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Tortola Pier Project Positions Island as Stronger Cruise Destination

1/29/2015

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Cruise ships will tender ashore in Tortola until at least summer 2015 while the pier is being lengthened and expanded.
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By John Roberts

Tortola, a British Virgin Island, is a delightful little port stop offering quaint shops, sightseeing, beaches and other activities. Cruise ships heading to much busier ports in St. Maarten and St. Thomas often squeeze in a stop at Tortola, too.

But construction at the port, the Cruise Pier Expansion Project, has stalled tourist activity in 2015.

We stopped by in mid-January, and saw the construction fully under way. Our ship had to tender to port while the pier is being worked on. Shops owners told me it has been awful for business while construction takes place. Carnival Cruise Line, the world's largest, dropped Tortola from itineraries for the 2014-15 season.

Let's hope the short-term pain results in a long-tern gain for the delightful island and its wonderful residents. We would love for all of you to get there at least once to enjoy snorkeling, diving, biking and other super activities available there.

The nearly $60 million project aims to boost cruise tourism. The pier will be longer and wider to allow for the mega-ships. A five-acre landside area, Tortola Pier Park, will include a new terminal building, retail space, restaurants, swimming pool, entertainment and green space.

The project is scheduled for two phases. The first, the pier expansion, is estimated to be finished by summer 2015, which will allow ships drop off passengers without using a tender, allowing more time in port to visit with those friendly shop owners.

Thanks for reading, and always travel happy.

JR


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Carnival Cruise Line Reaches for the Sky on Carnival Vista

1/28/2015

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A rendering of the SkyRide attraction on Carnival Vista, which is due to debut in spring 2016.
By John Roberts

When it comes to providing more active onboard pursuits, the cruise lines are really seeking out creative options for how to best use the space on their ships.

Over the years, lines have added rock climbing walls, ziplines, bungee trampolines, ropes courses, waterslides, skating rinks (ice and roller), simulated skydiving and simulated surfing and bodyboarding. These activities added to the longtime cruise ship feature of jogging tracks (though, some are barely usable because of their layout and general passenger foot traffic) and recent additions of outdoor fitness stations for resistance training (body weight and free weight exercises).

Now, Carnival Cruise Line has imagined another option to get your heart pumping while on the ship. Carnival has created SkyRide, cruising's first pedal-powered open-air aerial ride, which will be featured on the upcoming Carnival Vista. Passengers ride in hanging recumbent-like bikes and cycle around an 800-foot suspended track with panoramic views from 150 feet above the sea. You can even race someone. There are two bike tracks, a red and blue, tracing a path around the ship. Fun and exercise, too. We love it!  

The ship, which is due to launch in spring 2016, also will have a SkyCourse ropes course and a WaterWorks water park with a two-person water raft ride. 

Book a Cruise this Summer and Enjoy a Special Onboard Credit of Up to $750 at Expedia! - Expires 8/31/2015
I can think of only one more frontier for these types of adventurous activities onboard: bungee jumping over the side of the vessel.

They wouldn't try that, though. Or would they?

Thanks for reading.

JR
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Carnival Cruise Line Offers New Social Media Packages

1/22/2015

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Carnival Breeze passengers can use an app on their devices to exchange messages with friends and family while onboard for a flat fee of $5 for the cruise.
By John Roberts

Social media connectivity is growing in importance for cruise lines.

Carnival Cruise Line announced a free mobile app that provides vacationers aboard Carnival Breeze with a variety of information as well as a chat feature that allows cruisers to exchange messages with their friends and family while onboard using their mobile devices for a flat fee of $5 for the entire cruise.

That is cool. But they are testing something even better. Carnival is piloting enhanced Internet access for its Carnival Freedom, Carnival Breeze and Carnival Sunshine ships. The package offers better bandwidth options and includes a social media package that offers unlimited access to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and other popular sites for $5 per day or $25 per voyage during the testing period.

This is huge! The price is very reasonable, and recognizes the way that most vacationers crave to share their experiences on cruisers in real time. With the flat fee, travelers don’t have to worry about logging in, quickly sending a pic, hoping it makes it through without burning through a big chunk of minutes before quickly logging out. The process would be more user-friendly and serves as a powerful marketing tool for Carnival, which benefits from free promotional posts of people enjoying themselves on their journeys.

Social sharing is a quickly becoming among the most effective ways to reach a broad number of potential consumers. Why not let your passengers do your work for you?!

"Consumers expect a high level of connectivity even while on vacation and these new enhancements provide our guests not only with helpful tools for getting the most out of their cruise but also a convenient and cost-effective way for keeping in touch with their family and friends while on board," said Gus Antorcha, Carnival's senior vice president of guest commerce. "We recognize the increasingly important role that technology plays in people's daily lives and the launch of this application and new Internet packages provides us with a strong platform for introducing additional innovations and ways to use technology to enhance our guest experience even further." 

Of course, you can upgrade to a "value" package that includes unlimited access to the Web for checking email, sports scores, weather updates and a wide range of other applications.

Carnival also offers a "premium" package that provides the fastest available connection speed allowing guests to access video calling sites like Skype. 

The mobile app and enhanced Internet packages will roll out to additional ships following the initial pilot programs. Additional features and functionality are also in development and will be phased in over time, Carnival said.

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