We are in Genova Italy, staying at the amazing Bentley Hotel. I am uploading pictures to Flickr of our tour in Florence Italy, my favorite tour of the trip. While those pictures are uploading I wanted to get some of my favorite pictures of the Costa Deliziosa Inaugural Event in a Blog Post on CruiseSource.us.
Costa Deliziosa - Sexy Time Disco
Costa Deliziosa - Chocolate at the Sugar Cafeteria
Full Disclosure: I write CruiseSource.us because I find cruising to be infectious … My full-time gig is as CruiseDeals.com’s Business Development Specialist and we sell the Costa Deliziosa at the best prices on the Internets. Search all of Costa Deliziosa’s 2010 Dubai, Northern Europe, and Mediterranean Voyages.
It is 4:30 AM on the brand new Costa Deliziosa. I woke up wide awake…feeling guilty for neglecting CruiseSource.us by not writing a blog post in two days. I’ve been uploading photos to Flickr from Italy and the Costa Deliziosa. I swear, We have been constantly on the go and I have the pics and videos to prove it! Unfortunately haven’t had the time to get them all up on the internet. On these inaugural events, we try to experience the entire ship in a short period of time. Since this is our first time to Italy, we are also trying to experience as much of the destination as possible. So far we have toured Venice and Naples. This morning we will be exploring Florence and Pisa. What makes Costa different is that when get back on the ship, you feel like you are still in Italy. Most Americans have not heard of Costa, although in the last 9 months they have launched 3 brand new ships, the Pacifica, Luminousa, and now the Deliziosa. I’ve heard that this a record. The Deliziosa is a Joe Farcus designed vessel with lot of Marble, Wood, and a very sensual undertone. It is the Italian Premium FUN Ships. The size and layout of the ship is similar to the Carnival Spirit class of ships. This Italian Itinerary is an opportunity for as much of the country to get to see and visit the ship before she leaves for Dubai. The Deliziosa will be completing 7-night Middle Eastern runs roundtrip Dubai for several months and then she will settle in on a 7-night northern European Itinerary.
Back to bed for me, hopefully I can get an hour more of sleep before we disembark in Livorno.
Jess & Rich with Joe & Jean Farcus on the Costa Deliziosa
Sitting at the Charlotte-Douglas Airport, we are very fortunate that our flight is not cancelled. Most flights out of Charlotte have been cancelled, but our Lufthansa flight to Munich then on to Venice is on schedule. I can’t stress the importance of Travel Insurance for protecting your Cruise Vacation from the unkown. You can search the web and find that 99% of anyone who writes about travel recommends travel insurance. We were stressed about our flights, so I called Lufthansa multiple times in the last 24 hours and their service has been amazing!
I will be posting pictures, videos, and writing about our trip here at CruiseSource.us so stay tuned by subscribing in the top right hand corner of the blog! Happy Sailing ~ Rich Tucker
Tomorrow is the big day!! We’re flying out of Charlotte to Venice, Italy! This is our first trip to Italy, and we’re excited (as if you couldn’t tell from my use of exclamation points). Our luck with weather, not so good. Last year for our Hawaii Cruise, we encountered the first Hawaiian Hurricane in decades. Now, we have to deal with the chance of 1 – 3 inches of snow in Charlotte by the time our flight takes off tomorrow. 3 inches of snow pretty much shuts down Charlotte, NC. From lost luggage to weather and accidents, Jess and I are the poster childs for the benefits of Travel Insurance. But the unknown makes travel exciting, and the insurance makes it the unknown not as risky for our finances.
I’ll feel much better once I’m seated on our 10 hour flight to Europe tomorrow. We’ll be among the first passengers as the Costa Deliziosa takes her Inaugural Tour around Italy! We have tours of Venice, Naples, Livorno, and Savona.
Naples, Italy here we come!!
Make sure you don’t miss out on our pictures and video from the Costa Deliziosa, subscribe to CruiseSource.us in the top right hand corner of this page. Go ahead and Checkout our exclusive rates on the Costa Deliziosa 2010 Dubai departures and Northern Europe sailings.
Full Disclosure. This inaugural event is not a revenue generating sailing for the Cruise Line, therefore no one attending the event has to pay to go on the cruise.
Jess and I are preparing to leave for the Costa Deliziosa Inaugural cruise departing Venice on February 1, 2010. I’ve cruised on several inaugural sailings: the Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, & the Oasis of the Seas. All of these inaugural events occurred after the ships crossed the Atlantic. The Costa Deliziosa will be special because Costa is taking ownership of the Deliziosa from the Marghera (Venice) Shipyard on January 29th and we will be among her first passengers on January 31st. We’ll be giving her a spin up around the Italian Coast, visiting Naples, Livorno, and Savona. Jess is excited because Italy is her dream destination and she can’t believe we are actually leaving in 4 days… I’m a cruise geek so I am excited about being among the first passengers on the Costa Deliziosa. And I’m excited to experience Costa Cruise Lines for the first time. Of course I will be tweeting from the Deliziosa. I’ll be one of the first to upload pictures and videos from the ship. The Features of the Costa Deliziosa:
Along with her sister ship, the Costa Luminosa, she will be the fleet’s “flagship,” offering the most exclusive and innovative elements in the fleet, designed for Costa’s most discerning clientele.
These innovations include the ship’s avant-garde design and the use of premium materials, such as various type of marbles, granite, mother-of-pearl and Murano glass, stucco applied by spatula using the technique known as “spatolato veneziano” and other decorative interior finishes including “parchment scroll” lamé, refined Zebrano wood and Wenge timber.
The stunning atrium features fine works of art, including “Sphere” by Arnaldo Pomodoro and a piece by Mario Donizetti.
A 4-D cinema, where sight, sound, touch and scent come together to form a multisensory experience for guests. It also features seats that roll in tandem with action as it unfolds onscreen.
A rollerskating track will allow guests to try roller skating with strap-and-go “Skorpion” skates that attach to one’s shoes.
The golf simulator, where guests will be able to play golf in one of the world’s top 37 most famous golf courses while at sea.
A Grand Prix race car driving simulator, one of the most accurate representations of Formula One racing available.
PlayStation World areas, exclusive dedicated areas equipped with PS3 consoles and the latest-generation videogames. Themed evenings and challenges on a mega-screen overlooking the pool deck will also be planned with PlayStation and guests may enjoy PS3 games from the comfort of their cabin with on-demand games for rent.
The exclusive “Samsara Spa” wellness center, complete with cabins featuring direct access to the spa and Technogym Kinesis rooms.
The à la carte restaurant Club Deliziosa will feature the very best traditional Italian cuisine and quality ingredients with menus created by Ettore Bocchia, Executive Chef at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio and a Michelin-Star restaurateur.
An exclusive wine selection includes Amarone Stella Aneri Special Reserve 2004, a limited edition wine produced and matured in 15 barrels set aside for Costa’s ships.
Entertainment options include the lounge acts in the Excite Piano Bar, dancing in the Sharãzãd disco, a chocolate bar in the Sugar Cafeteria, the Tabac Blonde Cigar Lounge, and Broadway-style revues in the Duse Theatre.
CruiseDeals.com, the Cruise Industry’s Social Media Leader has teamed up with top Fashion Industry Social Media Mavens to host the first Fashion Social Media Cruise Event: Style Pod.
Modeled after the successful Social Fresh Cruise, Style Pod will give an opportunity for Fashion Industry insiders to learn, network, and have fun on a 4 day Royal Caribbean Cruise departing Fort Lauderdale on October 14th, 2010. Kimmie Smith, Editor-in-Chief of Kitten Lounge, Karen Robinovitz, Creatrix of Purple Lab and Jeannine Morris, Editor in Chief of Beauty Sweet Spot are hosting and providing content for the Social Media Conference Sessions.
Kimmie Smith, Editor-in-chief of Kitten Lounge
Passionate about Social Media and Fashion? It will be tough to find a better event to deepen your social network with others who are using the social web to increase the reach of their fashion brands. Conferences at sea are growing in popularity thanks to their incredible value. Style Pod’s rates start at only $460 which includes the conference style sessions, meals, 3 hour drinks included beach party Cozumel, and shipboard entertainment. Space is limited, Reserve your spot now on Style Pod.
We’ve hit “Wave Season”, the time of the year when most people book their cruise vacations for that year. It’s off to a great start and you can notice that a lot of the rates are starting to inch upward which is a great sign for the industry. I spent my last blog post recapping 2009 for CruiseSource.us. It was an awesome year, but now it is time to focus on the future.
2010 is setup to be an even more amazing year. If you were not following along in 2009, hoepfully you will start following along in 2010. You can subscribe to CruiseSource.us by putting your email address in the top right hand corner of this page to make sure that you do not miss out on New Ship reviews, advice, and the deals.
Where will CruiseSource.us take you in 2010?
Costa Deliziosa – On January 30th, my wife and I will be in Italy joining Costa Cruise Line as they take ownership of the Brand New Costa Deliziosa from the ship yard. Costa will be taking her on a 5 day spin around Italy showing off the new ride. We’re honored to be one of a few in the US Cruise Industry invited on this inaugural event.
Celebrity Solstice – On April 4th, my wife, son, and I will be cruising aboard the Highly-Reviewed Celebrity Solstice visiting St. Kitts, Puerto Rico, and St. Maarten. When I was on the Oasis of the Seas, several people I talked to compared the Celebrity Solstice to a W Hotel at Sea…so we are very excited.
NCL Epic – On July 8th, I will be on one of the NCL Epic inaugural sailings out of Miami, FL. I will be taking dad on this 2 day event. It will be the first time we’ve cruised together.
Social Fresh Cruise 2010 – Just announced this week: Social Fresh Cruise 2010, the premier social media conference at sea will be departing from New Orleans, LA on December 2nd. The Social Fresh Cruise Alums are excited to get an opportunity to meet the New Orleans Social Media Community. The New Orleans Social Media Community is excited to get to show off what makes the #NoLa Community to special!
2009 was my best year ever, and I owe most of it to the incredible relationships I’ve made on the Social Media platform Twitter.
2009 started with me winning a Shorty Award for providing the best travel content on Twitter with the Twitter ID @CruiseSource. On February 11th, 2009, I accepted the award in NYC, and in my 140 character acceptance speech I announced that we would be planning the premier cruise for social media professionals — the Social Fresh Cruise (hashtag #SoCruise). The Wall Street Journal got a real kick out of me using my acceptance speech to promote the Social Fresh Cruise.
Shorty Awards with @MCHammer @misskatiemo & @kitmueller
At the Shorty Awards Gala in NYC I got to meet and connect with tons of amazing people including @MCHammer, @GaryVee, @WaltRibeiro, @AlohaArleen, @KitMueller, @girlwithnoname, @pawluxury, @danzarrella, my NYC Tour Guide @misskatiemo and many more. Vote now for 2010 Shorty Awards.
A couple of weeks before my trip to NYC, I volunteered to be the lead planner for Charlotte Twestival, the local event of the Global Charity event organized and promoted via Twitter scheduled for February 12th, 2009. Thanks to Twitter we were able to quickly assemble a team of amazing volunteers who organized a very successful event in barely 2 weeks. It was a powerful display of the power of Twitter and the strength of the Charlotte, NC, Twitter community. The awesome team included some of the earliest adopters of Twitter in Charlotte who’ve helped the local social media community flourish. The team included @jakrose, @NathanRichie, @jruckman, @kateydietz, @jarodhillerman, @CLTNightLife, @crystaldempsey, @DavidKyle, @mtyndal and others.
@NathanRichie and I at the #CLTwesitval
In July, I live-tweeted and videoed 4 different Carnival cruise ships including the Carnival Freedom and the Carnival Liberty.
In August I live-tweeted during a 7 night Hawaii cruise aboard NCL’s Pride of America. This was an incredible cruise vacation that I was able to share with my wife — a great chance for us to reconnect as she was beginning to feel like a “Social Media Widow.”
Jess and I on Hawaii ATV Tour
As soon as I announced plans for the Social Fresh Cruise at the Shorty Awards, I teamed up with @ChrisBrogan, @93octane, @jakrose, @CruiseDeals, and @GregCangialosi to plan and promote this unprecendented conference. It was an invitation-only social media conference at sea for leaders and influencers in the industry who wanted to get away, unplug and focus on creating some of their strongest relationship with their peers. So the 1st Annual Social Fresh Cruise departed Miami November 12th, 2009, with 50+ Twitter Rockstars on board, was a huge success and plans for a 2010 repeat about to be released.
The Social Fresh Crew at Carlos & Charlies
But what would a social media cruise be without a huge Bon Voyage Tweetup the night before? I co-hosted the largest tweetup in Miami history with help from the local social media luminaries including @yvetteferry, @miamiandbeaches, @alexdc, @refreshmiami, @smcsf and many more! While at the tweetup I enjoyed meeting and hanging out with online friends @CouchSurfingOri, @ViceQueenMaria, @steph_rose and so many more.
I was also fortunate to be invited on the inaugural cruise of the Oasis of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship. Prior to the inaugural the Miami Herald wrote an article about the cruise industry’s use of social media, and in the article the Miami Herald instructed their readers to follow @CruiseSource for live tweets from the Oasis during the inaugural. My quote from earlier in the year that “Social Media and Cruising are like Chocolate and Peanut Butter, two tastes that taste great together” made it into the article.
I also live-tweeted from the Celebrity Century that sailed to Jamaica and Grand Cayman. I was on board to teach other travel agents “Social Media 101,” which of course included a heavy dose of Twitter training.
Of course throughout the year on Twitter I posted the best cruise deals on the Internets! — and we were recognized by AARP Magazine, CRM Magazine and other publications for providing the Best Travel Deal Tweets.
2009 was a success because I was able to use Twitter to team up with smart, energetic people to accomplish BIG goals. @93octane was the only friend mentioned above that I knew prior to Twitter…he was the evangelist who introduced me to Twitter… Thanks, Lyell!
2010 is looking like it will be bigger and better, and none of it would be possible without my friends, my community of readers, Twitter, my followers and the CruiseSource.us blog. The Best part is that I have a ever growing list of online friends who I can’t wait to meet Face to Face. Traveling with online friends, sharing a once in a lifetime experience creates life long friendships and I hope to share that gift with many more people in 2010!
You can nominate @CruiseSource for this year’s Shorty Award in the Travel Category by Tweeting the following message (click on it for a quick two click process):
Happy Holidays to all of our CruiseDeals.com Twitter Friends who booked a cruise this year through CruiseDeals.com! And as Christmas falls on a Friday, I’m giving a #FollowFriday shout out to all of them because they ROCK! If you’re not on Twitter… you should be. Twitter is a great resource for getting reviews on products and services as well as referrals to trusted companies.
Merry Christmas!
CruiseDeals.com takes pride in offering better prices and exceptional service, just ask one of our friends:
We also recommend following a few of our Twitter friends who booked a cruise this year through Cruisedeals.com but unfortunately had to cancel. They enjoyed the fact that CruiseDeals.com does not add on booking fees or cancellation fees.
If you ever have Cruise related Questions, hit me up on my Twitter Account @CruiseSource, leave a comment on the blog, or send me an email rtucker [at] cruisedeals [dot] com – - I’m here to help. Happy Sailing ~ Rich Tucker
So Life took a sharp right turn the minute I got off the Celebrity Century on December 17th 2009. Over the last month, I hosted the Social Fresh Social Media Cruise on the Carnival Destiny, I was one of the first on the Oasis of the Seas (interviewed in the Miami Herald for Live Tweeting from the Inaugural), and completed a 5-day cruise to Jamaica and Grand Cayman on the Celebrity Century in which I taught other agents Social Media basics. It had been an almost perfect end to an incredible year. I was looking forward to getting home and spending time with the family. As soon as I got off the Celebrity Century, it all changed. I received a call from my Dad telling me that Mike, my brother, had fallen asleep behind the wheel of his truck and ran into a huge tree at 7:00 AM.
He crushed both ankles, lacerated his liver and spleen, and his head went partially through the windshield. He was not wearing a seatbelt. He’s very lucky to have lived through the crash. He had to be cut out of the truck and airlifted to the Charlotte Medical Center. I rushed to the airport and got on an earlier flight home. By the time I got on the flight home, all I knew was that he had been airlifted and that his legs were in very bad shape. Once I got to the Hospital, my brother was asleep on the bed with cuts all over his head and his legs covered in bandages. The Doctors were not sure if there was enough bone structure left to attempt to fix his ankles. My brother did not look anything like himself thanks to all the cuts and swollen head from the impact with the windshield. As of now, it was my worse day ever and I couldn’t even imagine being my brother.
Mike & JoJo at the Zoo a few weeks before the wreck
It is now Tuesday, December 22, 2009. Mike went through 4.5 hours of surgery yesterday and the doctors were positive about the results. They were able to get all the bones in the correct placement and now it is up to Mike’s body to heal properly. After surgery his heart rate remained extremely high, he was running a fever and of course was in excruciating pain. They moved him back into the Trauma Intensive Care Unit so that they could keep a closer eye on his situation. They got his Heart Rate and Fever back down by Midnight. Today, he is in full recovery mode with a slight possibility to be back home on Christmas Eve. Mike has two beautiful daughters and a wonderful wife. Him being home for Christmas would make for a very special Christmas.
I share all this because I’ve shared all my good times of 2009 here on my blog, CruiseSource.us. The reality is that times are not always good. I wanted to explain why I had not gotten to my final reviews of the Celebrity Century, and to let you know that they are coming soon. Although it has been a tough week, I am truly blessed as we have had tons of prayers and well wishes from all of our friends online and offline. As you head into the Holiday Season and into the New Year, please remember how quickly loved ones can be taken from you or how fast things can dramatically change in your life. Going through this experience has given our family time to reflect about all the good times spent on family vacations and other shared life-experiences. At the end, all we have are memories. Having lots of memories from beach trips, sports, and other lifetime experiences has made this ordeal a little more bearable… I’m personally going in to 2010 living by the quote: dream like you are going to live forever; live like you are going to die today. Make it a point to spend more time with loved ones in 2010. Don’t keep putting off that family trip to Disney, Europe, cruise vacation, or whatever is on your list to do next. You never know when life may take a sharp turn on you.
