Clelia II Tossed in Antarctica

Some passengers aboard Travel Dynamic's small expedition ship Clelia II experienced more than just ice and penguins on their voyage to Antarctica.  A taste of the area's often ferocious weather was also in store.

The 290-foot long, 50-foot wide vessel was returning from an Antarctica voyage when it ran into trouble on Tuesday approximately 500 miles south of Ushuaia, Argentina.  Amidst heavy seas common for the area, known as the Drake Passage, a large wave shattered a window on the navigation bridge, shorting out electrical equipment and knocking out one of the ship's engines.

By midday yesterday, however, full propulsion was restored and the ship was heading at normal speed to Ushuaia where it will disembark its passengers.  Eighty-eight passengers, all Americans, are on board, along with seventy-seven crew members.

While neither the ship nor its passengers were in any immediate danger, the video footage captured by passengers aboard National Geographic's Explorer is certainly dramatic.

Christmas Cruise Deals

With only a few weeks left until Christmas, many cruise lines are trotting out better and better deals, both on voyages for the remainder of this year and all of 2011.  So where are the deals to be had?  Here's a quick rundown of some of our favorites:

Cunard Line
The Deal: In celebration of the launch of the new Queen Elizabeth, Cunard is offering special pricing on many of its 2011 sailings right across the fleet.
The Details: There's some great deals on excellent sailings here - the only catch being that many operate during the shoulder season months.

Disney Cruise Line
The Deal: Prices as low as $875 for Disney Magic's 7-night Mediterranean sailing.
The Details: Prices are valid for the August 27, 2011 sailing and are for a family of four (vacation total price: $3500) staying in category 10C or 11A staterooms.

Holland America Line
The Deal: Holland America is once again holding its extremely popular "View and Verandah Sale" across the fourteen distinct destinations it sails. 
The Details:  Ocean-view and Verandah staterooms are the ones to go after; prices on some sailings we looked at were extremely reasonable, even for Alaska and European destinations.  The line is also offering reduced fares for 3rd and 4th guests sharing the same stateroom. 

Norwegian Cruise Line
The Deal: Norwegian Cruise Line's "Last Minute Deals"
The Details: Looking for a great deal?  NCL may have what you need - a variety of Caribbean and European sailings are heavily discounted.  If you can travel soon - like next Monday - you can catch a 12-day Mediterranean cruise sailing roundtrip Barcelona aboard Norwegian Jade for $749 per person.  If you need a little more time, a 7-night Western Caribbean sailing aboard Norwegian Pearl for $369 per person on January 30, 2011.

Princess Cruises
The Deal: Europe Balcony Bonus
The Details:  Princess is offering some exceptional prices on its complete 2011 European lineup.  The real deals are, of course, in the off-season months of April, May, September and beyond, but if you're flexible with your travel months, this can be an excellent way to save a boatload of cash - no pun intended.

Quark Expeditions
The Deal: Blog Your Way to the North Pole
The Details: Have you ever wanted to take an Arctic Expedition voyage, but couldn't quite muster up the cash to do so?  Here's your chance.  Head on over to Quark's contest page for details on how writing a short, 400-word essay could net you an Arctic voyage worth $54,000.  Sure, this is a contest, and requires some work on your part - but the reward for winning promises to be life-changing!

Royal Caribbean
The Deal: 3-Night Sailings for $99
The Details: Can you travel soon - like this Saturday?  Floridians, take note: Majesty of the Seas' December 10th sailing is now on for $99 per person in an inside stateroom.  For a quick getaway to the Bahamas, that's tough to beat.

The Yachts of Seabourn
The Deal: Save up to 50% on India and Arabia Sailings
The Details: India and Arabia must not be selling all that well, because some of these prices are extraordinary.  It's tough to beat 18 Days from Dubai to Rome in March for just $4,999 per person.
 
Silversea Cruises
The Deal: Silversea's Top 13 Voyages
The Details: Silversea has selected thirteen voyages between February and May of 2011 for inclusion in this unique offer.  In addition to being priced well below brochure fare, they include $1,000 worth of shore excursions, as well as free airfare from most major gateway cities.  If you've thought about taking a luxury cruise before but haven't, this is an excellent time to get your feet wet.

Happy Cruising!

Norwegian Jewel Sailing Delayed

 The Norwegian Jewel.

Photo courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Line

Passengers arriving at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal yesterday with the expectation of boarding Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Jewel for a week in the Bahamas and Florida got an unpleasant shock: she wasn't there.

In fact, Norwegian Jewel wouldn't be arriving until today at noon - a full day and a half late.  Prior to the scheduled December 5th voyage, she was in drydock in Boston to have one of her azipod propulsion systems fixed.  Following the collapse of a crane at the shipyard, her departure for New York was delayed, causing the delay to the December 5th sailing.

NCL posted on its Facebook page that passengers should not arrive at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal until Noon EST today.  The ship is scheduled to sail at 4pm EST on a modified six-day itinerary that drops the scheduled call Nassau, Bahamas.  Instead, the ship will stop at Port Canaveral, Florida on Wednesday and NCL's private island, Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas, on Thursday.

The Norwegian Jewel will arrive back in New York on Sunday, December 12th, and will perform that voyage as previously scheduled.  Guests on the shortened sailing will receive an onboard credit of $100 per stateroom, and 1/7th of their cruise fare will be refunded due to the lost day.

For detailed information as it emerges, be sure to continually check NCL's Facebook page for the latest information.

Port Profile: Positano, Italy

 The fairytale port of Positano, Italy.

Photo © Adrian Raeside

Nestled along Italy's beautiful Amalfi coast lies the picturesque town of Positano.  If you've seen the movies Under the Tuscan Sun or The Talented Mr. Ripley, chances are you've already caught a glimpse of this incredible port nestled in the hills.

A popular tourist destination and port of call, it's hard to believe Positano was a relatively poor fishing village at the start of the last century.  Much like Mexico's Puerto Vallarta, it wasn't until the 1950's that Positano gradually started to become a sought-after tourist destination.

 Sailing the beautiful Amalfi Coast.

Photo © Adrian Raeside

Today, a visit to Positano is like Disneyland for adults: idyllic, laid-back, and full of incredible shops, restaurants and cafes.  What better way to enjoy this beautiful port of call than hunkering down in a little cafe along the seawall, espresso in hand?  Or - when in Rome - perhaps a glass of vino?  

When researching a Mediterranean cruise for 2011, do yourself a favor and make sure it includes a call at this remarkable port.

Wildcat Spanish Air Strike Causes Massive Headaches

If you're due to catch a Mediterranean cruise in the next few days, you might want to check your airline tickets: a wildcat strike by Spanish Air Traffic Controllers has left Spain's airports in chaos and resulted in numerous flight cancellations.

While the BBC was reporting at 8:40am PST Saturday that the air traffic controllers had agreed to return to work, Spanish Ministers warned the disruptions could continue for the next two days.  Indeed, most carriers have canceled flights into or out of Spain until at least Sunday.

The strike, which began yesterday in Madrid and spread across the country, has affected roughly 250,000 people.  As with any air travel-related strike, it hasn't taken long for the situation to reach critical proportions.  The Spanish government imposed a state of alert, ordering the controllers back to work under threat of possible arrest if they failed to do so.

Not only have their actions not endeared them to any travelers scheduled to travel through Spain, their own countrymen might find their actions tough to stomach: the BBC reports that in a country gripped by austerity measures, an air traffic controller in Spain can make upwards of 350,000 Euros per year.

So far, no scheduled cruises have been directly impacted by the strike.  We will keep you up-to-date as more information becomes available.

Campbell River Cruise Terminal in Limbo

 In Better Times: a CruiseWest ship sails into 

Victoria, BC on May 1, 2008.

Photo © Aaron Saunders

Updated Saturday, December 4: added additional funding and port call information.
 
If you've taken an Alaska cruise before, chances are it stopped at the major players in that region: Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway.  Other ports of call, like Wrangell and Prince Rupert, British Columbia have also become more popular over the past decade as the number of ships calling to the region increased and lines looked for more diversity.

The town of Campbell River, British Columbia had hopes of becoming the next Prince Rupert or Sitka, Alaska.  Located along the Inside Passage route, $19 million dollars was put forth by the City of Campbell River, the Province of British Columbia, Western Economic Diversification Canada, and the bulk by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

In 2008, a total of five ships brought 2,559 passengers to Campbell River.  In 2009, that number decreased to just 162 passengers who called aboard one pocket-size cruise vessel. 

No ships have called there since.

So what went wrong?  According to an article in the Victoria Times-Colonist, the recent demise of Cruise West struck a terrible blow against the terminal, as the line was still considering a return to the city.  But Campbell River's problems began long before CruiseWest ceased operations.

In order to satisfy the Jones Act, which stipulates that all vessels leaving from a United States port must call first in a "distant foreign port" before returning, all cruise ships leaving from Seattle must call first at a Canadian port.  Most choose to spend an evening in Victoria, BC, due to its proximity to both the open Pacific Ocean and Seattle.  A few ships call instead at Prince Rupert, British Columbia, ideal due to its location just south of Ketchikan, Alaska.

Campbell River, however, lacks both of these advantages.  It is on the complete opposite side of Vancouver Island from Victoria, and is sufficiently far enough away from any Alaskan port to require almost a full day's sailing through the narrow Inside Passage in order to reach it.  Ships traveling to Victoria, on the other hand, can utilise the open Pacific Ocean, allowing them to travel at a higher rate of speed and maintain their itineraries.

Like it or not, the fact of the matter is that these Seattle-based departures drive demand for calls at easy-to-reach, infrastructure-ready Canadian ports.   Before Seattle became a major powerhouse in the Alaskan cruise market in 1999, very few ships called in Victoria, and not a single ship stopped in Prince Rupert. The classic Alaska cruise, as it was, operated out of Vancouver - thus, even on one-way trips between Alaska and Vancouver, there simply was no reason to stop at any Canadian port.

That is still the case today with sailings departing from Vancouver, the vast majority of which run one week in length and travel either round-trip, or between Vancouver and northern Alaskan ports like Anchorage and Seward.

On a week-long itinerary, there simply isn't time to call at  ports like Campbell River.

Cruise lines have experimented with longer Alaskan sailings before, but strangely many have never taken off.  Norwegian Cruise Line debuted an innovative series of 10-and-12 day sailings aboard Norwegian Dream for the 2005 cruise season.  While the cruises themselves were received very positively, they were overshadowed after that ship developed engine problems just weeks into the season, forcing the cancellation of many of the unique ports of call.

At the time, NCL took a heck of beating in the press, and hasn't been back in that capacity since.

The future of Campbell River's cruise terminal still hangs in the balance.  It's ready to receive even the largest ships plying the Inside Passage during the summer, and can be ready to go by the start of the 2011 season in April.

The question is: will anyone come?

So far, no ships are scheduled to call at the port next year.

From the Deck Chair Will Return Tomorrow

It's been a busy couple of days here at From the Deck Chair, so we're taking today off to properly work on more exciting articles to start December off right.

It's going to be an exciting month!

From the Deck Chair will return tomorrow, Friday, December 3rd.