Carnival’s Spa Staterooms to be Non-Smoking

If you think about it, this new policy really shouldn't surprise anyone. Carnival announced that their new Spa staterooms and suites, debuting on the Carnival Splendour later this year, will be non-smoking:

"The Carnival Splendor Cloud 9 Spa will be the perfect place for guests to relax and rejuvenate. Created to provide a heavenly atmosphere and ensure all guests enjoy their stay, the Cloud 9 Spa will be promoted as a smoke-free environment. Thus, all Cloud 9 Spa staterooms and suites have been designated as non-smoking areas with smoking strictly prohibited.

Guests who are currently booked will be notified and all marketing materials are being updated. Moving forward guests will be informed at time of booking, through marketing material and via "No smoking" signs prominently placed in each spa stateroom.

In order to preserve the Cloud 9 Spa standards and ensure staterooms are free of smoke residue, Carnival will assess a $250 reconditioning fee per spa stateroom for guests that do not comply with the non-smoking policy. This fee will cover the cost of deep-cleaning required to restore the room back to its original smoke free condition. In our efforts to accommodate guests wishing to smoke, they may do so on the outdoor decks and in lounges (excluding the main show lounge)."

Wave of the future? Definitely. Smoking costs the cruise lines in many ways. While entirely non-smoking ships were economically unviable (just think back to the Carnival Paradise - popular among her fans, but overall an operational failure), limited smoking onboard makes sense financially and otherwise to the cruise lines.

Carnival Revises Dress Code

Perhaps in an attempt to clarify what is and is not expected onboard, but probably more specifically to prohibit the use of those wheeled shoes (sometimes called Heelies) onboard (thank you, Carnival!), Carnival has released a new dress code policy for all their ships effective May 19, 2008:

What to wear?

Casual attire is the order of the day. We suggest shorts, sundresses, tank
tops, etc. for the ladies, and for men; shorts, polo shirts, T-shirts, etc. will do.
We suggest you wear rubber-soled, low heeled or flat shoes for extra traction
while onboard. The use of any footwear with wheels, including but not
limited, to Heelys© shoes, is prohibited on board our ships. For dining you
may want to dress up a bit and/or bring along a light sports jacket or
cardigan.

Most evenings we have a Cruise Casual dress code, but there are those
Cruise Elegant evenings one or two nights throughout your "Fun Ship"
voyage, where you will have the opportunity to showcase your more elegant
attire. For those who want casual attire for dinner time, the Seaview Bistro on
the Lido Deck is open nightly, and has a more relaxed theme. Both dress
codes for the dining rooms are described below.

Cruise Casual Dining Dress Code: Gentlemen - Sport slacks, khakis,
jeans (no cut-offs), dress shorts (long), collared sport shirts; Ladies - Casual
dresses, casual skirts or pants and blouses, summer dresses, Capri pants,
dress shorts, jeans (no cut-offs). Not permitted in the dining room during the
Cruise Casual dinner for ladies and gentlemen: gym shorts, basketball
shorts, beach flip-flops, bathing suit attire, cut-off jeans, and sleeveless shirts
for men.

Cruise Elegant Dining Dress Code: Gentlemen - Dress slacks, dress
shirts. We also suggest a sport coat. If you wish to wear suits and ties or
tuxedos, by all means we invite you to do so. Ladies - Cocktail dresses,
pantsuits, elegant skirts and blouses; if you`d like to show off your evening
gowns, that's great too! Not permitted in the dining room during the Cruise
Elegant dinner for ladies and gentlemen: shorts, T-shirts, beach flip-flops,
bathing suit attire, jeans, cut-off jeans, sleeveless shirts for men, sportswear,
and baseball hats.

Special Sailings
For Canada/New England/Alaska cruises: Sweaters, lightweight jackets
and raincoats are suggested. Casual clothes that can be layered easily are
highly recommended. Bring a heavier sweater if you are traveling to the
glaciers, along with a raincoat and umbrella, because it is often cold and
windy in such areas.

For South America and Europe cruises: Comfortable shoes and a just-incase
raincoat. Bring a sweater if you are traveling to the glaciers, along with
a raincoat and umbrella, because it is often cold and windy in such areas.

Special note: It is essential that you wear the proper apparel when visiting
the Vatican and other religious sites (no bare legs or shoulders).

Celebrity Cruises Revises Smoking Policies

In a move which seems to echo her Azamara sister brand's policy, Celebrity has announced that effective October 1, 2008, it will be revising their onboard smoking policies.

The new policy will disallow smoking in Celebrity's staterooms or on stateroom verandas. The policy also will reduce the number of public areas in which guests can smoke onboard.

"We are proud to be the first premium cruise line to set a new standard toward creating an environment of cleaner air on our ships," said Celebrity Cruises President & CEO Dan Hanrahan. "We pay careful attention to what our guests have to say, and approximately 90 percent of them have told us they are non-smokers. By increasing the number of smoke-free areas onboard while still designating areas for those who smoke, our aim is to make the onboard experience as pleasant as possible for all of our guests."

The new policy was created after Celebrity polled past guests. Designated indoor areas where guests can smoke cigarettes include the port side of one lounge per ship and a designated slot machine area in each ship's casino. The new policy also designates outdoor areas where guests can smoke. These include the port side of the pool deck and sundecks on each ship, the port side of the Sunset Bar on Celebrity Century and on Celebrity's Millennium class of ships, and the port side aft outside of Winter Garden on Celebrity Galaxy and Celebrity Mercury. Celebrity's new Solstice class of ships, launching with Celebrity Solstice late this year, will follow the new policy beginning with the first sailing. Celebrity Solstice's Lawn Club and the Sunset Bar at the Lawn Club will not allow smoking. Violations to Celebrity's smoking policy may result in a $250 cleaning fee charged to the guest's onboard account and may also be addressed through the line's guest conduct policy.

The new policy will go into effect on Celebrity's fleet on the first day of the first sailing to follow October 1.

Note that the Celebrity Xpedition is not part of this policy as it has had in place restrictions based on the Galapagos National Park requirements.

Personally, I'll admit that as a non-smoker who is very smoke sensitive, I applaud this move. Since ship design generally has a major traffic pattern to the show lounges passing through the casino, I've had to alter my route to go up or down a deck to avoid the congestion even passing through the casino can cause. It was a pleasure on Azamara to have a virtually non-smoking casino. I also view the non-smoking policy for the cabins and verandahs to be a strong safety move as well. I do recognize this as a pretty significant inconvenience for smokers, and I actually think it would have been a nice move to have the port side Promenade Deck also a smoking area (to make it easier for smokers to duck out of the dining room for a quick puff) in addition to the other designated areas. Perhaps Celebrity will consider that for the future.

More Fuel Supplement Hikes

Following on the hikes announced by Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Lines have both posted increases of their own.

Royal Caribbean International (Azamara, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines) announced that, effective for booking made starting May 1, 2008, the supplement will increase to $8/person per day, with a maximum of $112/person per cruise for the first and second passengers in the cabin. Third and fourth passengers will be assessed $3/person per day, with a maximum of $24/person per sailing.

Norwegian Cruise Lines will be raising their fuel supplement to $9/person per day for the first and second passengers in the cabin, with a supplement of $4/person per day for the third and fourth in the same cabin. Their increase is also effective for bookings made starting on May 1, 2008. One thing to note with NCL is that they don't have a per person maximum.

I'm a bit surprised by the NCL increase. While fuel costs have gone up dramatically since the supplements were originally announced in November and December, I thought part of the rationale behind the Carnival Corp. and RCI increases were the losses they suffered when they had to credit back supplements for sailings booked prior to their November announcements of the surcharge. However, NCL never had that issue, as they didn't make their supplements retroactive. However, their supplement did go up less per person, so perhaps that's how it all adds up together to make their respective balance sheets happy.

Expect to see further increases if the price of fuel continues to rise.

Nowegian Majesty and Dream Sold

Louis Cruise Lines, based out of Greece and specializing in Eastern Mediterranean cruises, has announced they have purchased both the Norwegian Dream and Norwegian Majesty from Star Cruises. These ships were expected to leave the NCL fleet as they don't fit the new Freestyle ship profile, but it was thought they'd go to parent company Star Cruises for use in their Asian market. Instead, this $380 million deal will send them to Greece.

The Dream will be chartered back to NCL until November 2008 and the Majesty will remain with the NCL fleet until December 2009.

Bid to renew exemption for Delta Queen fails

WASHINGTON — The future of the storied Delta Queen steamboat appeared in peril Tuesday after a key House committee rejected a vote on legislation to renew a fire-safety exemption for the vessel.



The exemption has allowed the Delta Queen to run overnight trips.



The House Rules Committee on Tuesday rebuffed Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, who wanted to amend a Coast Guard reauthorization bill to exempt the Delta Queen from federal fire safety standards.

But the Rules Committee said Tuesday that Chabot could not offer his Delta Queen proposal as an amendment when the bill is scheduled for debate.

For more than 80 years, the Delta Queen has cruised the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, operating on an exemption from Coast Guard rules that bar overnight trips on vessels made primarily of wood. The exemption has been renewed nine times since 1968, but it will expire Nov. 1 unless it is reauthorized.



Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, who cosponsored the exemption, told the Rules Committee that to deny a debate and vote "flies in the face of reason and will only contribute to the declining respect that Americans hold for this institution."



Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, opposes the exemption.



"The Coast Guard thinks it's a fire hazard," said Mary Kerr, a spokeswoman for Oberstar's committee.



Delta Queen supporters say the Coast Guard rules are intended for ocean vessels, and that the Delta Queen is safe for use on rivers, where the shore is never more than a few hundred feet away.



An Ohio-based group of Delta Queen fans delivered last week to House Democratic leaders a petition with 5,000 signatures from people supporting the exemption. People from around the world are networking online for grassroots lobbying.



Proponents said Chabot's measure could still be brought up for a House vote as a stand-alone bill, but prospects for that seemed dim.

Steamboat fans pressure Congress to save Delta Queen

The Save the Delta Queen Campaign is targeting the leaders of Congress this week in a last-ditch effort to keep the nation's most famous paddlewheeler afloat.

The grass-roots organization is bombarding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip James Clyburn with phone calls, emails and faxes in the hopes of gaining their support for legislation that would continue the historic vessel's long-standing exemption from fire safety rules. The exemption expires in November, and without it, the boat will have to stop sailing.

On Friday, the group delivered petitions in favor of the exemption to Congress signed by more than 5,000 supporters.

Congress has granted the Delta Queen an exemption from the 42-year-old safety rules nine times in the past, nearly always by close-to-unanimous margins. But the chairman of the House Committee on Transportation, Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., has been blocking a further exemption, calling the boat a fire hazard.

Congressman Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, has introduced a bill, co-sponsored by more than two dozen representatives of both parties, that would extend the Delta Queen's exemption from the safety rules until 2018. But the legislation remains stuck in Oberstar's committee.

Several media outlets have reported that Oberstar has opposed the exemption to appease a labor union that has been a donor to his campaigns. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review quoted a Congressional aide as saying "it was and remains a union dispute," noting that the boat's new owners did not accept the collective bargaining contract of the Seafarers International Union when it bought the Delta Queen.

The Save the Delta Queen Campaign, meanwhile, argues that the 1966 fire safety law that is in question was intended to cover ocean-going ships, not riverboats that operate within yards of the shore.

Tauck Launches new ship

Avalon Waterways Christens Avalon Scenery

Avalon Waterways unveiled its third new ship in Europe in two years. The Avalon Scenery, the newest ship on French waters, accommodates 138 passengers. The Scenery boasts floor-to-ceiling windows on two decks, a "fun pool" on the sky deck, elevator and Club Lounge. The ship also showcases Avalon's signature 172-square-foot staterooms with standard amenities that include hotel-style beds with duvets, Egyptian cotton linens, flat-screen satellite televisions, mini-bars, safes, modern bathrooms and large wardrobes.

In 2008, the Avalon Scenery will sail exclusively on the new "Flavors of Burgundy & Provence" journey with 32 departure dates between April and November.

The new 11-day "Flavors of Burgundy & Provence" trip begins with a stay in Paris. From Paris, guests will drive south into Beaune, the unofficial capital of the Côte d'Or area, and continuing to Chalon-sur-Saône to board Avalon Scenery. After a port stop in Tournus, travelers will sail to Mâcon for a guided walking tour. From there, they will cruise down the Rhône to Lyon, France's second largest city and its gastronomic capital. Then, it's off to the twin cities of Tournon and Tain L'Hermitage, located among vineyards between the River Rhône and the granite slopes of the Hermitage. Avignon -- also called the "City of Popes" -- is the next stop. Then, the boat heads to Arles for more exploration, including venturing into the Roman Amphitheater. This journey ends with a stay in Nice and optional excursion to Monte Carlo in Monaco. The trip is priced from $2,059 cruise- and land-only.

Call 800-640-4899 for discounted rates

Jewel River Cruises Launch Delayed

Jewel River Cruises -- the brand-new "boutique luxury" cruise line that was supposed to debut this spring with the launch of its first ship -- is suffering setbacks. The launch of the all-suite Jewel Imperial Blue has been delayed at least until August, due to extensive alterations in the original design.



The former ms Hispania, which carried mostly British passengers on river journeys in Europe, is being completely renovated to enlarge cabins and upgrade facilities. Additional architectural changes are said to be responsible for the delay.



Jewel River Cruises is one of three sub-brands of Jewel River Cruise Line (the others' ships are already chartered to European tour operators), and is being marketed to U.S. cruisers. JRCL is the brainchild of Albert Peter, who held the title of CEO at luxury line Silversea Cruises from 2001 until 2007.



Despite repeated postponements of the launch date, Jewel River Cruises' spokespersons still promise that the improved vessel will be the most luxurious river ship in Europe.



We'll keep you posted.