Okay, that's enough time at home -- I'm off on another adventure.
Once again, it's a positioning cruise, from here...
to here...
...which means it's relatively cheap compared to many cruise ship prices, when you work it out as a cost per day.
Also, it demonstrates that staying loyal to one company pays off in the cruise business as much as in any other part of the travel industry. The members-only promotion that I jumped at, over a year ago, gave me US$700 in onboard spending money and required only a $100 deposit to hold the space until the final payment deadline. That's an uncommonly good offer!
Of course, you can get even better prices by booking at the last minute. Cabins are often available on positioning cruises -- but the last-minute bookings are apt to offer cabins in some of the slightly "noisier" locations in the ship (see previous post for details). It's a trade-off.
The early booking offer means that I can once again afford a mini-suite with a balcony. As the name suggests, the mini-suite is not gigantic, but it is bigger than a standard stateroom, offers more storage space, and it's certainly possible to move around some parts of it without colliding with a wall every time you take 1.4 or more steps. Here's what it looks like, according to the company website -- and I hope it really does look like this picture because I always get warm fuzzies when I'm in a room decorated in earth tones.
to here...
...which means it's relatively cheap compared to many cruise ship prices, when you work it out as a cost per day.
Also, it demonstrates that staying loyal to one company pays off in the cruise business as much as in any other part of the travel industry. The members-only promotion that I jumped at, over a year ago, gave me US$700 in onboard spending money and required only a $100 deposit to hold the space until the final payment deadline. That's an uncommonly good offer!
Of course, you can get even better prices by booking at the last minute. Cabins are often available on positioning cruises -- but the last-minute bookings are apt to offer cabins in some of the slightly "noisier" locations in the ship (see previous post for details). It's a trade-off.
The early booking offer means that I can once again afford a mini-suite with a balcony. As the name suggests, the mini-suite is not gigantic, but it is bigger than a standard stateroom, offers more storage space, and it's certainly possible to move around some parts of it without colliding with a wall every time you take 1.4 or more steps. Here's what it looks like, according to the company website -- and I hope it really does look like this picture because I always get warm fuzzies when I'm in a room decorated in earth tones.
This particular cruise marks the end of one of the shortest sailing seasons in the cruise industry. Not too many cruise lines participate in the Atlantic Canada/New England cruise trade, and most of the ships that do go there only stay through the fall colour season. After that, they need to get down south for the lucrative winter trade in the Caribbean.
So my itinerary starts on Saturday in Quebec City and finishes 14 days later in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Here's what the ship's route looks like on a map.
There were four ports on this itinerary that really grabbed my attention. The first one is the Ville de Saguenay, on the river of that name in Quebec. I've never been there at all. Second is Bar Harbor in Maine. I did get there once, back in the 1990s, on one of those wonderful summer days that starts off foggy in the morning, stays foggy through lunchtime, keeps on being foggy in the afternoon, and then finally clears up just in time for you to see the last inch of the sunset. So I'm hoping that in the fall I will actually get to see Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island for the first time! The third one is Newport in Rhode Island, summer playground of the New York millionaires back in the day. And finally there's Norfolk in Virginia.
As an additional bonus, the ship is actually staying at dock in Quebec, right by the old Lower Town, until dinner time on the day after we check in and board -- which gives me a whole day to explore the city at leisure from one of the most central locations you could imagine. One of the bugbears of cruises, just as with organized bus tours, is not-enough-time at stops. I can't speak about any other companies, but Princess is building longer stops like this into more and more itineraries, and highlighting those extended stops (anywhere from 18-30 hours) on their sailing calendars and brochures. It must be a worthwhile selling point to merit so much attention.
This is going to be a high-intensity voyage in two respects, more so than any other cruise I have ever taken. Beginning with Sydney in Nova Scotia, the ship will be making a port call every single day for eight days in a stretch. That's a lot of stops, and (potentially) a lot of tours! However, I am not going to take organized tours at every stop. Quebec, Halifax, and Saint John are places I'm more than happy to just explore on foot on my own. Indeed, as my faithful readers know, I've been to Halifax so many times that I could just about lead my own tour of the downtown and waterfront! Norfolk will be another good place to do that, since (I think) we'll be docking right in the inner harbor next to the old town.
The other way that this is a high-intensity voyage is the size of the ship. I'm back with my regular go-to company, Princess Cruises, but Caribbean Princess is by far the largest ship I've ever sailed on in my life. This is one of a group of 11 ships collectively known as the Grand Class ships, all of similar overall size and related (but not identical) design, operated by Princess and by the P & O cruise line of Britain.
Indeed, she was one of the very largest ships in the cruise world when she entered service in 2004. Now, she's less than half the capacity of the current champion. But at 3,142 lower-berth passengers and 112,894 tons, this ship is definitely big -- and looks even bigger close up.
By the way, the port of registry shown on the stern -- Hamilton -- is in Bermuda, and is the port of registry for all or almost all of Princess Cruises' ships. That gives me a bit of a chuckle, because there is no way this monster could safely squeeze through the narrow channel at Two Rock Passage to sail right into Hamilton Harbour!
I still remember that the original artists' impressions of the first ship of this group showed the top-deck Skywalkers Nightclub actually hanging over the stern, suspended in the air from a huge arm like a giant crane! In the end, a much more robust pair of supporting pedestal structures appeared on the finished ships.
I'm curious to see how this kind of mega-cruise experience strikes me after my previous ventures on ships of 45000 tons or less carrying fewer than 1000 passengers.
In fourteen days I should be able to get a good grip on the layout, and figure out where everything is hiding -- starting with the 10 eateries and no less than 14 bars (or, as a good friend of mine is wont to call them, "swilling stations"). Even more important to me are the five pools and numerous spa tubs -- and that's not even counting the pool on the bow deck reserved for the crew!
One of the real bonus features of Caribbean Princess, for my money, is the presence of an outdoor promenade circling the entire perimeter of the ship on Deck 6 -- it even goes right up to the forepeak where you can look out over the point of the sharply flared bow. Many modern ships lack this particular touch of the good old days of ocean travel! I'll be looking forward to some good brisk walks around that long deck to help me work off the extravagant meals.
By the way, the port of registry shown on the stern -- Hamilton -- is in Bermuda, and is the port of registry for all or almost all of Princess Cruises' ships. That gives me a bit of a chuckle, because there is no way this monster could safely squeeze through the narrow channel at Two Rock Passage to sail right into Hamilton Harbour!
I still remember that the original artists' impressions of the first ship of this group showed the top-deck Skywalkers Nightclub actually hanging over the stern, suspended in the air from a huge arm like a giant crane! In the end, a much more robust pair of supporting pedestal structures appeared on the finished ships.
I'm curious to see how this kind of mega-cruise experience strikes me after my previous ventures on ships of 45000 tons or less carrying fewer than 1000 passengers.
In fourteen days I should be able to get a good grip on the layout, and figure out where everything is hiding -- starting with the 10 eateries and no less than 14 bars (or, as a good friend of mine is wont to call them, "swilling stations"). Even more important to me are the five pools and numerous spa tubs -- and that's not even counting the pool on the bow deck reserved for the crew!
One of the real bonus features of Caribbean Princess, for my money, is the presence of an outdoor promenade circling the entire perimeter of the ship on Deck 6 -- it even goes right up to the forepeak where you can look out over the point of the sharply flared bow. Many modern ships lack this particular touch of the good old days of ocean travel! I'll be looking forward to some good brisk walks around that long deck to help me work off the extravagant meals.
Here's the game plan for my next major holiday, starting in a couple of days -- a positioning cruise from Quebec City to Fort Lauderdale with 9 stops in between.
ReplyDelete