Are Cruises Worth It?

Table Of Content

• Bundle Up for the Best Cruise Deals
• Airlines
• Go for Lower-Priced Guarantee Cabins on Your Cruise
• Carnival Cruise Line
• Don't book a cabin near an elevator

Alaska cruises are a popular choice for travelers who want to explore the breathtaking beauty of the Last Frontier. With its rugged landscapes, towering glaciers, and abundant wildlife, Alaska offers a unique and unforgettable cruise experience. Cruise deals to Alaska often include visits to stunning destinations such as Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. Passengers can enjoy a variety of activities, including whale watching, hiking, and exploring the charming coastal towns. Whether you’re interested in immersing yourself in nature or learning about the region’s rich history, an Alaska cruise is sure to leave you with lasting memories.

Bundle Up for the Best Cruise Deals

Cabins just below the pool deck and near the anchor also can be problematic as well as cabins near casinos. In addition, travel agents often can you extra onboard credit and other perks that you might not be able to get by booking directly with a line. Yes, you'll be able to find sunscreen, aspirin and Band-Aids on a cruise ship.

Airlines

Herzog was referring to the Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria that killed two Iranian generals in an Iranian consular building. Israel and its coalition of partners, including the U.S., were able to defeat 99% of the munitions. A favorite destination among Royal Caribbean cruise guests, this private island has everything you need to enjoy the ultimate beach day. Chase thrills down the tallest waterslide in North America at Thrill Waterpark. And get a taste of Bora Bora in the first Floating Cabanas in The Bahamas. Whatever kind of vibe you’re looking for on your Miami cruise to the Caribbean, you’re bound to find it at Perfect Day at CocoCay.

10 Unexpected Roles from Famous Actors, According to Reddit - Collider

10 Unexpected Roles from Famous Actors, According to Reddit.

Posted: Sun, 23 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Go for Lower-Priced Guarantee Cabins on Your Cruise

Whether you’re looking for relaxation or adventure, Carnival Cruise Line has something for everyone. Norwegian Cruise Line is one of the best cruise lines in the industry, offering a wide range of itineraries and onboard amenities. With a fleet of modern ships, Norwegian Cruise Line provides a memorable experience for passengers of all ages. Whether you’re looking for a Caribbean adventure or a Mediterranean escape, Norwegian Cruise Line has you covered. The cruise line also offers Vancouver cruises, allowing you to explore the stunning beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

Nearly 30 Cruise Ship Passengers In US Mysteriously Fall Ill With Diarrhoea

Maybe your flight to your ship gets canceled and you miss the vessel's departure. These sorts of things can happen to cruisers, and they're all the sort of situations where you might benefit from having travel insurance. Here's a comparison of the top travel insurance providers and information about Cancel for Any Reason add-ons.

North Korea says it tested ‘super-large’ cruise missile warhead and new anti-aircraft missile

Here at TPG, we're starting to build out a series of home port and destination port guides for everywhere from PortMiami to Bora Bora. If you only follow one piece of advice in this story, it should be this one. It is the only way to ensure you won't miss your ship — something that happens to cruisers more often than you would think. For starters, you only have to unpack once, even as you travel from place to place.

Carnival Cruise Line

AARP members can find exclusive senior discounts on multiple lines when booking through the AARP Travel Center Powered by Expedia. Plus, you'll have a limited selection of cabin locations and dinner seatings. But if you're flexible and can drive to a cruise port -- or have plenty of frequent flier airline points to burn -- it's a great way to take a cruise without breaking the bank. Nearly every mainstream cruise line offers special deals that let you save on the total cost of your cruise vacation.

Often, independent tours will be much more intimate than the tours offered directly through cruise lines. They might go to the same sites but in a small van instead of a big motorcoach. You might have just six or eight other people on a tour with you instead of nearly 40. If your group is big enough, you might even be able to book a private tour with an independent tour operator.

Royal Caribbean apologises as Brisbane couple’s cruise plans cancelled at last minute amid overbooking drama - 7NEWS

Royal Caribbean apologises as Brisbane couple’s cruise plans cancelled at last minute amid overbooking drama.

Posted: Wed, 29 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Make the Most of Your Loyalty Points for Deals on Cruises

But many first-time cruisers don't know this and write in a hefty tip at the "additional tip" line on bills at cruise ship bars and spas. Be sure to ask if a gratuity already has been included before adding another 15% or 20% to the total. You just check a box on an online form before sailing or while on board, and — poof! But booking tours through your line isn't the only option, and it's not always the best option. In many cases, you can save a lot of money — and get a better touring experience — by booking shore excursions through independent tour operators in ports or a tour booking service such as Viator or ToursbyLocals. There are some types of vacations — a beach trip, for instance — where you don't have to do much advance research.

As you can see, many of the positives of booking a cruise come from convenience. A cruise allows you to pay a single company, after which you’ll be able to enjoy your vacation. Even if savings aren't necessarily there for every sailing, agencies often offer deals with value-added perks like onboard credit or prepaid gratuities, which can amount to nearly $100 per person on a weeklong sailing. A cabin guarantee, which basically means you're assured to get a cabin in the category specified -- or better -- means you can't choose your exact stateroom. Just about every agent and agency -- including Cruise.com (@cruisecom and Best Travel Deals (@cruisedealsbtd -- is tweeting its best cruise deals. For instance, book seven or more double-occupancy cabins on Norwegian Cruise Line, and for every 10 passengers booked, one passenger can cruise for free.

However, they can present good value to guests looking for convenience, especially since so much of the effort around planning a trip is eliminated. It also doesn’t include tipping or the cost of other excursions, similar to what you’d find on a ship. Here’s a look at a five-night Eastern Caribbean cruise from Carnival, which is typically a more budget-friendly cruise line. As a guest aboard a ship, you have little control over where you’re going and how long you’ll be there.

The Southern Caribbean encompasses a wide range of ports, from ritzy St. Barth's to volcanic St. Lucia, rugged Dominica, French Martinique and British Barbados. Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire are so far south that they're out of the main hurricane belt and your fun in the sun will be less likely to be disrupted by seasonal storms. Although the resort price itself is less than the cruise, this doesn’t consider the price of flights to the Bahamas, which may cost more than you’d pay when heading to Miami for a cruise. A five-night stay here would cost $1,785 for two adults, and this beachfront resort includes all meals and drinks, even alcohol. You’ll also have access to Wi-Fi, pools, live entertainment and other activities.

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said on CNN Sunday afternoon that the last 24 hours had shown the “ironclad” alliance between the U.S. and Israel. South Korea’s military said Monday that it has detected evidence that North Korea is preparing for its second spy satellite launch but there are no signs that a launch is imminent. In response to North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats, the United States and South Korea have been strengthening their bilateral military drills and trilateral exercises with Japan. North Korea in recent months has been maintaining an accelerated pace in weapons testing as it continues to expand its military capabilities amid stalemated diplomacy with the United States and South Korea. Jackson says that while she understands where the flight attendant is coming from with their rules, there is no reason to avoid the aisle seat armrest for the entire flight. PEOPLE spoke to travel advisor Nicole Campoy Jackson of Fora Travel to get to the bottom of the airplane etiquette issue.

Or get your adrenaline pumping on the Dragon's Tail Coaster, where you'll race down a mountainside at 30 miles per hour. If relaxing is more your vibe, recharge in the shade of a private bungalow overlooking Columbus Beach. But don't forget to refuel at Dragon's Rock Cafe, Labadee Cafe or Columbus Café — each serves BBQ and rum-based cocktails. See what Labadee is all about on sailings from Miami, Florida year-round. The United States and South Korea have accused North Korea of providing artillery shells and other equipment to Russia to help extend its warfighting in Ukraine.

Some cruisers also swear by bringing magnets to ships to affix dinner invitations, excursion tickets and other important papers to their cabin walls. Walls on ships often are made with metal (even if they look like wood, thanks to faux wood veneers) and will hold a magnet. Some cruisers even bring magnets with hooks so they can hang up clothes and other items on their walls. I am, of course, too cool to ever put a key card lanyard around my neck, which means I lose my card once or twice on every trip. My cruise team colleague Ashley Kosciolek also escews landyard-wearing on ships, but that didn't stop her from writing this wonderful guide to the coolest cruise lanyards around.

The way to do this is to tie a credit card that offers extra points for travel purchases to your onboard account. This could be the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which offers 3 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on travel and dining (excluding the annual $300 travel credit). There's also the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, which brings 2 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on travel and 3 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on dining. Another great place to get ideas for what to do in ports and on ships — and what to bring on a cruise, for that matter — are the many private Facebook groups dedicated to particular lines. I belong to a number of them, including the Royal Caribbean Cruises group, the COPs (Cruisers Opinion Page) group and the Holland America Line Fans group. You'll find thousands of cruise fans at these pages who often are more than willing to answer questions about their favorite line, its ships, its itineraries and the destinations on the itineraries.

What happened to the Costa Concordia?

Table Of Content

• Passengers and personnel
• How many people died in the Costa Concordia tragedy?
• Collision and rescue
• Litman: How Trump’s trial will go well beyond the charges to paint a damning portrait of him

It’s easy to remember the salacious details of the disaster – the Concordia cruise disaster, if you will – but as a witness and chronicler of these events, my focus has always returned to the environmental impact. The work done by salvage teams was not just a technical achievement but a concerted effort to preserve a vulnerable ecosystem that had the misfortune of being the stage for this tragedy. My involvement in the Costa Concordia scrapping process allowed me to witness first-hand the sophistication and the scale of operations required to counteract the damage.

Passengers and personnel

More than a year after it ran aground with 4,252 people aboard, shocking viewers worldwide, the cruise ship Costa Concordia remains wedged on rocks near the Italian island Giglio. Its owner, the Carnival Corporation, is spending $400 million on one of the largest salvage operations ever attempted, the Parbuckling Project. The Costa Concordia calamity, one of Italy’s most devastating cruise ship crash events, sparked an urgent overhaul in what we now call cruise safety.

How many people died in the Costa Concordia tragedy?

Submerged in the Mediterranean’s depths, the vessel no longer traverses the world’s waters but has embarked on an eternal, anchored existence. On 22 November 2008, Costa Concordia suffered damage to her bow when high winds over the Sicilian city of Palermo pushed the ship against its dock. There were no injuries and repairs started soon after.[16][17][18]Initial repairs were completed by the December following the incident, but dents were still visible. Girotto said the cameras did not, however, reveal any sign of the two people who were not recovered among the 32 killed in the initial incident.

Collision and rescue

Once upright, the scale of damage to the submerged starboard (right) side - ground into a reef and crushed under the weight of the hull - became clear. The ship had been resting on five huge metal platforms, constructed and lowered to the sea bed, since being rolled upright in September 2013. Parbuckling is a centuries-old method that winches a sunken or listing ship upright while it is anchored at a pivot point known as the “deadman.” Sounds simple, right? To hoist it, nine enormous rectangular compartments, called sponsons, will be bolted to the ship, each equipped with a hydraulic pulley; the pulleys lead to 36 steel cables as thick as lampposts that attach to six underwater platforms. The echoes of the catastrophe stretch into the present, as each anniversary passes with the gravity of loss undiminished.

Where is the Costa Concordia Now?

As the capsizing was so fast, no radio distress call was made but an EPIRB was hydrostatically released and automatically activated[10] when the vessel sank. As a result, "appropriate action" – including reducing sail, changing course or sealing water-ingress points – was not taken before the squall hit. Five others, including two bridge officers and the ship’s hotel director, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and negligence in July. Salvage workers will continue to look for the bodies of the two missing people, an Italian and an Indian unaccounted for since the disaster, with underwater cameras combing the seabed.

Concordia Maritime’s application for delisting has been approved

The sponsons will be filled with seawater to act as a counterweight as the ship is lifted. Few of the 500-odd residents of the fishermen’s village will ever forget the freezing night of Jan. 13, 2012, when the Costa Concordia shipwrecked, killing 32 people and upending life on the island for years. GIGLIO PORTO, Italy — The curvy granite rocks of the Tuscan island of Giglio lay bare in the winter sun, no longer hidden by the ominous, stricken cruise liner that ran aground in the turquoise waters of this marine sanctuary ten years ago.

Prosecutors blamed the delayed evacuation order and conflicting instructions given by crew for the chaos that ensued as passengers scrambled to get off the ship. The captain, Francesco Schettino, is serving a 16-year prison sentence for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning a ship before all the passengers and crew had evacuated. GIGLIO, Italy — Ten years have passed since the Costa Concordia cruise ship slammed into a reef and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio. An investigation focused on shortcomings in the procedures followed by Costa Concordia's crew and the actions of her captain, Francesco Schettino, who left the ship prematurely. He left about 300 passengers on board the sinking vessel, most of whom were rescued by helicopter or motorboats in the area. Despite receiving its own share of criticism, Costa Cruises and its parent company, Carnival Corporation, did not face criminal charges.

Introducing oil booms and proactive fuel extraction efforts displayed an unwavering commitment to environmental stewardship. As an observer and reporter, I’ve seen firsthand how a once vibrant vacation remnant is now a silent watchdog, ensuring the sanctuary’s safety. The sunken cruise ship, a convergence of human tragedy and ecological peril, has become an inadvertent monument to both. Ortelli was later on hand when, in September 2013, the 115,000-ton, 1,000-foot long cruise ship was righted vertical off its seabed graveyard in an extraordinary feat of engineering.

Concordia ship now lay crippled, its metallic carcass a stark contrast to the tranquil waters that it had disturbed. As a journalist, I stand amidst the remnants of what was once a testament to luxury, now a subject to one of Italy’s most impactful maritime rescues. Almost immediately questions were raised concerning the conduct of Schettino and other crew officers.

Cruise safety one year after Concordia - CNN

Cruise safety one year after Concordia.

Posted: Fri, 11 Jan 2013 08:00:00 GMT [source]

In July 2013 four crew members and Costa Crociere’s crisis coordinator pled guilty to various charges, including manslaughter. During the 19-month trial, prosecutors claimed that he was an “idiot,” while Schettino countered that his actions had saved lives and that he was being scapegoated. In addition, he noted the steering error by the helmsman, but a maritime expert testified that regardless of the mistake, the collision was unavoidable.

Costa Concordia: How cruise ship tragedy transformed an island paradise - CNN

Costa Concordia: How cruise ship tragedy transformed an island paradise.

Posted: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Perhaps the most complex and expensive maritime salvage operation ever attempted saw the 114,500-ton ship pulled upright by a series of huge jacks and cables and set on artificial platforms drilled into the rocky sea bed. Per transcripts released by the Washington Post, Captain Schettino confirmed abandoning ship while rescue efforts were ongoing, breaking the maritime tradition of the captain going down with the ship and leaving hundreds of passengers onboard. The final mad scramble to evacuate the listing liner and then the extraordinary generosity of Giglio islanders who offered shoes, sweatshirts and shelter until the sun rose and passengers were ferried to the mainland. The Costa Concordia began taking on water after it struck a reef, leading to a chaotic evacuation process to save the lives of passengers and crew members. Let’s delve into the specifics — the cruise industry witnessed the birth of new lifesaving protocols and evacuation drills that were now to be completed before a ship could even leave the harbor.

The wreck was not the fault of unexpected weather or ship malfunction—it was a disaster caused entirely by a series of human errors. Costa Concordia was declared a "constructive total loss" by the cruise line's insurer, and her salvage was "one of the biggest maritime salvage operations". On 16 September 2013, the parbuckle salvage of the ship began, and by the early hours of 17 September, the ship was set upright on her underwater cradle.

These vivid recollections paint a portrait of survival against staggering odds, framed by a backdrop of an Italian cruise ship accident that will forever be remembered. Today, the Costa Concordia cruise ship bears a tale of caution, a lesson submerged in the depths of nautical annals. Before the concordia shipwreck turned the vessel into a byword for disaster, let me guide you through its glory days—the triumph of engineering and luxury it once represented. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control last month warned people across-the-board not to go on cruises, regardless of their vaccination status, because of the risks of infection. Evidence introduced in Schettino’s trial suggests that the safety of his passengers and crew wasn’t his number one priority as he assessed the damage to the Concordia.

Crew members underwent extensive training, focusing on their assigned roles and emergency response techniques. It was evident that the prior status quo could no longer stand, with the cruise ship crash Italy event catalyzing change. Addressing the negligence that led to the catastrophic event, the Italian courts held crew members and the crisis coordinator accountable. Four crew members and the ship’s crisis coordinator pled guilty to various offenses in a critical Concordia cruise ship salvage update. Their sentences, marked by the gravity of the incident, were relatively short but underscored collective culpability. Reflecting on the Costa Concordia as it stands now, the remnants of the once majestic cruise liner continue to captivate and serve as a poignant emblem of a maritime catastrophe.