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.

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

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

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.

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

Sax Player in the Multi-Level Disco Bar

COSTA DELIZIOSA

92,600 gross tons

2,260 Double Occupancy Capacity

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.

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):

I nominate @CruiseSource for a Shorty Award in #travel because [your reason here] http://bit.ly/CShorty

My Office At Sea - Celebrity Century

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.

Hold me to living 2010 to the fullest, subscribe to CruiseSource.us to remind you to check back in.

Leave a comment about what you’re not going to put off in 2010.

Celebrity Century in Jamaica, 12.14.09

This is my first Celebrity Cruise Line experience and I had high expectations for the food and service as I’ve been told for years that Celebrity is noticeably different in those areas. We arrived to the Celebrity Century at 12:15 PM and we headed straight to the Buffet. At the lunch buffet, we found an excellent pasta bar where there are 20+ fresh ingredients to choose from. Even with high-expectations, I was really surprised by the quality of the buffet food. I noticed small differences like a nice cloth covering on the trays and the food at the buffet is protected better because all items are covered by more glass which keeps everything more sanitary. Throughout the entire cruise we did not run into lines at the buffet which is wonderful. And yes the ship was sold out.

Although the price of the Celebrity Century is selling for as low as $295 pp for 5-nights in January and December, Celebrity is not skimping on its product. Two examples of how they are not cutting back on the amenities are that they’re continuing to run the all-you-can-eat Sushi Bar every night and the Ice Cream bar during the day. Both are included for the price to get on the Celebrity Century and on some other lines come with an extra charge.

Conference at Sea
Not all fun and games. I am on the Celebrity Century to teach some Travel Leaders agents about Social Media. This is the 2nd conference at sea that I have been to in the last month. The value is unbeatable by land based conferences thanks to having everything included in one price. The Sea days are the perfect opportunity to have educational based sessions. The networking and relationship building is amazing at a Conference at Sea.

Blog Posts coming Soon:
Jamaica – Dunns River Falls & Cayoba Gardens
Grand Cayman – Stingray City & Snorkeling
Above and Beyond Service – Celebrity Century.