The internet cruise retailer encourages travelers to continue cruising from and visiting the Gulf Coast

Charlotte, NC June 18, 2010 — In response to client’s questions and concerns about cruising out of the Gulf Coast this summer or fall, CruiseDeals.com relays that cruise ships are still currently departing as scheduled from the Gulf Coast ports of New Orleans, Mobile, and Tampa to Caribbean destinations.

Gulf Shores Alabama“Fortunately people with summer cruise vacations planned departing from a Gulf Coast port have not yet had their itineraries affected by the massive oil spill,” explained Rich Tucker, cruise blogger and CruiseDeals.com’s business development specialist. “In the event that a port of call is adversely affected, we expect the cruise line to alter the itinerary appropriately, just as they do in the event of inclement weather.”

Fortunately people with summer cruise vacations planned departing from a Gulf Coast port have not yet had their itineraries affected by the massive oil spill.
CruiseDeals.com responds to frequent questions and concerns they have been receiving from their cruise clients regarding the oil spill and their upcoming cruise vacations:

1. If my cruise itinerary is altered, how will I be notified?
If the change is established in advance of your departure, CruiseDeals.com will reach out by phone or email to advise you of the planned changed. It’s also possible that the itinerary could be modified once you’ve departed, in which case the ship’s officers will notify all guests.

2. Am I able to reschedule my cruise for a different date?
That will depend on several factors, including the length of time remaining before your cruise departs and/or whether or not you have trip protection coverage in place. Each customer’s situation will be unique and therefore requires a unique answer.

3. Are people still making new cruise reservations originating out of Gulf Coast ports?
CruiseDeals.com is currently not seeing a halt to any reservation activity in this region, although some clients are inquiring if the itineraries are still operating as normal.

4. Does cruise travel insurance cover the potential effects of oil spills?
Typical travel insurance may not cover the potential effects of oil spills. If you have not yet purchased your cruise departing from the Gulf coast region, be sure to purchase a travel insurance policy along with your cruise that allows you to cancel your cruise for any reason. These policies will give you back a large percentage of your investment for any reason that you decide to cancel your vacation.

5. Is there anything I can do if I did not purchase insurance with my upcoming cruise?
If you have already purchased a cruise and have not made your final payment yet, you may be able to cancel your existing cruise reservation with no penalty and immediately rebook the same cruise along with the purchase of ‘cancel for any reason’ travel insurance mentioned in the previous question. When considering this option, be sure to work with your travel agent to find out what the new cruise fare is and what type of staterooms are available as they might be slightly higher than your original fare and stateroom selection.

“We are recommending our clients visit the New Orleans or Gulf Shores region a day or two before their cruise departs if possible as a small way to help these local economies that rely heavily on tourism,” said Kevin Weisner, vice president of CruiseDeals.com. “There are plenty of other fun recreational activities to choose from other than going to the beach and you’ll get the satisfaction of helping boost their economy.”

For more information on the latest deals in cruising, visit CruiseDeals.com or call 800-668-6414.

The Celebrity Solstice is the perfect example of a large vessel offering a noticeably higher level of service, food, and style. The diverse entertainment onboard from the Hot Glass Show to the Circus style show offers something for cruisers of all ages. Earlier this week, I met a family in which the grandparents typically cruised on Oceania. For a large family vacation consisting of ages ranging from 11 months old – 75 years old, they compromised and chose the Celebrity Solstice. The grandparents were very impressed by the food and service on the Solstice and the kids were having a blast in the kids club. For all that the Celebrity Solstice is offering, the Solstice has been selling for rates that are close to the less premium cruise ships making it the best value in the Caribbean.

Celebrity Solstice, Circus style Show

The onboard experience on the Celebrity Solstice has been unmatched. The feedback I’ve received from our new friends onboard has been consistent with our feelings about the Celebrity Solstice. So if you are a travel agent, your clients will love you for recommending a Solstice Class ship and if you are a cruiser looking for the perfect combo of amenities, entertainment options, style, service and food, I fully recommend the Celebrity Solstice.

Jess & Dylan with the Celebrity Solstice

Full Disclosure, I did not pay for my Cabin. I did pay for Airline tickets, Gratuities, Excursions, Bar Bill, etc…. I’ve been on about 15 cruise ships in 3 years. They’ve all been wonderful, but the Solstice Class is special. My 8 year old would probably like the Liberty of the Seas and the Oasis of the Seas better (he enjoyed the Fun Factory, but was upset that there was not a waterslide on the Solstice)… I’m a big fan of the style and service that is the Solstice. I have loads of photos and video that I will be uploading from home so you can see the Celebrity Solstice experience for yourself.

Bring an extension cord with multiple sockets. Getting the added extension on cords is useful for hair dryers, computers, etc. And Cruise Ship Cabins offer only a couple of outlets and with all of your gadgets you will need more outlets. See Video Live from the Celebrity Solstice for example:

Happy Sailing ~ Rich Tucker

A few hours ago we set sail from St. Maarten headed back to Ft. Lauderdale. Luckily, we were the only ship calling on St. Maarten today. Yesterday they were 4 cruise ships docked in St. Maarten. St. Maarten a great inexpensive port for beach lovers and window shoppers. A $6 per person water taxi transported us from the ship to the beach and the Phillipsburg downtown shopping area. For $10 we got 2 lounge chairs, an umbrella, and 2 beers. Dylan got to play on his first white sand beach and splash around in the clear blue ocean. After a few hours on the beach, we hit the shops.
Today, the beach, the taxis and the shopping was not crowded at all. It is probably the complete opposite when there are 4 ships docked in St. Martin at the same time. If you are booking a cruise going to St. Martin, ask your agent to check out how many ships are in St. Martin when you will be there… just something to consider when looking at different options for your next cruise.

Water Trampoline St. Maarten

St. Kitts

Yesterday we visited the Island of St. Kitts. The people of St. Kitts were some of the friendliest I have met in the Caribbean. Not once were we asked to get our hair braided or asked to buy something while we were relaxing on the beach. One of the local guys who rented beach chairs played soccer and cricket on the beach with the tourist kids. We chose to go to Frigate Bay because it was on the Caribbean side of the Island which means that the seas are calm and the water crystal clear. Frigate Bay was not crowded or touristy. There were several bar shacks on the beach. The sand at Frigate Bay was not the pretty white sand and according to one local bartender was the reason that the beach did not get over crowded.
One of the Solstice Black Jack Dealers did recommend the Marriot Resort beach. The Marriot on St. Kitts is a huge property with Golf Course, Casino, impressive pools, and public beaches. The only reason we did not go was because the Marriot resort is on the Atlantic side of the Island. Both the Marriot Beach and Frigate Bay Beach are only a $4 per person taxi ride. Many more pictures and video coming when we get back home!

Apologize about the quality of the video, we only had our Sony Cybershot camera at the beach with us:

Soccer on the Beach with a St. Kitts Local

Full Disclosure, I am sailing on the Celebrity Solstice on 4/4. I did not pay for the cabin, but I am paying for everything else.. I truly believe the Balcony Deal is the best deal in cruising today… if you disagree, please leave a comment… My readers would love to be turned on to a better deal!

I was thoroughly impressed with my first Celebrity Cruise Line experience in November 2009 sailing on the Celebrity Century.  The Century is one of Celebrity’s oldest vessels, but thanks to recently being refurbished the Century is in excellent condition.   More important than the hardware, experiencing the Celebrity treatment in the quality of the service and food for the first time is what made the cruise standout from my other cruise vacations. 

Celebrity is a premium cruise line offering Food and Service a notch better than some of the other cruise lines.  Traditionally, Celebrity’s average age has been slightly older than the other Cruise Lines due to the entertainment, service, length of cruises, and price being more geared to an older and affluent clientele.   With the introduction of the new innovative Celebrity Solstice, they’ve supposedly knocked 10 yrs off of the average age of their passengers.    

We’ll see… my wife is 27, I’m 35, and my son is 8 and we’ll notice if we are one of a few families on the ship. This is my son’s first cruise and I have to be honest…  For 3 years he’s had to stay at home while we’ve cruised Hawaii, Italy, the Caribbean, and Mexico.  I want this cruise to be very special for him and I probably wouldn’t have taken him on any other class of Celebrity Cruise Ship for his first cruise.  He’s pretty wild, full of energy, and I’m sure he would have gotten bored on some of the other Celebrity Ships.   He’s watched all of my videos from the Oasis of the Seas, so he knows that some ships offer tons to do for kids.  He’s very excited to play on the grass lawn on the Celebrity Solstice… he wants to find out if they have to mow it.

Grass Lawn on the Celebrity Solstice

The Week of April 4^th, I’ll be posting daily here on CruiseSource.us from the Celebrity Solstice.   As always, I will be live-Tweeting from the ship and posting pictures on Flickr.   If you thought about taking your family on the Celebrity Solstice, Equinox, or Eclipse follow along by subscribing to the blog or following @cruisesource on Twitter!

Happy Sailing ~ Rich Tucker

#1 Booking a Category 1A cabin on a Carnival Cruise and not realizing that a Category 1A is one twin bed on the floor and a twin bed that comes out of the wall.  Basically, it is bunk beds.  The least expensive inside cabin on a Carnival Cruise is a Category 1A and when you see “rates starting at $199 on a Carnival Ship” it is for 1A.

# 2 Booking an Obstructed Ocean View Cabin thinking that they were getting a full view.  The least expensive Ocean View Cabin on most ships with all of the cruise lines are obstructed by life boats.  The cruise industry considers cabins on the outside of the ship to be Ocean View.  First time cruisers get very upset when they book an Ocean View cabin online and then they get to the cruise ship there is a life boat in front of their window.   The best way to prevent this from occurring is to printout a Deck Plan of the ship that you are booking onto and see where your cabin is located.  There is usually a pretty steep jump in price from Obstructed Ocean View to the full Ocean View. 

# 3 Not understanding Cruise Line Cancellation Penalties.  If you book a cruise and the full payment is required at the time of booking, then you are already within the timeframe in which cancellations are penalized.  When you book online, you are fully responsible for knowing the cancellation policy of the cruise line and of the agency you are booking through.   Cruisedeals.com does not charge any admin fees for cancellations, but we required to follow the cruise lines policies.   Some other agencies charge booking and cancellation fees on top of the cruise lines policies, so you need to be aware of those as well.   Cruise line penalties usually start around 80 days prior to the sail date.  Adding Travel Insurance is the best way to reduce the risk of being penalized for last minute cancellations.

#4 Not Understanding what it means to book a Guarantee.  When people book a cruise online and do not get a cabin assignment at the time of booking or they book an Inside or Ocean View Guarantee they sometimes do not understand what they are booking.  A Guarantee means that you are Guaranteed at least that category of cabin depending on availability.  So it leaves you opened to getting upgraded, but because you are giving the cruise line the ability to assign your cabin that once it is assigned the cruise line will not move it for you.  This is usually the way to get the best deal, but you give up control of location for the low price and the hopes for a “free” upgrade. 

#5 Not giving themselves enough time to get to the pier when they book their flights.  Every port and airport is different so you need to find out what are the recommended arrival and departure times for flights for that sailing prior to arranging your flights.  You have to be to the pier 2.5 hours prior to the cruise ship departing. 

#6 Bonus Offers: A growing online trend is great bonuses like Onboard Credits and Free Gratuities being offered by Online Travel Agencies.  These bonus offers set online agency’s deals apart from the cruise lines offers.  These offers can lower the total price of your cruise when booking online, but these bonus offers can also be confusing.   Many of these bonus offers only apply to certain cabin categories like only applying to balcony and suite.  When booking online, make sure that the cabin you are booking gets the bonus offer.  If it is confusing, call in to speak with an agent.  If you feel the site was misleading, then move on to another online cruise agency.

#7 Coupon Books: Coupon Books vs. OnBoard Credits -  The Coupon Books are advertised as savings up to $400…  if you are choosing between coupon books and onboard credits which is actually cash to spend on board… then take the deal with On Board Credits. 

#8 Early Booking Savers – If you are booking Carnival Cruises a few months prior to the cruise, the lowest rate offered is a rate that requires a non-refundable deposit.  The early saver rate is about 20% less than the other rates and gives the consumer the guarantee that if the rate drops.   I think the rate and guarantee is worth the non-refundable deposit.  As with any booking, I recommend buying travel insurance at time of deposit to protect your investment and yourself

 Happy Sailing ~ Rich Tucker

Costa Deliziosa Golf Simulator Video

Costa Deliziosa Atrium Video with Musicians

Costa Deliziosa Video: Mini-Suite

Check out the Full Costa Deliziosa Review.

Costa Deliziosa

The Costa Deliziosa is a Premium Italian cruise ship designed by legendary architect and designer Joe Farcus. The Deliziosa represents Farcus’s best work yet. I loved all the beautiful marble, tile, and wood intertwined with the patterns and lighting comparable to a Carnival Cruise Ship. The Food: The Dinners on the Deliziosa were excellent with a variety of offerings from authentic Italian pastas, veal, steak, seafood and more creative dishes like rabbit & pigeon. I’d categorize the Costa Deliziosa’s dinners in the main dining room as premium thanks to the presentation, quality, flavors, and service. It’s tough to go to Italy without enjoying some Italian Wine and Costa offers an incredible selection. We didn’t get an opportunity to eat at the Deliziosa’s only specialty restaurant, Club Deliziosa. Club Deliziosa offers a more intimate setting with an ala carte menu with the average ticket price of $30 per person. On the inaugural sailing, the Costa Deliziosa’s Breakfast & Lunch buffets were not on the same level as their impressive dinners. Of course, the pizza which was available almost 24/7 was delicious.

OnBoard Entertainment
The Deliziosa offered some cool twists to onboard entertainment. The 4-D cinema sits 20 with 3D visual effects, motion, and other sensory effects to give the viewer the feeling that they are part of the movie. They offer a F1 racing simulator and the best golf simulator at sea. On the Costa Deliziosa’s Sports Deck, passengers can put the Quadline Skorpian Skates over their shoes and skate around the Costa Smokestack. They also offer the only Sugar Cafeteria at Sea with a chocolate fountain for dipping an assortment of fruits. The chocolate covered bananas and figs were my favorites.

Costa Deliziosa Chocolate Fountain - Sugar Cafeteria

The live musicians playing harps, violins, saxophones and pianos found in the atrium, the lounges, and the piano bar were some of the best I’ve found on one cruiseship. We attended one of the after dinner shows which was a musical variety show… it is rare that I find musicals to keep my attention and this was not any different.  

Club Deliziosa - Specialty Restaurant

Authentic European Experience
If sailing outside the Caribbean on Costa Cruise Line, Italian is the primary language. The Cruise Director as well as most of the staff speak multiple languages and most announcements are repeated in several languages. Costa Cruise Lines send all of their onboard employees to training before working on ships to learn the basics of the Italian language and culture.

The Costa Deliziosa will be sailing to the safe regions of the Middle East for the next few months and then she we will be completing Northern European Voyages.

Is Costa Cruise Line in Europe & Middle East for you: When you travel abroad do you like to fully immerse yourself in the European Experience? Do you mind if Americans are in the minority on the ship? If you are looking for an authentic European Cruise Vacation then I fully recommend Costa Cruise Line for you. If you want to tip-toe in the European Experience when off the Cruise Ship and be able to re-enter an Americanized Cruiseship then Costa is not the Cruise Line for you.

Full Disclosure: I work for CruiseDeals.com and we sell Costa Cruises along with all other Major Cruise Lines.  Want to Checkout Costa Deliziosa for yourself? Click here to Check all the 2010 Costa Deliziosa departures. The Inaugural Event was an industry event and was non-revenue generating for Costa (except for the few Euro I lost in the Casino)… For a second opinion, Check out the review of the Costa Deliziosa written by my friend Ralph Grizzle, The Avid Cruiser. ~ Happy Sailing, Rich Tucker

If you have questions about Costa Cruise Line or the Deliziosa please leave a comment.

Costa Deliziosa - Sexy Time Disco

Costa Deliziosa - Chocolate at the Sugar Cafeteria

Costa Deliziosa - Delicious Scallop Appetizer

Costa Deliziosa - Retractable-Roof Pool

Costa Deliziosa in Lights

Skorpian RollerSkates on Costa Deliziosa

See all our Costa Deliziosa Photos.

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.