1 – A Lovely Bride

Actually, I should start this at Day minus one and counting when the bride’s family had a terrific  luau/barbecue in their screened in lanai with pool, waterfall , tiki bar, coconut cups, and lots of good people to meet.  Having met only the immediate family and groom, I knew everyone by name (heck I know their dates of birth, phone numbers, past passenger numbers … you name it), but I didn’t know THEM.  I heard so many  “Oh – YOU’RE Dorothy” exclamations – the Cruise Planners t-shirt made it kind of obvious.

You know how when you speak to people on the phone several times you get a mental image of them?  Well, how nice was it when someone told me that I was younger and thinner than they had  imagined me?  I LIKE this crowd!

Day of the wedding found the whole house up d congregating around the coffee maker at  about 4:30 AM .  Hair and makeup artist was arriving at 5:30 to work on bride and groom’s mothers and I think an aunt or two, luggage had to be in the driveway by 7:30, beds turned back into sofas, the usual pre-wedding stuff.   

 Then on the bus, pick up the rest of the wedding party at their hotel and to the port.  

 Carnival had us in a holding pattern at the port for a good long time (the old “get there by 10:00 AM or you won’t be able to board, but once we’ve gotten you here you can go have a seat – for an hour and a half”).  No photos in the terminal – Homeland Security and all that.

During the holding pattern I got to meet some of the wedding party that hadn’t been  at the luau.  Even “Aunt Helen” who at 89 years old has more energy than half the people I know and boogied with us on the dance floor later.  

The ship is about what I remember from other Carnival ships.  Big, showy, okay maybe a little cheesy here and there, but clean and bright and everyone had big smiles to greet us.  All the guests were invited to have lunch while the wedding rehearsal took place, and the food was arguably good.  The wedding was held in the main showroom  because we had about 100 guests – too many for the little chapel on board.  I'm trying to upload a video of the bride coming down the aisle.  Taken with my phone, and it looks it, but they internet Gods are not currently with me and I'm getting error messages.

Lots of hot and cold hors’ de oeuvres at the reception including delicious fresh raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries (there’s something that I just love about eating berries when they’re not yet in season – it seems so luxurious).  Carnival did a nice job.  The wedding coordinator got things moving along very smoothly, the bouquet was thrown, the non-sailing guests ushered off, and we were on our way to sea with the new Mr. and Mrs. Parker, plus 44 of their closest friends!  And what a group it is.  This crowd could have fun on a garbage scow so being on a nice ship just make it all the better. 

My feet still hurt from the 4” heels, the dancing and just once heck of a long day, including a 5:30 AM jog (never again), but I’d do it again in a heartbeat – and the sailing has just started.  

Hope you’ll join me in wishing all the very best to this special couple – there will be stories to tell in the coming days!

Wedding Party at Sea

Although I've booked a lot of honeymoons and even a few weddings at sea, what I truly love is getting involved with an entire group of wedding guests who are attending the wedding AND sailing off with the honeymoon couple.  I've enjoyed planning special events for years; among the events I've planned are dinners for the Prime Minister of Turkey, ship inaugural events, catered dinners for VIPs on the rooftop of the American Express building , yachting parties for VIPs (i.e. CEO of Macy's, Head of the Senate Banking Committee, President of MTV, etc.) during the America's Cup Races, mayoral campaigns, sales meetings around the world ... well you get the idea.

Planning a group cruise with a wedding lets me take all that special event experience and put it to use for my own business.  I've seen a number of "Wedding on Board" parties that end with the reception.  Then the guests go off to enjoy their cruise, and maybe they plan a couple of get-togethers on their own.  Blah... boring, conventional, vanilla.  This wedding is going to be MEMORABLE (as every wedding should be).  The bride is gorgeous, the family is a bunch of fun, and the friends are live wires.  Now this is an opportunity!


We have an itinerary of activities just for the wedding guests including a cocktail party (natch), private group shore excursions, adventure hunt on board, a wrap party on the last day at sea and gift bags (this is where I'm going all out with travel-sized bottles of shampoo, conditioner, hand sanitizer & mouthwash personalized with labels in the wedding theme color and with the Bride & Groom's names - as well as a few subtitles). The group is big enough that I decided to travel with them ... I'll be their private cruise director so the wedding couple and families have no worries, just ask Dorothy.

I think it's nice to welcome the guests aboard with a gift they can use during the cruise, and who doesn't need a toiletry kit, water bottle, sunscreen, sewing kit, document holder, coupon for FREE semiprecious necklace and earrings, etc.?  Did I mention that the company name and toll free phone number will be on each of these items?  Well, I AM trying to promote myself!  Thank goodness for my background in marketing & advertising, although in the past when I did this it was with Other People's Money.  I love OPM.  This time it's my money - that really changes the equation.

I've also come up with a plan for the bride & groom to get free drinks - I can't give it away just now, but the B&G are all over it!

The reason for all this?  When others on board see how much fun we're having, maybe they'll ask who is the genius behind all this fun.  Maybe the guests will have such a memorable time that they'll tell all their friends about me.  Most importantly, however, is that the bride and groom - and their families - will have the most special cruise I can dream up for them.  That's satisfaction in itself.

I'm going to try to do similar for all large groups (25 cabins or more) in the future - it's worth it to make sure they have the time of their lives!

We sail on April 29th and I'll be blogging every day if possible.  Between all the activities, the shore excursions, the ports of call I haven't seen before and the mandatory gym time I always commit to on a cruise I could miss a day here or there.  But there WILL be blogs, there will be fun, there will be weird souvenirs of the day, and there will be pictures.

Oh, and I've started my diet.  Figured that if I went public with it I'd have to stick to it. I've got 66 days.  Would love to drop 15 lbs.  - that would be 1/4 of a pound a day, 1.59 per week.  20 would be even better (swimsuit wise) but that would be 1/3 of a lb. a day 2.12 a week. I've watched The Biggest Loser for years, but can't spend four hours a day in the gym.   Help me along!

I'm so excited ... can't wait until the 29th of April!

The Disaster Could Have Been Avoided

Great Article from CruiseMates .... and what I want to know is: What about all the other ship's officers?  Chief Officer?  Second Officer? Safety Officer?  Chief Engineer?   I know the Captain is God on a ship, but really ... weren't any of the disciples there?

What the Media is Missing in Concordia The Concordia incident is the worst tragedy in modern cruise industry history. But most of the focus has been on the actions of the captain abandoning a sinking ship, as well as a chaotic situation due to an uninformed crew. What has been completely overlooked is the sequence of events before the grounding of the ship.

Is this enough to sink a ship?

Everyone on that ship should have been saved, with all of their possessions. The biggest mistakes (yes, plural) the captain made happened long before he ran away.

Costa Concordia is structurally identical to the Carnival Splendor - the ship that went dead in the water off the coast of Mexico two years ago. But in that case the captain sent up a Mayday immediately and Carnival rightly chose to keep everyone onboard and tow the ship to safe harbor. Those people were inconvenienced, but they didn't suffer, and they survived in whole. I now fully understand the SOLAS "ship as a lifeboat" concept.

Had this captain called Costa when he first hit the rocks this entire event would have gone entirely differently.

The first obvious mistake Schettino made was not checking the charts for the route he took near Giglio. We know the ship made a similar sail-by last August. Reports say he was given the coordinates by a colleague, but he reportedly went off that course, and did not check the local charts.

Next mistake: there are usually several people on the bridge; a navigator, a watchman and the person steering the ship - not always the captain. All of them had to have known when they hit the rocks. At that point the ship should have been stopped to check the hull integrity.

We know the ship was sound for at least 40 more minutes. Was the ship going to sink from the damage that was done? It is unlikely because of the fully watertight sections. If the ship had been stopped slowly it could have been towed upright to safe harbor and everyone evacuated. This is the "ship as the lifeboat" SOLAS protocol adopted in July 2010.

But the ship continued on at full speed for 40 minutes before Schettino took action. It is said he stopped the ship, dropped the anchors to stabilize her, turned her around and then headed to shore. With an already damaged hull these are aggravating measures. Once again, he should have stopped the ship and raised a Mayday.
The captain turned the ship to the left to return to Giglio, but unlike cars which lean in on turns, ships lean out. The meant the ship was listing to the right, towards the shore. As it came in closer the current pushed the keel out and the ship tipped into the rocks. Had he turned the ship the other way the outcome might have been different.

But the ship appears to have been further damaged when it keeled over - making it take on water even faster, and once the water breached the open decks it filled very quickly until it stabilized. It is actually surprising, but a testament to the bouyancy of the ship, that it has not already sunk to the great deep.
This already indentifies three points were it is likely Schettino made bad decisions and violated statutory procedure. And while the media is focused on Schettino abandoning ship, in fact his most egregious acts - leading to loss of life - happened long before left the ship.

Was the Crew Uninformed?
No, they were abandoned. I am a former crewmember who knows that every crewmember is assigned a duty for boat drill and given instructions for that duty only; solely to make sure passenger lifejackets are fastened correctly and lined up in neat rows to board the lifeboats.
Crews are trained by a staff of safety officers whose sole job is to handle emergencies. A ship this size should have between six and 12 safety officers. Training is predicated on the presence of these officers to run the lifeboats. It also assumes the ship will be upright, according to SOLAS standards, so all lifeboats are available.

Where were the safety officers at this point?

Why wasn't the ship left in an upright position for evacuation?

Why is no one asking these questions?
The answer is that the safety officers were likely on the bridge - checking the ship's stability and waiting for the captain to take action. Do you think the captain told them he was going down to get on a lifeboat and escape the ship? Or did he say "Wait here, I am going to investigate the situation,"? How could he get away if they had not been left on the bridge?
Next - the media is not reporting Costa is a multilingual cruise line. All ship operations (including safety drills) are conducted in Italian, German, French, Spanish and English in that order. In addition there were natives of Brazil, Korea, India and more.
Plus, this ship picked up passengers in four ports on this itinerary (this does not happen on U.S.-based cruises) and with a 24 hour window to hold a boat drill, the ship had decided to delay the drill for 696 people just boarded in Civitavecchia until after even more people were scheduled to board in Savona.

Is Costa to Blame?
No. Any ship's captain has full discretion over routing decisions. They are the ruling class in the open sea. This captain chose to sail by Giglio without telling Costa. He chose to continue at full steam for 40 minutes. He then chose to turn the hobbled ship and head back to Giglio without sending a mayday. Reports say he didn't call the "home office" until the ship was already crashed on the shore. The captain also failed to give the abandon ship signal. There are a lot more details to be revealed here - and what amazes me the most is what the media is not asking about the events leading up to the grounding, like "Was this a sinking ship?"

Are Cruise Prices Going Lower?
I read a report this morning that a certain web site owner says "Cruise Prices Headed Way Down." While I don't disagree this will happen short term, experience has shown that experienced cruisers are fully aware of the industry's safety record, which is far better than flying or driving. People do not stop flying after air or car accidents. Therefore, any discount in prices will be short-lived and mostly confined to Costa. Operations at other cruise lines remain as safe as ever.

So, if there are bargains to be had - grab them while you have the opportunity.

A few "Weird Souvenirs of the Day"

Limiting myself to only one "Weird Souvenir of the Day" can be very difficult, but since I wouldn't want you to miss out on some of the retail opportunities offered in Central Europe, I've compiled photos of several souvenir possibilities that didn't win a spot in my daily blog.

I'll start with fashionable head wear found in Budapest:

 Then there is cooking attire offered in Passau:

 And some fun shoehorns in Regensberg:










 Not to be outdone by important home decor accessories, which I might have found in Vienna, but am not sure.

Hope you all get your Christmas shopping done on time, I did!

Budapest

Budapest actually consists of what used to be two different cities, Buda on one side of the Danube, and Pest (pronounced pescht) on the other.  The Chain Bridge uniting them was built by one of the Hapsburgs (Joseph, I think) because he was in Pest when his mother was dying in Buda on the other side of the river.  Since it was the middle of the winter he couldn't cross the Danube, due to ice floes, and was unable to get to see her before she died.  Being a King of virtually unlimited resources, he decided that wasn't going to happen again, it was time for a real bridge, and 20 years after the bridge was completed the two cities became one.

Although the country of Hungary is about the same size as the state of Indiana, it seems that warring factions have been trying to conquer it since, well, since I couldn't quite make out when. I think it was first the Turks, then the Ottomans came and burned the place down, then the Magyars (I probably have this in the wrong order), several fortresses have been built up and then blown up or burned down, the Hapsburgs ruled for about 500 years, but then came the Germans and the Soviets drove off the Germans but then they forgot to go home for 50 years.  It's really very confusing.  I'll have to read more about it, the guide had a pretty thick accent (but his English is 100% better than my Hungarian).

It is a city of beautiful palaces, bridges, opera houses, monuments, academic and parliamentary buildings, contrasted by bullet holes in many of the buildings and rubble or ruins from whoever last tried to seize it.  These guys have had a tough time of it over the last 1500 years, but they just keep trudging on.

There is one very disturbing monument, the shoe monument, which commemorates where the Nazis lined up Jews in on the bank of the Danube and had them take off their shoes, then shot them so their bodies would fall in the river and be carried away. Just another tragedy amongst so many, but this memorial is very poignant. There are a number of other monuments to those who were lost in the Holocaust, but this one really brought it home.   I know I'll never be able to truly conceive of the horrors, there is absolutely nothing in my personal life I could begin to compare it to - I've never lived through years of terror and brutality - but this monument spoke to my heart.


On to happier thoughts.  Now who would have thought to bring a bathing suit to Budapest in December?  Silly me!  There are three thermal spas on the Buda side that are very popular.  If I were going to stay here any longer a bathing suit would have to be my next purchase.

As it is, I'm going home tomorrow morning VERY early, my cab will be here at 5:45 AM, so I've said all I'm going to say for tonight.  I don't even have the energy to download the weird souvenir of the day.  But maybe I can do it during my layover in Philadelphia tomorrow.

To those who have read my blog, thank you.  I hope it helped bring the experience to life for you and that you'll have the chance to do a similar trip in the future. 

Things I've Learned About "Christmas Market" River Cruising

Probably not a comprehensive list, but a couple of useful facts (I hope).

• Don't expect non-stop onboard entertainment, you have come here to visit different cultures, not to be amused by stage acts, ice skating shows, parades, etc. 
• Learn as much as you can about the countries you will be visiting in advance by following suggested reading guides, or even renting pertinent movies.  We visited the home where Oscar Shindler was born, "Shindler's List" - for example - would be an excellent movie to watch before coming over.
• Pack one or two "dressy" tops - although the formal evenings on board are not as sartorial as they are on the large, ocean-going vessels, it's nice to have a sparkly top (for the women) to go with a pair of dark slacks.  Other than that it's not about fashion, it's about warmth.
• Bring a long coat for Christmas Market Cruises - lot's of outdoor time, legs get cold. It can also be rainy or snowy, so a pair of shoes that are meant for those conditions is a good idea.  But maybe buy gloves, scarves, hats or mittens at the Christmas Markets - you'll need them and they make a good souvenir.
• Thank you Mom for insisting I take your travel umbrella.  As usual, you were right.
• The staff will bend over backwards to help you in any way they can - and they are very adaptive to changes in conditions.
• Leave more room in your suitcase (applies to almost everywhere I travel). 
• There's always more to see than you have time for.  But do everything you can.
• Unlike ocean cruises, you can book returning air flights that depart early in the morning; many passengers are on a 2:45 AM bus to the Budapest airport (ouch!).
• Buy travel insurance, it looks like mine will cover at least some of my losses from being pick-pocketed!
• Googling information isn't very helpful (to me) if the answer comes up in Hungarian.

I set foot in Slovakia today by walking over the bridge, but the 24 hour bug I had came back so I can't say more than that I have set foot in Slovakia.  I skipped the tour into Budapest and stayed in bed.  Have also been trying to keep away from other passengers as much as possible. Kind of a shame that I got sick on the way over to Europe, but nothing to do about it but soldier on.  I am looking forward to Budapest tomorrow, even though it won't be with Viking River Cruises.   I'll check at the concierge desk at the Radisson for a 1/2 or full day tour.

Austria - I'll Have to Come Back

Well there's no question about it, Austria is not a place you can see in just one short trip, I suppose no country is.  One day port calls work a bit better for small Caribbean islands, but when you get to countries like Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Australia, Japan,etc. well, that's like making a port call in New York and then saying you've seen the United States.

The city of Vienna is one of the most beautiful I've ever visited.  Another monument, palace, memorial, concert hall, opera house, museum, cathedral or statue everywhere you look.  Rococo mixed with baroque and classical styles.  The Lippizaner Stallions, Mozart, Strauss, the Hapsburg dynasty, Schonbrunn Palace, AND the Swarovski Crystal store (ooh ahh). The mountains we passed through on the way here were were spectacular with the fog hanging over them.  Not a bright, sunny day, but the mist coming over the mountains was compelling.


Today started with a city tour in the morning and then I went to Schonbrunn Palace this afternoon.  Of course there was another Christmas Market in the courtyard at Schonbrunn so I filmed the carolers for a little while.  Having spent the last two hours trying to get the video to upload, I'm giving up, maybe I can get it to load on FaceBook. Here's me in front of the palace - yes, it's still cold.

Did I mention the pastries in Vienna?  OMG.  Here's one I saw in a window, it was an actual TV playing inside a confectionery box.

And, of course, there's the Hotel Sacher - home of the infamous Sacher Torte.  Rumor has it that George Clooney is in town filming, wonder if he's staying there.  Nah, probably the Intercontinental.

Sorry there was no blogging yesterday.  Fever, chills, headache but thankfully it was only a 24 hour thing.  I missed seeing Melk Abbey, but due to the revised schedule of the cruise (owing to the low level of the Danube) it was a five hour excursion, mostly sitting on a bus.   I stayed in bed and drank fluids.  Next time I cruise the Danube I'll put Melk Abbey on the MUST BE SEEN list.

And there will be a next time! This has been so fabulous that I am planning a group Christmas Markets Cruise for next year (and I just know that the water level on the Danube will be back to normal - or maybe next year I'll do the Rhine ... decisions, decisions!). 

Back to the ship, and next stop is Budapest, except that the ship can't make it all the way to Budapest (low water levels again) so we'll go part of the way by bus.  We're actually going to be docking in a small town in Hungary (Komarom), from which you can walk over to Slovakia, so I may just do that as I had planned an extra day in Budapest anyway, due to flight departure times.  An unexpected chance to visit Slovakia - who would have expected it?  I'll play it by ear.

Oh you were wondering what the weird souvenir of the day was?  Some lucky family member might just get this in their Christmas stocking!  I'll just have to choose the right victim. Actually, I don't think the souvenirs I've purchased will fit in my luggage and this is giving me concerns.  Maybe a relative will be spared.