As of 6PM ET, the Cruise Lines do not have any official announcements for impacts to itineraries due to Hurricane Ida. Timing is pretty good because alot of the Ships departed this weekend ahead of the Storm. I’ve heard stories of some rocky seas on Twitter. If you are cruising this week, pick up some Bonine for motion-sickness just in case. I am watching this one very closely, as I am scheduled to depart on the Carnival Destiny out of Miami for the Social Fresh Cruise on Thursday 11.12.09. This has been one of the calmest hurricane seasons ever for the Caribbean and Gulf Coast. Just my luck that a rare late season hurricane is churning in the Gulf of Mexico right before the Social Fresh Cruise.
Monday Morning, I will aggregate all the Cruise Line Hurricane announcements into one post. Hopefully, Ida is another non-event for the Cruise Industry and for the Social Fresh Cruise.
I’m anticipating that the Cruise Industry will get a lot of chatter on Twitter next week and of course I am very excited. My opinion has been that Cruising and Social Media are like peanut butter and chocolate…two tastes that taste great together. I think the Cruise Industry has as much to gain from Social Media as any other and this upcoming week (11.09.09 – 11.17.09) will put the spotlight on what is possible when the cruise industry properly utilizes Social Media.
The other Hashtag to watch next week is #Followmeatsea. Princess Cruise Lines is paying for 10 bloggers/social media personalities like my friends Simone di Santi and Shannon Hurst Lane to go on the Crown Princess and write online about their experience. I’m assuming that Princess Cruise Line realized I was going on Social Fresh Cruise and that is why they did not ask me to go on #followmeatsea. Joking aside, it is great to see the Cruise Lines starting to understand the potential power of Social Media and I think this promotion will be a big win for the Industry and for Princess Cruise Lines.
The Last Hashtag I’d watch next week is #OasisoftheSeas. The Massive Oasis of the Seas upcoming Inaugurals will be big buzz through all media outlets. This ship is a design and architectural wonder that will change the face of cruising. The Today show will be live on the Oasis of the Seas on 11.20.09. Plus with 3000 – 5000 Travel Agents on the first couple of sailings, I am guessing that you will see lots of Tweets with the #Oasisoftheseas Hashtag. I will be live tweeting from the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas on 11.22.09.
I made a mistake today. I let my kids watch the New Disney Dream Video included in this post. The Video is pretty amazing… the AquaDuck Water Coaster will get most adults excited. As a Cruise Geek, I think it is great for the Industry that another Cruise Line is going to give Royal Caribbean a run on Innovative Hardware. It is exciting to see such revolutionary design from the Water Coaster to the Virtual Portholes in the Inside Cabins. Before watching the video, I would not have believed that I would get excited about a Disney Ship coming out in 2011 when we have the NCL Epic, Oasis of the Seas, and the Carnival Dream all debuting very soon. But this innovative design and impressive video got both me and of course my 2 kids looking forward to 2011 for the introduction of the Disney Dream. The mistake in letting the kids watch the video is that they think the video is real and that we can go on it for the our next vacation. Also announced this week: you can book the Disney Dream on November 9th, 2009. I am sure that we will have some interesting offers to entice you to book over a year in advance. Disney has an almost cult following, so it won’t surprise if they sell out the first sailings quickly.
So am I just a Cruise Geek, or does this video get you looking forward to 2011?
Oasis of the Seas Deal Announcement - I’m cruising on our Social Fresh Cruise on the Carnival Destiny on 11.12.09 for 4 nights. I will then be one of the first on the Oasis of the Seas on 11.22.09. This is a special 2 night event for those of us in the Travel Industry. I always live Tweet pics and messages from the ship. Follow along with @CruiseSource.
Oasis of the Seas Deal:
Be one of the 1st to sail on the amazing Oasis of the Seas in 2009 and Cruisedeals.com will give you $100 to spend on the ship. Book by November 2, 2009 for this exclusive offer. CruiseDeals.com is selling the 12.01.09 Oasis of the Seas sailing for $699 with a $100 on board credit.
If you have read some of my old posts you know that I love cruising and investing in the stock market. A lot of my favorite people on Twitter are StockTwits and I enjoying writing articles about how the economy and market can impact your purchase of a cruise vacation. My post in October 2008 about going 100% long in the stock market has worked out decent for me… we did dip well-below those levels early in 2009, but I am happy with the final results +1500 on the DOW. For the Record, I’m pulling out some of my money because I believe the market as gotten a little too high.
So the Good News is that the market is up. The Market is up in large part thanks to the Re-Flation of Oil and other commodities as I wrote about in May 2009. Your 401k should be looking a lot healthier. As I recommended in August and September of this year, now is the time to book your 2010/2011 Cruise Vacations before all of this inflation hits Cruise Prices. The first place inflation is likely to hit the price of a cruise is with Fuel Surcharges. The Cruise Lines can add Fuel Surcharges to existing bookings when the price of Oil gets above $65 – $70. The last time the Cruise Lines added fuel surcharges, they charged passengers an additional $140 per person on a 7nt. cruise. Oil clipped $80 today and it shows no sign of slowing down. Until the end of October, you can lock in cruise prices all the way out to 2011 and protect them from ever getting fuel surcharges added to your cruise booking. CruiseDeals.com is the only agency offering this protection. Read about the Fuel Surcharge Guarantee featured in a USA Today article. CruiseDeals.com does not charge booking or cancellation Fees, so if you know you are going to go on a Vacation in 2010, you can make risk-free deposits to lock-in todays rates and protect your cruise from Fuel Surcharge. Do you have a future cruise booked somewhere else? We may be able to protect it, call us now 800.668.6414 to find out!
The cruise lines continue to warn everyone that they have the right to add on fuel surcharges at a later date when the price of oil is above $65 – $70. Yes, the Cruise Lines can tack on Fuel Surcharges at a later date. Now that Oil has hit the $80 mark, those booked anywhere but CruiseDeals.com have to be pretty concerned.
I typically do not write blog posts about deals. The Best Deals are time sensitive, so by the time you read this blog post this deal may be gone. I wanted to get this deal up on the blog ASAP because this truly the ‘Deal of the Century’. On November 28th, 2009 the recently refurbished Celebrity Century will depart Barcelona Spain. The Century has stops in Spain, Portugal, & England before crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
This year we have benefitted from being one of the best at selling distressed inventory for the cruise lines. We were able to get the Celebrity Century 14 night Transatlantic Cruise for only $399 per person. That is $29 per day per person for a Premium Cruise Experience. People were paying $799 for an inside cabin on this sailing a little over a month ago.
In a year of incredible deals, this is the best. I guarantee that no one will pay less than $399 for this the Celebrity Celebrity Century 14nt. Cruise Vacation. I checked air earlier today to find prices for Cruise & Air together for this cruise. From NYC the price for Cruise & Air is about $1043 per person. From Charlotte, North Carolina, and Miami, Florida is $1210. Call 800.668.6414 to see if this deal is still available and to get rates on your airfare.
Today begins a Whirlwind end to 2009. 2009 has been an awesome year for me thanks to the Cruise Industry and Social Media. My network is a 100x stronger than this same time last year thanks to having the opportunity to connect with so many cool smart people on Twitter. With as good as 2009 has been so far, it’s going to end even stronger.
Today I am headed to Miami for the first of 4 trips to one of my favorite cities. This week we are meeting face to face with 6 cruise lines. As an added bonus, we’ll be at the Jets vs. Miami Monday Football game tonight.
I have the Social Fresh Social Media Cruise on 11.12.09. On 11.22.09, I will be cruising on the Inaugural sailing of the architectural wonder, Oasis of the Seas . On 12.12.09, I am teaching Travel Agents how to utilize new media to build their business on the Celebrity Century 5nt. Caribbean Cruise
If you are a blogger, social media thought leader, technology innovator, community manager, etc. then you can join me on the Social Fresh Cruise with Chris Brogan and several others. The Celebrity Century Cruise is a private group that is not open to the public.
If you have been following along this year, you know that this year, I’ve reviewed 5 ships on Twitter, YouTube, and on CruiseSource.us. I reviewed the Pride of America 7-night Hawaii Cruise in August of this year. I reviewed the Hawaii Cruise on video and here at CruiseSource.us, I focused primarily on the Shore Excursions because cruising Hawaii is all about Hawaii. I reviewed and videoed the Carnival Destiny, Carnival Freedom, Carnival Liberty, & Carnival Imagination.
On the Internets, 2009 as been amazing. In 2009, I received the Shorty Award for the best Travel related content on Twitter. I’ve been interviewed by Wired Magazine, Business Week, USA Today, CRM Magazine, ABCNews.com, and local media about Social Media and/or the cruise industry.
I’ve had a blessed year and appreciate you reading the blog. Please Subscribe to CruiseSource to get all the live reviews from the Oasis of the Seas, the Social Fresh Cruise, and the Celebrity Century in December. And leave comments if you have any cruise related questions…I answer questions quickly.
How to Win a Free Cruise in 3 easy steps! The CruiseDeals.com Fee Ninja is now on Twitter. This is exciting news because between now and October 8, 2009 the Fee Ninjais giving away a 2010 7nt. Celebrity Cruise for two to Alaska, Europe, Caribbean, or Bermuda.
3 Easy Steps to winning a 7nt. Cruise on a Premium Cruise Line on Twitter:
Step 1:
Copy and Tweet This Message on Twitter: “ I’m a #FeeNinja In the Cruisedeals.com 7nt. Free #Cruise Contest details: http://bit.ly/FeeNinja “
Step 2:
Follow the Protected @FeeNinja account on Twitter. –
Step 3: Be the First Caller when the Fee Ninja Tweets to call in now and gives the Secret Phone Number and you will win the 7nt. 2010 Cruise for 2 on Celebrity Cruise Line.
The Fee Ninja’s original status update will be on Facebook, with the RSS Feed the Fee Ninja Twitter Status is updated automatically. If you are trying to win the Free Cruise, you can now follow along on FaceBook or Twitter.
CruiseDeals.com appreciates you becoming a ‘Fee Ninja’ and helping raise awareness that CruiseDeals.com is the only company who is protecting their clients from future Cruise Line Fuel Surcharges. To Learn More about the CruiseDeals.com Fuel Surcharge Guarantee and the Fee Ninja please click here.
Terms & Conditions:
The winner must be 21 years of age or older at time of contest. CruiseDeals.com employees, independent contractors and their families are prohibited. This cruise does not include government taxes & fees, transportation, transfers or items of a personal nature such as shore excursions, beverages, gratuities, photographs, medical services. All necessary travel requirements, including documentation, are the sole responsibility of the winner. All the rules that apply to guests purchasing a cruise apply to the cruise winner, including the terms and conditions listed in the brochures and Cruise Ticket Contract. Winner may be contacted for alternative dates. This program is capacity controlled and certain blackout dates may apply. No purchase necessary. Prize is not transferable and is not redeemable for cash. Some restrictions apply. Winner’s name will be published on this website in the future. By entering, winner consents to use of names and likenesses for promotional purpose without additional compensation. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.
Attention 2010 College Spring Breakers: You have to put down your refundable deposits now to reserve your spot on the wildest party at sea. The best college party promoters in the Carolinas have teamed up to bring you a Spring Break Party that will be the highlight of you college memories. Carolina NightLife, 212 Promotions, & New Age Promotions are known for packing clubs, and now they are going to sell out the Carolina Nightlife 2010 Spring Break Cruise on the Royal Caribbean Monarch of Seas on 03.08.10 sailing 4-nights out of Port Canaveral, FL.
On the Cruise, you will be joining students from top-ranked party schools including the College of Charleston, East Carolina, University of North Carolina, Appalachian St. and many more. Included with the price of the Carolina Night Life 2010 Spring Break Cruise is an Exclusive All-U-Can-Drink Party at Senor Frogs, one of the hottest spots in the Bahamas.
Spring Break only comes once a year, and the best trips sell out first. You do not want to miss this boat, put down your refundable deposit now. If you have any questions about the Carolina Night Life Spring Break Cruise, please contact the CruiseDeals.com booking agent Kelly Manion at 800.668.6414 ext. 148. If you want to connect with 1000s before the Spring Break Party Cruise, join the Carolina Night Life Spring Break Cruise Facebook Group.
CruiseDeals.com extends the Fuel Surcharge Guarantee through October 31, 2009 because their customers really appreciate the peace of mind that comes with not having to worry about the Cruise Lines tacking on fuel surcharges at a later date. Yesterday was a great reminder of how volatile the Price of Oil is in this economic environment. Yesterday, the price of oil jumped 5% and CruiseDeals.com clients only have to worry about that increase hitting them at the pump, not ruining the great price they got on their cruise vacation.
Another factor that helped CruiseDeals.com decide to extend it is that their Cruise Consultants love the offer and are proud to be the only ones in the industry offering this protection to clients. They offer all the same price guarantees and protections that each of the cruise lines offer, but are the only ones guaranteeing no fuel surcharges for Oceanview cabins or Higher. The Price of Oil is still above the levels in which the cruise lines can add on fuel surcharges, and for CruiseDeals.com to offer the Fuel Surcharge Guarantee at no additional cost to their clients is a very strong message. What will the price of oil be in June 2010? Nobody knows. Will the cruise lines feel they can add fuel surcharges in the 2010 economic environment? Who Knows? CruiseDeals.com says don’t worry about it, reserve that 2010 cruise now with a fully refundable deposit, lock in the current low prices and never worry about the price of oil! Truly Risk Free Booking.
Customers truly appreciate it, their cruise consultants Love it, and it makes the Cruise Booking experience more enjoyable because there is less stress, so it was an easy decision to extend the offer through Oct. 31st, 2009.
If you would like to support CruiseDeals.com’s effort to protect their clients from Fuel Surcharge Guarantees and to attempt to win a 7nt. Celebrity Cruise Join the FEE NINJAs. The Fee Ninjas are a rowdy bunch on FaceBook, They are all excited about the chance to win a 5-star cruise to Bermuda, Caribbean, Europe, and Alaska.
![soCruise[1]](http://cruisenow.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/socruise1.jpg?w=200&h=200 "soCruise[1]")
