The Allure of “Anytime Dining”

Written and submitted by Mikey Faust!

Anytime Dining, Freestyle Dining, Your Time Dining. It’s all one in the same, but one cruise line introduced it, Norwegian Cruise Line. Recently many other cruise lines have adopted this new dining feature including, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Holland America, and many more. I recently tried Anytime Dining on my cruise onboard the beautiful Carnival Freedom and I cannot wait to dine at my own time again! Each night you eat at a different table, with a different view, with a different waiter! It’s great! You can even request a certain table or waiter, and they will give you a call buzzer, so you can wander around until your table is ready! It really helps you relax on your vacation, as you decide when to go to dinner, and you can stay on your own schedule. If you haven’t tried Anytime Dining, then I strongly suggest you do, if it doesn’t cost you extra, then why wouldn’t you take advantage of it?

Cruisers Connect

This blog post was written and and given to me by Chris Harms, the Cruisers Connect Founder!

Cruisers Connect is the premier social network of cruisers. Our mission at Cruisers Connect is to connect cruisers with each other all across the world, we do so with our signature program Friends At Sea—where cruisers can meet their future shipmates long before they set sail and keep in touch long after they depart their cruise. Cruisers Connect is also home to forums dedicated to specific cruise lines, port of calls, and other areas of cruising. As a member of Cruisers Connect, you can post your very own trip review, and read others for tips and experiences. Written by Cruisers Connect's iconic editorial team, Featured Articles educate and enlighten cruisers on a variety of different topics and cruise lines.

Cruisers Connect has grown tremendously in the past year. Most recently, we have introduced a mobile app for both Android and Apple Powered devices. This is the first of its kind in the industry, so I am proud that Cruisers Connect is hosting such a unique feature. In the airport headed to your home port? Marveling through one of your port destinations? On the cruise ship itself? Set sail with Cruisers Connect anytime, anywhere; for you will have all the capabilities of Cruisers Connect in the palm of your hand with our mobile app for Android and Apple Powered devices. But the app wasn’t the only thing that was recently introduced to Cruisers Connect; we have introduced a ship tracker as well. With our live and interactive ship tracking map, members can find their favorite cruise ships and other vessels without leaving the comfort of their home all in real time.

Along with all of the new additions to Cruisers Connect, we continue to refine existing sections on our site. We have recently introduced a section catered to first time cruisers, where featured articles will provide tips and guidelines to make their first cruise vacation the best it possibly could be. We also continue to boast more and more member written reviews, as well as actual stateroom pictures. But most importantly, we are connecting cruisers all across the world each and every day.

To read more about Cruisers Connect please visit www.CruisersConnect.com and discover all that we have to offer! Becoming a member is free, so what not become a member of the friendliest cruising message board online?

                                    Thanks again Chris for sending it in!

                                    The Cruisers Connect logo!

        

Royal Caribbean's Concierge Policy

The new Royal Caribbean policy is that now people of any age, not just 21 years and older, can enter the Concierge Lounge at any time. People under the age of  21  used to not be able to enter the lounge between the hours of 5:30pm and 8:00pm.
The CL will not allow any bad or disruptive behavior. On two ships the CL had to report kids to their families because of bad behavior during the new hours.
The Diamond Lounge will continue to be for adults only during the cocktail hour.

Some people are not to happy with this new policy. Please leave comments so people know your opinion!

Cruize Cast

                                                                     Cruize Cast

   Cruize Cast is one of my favorite podcasts! This podcast is run by Kaleigh Lay, and her husband and co-host James! These 2 people can definetley make a good podcast!!
   Cruize Cast is about a different cruise topic each week, for instance this week's episode was about dining on cruises! That episode made me hungry!
   Kaleigh and James always have up-to-date news on their podcast, so if you are crazy for cruisig and love to know what's going on in the cruise world, listen to Cruize Cast, like I always do!

               Click HERE to go to the Cruize Cast website, and listen to their podcasts!

Mikey's Cuise Blog - Cruise Chat Talk Show!

Join Mikey Faust evry saturday for his Cruise Chat Talk Show! All you have to do is call in to Mikey and ask any cruise question! Keep reading for the phone number!August 5th will be the first episode ever!I can't wait myself for this, and I will definetley be listening to it!
Click on this picture to go to the talk shows' home page, for the number  to call into, and more details!
            
                    

Top 3 Pics Of the Week!

This is something new on this blog. It is called Top 3 Pics! Every Saturday I am going to have you send me a picture(s) and I will choose the top 3. If I do not put it up the week you send it, it will be in another one of the Top 3 Pics! And make sure that the picture has something to do with cruising!!
Thanks, I look forward to getting pictures from you!

To send me he picture contact me on Twitter for all of the details: @SunViking2
Have a great week!

Why To Cruise Royal Caribbean

   As you probably know,  I love Royal Caribbean cruises. Going on my first RCCL cruise was the best thing that I have ever done!  Read this and then you will know why I choose Royal Caribbean.
      Why Not? A great thing about Royal Caribbean is the sports deck! It has rock climbing walls, basketball courts, miniature golf courses, and more. The best part is that you can play all of these sports for free! This is definitely the place for a sports lover!
    One of the thing that you never have to worry about on a RCI cruise is getting hungry! Especially on Allure and Oasis of the Seas! Both of these  HUMONGOUS cruises have 22 specialty dining restaurants including a regular pizza parlor! So if  you want food, there's food!
   If you can do something somewhere it might as well be on a cruise! Royal Caribbean has activities for all ages 6 months and up! The award-winning Adventure Ocean program is the perfect place for kids to play and have fun with kids their ages! There is also a Teen Club, where teenagers can hang out and have nothing but FUN! For people  ages 18 and up there is a solarium and spa so adults can relax and have the vacation they wanted!

Shon Ford (Cruise Man 3000)

   Shon Ford is your cruise man! This guy can answer pretty much any question about NCL Freestyle Cruising. He says that he loves the whole Freestyle experience!    Shon has been cruising since he was 11, and still surfing the high seas. This NCL lover has been on 23 cruises, operated by 5 different cruise lines.
   Shon  is definetley my go to man if I have any NCL question. So if you have any questions about NCL go to Shon Ford, and if you are going o an NCL cruise make sure to brig this expert with you. If you do, you are sure to have the best time.

Follow Shon on Twitter: @CruiseMan3000

Effect From Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene began as a tropical cyclone in the North Atlantic, that inflicted extensive damage to Caribbean nations before going to North Carolina. Irene is the first major hurricane of the 2011 season.

When Irene hit San Juan, Puerto Rico, she caused Carnival Victory and Serenade of the Seas to depart earlier than expected. Leaving earlier left hundreds of passengers behind.

Irene was a three category hurricane when she passed through the Bahamas, so the Carnival Triumph dropped Nassau and Freeport, and visited Cozumel and Progresso instead.  For the same reason, Monarch, Majesty, and Freedom of the Seas did not go to Coco Cay.

Besides Royal Caribbean and Carnival, Princess, Disney, Celebrity, Holland America, and NCL also had to alter itineraries.

New Cruise Terminal in Port Canaveral

Port Canaveral, Florida is proud to say that there is going to be construction work done for a new cruise terminal in July of 2012. This terminal is going to be BIG. Oasis and Allure of the Seas, the largesr cruise ships in the world, are going to be able to dock there.

I am looking forward to seeing the new terminal in 2012!

Itinerary Change

Royal Caribbean will not be able to dock at CocoCay because of Hurricane Irene having an effect on it. Royal Caribbean feels that if they go there, their passangers' visits will be disrupted. These stops are now canceled:
Majesty of the Seas that was shedueled to go there August 27th, Monarch of the Seas was shedueled for August 28th, and Freedom of the Seas is shedueled for August 29th.
Because those stops have been cancelled, Royal Caribbean is changing these itineraries:
Majesty of the Seas is going to stay in Nassau, Bahamas arriving at noon on August 27th and departing on Sunday, August 28th at 11:00am.
Monarch of the Seas will be doing the same as Majesty but will be departig at 5:00pm.
Freedom of the seas will call on Nassau on August 29th from 8:00am to 4:00pm.

My Review of Explorer Of the Seas

This was my tenth cruise and 8th on Royal Caribbean. This was by far the best cruise I have ever taken. The food was excellent. On the second night there was the filet of beef for dinner and it was outstanding. The crew members were the nicest and the ship was as clean as could be.
Explorer of the Seas went to four destinations. It sailed from Cape Liberty (Bayonne, NJ), and went to Bermuda, St. Maarten, on to St. Thomas, and last but not least Puerto Rico. The destinations were great because there was always a beach in walking distance.
This ship also had great activities like ice skating, a sports deck, bingo, a casino, a game room, and a pool deck. So many great activities for kids and adults!
The entertainment is definitely something to look forward too! There was a great show every night either before or after dinner. My favorite act was an action comedian. He was hilarious. There is also an ice show that goes on twice during your vacation. In my opinion the shows are as good as Las Vegas!
I will definitely be going back on Explorer of the Seas, and if you want a great cruising experience choose this ship!

Royal Caribbean Names Second Woman Captain

On July 29th, Royal Caribbean Intl. announced that they were going to name their second female Captain. The Captain's name is Lis Lauritzen. Karin Stahre-Janson, who was a the first female Captain ever was hired by Royal Caribbean.. Lauritzen will be master of the Vision of the Seas. Lauritzen is followig Stahre-Janson who was moved to captain of Monarch of the Seas in 2007. I like the idea of their being female Captaiian's and I think that every cruise line should hire them!