Legend of the Seas revised Itinerary (Japan Earthquake)

Due to the situation in Japan, and in consideration of the damaged nuclear pants, Royal Caribbean has announced a revised itinerary for Saturday's sailing of the Legend of the Seas.

The ship will sail from Shanghai as schedued, but will now call at the following ports:

• Cheju Island, South Korea on Sunday, March 20
• Hong Kong, China (overnight) from 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 22 until midnight on Wednesday, March 23

According to the announcement on Royal Caribbean's website, guests who sail on the revised itinerary will be given an onboard credit, while those who opt out of the sailing will receive a full refund.

Ecstasy to Homeport at Port Canaveral

Sailing from Port Canaveral by CruiseReady

The Carnival Ecstasy will be added to Port Canaveral's fleet of homeported cruise ships on November 7, 2011. This will mean that Carnival will be sailing three ships year-round from Florida's Space Coast. She'll be joining her sister antasy class ship, the Carnival Sensation, and the much larger and newer Carnival Dream.

This is good news for our area, and we need it, because of the wind-down of America's manned space-flight program at the cape, and the accompanying reduction of the work force and Kennedy Space Cener.

NEW ITINERARIES!

The Carnival Ecstasy will offer some new short (four and five night) cruise itineraries that cruisers should find interesting.

FOUR NIGHT itineraries will call at the ports of Nassau and either Half Moon Cay or Freeport, departing each Thursdays.

FIVE NIGHT cruises will visit Nassau, Freeport and either Half Moon Cay or Key West, sailing on various Mondays and Saturdays.

The community here will be pleased to welcome this new addition to our home fleet, and smile as we wish Bon Voyage to cruisers experiencing this "new" ship and her new itineraries.

For more about Port Canaveral and some of  the cruise ships homeported there, see Two Dreams Come to Port Canaveral. 

Additional articles on cruise ships and cruising

Thinking of Japan

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Japan in this most difficult time. May you find comfort in one another and help from friends around the world.

For those who have friends and loved ones at sea right now, you will be relieved to know that it appears that all cruise ships at sea are safe. It's those on land who need our thoughts, prayers, and help right now.

Please see an article by Libby Zay, , Cruise Updates Following the Japan Earthquake and Hawaii Tsunami, for status reports from the major cruise lines.

A Cruising Lens of the Day on Squidoo

Those interested in finding web articles about cruising might try surfing over to Squidoo. I've written a few articles there. Squidoo calls them 'lenses,' though. So, Here's a bit of an explanation about Squidoo for those who aren't familiar with it. And then, I have some big news about that. (For me, anyway)

(Surfer Squid courtesy of GeekGreek's Squidoo Graphics lens.)

Here's the scoop on Squidoo.

It's fun, but a lot of work. It's a platform for sharing your knowledge on any subject you choose. You do so by writing articles, called lenses, each addressing a focused topic. In that respect, a lens is like a blog entry, but it goes a lot farther, and has more permanence to it, and I like that.

You can join Squidoo, become a lensmaster, and write lenses too. There's even a way to earn a little money doing it. Or, you can just read what others have written, and participate by commenting, rating, and sharing the lenses that interest you.

Now, My Big News

So far, I've published 18 lenses, about half of them on cruising. That's not many in the world of Squidoo. "Giant Squids" have published at least 50, and many of them over five times that.

HOWEVER, in spite of my small stature there, this squid-of-few-lenses recieved a high honor on March 1st. My Picking the Best Cabin for Your Cruise lens was chosen as the Lens of the Day - out of the tens of thousands of lenses there!

I hope you have a moment to give it a read ... or at least a scan. There's a couple of polls you can vote in, and a place for your comments at the end, too.

Finally, an apology and word of explanation to my regular readers.

Between getting my feet wet at Squidoo, and tending to my hubbys needs during two (minor) eye surgeries, time has been limited. So, please accept my apologies for my lack of attention to Cruising Musings in the last couple of weeks.

No, I'm not abandoning blogging for Squidoo, just trying to find a balance. I know you are all very well aware that there's only so much time in an on-line day!

I'll be referencing some of my Squidoo lenses in future blog entries, too, from time to time. I'll be doing quite a few cruise related lenses, so it's all good!

Falmouth Finally Opens!

The Port of Falmouth, Jamaica, has finally received its first ship. It's been a long time coming. The Voyager of the Seas called there yesterday.

Falmouth is on the north coast of Jamaica, to the east of Montego Bay. Find it on the above map by tracing down from the tail of the J in the word Jamaica. (Some great Maps of the Caribbean are avaiable at AllPosters.)

Although the real GRAND opening of the "Historic Falmouth Port" port won't be until March 22, when the huge Oasis of the Seas calls there, other ships will actually be visiting in the meantime.

Among the things to do there are riding a bamboo raft on the Martha Brae, and paying a visit to Great Hope House, which offers a variety of activities, and the Appleton Estate, where you can learn a little about making rum. The Dunns River Falls area, with which many cruisers are already familiar, is not far from Falmouth, either.

As more ships begin to call there, Cruising Musings will be interested to hear the reaction of cruise visitors to this long-awaited new port of call.

DUNNS RIVER FALLS PERSONALIZED NOTECARDS and MAGNETS, available at TropiCards:

Announcing: Disney Dream Sail-A-Bration at Port Canaveral

Although she's actually been here for over a week already we're still EIGHT DAYS AWAY from the day of Port Canaveral's big Sailabration for the new Disney Dream. More about that in a moment, but first - if you're hungering for some Disney Dream eye candy, the Orlando Sentinel has put together a nice album. Here's a link: PICTURES: Disney Dream cruise ship

Now, on to news of Port Canaveral's
Live the Dreams Sail-A-Bration

Mark your calendar for
Wednesday, Jan 26, 4 to 6 pm

The Live the Dreams Sail-A-Bration will take place at Jetty Park. For free parking, just follow the signs to Cruisse Terminal 4. The Port Authority promises "family fun and excitement," as well as a chance to win prizes as the community wishes Bon Voyage to the Disney Dream as she departs Port Canaveral that evening. Although there have already been pre-inaugural sailings, this will officially be her 'maiden voyage' from her home port.

Tise attending are asked to please bring a nonperishable food item donation for the Central Brevard Sharing Center.

I was there for the Sail-A-Bration for the Carnival Dreamm a while back, and am hoping to be able to be there for this Dream's party as well. If I make it, I'll try to get some photos for you!

8 days and counting!

Awards

A quick bit of bragging. As many of my readers know, I have a design gallery of cruise themed gifts and personalized cruise gear on Zazzle. Today, one of my designs received a TBA from Zazzle, which stands for Today's Best Award.

This Mug received a Today's Best Award:

Anchors Aweigh Personalized Travel Mug

by CruiseReady

Please stop by my gallery - CruiseReady on Zazzle - if you have a moment. I would really appreciate it!  You are more than welcome to leave a comment while you are there.  I would love to know that you visited.

Separately, I have recently been given the Stylish Blogger Award.  I'll be writing a little more about this award in the coming days, but for now, I would like to thank Lora Severson, for giving it to me, and suggest that you also browse through some of her beautiful work at Lora Severson Photography.

Earth's Magnetic Shift Forces Closure of Tampa Airport Runway

It has been reported that the main runway at Tampa International Airport (in Tampa, Florida) must be closed down until January 13. 
The reason?  It seems that a 40 mile shift in the earth's magnetic pole has occurred  This naturally occurring shift has apparently tilted magnetic N more towards Russia.
This means the runway in question must be renumbered. For navigational purposes, the runway's number is consistent with its longitudinal orientation, which, of course, changed with the shift. 
The old designation of 18R/36L, for 180 degres (from th north) or 360 degrees (from the north) will be changed to 19R/1L.  This requires repainting those huge numbers you see on the runway.  And thanks to this event, now you know what those numbers actually mean.

Other runways will be closed to be 'rejiggered' later in the month.

And yes, it's absolutely necessary, since worldwide navigaation is based on latitude, longitude, and the magnetic poles.

New Year - New Ships

Happy New Year, fellow cruisers! 

May your 2011 be filled with health, prosperity, time well spent with loved ones,

and at least a few happy days at sea.

What's new in cruising for the New Year?  Well, one thing is that we can look forward to welcoming a few brand new ships into the world of cruising in the months ahead.  Here's a quick run-down of expected new launches:

JANUARY

The maiden voyage of  Oceania's Marina departs Barcelona for Miami on the 22nd. A Regatta class ship, but a bit larger than her sisters, at 66,000 gross registered tons, she'll carry 1250 passengers.

The Disney Dream will arrive at her home part of Port Canaveral for her inagural sailing on the 26th.  She's the first in the newest (bigger) class of ships for Disney Cruises.  (130,000 tons; 4000 pax)

APRIL
German line Aida Cruises launches Aida Sol.  (71,000 tons; 2050 pax)

MAY
Carnival debuts their 23rd ship, the Carnival Magic, sister to the Deam. After a season of sailing from Barcelona, she'll arrive at her new homeport of Galveston in November.   (130,000 tons; 3690 pax)

JUNE
The Seabourn Quest, new from the Yachts of Seabourn will begin sailing the Mediterranean and Greek Isles in mid to late June.  (332,000 tons; 450 pax)

JULY

Costa brings us their sixteenth ship, the Costa Favolosa, sailing the Med fromVenice, beginning on the 7th.   (114,500 tons; 3000 pax)

A new Solstice Class ship, the Celebrity Silhouette embarks the 23rd from Hamburg to Rome on her inaugural, then sails the Med and Middle East before coming to Bayonne, NJ in the fall.  (122,000 tons; 2850 pax)

Happy New Year from Cruising Musings!

In this New Year, may we all

Live, Love, Cruise, and be Happy!

Take advantage or Cruise Ready Store's New Year Sale -  discounts up to 20%.
Through Jan 4. See Store home page for details.

Happy New Year

Today's Specials at CruiseReady on Zazzle

Cruisers - today is the day to order that shirt you've been wanting from CruiseReady on Zazzle! Monday, December 6. Take advantage of these great Zazzle specials!

Jingle Sales – $6 Off T-Shirts & Aprons + Free Ship on ALL $35+ Orders! Use Code: JINGLESALE41 TODAY ONLY!

LOTS to choose from ... Sizes for Men, Women, Children, and infants/toddlers ... Many styles and designs ...

Here's a sampling

1 . 2- . 3

1 - Hey Captain ... 2 - Cruising Multicolor ... 3 - Ahoy

4- . 5- . 6-

4 -Parrots of the Caribbean 5- Crossed Palms Group Cruise Tee 6 - Cruising Multicolor

7 - . 8 - 9 -

7 - Ocean Waves Custom Shirt ... 8 - Rather Be Cruising ... 9 - Upgrade Fairy T shirt

Specials valid at all Zazzle stores, including TropiCards and H2Owater, too!

Swirling Sea Star

Want something cool and Cruise-y to hang on your Christmas tree this year?

Swirling Sea Star Ornament by h2oWater

Notice the pattern on the front of the star. What do you think it is? It's the churning water of a cruise ship's wake!

Now, you know what it is, but guests at your place might think it's just an interesting swirl of colors... until you tell them. (Or, you could play a guessing game with them!)

You can put the date on the other side.
The hanging ornament is from the H2Owater Zazzle Gallery, but other cruise themed ornaments are available at CruiseReady on Zazzle.