80 Days til Ship-Rise

Six mornings a week, near sunrise, one or more cruise ships appear on the watery eastern horizon off the coast of east central Florida. As of this writing eight in all sail out of the rising sun into Port Canaveral, for either a 'turn around' or a call at our fair port.

In 80 days, that sunrise ship count will rise by one, as our sunrise sees the SUN rise over our horizon. She'll be making her first arrival at her new home port, coming al lthe way from across the Atlalntic.

That evening -October 16, 2010 - she'll sail from her new home on a seven night westeren Caribbean itinerary.

As there were for the first Port Canaveral sailing of the Freedom of the Seas and the Carnival Dreeam, I'm sure there will be plenty of locals on hand to bid her and her cargo of revelers a hearty "Bon Voyage" as she heads for her first port of call, Cozumel, Mexico. I'm looking firward to welcoming a new ship to our 'home fleet,' and barring any unforseen circumstances, I plan to be in that crowd that afternoon!

Musings on the coming of the Sun brought to you by

Norwegian Sun postcard (pre-hull art) at CruiseReadyStore.com

and Bon Voyage to me pins at CruiseReady on Zazzle

Tropical Depression Three Forms in The Bahamas

Tropical Depression Three has formed northwest of Great Iguana Island in The Bahamas, and is already nearing Tropical Storm Strength.

Under Tropical Storm Warnings are: The central and northwestern Bahamas; All of the Florida Keys; Southern Florida, from Golden Beach Southward, around the tip of the state, up to Bonita Beach on the west coast.
Golden Beach northward to Jupiter Inlet is under a Tropical Storm Watch..

This could affect cruises slated to call in Nassau, Freeport, and most of the cruise line private islands today and tomorrow, as well as those scheduled to disembark/embark at Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.

We'll be thinking of those in the Keys and South Florida, as well as the beautiful Bahamian islands. Take care, friends.

New for Carnival Cruisers - Comedy Clubs

Carnival Cruise Line has announced that they will be implementing "Punchliner" comdey clubs on all their ship. While the clubs are already operational on four ships (Carnival Glory, Carnival Pride, Carnival Sensation, and Carnival Dream,) the line says they will be available fleetwide shortly.

The clubs will offer multiple 35 minute shows per day, several of each cruise. Early evening shows will be family oriented, while late night shows will be filled with adult humor.

The new Punchliner Comedy Club will be located in the aft of the ships, where the current show lounges are getting some modifications to accomodate the new concept. Those changes include a new stage, and branded glassware and staff uniforms.

Sounds good to me ... My favorite thing to do on a cruise ship is to find a quiet place and just chill out, but a laughter-filled interlude now and then is just icing on the cake.

This news brought to you by

"Hey Captain! I Wanna Drive!"

shirts at CruiseReady on Zazzle.

PS - Keeping an eye on that piece of weather just above the Greater Antilles (See weather widget at left) It MAY develop into something that could affect The Bahamas, and possibly south Floirida over the next few days. I'll do an update if anything starts to come of it.

Discovery Cruise Line Salutes the Troops

BIG KUDOS go out today from Cruising Musings to Discovery Cruise Line. They are offering a FREE day cruise to all Military who are serving in Iraq or Afghanistan or have served during the last year.

Their "Fun Day Cruise" leaves from Ft. Lauderdale each morning (except Wednesdays), arriving at Freeport, The Bahams at 2:00 pm, for a four hour stay, and sails back 'home' in the evening.

The nice thing about this offer for our military is that everything seems to be included in the FREE part, even port fees and taxes. The offer expires Dec 31 of this year. Here's the link to the web page where our militaary heroes can fill out a short form to get their well-deserved day cruise: http://www.discoverycruiseline.com/specials/military.

Thank you, Discovery Cruise Lines, for your support of our troops,

and THANK YOU to our men and women in uniform!

(This happy news brought to you by

Thank the Troops products at We People )

Are Brighter Days Ahead for the ss United States?

A while back, I wrote about the ss United States, and efforts to save this historic (and much loved) vessel from being turned into scrap metal, in a post titled "Is the End Near for the ss United States?"

New York City. The ss United States with the ss America passing in front of her

Today, I'm happy to report that, thanks to the generosity of a benefactor, and the consideration of Norwegian Cruise Line, it appears the ss United States Coservancy will be able to buy her some more time.

The angel is a Mr. Lenfest, who donated several millions to the effort. Thanks are also owed to NCL, who turned down an offer of almost double from a scrapper a while back. They did so in order to agree to take a lesser offer from an organication that would preserve the record setting US built ocean liner.

It''s going to take a lot of work to get her back into shape, along with a great deal of capital.

The ss United States in 2007

Now she has a chance!
The Conservancy has deal with NCL for a $3 million purchase price, despite a $5.9 million big from a scrappers. EPA concerns must be satisfied soon.  The Conservancy has enough capital for 20 months expenses for the ship, during which time they must create a plan to clean the ship of toxins and provide for future financial security for her. They may turn her into a hotel or floating maritime museum.

A Breakfast Menu from the ss United States,

dated July 10, 1966

Are brighter days ahead for the ss United States? Can the Conservancy pull off the monumental task ahead of them in the months they have?  Gee, I sure hope so... and I know I'm not alone.

Carnival Ecstasy still at Sea (Alex) Next Sailing Delayed

Because of severe weather from Alex, the Carnival Ecstasy has been unable to  port at Galveston.    Carnival Cruise Line has announced the following change.

The next cruise will now be a 3 day cruise to nowhere beginning on Friday, July 2nd.  Bording will begin at 2 pm.

According to the Carnival website, "Guests that sail on the new 3 day cruise will receive a 25% refund of their cruise fare along with a 25% discount on a future 3 to 5 day cruise departing prior to April 30, 2012 as well as a $25 per person on board credit as a reimbursement for the Cozumel government taxes and fees." 
SOURCE: http://www.carnival.com/cms/faq/default.aspx#q-1

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