Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Swine Flu Forces Cruise Itinerary Changes - Some Drastic!

With governments advising against non-essential travel to Mexico, the cruise lines have scrambled to find alternate ports for their many ships scheduled at Mexican ports of call.

As of now, NO ships will be calling at Mexican ports through at least the 11th. Mostly, this poses no inconvenience for cruise passengers. It does, of course take money out of the pockets of the locals at the cancelled ports.

The changes began a couple of days ago, and today, it really cranked up, with one line, in particular making drastic changes for a couple of its ships.
For Carnival's Ecstacy, sailing out of Galveston, and the New Orleans-based Fantasy, entire sailings have been cancelled, and replaced with new ones of different lengths, sailing sailing on different dates. This will, no doubt, prove difficult for those who had pre-approved vacation dates, or who are flying to reach their cruise.

However, it is well to remember that, in an emergency, convenience must sometimes take a back seat to safety and public welfare.

If you are sailing on any ship - with any line - during this flu emergency, PLEASE check your cruise line's website frequently. Most are updated at least daily, and are easy enough to access.

If you are scheduled to sail on the Fantasy or the Ecstacy, do yourself a favor, and check Carnival's website NOW.

This news brought to you by:
Carnival and Princess Mementos at Cruise Ready Store

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Port Canaveral Potpourri #2- Sunrise Diner

Set your travel alarm clock for MORNING, get up for breakfast, and head for the Sunrise Diner, in Cocoa Beach. It's a great way to start off your weekend, or your cruise sailaway day.

DON'T go to the Sunrise Diner for a fancy-schmancy champagne brunch. They don't do that there.
They DO do old fashioned breakfast in an old fashioned diner atmosphere. Lots of good food, at a very reasonable price, and quick, friendly service. What more could you want? Your plate will arrive full, and you'll leave the same way.

My personal favorite is the Greek Omelette, with a side of tziki sauce. (Did I spel that right?) If you don't care for grits, choose home fries instead of hash browns. (The hash browns are the 'string' variety.)

They're located at 165 W. Cocoa Beach Causeway (otherwise known as state road 520), just several blocks from the Atlantic Ocean. If you go on Sunday, and get there about the time church is over, you'll see a line, but you'll be amazed at how fast it moves. The place is very popular with locals.


Need a travel alarm clock for your trip to Port Canaveral and beyond? Here's one with calculator, calendar, and world time functions from the Cruise Ready Store selection of travel accessories. It's 20% off retail, with free shipping within the US. And, if you're cruising, especially during hurricane season, see our Gin-gins and other natural sea sickness remedies that are favorites with veteran cruisers.




This breakfast idea brought to you by:
Travel Alarm Clock from Cruise Ready Store

Monday, April 27, 2009

Cruise Examiner

If you just can't get enough cruising news, and yearn for intelligent, in depth commentary on what's happening in the industry, them you'll want to make Cruise Examiner a regular weekly read. Mark Tre does a fabulous job with "Comment on the latest cruise industry news." Cruise Line Fans was so impressed with Cruise Examiner, that they added Mark's articles as a regular featured on the popular cruise forum site.

REMINDER:
Cruise Ready Store will be open for browsing only (cart functions disabled) while Cruising Musings goes cruising... beginning this Saturday (5/3) at noon, until the following Saturday evening (5/9)

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Radiance of the Seas coming to Tampa

Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas will be home porting in Tampa, beginning in October of 2010. This is good news for the port of Tampa, and for those within easy driving distance. What a nice alternative for those who love the beautiful Radiance Class ships, but don't particularly care to dapart out of the busier Miami or Port Everglades terminals.
The 90,000 gt Radiance will be doing 4 night sailings calling at Cozumel, and 5 nighters to Cozumel and Costa Maya.

REMINDER:
Cruise Ready Store's 8 for 48 Shirt Sale is now in progress. Get 8% off any
Shirt for Cruising at Cruise Ready Store!. Use coupon code 48HOURS at checkout. (Sale ends at 6PM eastern tomorrow.)

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Carnival Fun City Event in Baltimore

If you're in the Baltimore area, and love to cruise, here's a little something to add a bit of excitement to your Saturday.
Carnival Cruise Line is holding a "Fun City: Baltimore" event today at the Inner Harbor, which, according to a CCL press release, will include ". . . a variety of free activities and attractions, including the creation of a giant sand sculpture and 3-D chalk art. A world record giant beach ball, hip-hop dance performances, live entertainment, a 'Camp Carnival' Kids’ Zone, karaoke and an appearance by Carnival’s mascot 'Fun Ship' Freddy ."
The reason for the event? On Monday, the Carnival Pride begins year-round itineraries from Baltimore, calling at Freeport, Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and occasionally Nassau.

This entry brought to you by:

Carnival and Princess Momentos at Cruise Ready Store.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Happy Birthday, Willie the Shake!!

(Piture from Wikipedia)

While the exact date of his birth is not 100% certain, today, April 3rd, is widely accepted by many scholars to be the probable birth date of William Shakespeare.
So, to the man who gave us three of my all time personal favorites - The Tempest, Othello, and Taming of the Shrew -
Thank You,
and
Happy 445th!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

A Lucky Day

Today must be my lucky day. I have been invited to go on a CRUISE with a dear friend. It's a last-minute "Ladies Only" cruise, as it's less than two weeks away, and we'll be leaving the men at home! The arrangements were already made, and an extra bed was available because someone else couldn't go, so all I had to do was say yes, and pay a partial fare. This is turning out to be the most affordable cruise I've ever taken!


Although you might not luck into exactly the deal I did, lots of folks are finding some real bargains these days. Cruise lines are offering some phenominal deals to entice people on board during these tough ecomomic times. If you've been thinking of cruising, now might be the time to check into it.

Let's see? What to pack???


Well, one thing in particular that comes to mind is a a folding shopping bag -from (you guessed it) Cruise Ready Store. That's just in case we decide to do any shopping in Key West, Ocho Rios, or Grand Cayman. IF WE WANT, we can shop like crazy, without the guys complaining, cause they'll be safe at home! (hehe)

These little bags are 10% off unti the end of April
I might even take an one extra along as a little cruise gift for my friend . .
wonder which color she would like?

This post brought to you by:

TRAVEL ACCESSORIES at Cruise Ready Store




Monday, April 20, 2009

Port Canaveral's Sail-A-Bration for the Freedom of the Seas

Just received an announcement from Port Canaveral about their "Sail-A-Bration," to welcome the Freedom of the Seas to her new home port, and bid her bon voyage on her first sailing from her new home port. The event will be from 4:00 to 6:00 pm on May 4, at Jetty Park, where there will be a spectacular (and close-up) view of the ship as she passes the jetties on her way out to the open sea. Attendees are asked to bring a non perishable food item for the Brevard Sharing Center.

This entry brought to you by: Cruise Ready Store

Port Canaveral Potpourri #1 - Grills at the Port

Today's Port Canaveral Potpourri: A great place for dinner the night before your cruise.

A favorite eatery for locals and visitors alike is Grills Seafood Deck & Tiki Bar.

Right ON the ship channel, where you can watch the boats and ships pass while you eat indoors or at a waterside table, Grills has an island casual atmosphere. It's great fun to see a cruise ship dwarf the building as it passes. Get there before 5 on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday for this event. Or, watch a much smaller casino boat leave around 4 or 4:30 pm any day. You'll also enjoy watching the pelicans play amonng the many other vessles, both moored and moving. If you're lucky, a gentle manatee will come to call at their dock!

Grill's also provides a wonderful vantage point for NASA's splendid handwork, aka launches.... especially those of the unmanned rockets.

The menu is heavy on seafood, and it's all good, much of it caught in local waters, though there are some choices for those who prefer other fare. They DON'T fry their seafood, so don't even ask! The owner also owns a charter boat, so the fish is very fresh!
My favorites: Appetizer - Their to-die-for cheese bread. Main course: The Shark-kebobs are out of this world.

Aside from people, pelican, and port activity watching, there's live music Thursday - Sunday evenings, and some Saturday afternoons.

Grill's is in 'the cove', just a stone's throw east of the cruise ship terminals. They do not take reservations, and it's a popular spot, so if you don't arrive early, you may have a wait, but it will be a pleasant one. They use the hand-held alert devices to summon you when your table is ready.



This entry brought to you by:

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Port Canaveral Potpourri: Introduction

With the huge Freedom of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) due to make Port Canaveral its home port just two weeks from today, and 4 other mega ships (one each from Carnival and Norwegian and two from disney) following, lots of folks will be seeing our area for the first time. Many will opt to spend a few days in Orlando before their cruise, and brave the crowds at the attractions. But some will choose to expolre the area in and around Port Canaveral.

With that in mind, I'll be doing a series of occasional entries just for those folks... highlighting things to do and see and places to eat in and around Port Canaveral. The name of this little series: Port Canaveral Potpourri

And just maybe, with a little help from a Cruising Musings, you'll start making cruise memories even before you walk across that gangway on cruise day.

This entry brought to you by:

Friday, April 17, 2009

A little maintenance

I spent some time this morning working on the blog set-up, so haven't made time to do a post about cruising today.

I think the look and functionality of the blog is somewhat improved as a result of changing the format from two columns to three, and moving some things around. I also added a few new links that people might find of interest.

In addition, I made a place near the upper left for a small photo, which I may change from time to time. The current picture is one of my favorite views of the lighthouse in the Harbor in Nassau, The Bahamas. Hope you like the changes, and enjoy the Nassau Sunrise.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

18 Days and counting

With the economy in the doldrums, folks anywhere could use a bit of uplifting news. The good news around these parts is that our port is due to get one of Royal Caribbean's mega-ships. It's 18 days until May 4, 2009, the Freedom of the Seas arrives here to settle in to her new homeport.

The first of the 'Freedom Class' vessels, this is one BIG ship - and, at 160,000 gt, will be the largest cruise ship to call Port Canaveral home. She measures 1,112 ft long, and carries over 3,500 passengers.

With several pools, an H2O Zone water park, and a FlowRider surfing simulator, there are plenty of water activities onboard Freedom of the Seas. . .
. . . So, if you're planning on sailing the big ship out of Port Canaveral, you'll want to be prepared for lots of sun and fun. Cruise Ready Store can help there. A visit the Beach & Swim Gear category can net you something for poolside, like sunglasses (regular or clip on), swimming goggles (those pools are filled with sea water), a swim suit cover up, or one of these clever Sunblock on a Rope Novelty Necklaces,:

By the way ... wouldn't one of these make a really cute pre-cruise gift for someone? And, best of all, they're now available at pre-season pricing of 10% off.


This entry brought to you by:
CRUISING LINKS at Cruise Ready Store.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Bon Voyage!

Bon Voyage!

What does it mean?

Bon voyage is a French phrase that has been adopted into the English languagel. Although the literal translation is "good journey," the understood usage in English is usually "Have a good trip." And, while it can be used in reference to any trip, it's most frequently used in connection with cruising and other sea travel.

As a cruise ship leaves its port of embarkation, happy shouts of "Bon Voyage! can often be heard.


It's also not unusual for cruise gear, cruise gifts, or bon voyage gifts to be given to those about to embark on a sea voyage.

These can be anything from a small item that could be useful on a cruise, such as a travel sewing kit, a small pack of travel ginger candies to ward off motion sickness or a fancy lanylard and ID holder for the all important cruise card to a pre packaged bon voyage gift set.

The weeks leading up to a cruise can be so exciting, in fact, that some cruisers will even buy themselves a little bon voyage gift, such as the Bon Voyage to Me T Shirt, shown above.

This blog entry brought to you by:

BON VOYAGE CRUISE GIFTS at Cruise Ready Store.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Cruising Links, from CruiseReadyStore.com

Need to find information about cruising? Here is a collectioin of links go sites related to cruising from Cruise Ready Store.com


You'll find a list of Cruise Line Home Pages, names of travel agents we use and their URLs, a link to a friendly forum about cruising, websitess to get information on passports, travel insurance, and tropical weather, and a few more things that might interest you.
This entry brought to you by:

Sunday, April 12, 2009

. . .And so the Blog Begins

I'm coming late to blogging, so, there's a lot to make up.

Much - but certainly not all - of this blog will be about one of my favorite activities - cruising.
So, I've called it Cruising Musings... and other stuff. Not sure yet what the 'other stuff' will be about, but this is only the beginning, and, after all, there ARE other things in the world besides ships and cruises and ports and cruiselines and cruising friends.

we're pretty new to cruising, having been on 29, but we sure do like cruising When I'm not on a ship (which hasn't been a lot lately, due to the economy) I spend some of my spare time as moderator of a cruise forum called Cruise Line Fans.

One of my business endeavors is an on-line specialty store for cruisers, which I named Cruise Ready Store. So, you see, I really do have a bad case of the cruise bug, and it was only natural that I start a blog that would at least partially concentrate on the world of cruising.

OK - Guess that's enough for a starting entry. More to come.

Today's blog entry brought to you by: