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Colour of Carnival strictly Farcus
Does the name Joe Farcus, ring a bell? It probably shouldn’t, unless you have travelled on Carnival Cruise Lines. I have always said that if you blindfold a passenger, take off the blindfold on any...
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Final news items for the year 2010
Here we go, the last cruise news of 2010…San Diego has a cruise terminal befitting the beauty of one of my favourite non-Canadian cities. The terminal opened last week to positive reviews by San...
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Late-breaking news on cruising…
From Seatrade Insider… Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line and Princess Cruises are skipping calls in Mazatlan, Mexico, this week, due to concerns for passenger safety. Seatrade Insider reported...
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HAL new Rocky Mountaineer partner
This spring, Vancouver-based rail service Rocky Mountaineer will introduce rail-and-cruise itineraries departing from Seattle in partnership with Holland America Line. This marks the first time the...
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Cruise blues for Southern California
Mexico’s taking another hit. California has been dreaming about San Diego’s cruise market growing and growing…well, sadly it’s not. At its peak, 255 cruise ships passed through San Diego and it was...
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Cruise deals from Down Under
In this weekend’s Ports and Bows column in The Gazette, Ottawa Citizen, Windsor Star, Regina Leader Post, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Vancouver Sun and Victoria Times...
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Long road back for San Diego
Just three years ago, the port of San Diego was serving some one million passengers. This year it’ll be maybe one third of that, and next year it’s expected to drop to 200,000. Reasons…the ports in...
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Holland America heavyweight to Australia
Like Celebrity, Holland America is also going to have a premium cruise ship in the Australian market for the winter of 2012-13. The schedule was set for Solstice, flagship of Celebrity’s class of the...
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New ship contracts for Nagasaki
Photo by Allie Caulfield European ship builders such as Fincantieri of Italy, Meyer Werft of Germany and STX France have, for the majority of cruise lines, been the builders of choice for new cruise...
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Cruises to, from and Down Under
This Blog coincides with my Ports and Bows column that runs this weekend in the Postmedia dailies across Canada. If you haven’t seen it yet, the column features re-positioning and Australia/New...
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Zuiderdam–Size is important
Phil Reimer aboard the Zuiderdam. Overall, the cruise experience aboard this Holland America ship has been fairly well received by our 180 Ports and Bows guests. Dinner at the Pinnacle (pay)...
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The beautiful San Diego
Phil Reimer aboard the Zuiderdam. It was a beautiful day when we arrived in San Diego early in the morning. However, it turned into a mini-nightmare for those who wanted to spend as much time as...
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More Holland America for Vancouver
Holland America is upping the ante for Alaska in 2013. It’s being done not by adding new ships but by adding more frequency. The Alaska market has had some soft spots this year but I am told bookings...
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Cruise ships aplenty Down Under
Australian cruising is on the rise and the largest flotilla of ships ever to go there will be making its way to Australia and New Zealand in October and November for the start of the summer Down Under....
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Holland America and the Alaska plans
Cruise ships have yet to turn a prop toward Alaska in 2013 and, already, Holland America Line has laid out its plans for 2014. Holland America’s 2014 Alaska program will see seven ships serving the...
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WOW! Variety the spice of cruising this week
Lots of choice on WOW deals this week: a really low balcony on the Queen Elizabeth…a chance to see plenty of New Zealand and Australia…a 10-day cruise in the Caribbean for $38 a day…a balcony for less...
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WOW, matey! Cruises to peruse Down Under
If you’re considering a trip “Down Under” — Australia New Zealand, along with some other South Pacific destinations — you are now heading into their summer and usually some great cruising. Here are...
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WOW! Get ready for Alaska deals…but hurry
Now that cruise ships are sailing “north to Alaska” again, it’s time to give you some choices that are intended to WOW you. You may have to move quickly on these, because they’re coming up soon. If you...
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WOW! Will return re-positioning cruise be a match?
Given the low price package some agents had available to sail next month on the Oosterdam to Sydney, treat this as an alert as to what could happen next year. Apparently, Holland America had plenty of...
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WOW! Time to think about bookings for Alaska
The two cruise lines that dominate the Alaska market are Princess and Holland America. Both were pioneers of sailing to Alaska and both operate the most ships out of homeports in Vancouver and Seattle....
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Princess Cruise Lines embarrassed
There is probably a lesson in the art of “cut and paste” of the daily newsletter coming up for at least one employee aboard the Royal Princess. Those newsletters go to your cabin the night before with...
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Cruising aboard the Eurodam
I have only been on Holland America’s Eurodam for a few hours and I am sitting here trying to figure out how I should describe her–given the terminology of today. In my books anything 3,600...
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HAL and Microsoft a growing team
Jan 18 HAL MicrosoftLast November when I was cruising on Holland America’s Eurodam one of the things that caught my eye was Microsoft’s Digital Workshop.The one reason–it was always full.That’s...
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Happy 50th Alaska
It’s party time in Alaska.Alaska kicked off a year-long celebration of its 50th anniversary of statehood on January 3 and Holland America will be taking part in those celebrations.When the Alaska...
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New restaurant and you dont pay
Holland America is making a good move by extending its Canaletto restaurant to other ships in the fleet. I was first exposed to Canaletto when I cruised on the new Eurodam. It’s not off in a corner;...
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The Panama Canal is tops with Holland America
Holland America is loading up on Panama Canal cruises this year. When the year is over HAL will have sailed 45 times through the canal—departing from five different ports and on nine different ships....
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Disney-Holland America–San Diego
San Diego, already a bustling cruise port, has now set their sights on convincing Disney to move at least one of there ships to San Diego – permanently. San Diego is pitching for Disney Cruise Line’s...
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Wedding at Sea?
If you’ve just become engaged to be married and are having difficulty finding that perfect location for a wedding have you given any thought to getting married at sea? You could get married in the...
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Holland America Alaska 2010
This is the time of year when the cruise lines offer up their sailings for 2010.Today it’s Holland America and their Alaska program for next year.Eight ships in total, many of which are the smallest...
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Rooms with a view for the Olympic Games
Are you having trouble finding a room for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver? Not to worry, there are now over a thousand rooms available if you’re interested in living on a cruise ship. NCL and...
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Work while you cruise
Holland America wants you to be a part of work program and they want to charge you. Having said that, it does sound interesting although the price seems a bit high. HAL calls it “Cruise with...
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Alaska at odds with cruise lines
Carnival Corporation owns cruise lines Carnival, Holland America, Princess and Cunard, to name a few. The two lines that are most concerned about the situation in Alaska are Holland America and...
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Oosterdam celebrates 300
Okay, let’s get caught up on some news. Congrats to Holland America and the Oosterdam (I love the various pronunciations used for this ship). Recently it made its 300th cruise on a voyage from Venice...
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Cruise West and Phil’s Pick
Phil Reimer–If you counted the passengers on all 10 ships in the Cruise West fleet, then doubled that number, you still wouldn’t reach the entire 2,100-passenger capacity of Holland America’s Eurodam....
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Princess embraces 49th state for 50th anniversary
Princess Cruises and its connection to Alaska go long and deep into the 49th state. It was in 1969 that Princess Cruises sent a ship to Alaska for the first time — the Princess Italia (chartered), from...
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Holland America’s new season in Alaska
Once again this year, Holland America is one of the leading cruise lines for the Alaska market. The Noordam is being added to the Alaska fleet, adding more beds to the market, as part of a series of...
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Holland America and the Panama Canal
Have you made a full transit of the Panama Canal? If not, put it on your bucket list. It really is a wonder and make sure to do a little homework before you go, It will definitely enhance your...
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Trio of partnerships for Holland America
In a snappy presentation at one of the historic rooms of the Explorer’s Club on New York City’s Upper East Side, Holland America President Orlando Ashford gathered many of the people who sell and write...
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