Cruises

Finding an exclusive haven away from the crowd

Cruise ships, like hotels and resorts, figured out years ago how to accommodate travelers who were willing to pay extra for exclusivity. They designed a concierge deck or floor, adding special perks such as a comfy sitting area with food, cocktails, and a big TV, as well as a savvy employee to make arrangements for meals, shows, and excursions.

Cruising

Can you trust the new passenger ‘bill of rights’?

Maybe it was the string of customer-service disasters, starting with the Costa Concordia tragedy last year and leading up to the recent Carnival Triumph “poop” cruise, on which passengers were left adrift in the Gulf of Mexico for five days without working toilets.

Asia

River cruises in Cambodia, Vietnam reach ruins, rural villages

New riverboats are cruising in Cambodia and Vietnam. These vacation voyages are an eye-opener, not only to the famed stone Angkor ruins, but also to the lives of rural villagers who are emerging from decades of warfare and deprivation.

Shipboard thrills

Norwegian Breakaway ups the ante for whiz-bang cruise ship features

What happens when you rediscover your fear of heights while standing on a six-inch-wide beam jutting 180 feet over the open ocean?

Cruise notes

Steamboat line adds boat for Pacific Northwest Cruises

The American Queen Steamboat Co., which launched steamboat cruises on the Mississippi River last spring, has bought a second riverboat that will sail the rivers of the Pacific Northwest starting in April 2014. The company, named for its Mississippi River paddle wheeler, announced last week that it had purchased the former Empress of the North and will rename it the American Empress.

Cruising

Blurring the lines between budget, premium and luxury ships

Cruise ships have a reputation for encouraging a measure of gluttony.

Viking Cruises

Company known for river trips announces ocean ship

Viking Cruises, a company known for offering river cruises, on Friday announced that it was launching a new cruise line for ocean-going trips.

Cruise industry

Norwegian Getaway to feature Latin ballroom and (shh!) Carlo’s Bakery

Norwegian Cruise Line’s upcoming Miami-based ship, which will be delivered in January, will feature a Latin-themed ballroom dance show, a rotating cast of comedians and a musical about a blonde.

CRUISE INDUSTRY

Norwegian Breakaway takes its bow in Manhattan

Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line celebrated the christening of its newest ship with pomp, pageantry — and some high kicks.

Cruises

Oldest Disney ship to get a redo en route to Miami

Take a cruise ship, the Disney Magic, that was a pioneer in the world of family cruising and is headed for a new assignment. Order up a rehab. Call in the Imagineers.

Cruise notes

New Royal Caribbean ship will sail from New Jersey

Royal Caribbean’s next ship, Quantum of the Seas, will include a simulated skydiving experience, bumper cars, roller skating, a circus school, and a Ferris wheel-inspired ride. It will also have studio staterooms for single guests, a feature that Norwegian Cruise Line introduced on Norwegian Epic, and “virtual balconies” in interior rooms that show what’s going on outside, similar to the virtual portholes on Disney Cruise Line’s newer ships.

Maine

Windjammers offer scenic trips along coast

Capt. Barry King is wrapping up his “welcome aboard” speech in the galley of the schooner Mary Day when he gets around to the question everyone has regarding the trip’s itinerary.

Cruises

Singapore: a comfy hub for exploring Southeast Asia

Good news for travelers: Singapore, a gateway to vacations in Southeast Asia, and one of my favorite home ports for boarding cruise ships, is anticipating an expanded fleet of big, modern vessels. They will be based at new and enhanced marinas, built here at a cost of half a billion dollars.

Visual arts

Cruise company partners with ArtCenter/South Florida

Ahita Keshmirian placed bits of broken yet colorful glass into a pendant. Outside, beyond the natural grass on the top deck of Celebrity Cruise Lines’ Silhouette, the mosaic-decorated churches of Ravenna, Italy, were visible.

Crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2

The first rule about traveling between America and England aboard the Queen Mary 2, the flagship of the Cunard Line and the world’s largest ocean liner, is to never refer to your adventure as a cruise. You are, it is understood, making a crossing.

Disney’s Miami cruise ship is a wonder for kids, adults

Elise never saw her coming.

Cruises

New features for new ships from Princess, Norwegian

The newest ship from Princess Cruises will have a nightclub that the line’s other ships don’t: Club 6, a DJ-hosted dance club, the line announced Wednesday. The newest ship from Norwegian Cruise Line will have a a magic dinner show and a weekly fireworks display.

Cruising

Luxury lines adding shorter cruises

Cruise lines from mass-market to luxury increasingly are designing shorter voyages, both to introduce their ships to vacationers who have not been to sea and to provide getaways for busy world travelers who may have only a few leisure days to spare.

Cruises

Alaskan fleets are readying for biggest summer in years

Major cruise lines and small-ship operators are beefing up their Alaska offerings this summer, giving vacationers more choices and promising to boost the passenger count above one million for the first time in four years.

Cruise notes

Seabourn sells small ships to Windstar

Seabourn, which in recent years redefined its luxury fleet with the addition of three larger ships, has sold its three older ships to Windstar Cruises and announced it will build a fourth ship.

Cruises

Seabourn sells 3 small ships to Windstar

Seabourn, which in recent years redefined its luxury fleet with the addition of three larger ships, has sold its three older ships to Windstar Cruises and announced it will build a fourth ship.

‘Wave season’

Experts say cruise industry starting to recover

A year after the Costa Concordia capsized, travel agents say the business took a bigger-than-expected hit, especially among travelers who had not cruised before.

Asia’s ‘golden land’

Sailing into the heart of Yangon and Myanmar’s fragile new democracy

Travelwise

Offbeat river cruises to float your boat

I’ll never forget where I learned to drink like a Cossack. It was on a river cruise. In Ukraine.

Sailing

Windstar cruises anew, with three spiffier ships

Powered by a new owner, new leadership, and $18 million of renovation, Windstar Cruise’s three ships are sailing again with vim, vigor, a contemporary interior, and a batch of new sails that total the size of seven football fields.

Ships

High art on the high seas

The naked lady with large hat, accompanied by a crying cherub, hangs outside a Deck 5 restroom on the Oceania Riviera, one of the newest ships cruising out of Miami.

Cruising

Joys of dining at tables of strangers

Cruise ship changes that allow you to pick the time for dinner — as well as the cuisine style and a table for two or a few close friends — are partly responsible for the continuing increase in the popularity of sea vacations. Comfort food, casual dress and anytime eating are among the top draws for new passengers.

Cruise notes

‘Dancing with the Stars’ goes to sea

The popular TV show Dancing With the Stars is going to sea. Holland America will conduct six theme cruises featuring Dancing With the Stars events in 2013 and early 2014. In addition, the line will conduct an exclusive Dancing With the Stars program on every sailing of all 15 of its ships.

Cruise lines

Rapid evolution marks ship design

The Celebrity Reflection that arrived at PortMiami last month had changed so much from the original ship in its class that it was two feet wider in order to balance the weight of an additional deck and other new features.