Unique Itinerary Of The Week - 10/18

18-Night Southeast Asia Cruise on Azamara Quest

Illustration courtesy Azamara Cruises

Asia has become a cruise destination that continues to emerge slowly.  Cruise lines like Costa and Royal Caribbean have cautiously deployed a few ships there, in order to test the local market.  At first, there were teething problems catering to the mainly Asian client base, and the lines were caught off guard by one factor in particular: the number of North Americans willing to take a ten-to-fourteen hour flight in order to experience Asia on a cruise.  Starting this December, Azamara Cruises plans to tap into some of that willingness.

From December 9, 2009 to March 6, 2010 (and again from December 2010 to March 2011), Azamara Quest will offer a variety of 12, 14, and 18-night voyages calling at a number of popular Asian destinations, as well as some obscure ones - the December 21, 2010 voyage, for example, calls at Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

This week's Unique Itinerary of the Week is the December 22, 2009 18-Night Southeast Asia Cruise aboard Azamara Quest.

Starting with an overnight in Singapore on December 22nd and December 23, the  Quest then sets sail for a three-night call in Bangkok, Thailand.  After that, it's on to an overnight in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, another overnight in Hue (Danang), Vietnam, a call in Canton (Guangzhou), China, and finally ending in an overnight in Hong Kong.

What makes this cruise so special is the amount of overnight calls in port.  These give passengers the chance to experience multiple sights and excursions that a single-day port call simply could not offer.  In addition, the voyages five sea days are interspersed to allow rest between ports.

Perhaps the best feature about this exotic holiday cruise is its price point: cabins start at just $2,539 CAD - exceptional for an 18-day cruise.

For more information, visit the Azamara Cruises Website.

Another Look Behind the Scenes

Coral Princess in drydock at Freeport, Bahamas.

Photo courtesy Princess Cruises

Princess Cruises is once again pulling back the proverbial curtain to allow us to see what goes on during a drydock.  The lucky recipient this time?  Coral Princess.

Built in 2002, the 92,000-ton Coral Princess is the next in line to receive a massive refurbishment intended to bring the most popular features introduced on the Caribbean and Crown Princess to the rest of the fleet.  The best part is, you can watch the whole thing happen via their Coral Princess Drydock Photo Journal.

Enhancements include the addition of The Sanctuary, an adults-only retreat featuring padded loungers and dedicated Serenity Stewards serving refreshing beverages and light snacks.  Coral Princess will also receive Movies Under the Stars, Princess's signature outdoor moviegoing experience first introduced on Caribbean Princess.  Not only has Princess been quick to retrofit their fleet to provide this popular feature, but other lines, including Carnival, Disney, and MSC have followed suit, installing giant LED screens on the pool decks of some of their ships.

Other changes will be less noticeable:  Coral Princess is due to get new upholstery and carpeting, plus a brand-new silicone anti-fouling paint below the water line that helps reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency. 

Once drydock is complete, Coral Princess will resume her winter Panama Canal sailing schedule before heading north to Alaska next spring.

To follow along with the drydock of Coral Princess in Freeport, Bahamas, view the photo blog, or check out Princess's Facebook Page, Twitter feed, and Flickr photostream.

For more information on Coral Princess's itineraries and pricing, visit the Princess Cruises website. 

Epic Appointments

Norwegian Epic.

Illustration courtesy Norwegian Cruise Line

At From The Deck Chair, we usually try to showcase news and interesting facts from a wide variety of cruise lines.  Norwegian Cruise Line, however, is making that increasingly difficult: it seems as if in the past few months, there's been a slew of NCL-related information, and with good reason: the company is ramping up for the launch of Norwegian Epic, due to be delivered to the line in June, 2010.

Yesterday, Norwegian Epic passed another milestone with the appointment of her Captains and Hotel Directors.

Captain Trygve Vorren, a familiar face to those who have sailed NCL frequently, will have the honor of being Epic's first master.  Hailing from Norway, Captain Vorren has been with Norwegian Cruise Line since 1980, when he joined as First Officer on the SS Norway.   His relief will be Captain Hakan Svedung, who has spent thirty-five years at sea, including three with NCL and a further twelve with Star Cruises. 

In the position of Hotel Director will be Klaus Lugmaier, with Sean Wurmhoeinger as his relief.  Lugmaier had the distinction of, at age 26, becoming one of the industry's youngest Hotel Directors - a demanding position at any age.  Relief Wurmhoeinger has been with NCL since 2002, and has served on almost the entire fleet during that time.

It would seem that Norwegian's largest ship is in good hands. 

For more information on Norwegian Epic and her itineraries, visit NCL's website.   

The Non-Travel Travelogue

Independence and Grandeur of the Seas at Cozumel, Mexico.

Photo copyright 2009 Aaron Saunders

Preparing myself for a 90-minute ferry ride from Vancouver to Victoria this past weekend required some good cruise-related literature.  What better, of course, than a major national paper advertising a special eight-page long section devoted entirely to cruising?

Of course, there's a reason I'm not naming the paper - the articles, indeed the entire section, were embarrasing - the sort of thing a first-year journalism student might write.  I read halfway through an entire page-length article before I discovered the name of the ship the writer was traveling on.  The rest of the article was filled with the standard, cutesy facts about Juneau, or how Ketchikan's Creek Street has that 'fishy' smell you only find in Alaska.  The companion article to this was one that semi-bashed the idea of a cruise vacation entirely.

Which got me thinking: what is it about printed travelogues that just doesn't work for cruises?  I have yet to read one printed travelogue that adequately captures the absolute magic of being onboard a magnificent cruise ship - the ocean passing underneath the hull, the gentle sway of the decks, the joy of just being onboard.  Heck, most of them don't even tell you which night is lobster night.  Worse, the writers either got paid for the article or had their cruise comp'd - or maybe both - a dream for the avid cruiser. 

That's not to say that all cruise-related reporting is bad.  Look at the tremendous works of John Maxtone-Graham if you're after a slice of cruising both past and modern.  Read the well-written, lovingly prepared and photographed blogs of Peter Knego, who has made a career for himself of photographing and documenting some of the last classic ocean liners still sailing the seas before their inevitable - and sad - end on the beaches of Alang, India, where they are dismantled piece by piece and sold for scrap. 

Love or hate Carnival, there's no denying the daily blogging delights from Carnival Senior Cruise Director John Heald not only make the reader want to cruise, but to also learn about the inner workings of those mini cities at sea that we all love.  And ShipParade's Bart de Boer keeps us up to date with photo-tours of some of the newest cruise ships.

So while a lot of print information about cruising still tends to be bland and watered down, the online resources available for the avid cruiser continues to grow and expand at an impressive rate. 

We couldn't be happier.

A Little Break

In recognition of Thanksgiving here in Canada (and because there's the distinct possibility I will be too sluggish after loading up on turkey, pumpkin pie and the like), From the Deck Chair will take a little break but will be back with more news and interesting facts, and a fresh Unique Itinerary of the Week on Tuesday, October 13th.

A Nieuw Look at a New Ship

Nieuw Amsterdam's Ocean Bar

Photo-illustration courtesy Holland America Line

When Holland America Line launched the Eurodam in 2008, they knew she'd have a sister.  Last year, they named that sister Nieuw Amsterdam.  Yesterday, we got our first glimpse of what she'll look like inside when Holland America posted new renderings on their blog.

Building on the success of the Eurodam, and the Vista class ships like Noordam and Oosterdam that came before her, Nieuw Amsterdam is poised to carry on the Holland America Signature of Excellence for a new generation when she sets sail in the summer of 2010. 

Nieuw Amsterdam will be officially named in Amsterdam on July 4, 2010.  For a look at more renderings, visit Holland America's blog.

For information on the inaugural season of the Nieuw Amsterdam, visit Holland America's website. 

Unexpected Caribbean

Illustration courtesy Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Sometimes things work out in ways you didn't initially anticipate.  This is very much the situation Regent Seven Seas found themselves in when arranging their winter lineup for Seven Seas Navigator. 

The final ship to undergo Regent's extensive (and highly successful) refurbishment program, Seven Seas Navigator will sport new dining options, refreshed public areas with brand new color schemes and furnishings, as well as updated staterooms when she emerges from refit on December 28, 2009.  The work will be completed in less time than first thought, allowing Regent to add two brand-new Caribbean itineraries on this excellent ship.

The first, a 10-day Eastern Caribbean voyage departing January 13, 2010 from Ft. Lauderdale, will call at Princess Cays, San Juan, Saint Maarten, St. Barts, Virgin Gorda, Cayo Leventado, and Grand Turk.

The second, a 10-day Western Caribbean voyage (pictured above) departing January 23, 2010 from Ft. Lauderdale, swings around to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, Santo Tomas, Roatan, Costa Maya, and beautiful Key West before arriving back in Ft. Lauderdale. 

Prices for the Western Caribbean itinerary start at $3,965; the Eastern Caribbean at $4,465.  Considering every stateroom onboard Seven Seas Navigator is a suite - and a newly refurbished one at that, plus the fact that all gratuities and most alcoholic beverages are included onboard Regent, we think that's one heck of a deal.

For more information, visit Regent's website.