Sail With Bill

11/16/2018

I found this review on the Carnival Horizon, which we cruised on, recently.

Fares on Carnival ships are frequently cheaper than Caribbean cruises on other lines in what the industry calls the mainstream category. Carnival Horizon has smart elevators, Havana Cabanas and new restaurants.

11/14/2018

CARNIVAL RADIANCE’S 2020 INAUGURAL SEASON TO INCLUDE VOYAGES TO EUROPE, BERMUDA, CANADA/NEW ENGLAND AND CARIBBEAN AND LINE’S FIRST CUBA CRUISES FROM NEW YORK AND NORFOLK
November 13, 2018

Details Also Announced on Carnival Sunrise’s 2020 Schedule
MIAMI (Nov. 13, 2018) – Carnival Cruise Line today announced the diverse inaugural schedule for the totally transformed Carnival Radiance, including 9- to 13-day European voyages, the line’s first to Cuba from New York and Norfolk, four- to nine-day sailings to the Caribbean, Canada/New England from New York, and a winter season of voyages to the Caribbean and Cuba from Port Canaveral, Fla.

Additionally, the company revealed details of Carnival Sunrise’s 2020 schedule, including an expanded series of New York to Cuba cruises, as well as four- to nine-day voyages to the Caribbean from New York and Norfolk, Va.

Carnival Radiance’s Diverse 2020 Inaugural Season
Following a $200 million dry dock that will take place in Cadiz, Spain, Carnival Radiance will debut April 29, 2020, with a 10-day Mediterranean sailing from Barcelona followed by nine-and 12-day departures visiting top destinations throughout the region, including Italy, France, Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain. The ship will then embark on a 13-day trans-Atlantic crossing from Barcelona to New York June 11-24, 2020, positioning the vessel for its inaugural season in the Big Apple.
Once in New York, Carnival Radiance will offer a series of four- and six-day Bermuda cruises as well as a four-day cruise to Saint John, New Brunswick, eight-day eastern Caribbean voyages and the line’s first Cuba cruises from New York - nine-day sailings that include a full-day and overnight stay in Havana and two Bahamian ports of call. The New York program will conclude with a series of Canada/New England voyages featuring stops in Boston, Portland, Saint John, and Halifax.
The ship will also offer four five- to seven-day voyages from Norfolk in October and November 2020, including the line’s first Cuba cruises from that port. The week-long Cuba cruises will feature an extended stop in the capital of Havana along with visits to two tropical Bahamian ports. There will also be a five-day Bahamas cruise and a six-day cruise visiting three of the country’s most popular destinations, including the private island of Half Moon Cay.
Following the cruises from the Northeast, Carnival Radiance will reposition to Port Canaveral, Fla., to operate a winter schedule of six- to eight-day voyages to the Caribbean and Cuba beginning Nov. 8, 2020. The program includes six-day voyages featuring a day-long visit and overnight call in Havana and two Bahamian ports; a six-day sailing to Grand Turk, Amber Cove, Dominican Republic and Nassau, The Bahamas; and seven-and eight-day Caribbean voyages visiting some of the region’s most popular and beautiful islands, including Aruba, Curacao, St. Kitts and Grand Turk.

Carnival Sunrise to be Major Player in Bermuda and Cuba
Building upon the popularity of short Bermuda cruises introduced on Carnival Horizon, Carnival Sunrise will offer a series of “long weekend” getaways to Bermuda as well as longer length Caribbean voyages and cruises to Cuba from the Big Apple beginning May 21, 2020.
The program includes eight, nine-day voyages to Cuba featuring a full day and overnight call in Havana along with stops at the private Bahamian island of Half Moon Cay and Nassau. Eight, four-day “long weekend” voyages to Bermuda will also be offered, departing Thursdays and returning Mondays and spending a full day on the island. Seven, eight-day voyages visiting beautiful ports in the Caribbean and Bahamas will be offered as well. The program concludes with a 12-day Carnival Journeys partial Panama Canal transit from New York to Fort Lauderdale Oct. 19-31, 2020.
Carnival Sunrise will also sail from Norfolk, Va., in May 2020, offering a pair of five-day cruises to Nassau and Freeport, along with a three-port, six-day voyage featuring Half Moon Cay, Nassau, and Freeport.

Exciting New Shipboard Choices
Carnival Sunrise and Carnival Radiance will each undergo extensive dry docks in 2019 and 2020, respectively, that will add an array of exciting food, beverage and entertainment choices. New culinary and beverage offerings will include Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse developed by Food Network star and longtime partner Guy Fieri, a classic American steakhouse called Fahrenheit 555, and the Cucina del Capitano family-style Italian restaurant, the Caribbean-inspired RedFrog Pub. Carnival Radiance will also feature Big Chicken, a seagoing version of a landside restaurant operated by the line’s Chief Fun Officer, NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal.
A sprawling new WaterWorks aqua park featuring the new AquaTunnel slide as well as a SportSquare open-air recreation complex with a suspended ropes course will be added, as well. All staterooms will be renovated with a tropical color palette reminiscent of the ships’ Caribbean itineraries.

11/06/2018

Free Airfare & more

06/13/2018

SYMPHONY OF THE SEAS
APRIL 27TH, 2019
7 Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise
COMES WITH A $25 ON BOARD CREDIT PER CABIN

Must be booked by December 8th, 2018 Limited Space!!

Call Bill Baney, your Cruise Brothers Agent today!!

Inside Cabin
Their Price $1473.56
Our price $962.20 PP
Balcony Cabin
Their Price $2171.56 PP
Our price $1282.20 PP
Sail With Bill 570-748-4922

06/11/2018

Looking for a Carnival cruise...I can beat their online prices by $50 dollars. www.carnival.com

06/11/2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUnzA8AAgUo&feature=push-sd&attr_tag=AKf4188eFd4oZf1w-6

We at Carnival believe that fun is a choice and it’s our job to make it an easy one. It doesn’t matter if fun is flying down a water slide, racing in the sky...

05/22/2018

The Weather, Allegedly

Q. A flight from Chicago to Ft Lauderdale was cancelled by United for what they said was "weather." It was cancelled 12-hours ahead of the flight. A thunderstorm was expected in Florida but did not actually happen until later in the day. Meanwhile, both Delta and United both operated flights out of Ft Lauderdale in the morning, so obviously weather was not a problem. Now I'll be sitting at O'Hare for the next 12 hours waiting for our new flights to take off later this evening. Clearly the flight was canceled for issues other than weather, right? Do i have any recourse on recouping expenses for the day, and possibly night, should they decide to cancel my flight again due to weather?

A. Even though weather didn’t affect the other airlines, it might have affected your airline’s flight because the aircraft was coming from somewhere that experienced bad weather. It’s not just the weather where you are that causes problems; it could be weather anywhere in the country depending on the original location of your aircraft. Your only recourse is to ask for a full refund of your fare, or you should ask your airline to put you on another airline whose flights are operating (at the same fare you originally paid) if there are seats available. Unfortunately, airlines are not legally required to reimburse you for expenses, although some will do this voluntarily.

05/16/2018

With summer approaching, the race between cruise lines in attracting passengers on their sunny decks is in full swing.



Cruising continues to be a popular vacation choice for many, with demand increasing by 20% between 2011 and 2016 particularly from the US, China, Germany, the UK and Australia, according to a report by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).



But the demographics of those who are taking new interest in cruising are fast changing as well. The same report found that 33% of those surveyed have a household income of less than $80,000, while river and small ship cruising continues to gain traction specifically among millennials.



This, along with the expectation that 2018 will bring “a rise in traveller-friendly on board technologies that enhance travel experiences”, means it is easy to assume that customers now expect a reliable WiFi connection while on board, at an affordable price – or even for free.



On-board connectivity has been notoriously difficult until now. At sea, the Internet is provided mainly by way of satellites, and coverage so far has been patchy, slow, expensive, and a mainly a luxury associated with premium packages.



But new developments in high throughput satellites and VSAT hardware are bringing increasing broadband capabilities to vessels. SES Networks, one of the primary providers of medium-orbit fleet of satellites for clients such as Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises, recently announced the launch of four new satellites to their existing fleet of 12, ready to begin operation in May.



The launch is in response to what SES chief technology officer Martin Halliwell called a growing demand for high-performance bandwidth and networks, particularly in the cruise sector.

Record breaking speeds
In March this year, Carnival Corporation beat the maritime bandwidth record with its MedallionNet connectivity service, in use on its brand Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess.



Using VSAT technology, internet speeds reached 2.15 Gbps at the end of February, breaking the previous limit of just over 500 Mbps on MSC Cruises’ new build MSC Seaside. The average speed for cruise ships is around 10 to 20 Mbps per ship, according to Carnival.



Now, the brand has partnered with SES Networks to introduce 1.5 Gbps on board the Princess Cays, allowing guests to stream Netflix or Hulu – luxuries once only available on land.



Across the entire fleet, guests can connect to Carnival’s MedallionNet by purchasing one of its three plans (Social, Value and Premium) either before the cruise or on board.



When it comes to free WiFi, Reza Rasoulian, vice president of global connectivity at Carnival Cruise Line, said the possibility is not yet on the cards – customers of the Carnival brand would have to wait anywhere between five to ten years before they can hope to surf the net for free on holiday, Rasoulian said.

The “fastest internet at sea”
Royal Caribbean passengers are invited to connect to Voom, which is what the liner calls its on-board internet service. Unlike traditional internet options at sea, Voom uses a different kind of satellite technology to provide much faster connectivity. Voom comes in two packages (Surf and Surf & Stream), and the brand often offers discounts if they are bought in advance.



It offers guests the ability to stream music and movies, upload pictures, use FaceTime or Skype, check emails, surf the web and stay connected with work via VPN.



After testing its bandwidth on Harmony of the Seas, Cruise Critic said it is “fast and reliable, and rivals speeds on land”.



The line’s new ship Symphony of the Seas, launched in April 2018, takes the crown as the world’s biggest cruise ship by volume and passengers and the company claims it is equipped with the “fastest internet at sea”.

The free WiFi trend on luxury cruises
Silversea Cruises recently jumped on the gravy train and started offering free unlimited WiFi to all guests throughout its fleet from April.



For the past two years, guests could enjoy only one hour of free unlimited WiFi per day. With the announcement, Silversea now joins Crystal Cruises, which first introduced free unlimited WiFi on its fleet in April 2017.



“We know how important it is to catch up on emails or share photos on social media while on vacation,” said Silversea’s chief marketing officer Barbara Muckermann in a press release. “Now, with free unlimited WiFi in all suites, our guests can stay as connected as they like while they voyage to the most fascinating places on Earth.”



However, one noteworthy aspect to take into account is these liners’ size and capacity. While Carnival and Royal Caribbean sail ships with a capacity of between 5,000 to 6,000 passenger and more, the smaller luxury cruises can only accommodate under 600 guests at one time, meaning that offering free internet is far easier.



One of Silversea’s up and coming rivals, Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection, also announced it will include complimentary WiFi when it launches.

Surfing Oceania Cruises’s Wavenet
In March culinary and destination-focused line Oceania Cruises announced the fleet-wide launch of its new Wavenet high-speed internet, which will allow travellers to do exactly what they do at home: stream, share, upload and communicate on a variety of platforms and apps.



Passengers will be able to upload and download large files ‘in a snap’, the company promised, and they can even livestream, Facetime and Skype with friends and family back home.



Free and unlimited Wavenet service are included for all stateroom and suite categories on all sailings starting April, while a streaming upgrade called Wavenet Prime is available for $9.99 per day for those who wish to stream movies, music or videos.

Disney’s data plans
Disney Cruise Line offers a variety of options to the many pay-per-minute packages ubiquitous with other lines: passengers can pay only for the data they use, so the choice of how much content they consume (from checking their email to streaming an entire movie) is in their hands.
Eva Grey