Holland America Line’s ms Oosterdam and ms Volendam will return to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific islands for the 2013-14 season with a series of sailings that will visit more than 50 ports of call. During the voyages guests will have the opportunity to experience the region’s incredible wildlife on land and in the sea, including Australia’s […]
Author: Mike Faust
Mike Faust is an avid world traveler, often found traversing city streets in Asia and Europe rather than his home city of Boca Raton. Mike has touched down in 39 countries, set sail on 35 cruises, and flown over 400,000 lifetime miles.
Yesterday, the Carnival Miracle arrived in Long Beach, Calif., following a 15-day Panama Canal cruise and began its new West Coast deployment with a seven-day cruise to Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas that departed Sunday afternoon. Carnival Miracle will operate another week-long Mexican Riviera cruise then embark on a 15-day Hawaii voyage departing Long […]
Editorial: My Thoughts on Titanic II
Oh where do I begin? I guess I could say I don’t understand why somebody would want to sail on Titanic II, much less build it. Let’s start with Clive Palmer. The Man Behind It Clive Palmer is the head of Blue Star Line, the company set to launch Titanic II. He is worth around […]
It was announced this morning that Blue Star Line, the cruise line that will sail the Titanic II, will also order a clone of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas from STX Europe. In his press conference this morning, Clive Palmer, the chairman and CEO of Blue Star Line, explained his reasoning behind ordering an Oasis clone. Palmer said, “We have […]
This morning at 7 a.m. (CET), as Costa Voyager was en route to Durazzo, Albania, for its maiden call at that port city, a boat adrift without power and in obvious distress was spotted from the bridge about 15 miles off the coast. Costa Voyager’s crew rescued two young men in poor condition from the […]
Almost three weeks have passed since Grand Turk has had a cruise ship visit, and it’s all thanks to a nasty outbreak of norovirus in the cruise center. As stated in an earlier article of mine, “A recent surge in norovirus-like illnesses have been reported on cruise ships that have recently called in the island nation of […]
Monarch of the Seas Sails Final Voyage
Only a few hours ago today, the Monarch of the Seas departed Port Canaveral on her final sailing under the Royal Caribbean brand name. Earlier last year, Royal Caribbean announced that they would be transferring the Monarch of the Seas to their sister cruise line, Pullmantur, a cruise line specifically tailored to the Spanish speaking market. The transfer is […]
Earlier today, the Norwegian Breakaway successfully completed her technical and nautical sea trials which took place off the coast of Norway and Denmark. Over the course of several days beginning on March 25, Norwegian Breakaway underwent a series of stringent tests to assess various nautical and technical elements, including the ship’s speed, maneuverability, and more. […]
Costa Cruises will celebrate its 65th anniversary Sunday, March 31, 2013, which is 65 years to the day since the ship Anna C departed on its inaugural cruise from Genoa, Italy, to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The ship carried 768 passengers and was the first vessel in Costa’s fleet dedicated to passenger transport, marking the beginning of […]
Earlier this week, MSC Cruises welcomed the MSC Preziosa as the 12th ship in the MSC fleet. Preziosa was welcomed into the fleet by her godmother, as well as many other MSC ship’s godmother, film legend Sophia Loren. With the addition of the Preziosa to the fleet, MSC’s Fantasia class of ships has finally been […]
According to recent reports, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, one of the world’s largest cruise ships, will soon be making her way over to the Mediterranean and northern Europe for an exclusive and short sailing season. On September 1, 2014 the Oasis of the Seas will set sail from Port Everglades on a 12 […]
Regal Princess reached a significant construction milestone today when the Princess Cruises vessel was “floated out” at its building dock at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. A traditional ceremony marked the occasion as the ship met the ocean for the first time. Following the Italian shipyard’s custom, the float out of a ship begins when […]