One vendor we got to hear from was Air New Zealand and they talked about their new planes and recent upgrades to their services. Air NZ recently acquired 3 new Boeing 777-300’s that has four classes of seats: Business Premier, Premier Economy, Economy Sky Couch and Economy. They do not have a first class on the planes they call it Business Premier. I have flown in their Business Premier class and it was an amazing experience. But they have made some recent enhancements like the meals are all cooked fresh on the plane, they have new thicker mattresses for their seats that lay flat to make a bed, and they now have full size pillows. They have also added USB and iPod connections to your seating area. The seats when laid flat are 79.5 inches long. For those that need that converted that is 6’ 7.5”!
The Premier Economy on the new planes are fixed shell seats that recline within their own space so you don’t have to worry about people’s seats being in your space. The seats are configured 2-2-2. The seats in the middle are designed for couples or people traveling together and are angled for that. The outer seats by the bulkhead offer some privacy for people traveling by themselves.
Economy Sky Couch – this has to be one of the coolest things in air travel! It is where you can convert 3 seats into a couch. The arms raise and are tucked away between the seats, the seats are one flat bench and then there are foot extensions that can be raised 90 degrees to go over the foot area creating a couch that is 5’ 1” in length and goes from the back of the seat to the back of the seat in front. This setup is ideal for families and couples. Air New Zealand even has reduced rates to purchase the third seat if you buy the other two. The foot extension can be angled to either 60 or 90 degrees. The foot extensions are locked if all three seats are not purchased by people traveling together.
Economy seats now have foot rests and in-seat power, USB & iPod connections
They have also started a kid’s program called “Jet Cadets”. Each child gets a lunchbox with healthy snacks and drinks and kids sized headsets. H and we can’t forget storytime either. They will have crew members who will be holding storytime on the some of their flights.
We will be teaming up with Air New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand to bring you “An Insider’s Tour of New Zealand”. This tour of New Zealand will be either land based or cruise with excursions. I will be taking a group of people with me home to New Zealand and showing them what New Zealand is like away from all the tourist stuff, yes we will get to visit some popular tourist stuff but you will also get to visit some not so well known sights and sounds that are New Zealand. We are looking at holding this tour in 2013 and again in 2014. On our Facebook page there is a question there asking people to pick which dates and whether they would land or cruise option, so please stop by and let us know which you would prefer. Oh and in 2014 we will be doing a land tour featuring New Zealand Military History. We will be visiting the Royal New Zealand Army Museum, the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum and the grand finale will be attending the Warbirds over Wanaka Airshow!
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| PV270 Spitfire |
Okay we are now leaving the friendly skies of Air New Zealand and heading to the luxury of Regent Seven Seas. On Friday I got to tour the recently refurbished Regent Seven Seas Navigator. Navigator is the smallest ship in their fleet holding only 490 passengers. The ship is a beautiful all suite ship with the smallest suite being 301 sq. ft., 97% of the suites have their own balcony. We had a great tour and got to see some of the suites and my favorite place on the ship…the spa! Regent Seven Seas have Canyon Ranch Spa Club on all three of their ships! Regent Seven Seas added Prime 7 their specialty steak restaurant to the ship. There is no cost involved to enjoy dinner here. The only thing you need to do is make a reservation. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch onboard the ship. The food was amazing!! Regent Seven Seas is an all-inclusive cruise line that includes 2 for 1 fares plus an additional bonus savings of up to $6,000 per suite; FREE Unlimited Shore Excursions, FREE pre-paid Gratuities, FREE Round-trip air fare. You have no bar tab. Yes you read that right - NO bar tab. All drinks including fine wines and premium spirits are included! The newest amenity they have added to their inclusive list is a FREE luxury hotel package. Regent Seven Seas sailings are selling out fast! They only have 18 cruises left with availability in 2011. If you are looking at sailing in 2012, those itineraries are open now.
AMA Waterways River Cruising – told us about some new river cruises they are coming out with. One will be a Jewish Heritage tour and another will be Moscow to St Petersburg and St Petersburg to Moscow. Late October to early November is wine month and they celebrate with wine cruises.
How would you like to cruise the mighty Mississippi River? On August 11, 2011 American River Cruises will start sailing on the Mississippi in a brand new Paddlewheeler. The new Paddlewheeler will embody the spirit of traditional Mississippi River cruising and the grandeur of the riverboats of the past while offering all the modern comforts and amenities American Cruise Lines passengers have come to expect. Some 7-night itineraries will be New Orleans to Memphis; Memphis to Nashville; Nashville to St Louis; St Louis to St Paul; St Louis to Cincinnati; Cincinnati to Pittsburgh; round-trips in St Louis and New Orleans.
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| Mississippi Paddlewheeler |
I got to learn more about Hurtigruten cruise line. Founded in 1893 Hurtigruten immerses passengers in the Norwegian Culture. Norway is a coastal country and they have 11 ships sailing every day of the year. In a 12 day round-trip cruise you can visit 34 ports of call. They are all docked and there is no tendering of the ships. They are part of the Geo Tourism Initiative which is an agreement with National Geographic to protect, preserve and improve waters, lands, etc . They also have ships that explore Greenland, Iceland, the Artic and the Antarctic. I was told they actually allow people off the ship in Antarctica and for those who are really, really keen you can go for a polar dip! Brrrr
Some of the ships I got tour were:
Crown Princess – Princess is a premier cruise line that was made famous on the TV show The Love Boat. Crown Princess holds 3080 passengers and has nearly 900 balconies. Despite its size Crown Princess had a very intimate feel and there were plenty of places onboard to kick back and relax or to get up and get moving. The Movie Under the Stars is one of Princess’ signature features where you can watch first-run films. If you are travelling with children then Princess has a great kids program for kids aged 3-17 years. Drop the kids off for some fun and laughter while the adults go and enjoy some of the adult only features available on the ship. Princess has three specialty restaurants onboard that all have a surcharge – they are: Sabatini’s (Italian Restaurant), Crown Grill (Steak & Seafood), Ultimate Balcony Dining. But if you are not into specialty restaurants do not fear, there are plenty of places included in your cruise fare for you to eat. Traditional dining (set dining times) takes place in Botticelli Dining Room. This was a beautiful dining room where we got to enjoy a wonderful lunch during our tour. If the food we got served was anything to go by you are in for some great food when sailing on Crown Princess. Besides this dining room there is Michelangelo and Da Vinci dining rooms which are for Anytime Dining (where you get pick your dining time), Horizon Court Buffet and Bistro, Café Caribe, Pizza & Ice Cream bar, Trident Grill for burgers and hot dogs, Afternoon Tea, 24-hour room service. All these are included in your cruise fare. There is plenty of nightlife available onboard Crown Princess. One place we found was Skywalker Nightclub, even though it was dark we got a great feel for how much fun this place could be!
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| Dancing in Skywalker Nightclub |
Norwegian Pearl – The first place we got to see when we stepped onboard was up on the 14th deck. We got to check out the amazing 3-bedroom Garden Villa which accommodates 8 people, Courtyard Penthouse with Balcony, 2-bedroom Family Villa which sleeps up to 6 people. All these staterooms had exclusive access to the Private Courtyard area that has its own pool, spa, butler, and concierge. You have to go to our photos on our Facebook page to check out the Private Courtyard! This area of the ship is like a ship within a ship. It was awesome! We had lunch in Summer Palace Main Dining Room that was very good. If you are not familiar with Norwegian they are freestyle cruising. What this means is that you don’t have the traditional set dining times of early or late. You can go to dinner whenever you please while the dining room is open. You don’t have to get dressed up either. They have an optional formal night. When Brad and I got to sail Norwegian Star in 2009 and Norwegian Epic in 2010 we loved being able to come back from visiting a port of call and taking time to have nap and shower before dinner. We weren’t fixed to a specific time to dine. We would then go to dinner in jeans and t-shirts if we wanted. Which I love since I practically live in jeans! We chose the nights we wanted to get dressed up for dinner and it was great to have that flexibility. We also did not have to sit at the same table every night, which meant we got different wait staff and table mates every night. Although if you would like to sit at the same table and have the same wait staff and dine at the same time each evening you can certainly request it. That is the beauty of Freestyle cruising.
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| The Private Courtyard |
Royal Caribbean’s Majesty of the Seas – this is one of the oldest ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet, but don’t let that deter you from experiencing this beautiful ship. Majesty of the Seas sails 3 and 4 night Bahamas cruises from Port of Miami and she holds 2,767 passengers. Yes she is one of the smallest ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet but don’t let that stop you from enjoying all she has to offer. And she has a lot to offer! We didn’t get to see any of the staterooms on this tour but we did get to enjoy a wonderful lunch and see some of the wonderful public spaces this ship has to offer. We even got to tour the Fuel and Living Room which is for teenagers only. Normally we don’t get to see inside any of the kid’s areas but we got a peek and that space made me want to be a teenager again! My favorite place onboard a Royal Caribbean ship is the Viking Crown Lounge. I love sitting up here by the window with my kindle and either reading or people watching. This lounge is a great place to do both. When we sailed on Mariner of the Seas last year I loved getting ready for dinner early and going up to the Viking Crown Lounge for a pre-dinner fruit smoothie and relaxing.
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| Enjoying a book in the Library on Majesty of the Seas |
If you would like to see photos from the four ship tours then you will find them on our Facebook page under photos.
The trade show at Cruise360 was great. It gave me opportunity to meet some people that I deal with. Since my dealings with them are via phone and email it was great to put a face to the voice. Also got to meet some vendors I had never heard of before and learn more about them. I got to learn more about some cruise lines that I have only heard about but haven’t had a chance to experience or go through their training yet. I also got lots of information about some of the home ports and what hotels are close by. I even won a 3-day/2-night stay at the Indian Creek Hotel Miami Beach in one of their suites. It is a boutique hotel not far from South Beach. Stay tuned for more info on this hotel as I will give you my thoughts on the property once we have stayed there.
On Saturday night we had the Hall of Fame Dinner and inducted into CLIA’s Hall of Fame were Rick Sasso, President and CEO of MSC Cruises USA; Michelle Morgan, President and CEO of Signature Travel Network; and the United States Coastguard. During this gala event we enjoyed entertainment from Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Lines. Royal Caribbean’s entertainment was the amazing voices of Mosaic. This is an all-male A Cappella singing group from Las Vegas who perform on Royal Caribbean ships. They blew me away! The five guys entertained us with a good selection of songs. The music we heard during the songs was created from their own voices. You can learn more about them at www.wearenotaboyband.com. Next up was Celebrity Cruises and they brought us a European-style circus spectacular which was a taste of the show that passengers get to see onboard the Celebrity ships. It was amazing! Last was Norwegian Cruise Lines with “Legends in Concert”. They closed the night out with Whitney Houston, Marilyn Munroe and Elton John. Whitney Houston and Elton John will be joining Norwegian Epic in May. All three performers were amazing. Marilyn had us all in stitches from laughing so hard. I saw “Legends in Concert” on Norwegian Epic in December 2010 and we saw Rod Stewart, Brittney Spears and Michael Jackson. And I will tell you this…if I had not known that Michael Jackson was no longer with us I would have sworn he was on stage. The caliber of the performers they use in Legends in Concert is unbelievable! You have to see and hear them for yourself.
Well that is all I have time for now. I hope you have a super fantastic sparkling day! Until next time…
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