New Cruise Ships on the Horizon

Check out what new cruise ships we have to look forward to in 2012.

See which new ships are launching in 2012 by the major cruise lines. Mark your calendars. 2012 promises to be another great year for the cruise industry.

Will 2012 be the year of the Longship?

2012 The Year of the Longship. Photo Viking River Cruises.

• Viking River Cruises will launch four of their Longship-class-vessels in conjunction with Viking’s $250 million expansion program. Be on the lookout for a big splash late March 2012 when Viking Freya, Viking Idun, Viking Odin, Viking Njord  take to the rivers.  Be on the lookout for the last two longships,Viking Embla and Viking Aegir, to debut during the Summer 2012.

New ship gets the celebrity treatment in Hamburg, Germany

Dusting off his boots and getting ready to walk the decks, Avid Cruiser and a handful of our elite cruise press corps travel to Germany for the Celebrity Silhouette naming ceremony and a two-night cruise.

Watch LIVE naming ceremony of Celebrity Cruises’ Silhouette  7/21 @ 11AM ET

The post that got it started from the Avid Cruiser Facebook page.

More from social media about the new ship

Celebrity Silhouette Key Ceremony

Check out the pictures of the Key Ceremony where RCCL Chairman & CEO Richard Fain and Celebrity President & CEO Dan Hanrahan officially take possession of Celebrity Silhouette. Then join us on Thursday July 21rd to watch the live broadcast of the Silhouette naming ceremony. Stay tuned as we will be announcing shortly the time of the event. By: Celebrity Cruises

Photos/Videos from CelebrityUK

Another one – Celebrity Silhouette on the way into Hamburg. Keep your eyes peeled tomorrow afternoon for more snaps from the naming ceremony
about 16 hours ago from site • viewed 100 times

A Wednesday treat – another lovely pic of Celebrity Silhouette arriving in Hamburg yesterday
about 16 hours ago from site • viewed 65 times

Ooohh ahhh – a pic from the professionals: Celebrity Silhouette sails into Hamburg for the first time
1 day ago from site • viewed 150 times

Largest cruise ship to ever be officially named in Hamburg
1 day ago from Twitpic Email • viewed 220 times

And another…
1 day ago from Twitpic Email • viewed 110 times

one more shot for you all!
1 day ago from Twitpic Email • viewed 150 times

Celebrity Silhouette arrives in Hamburg
1 day ago from Twitpic Email • viewed 215 times 

Wowsers! Check out these giant chairs at the Lawn Club. They honestly are that big, we didn’t just find a super-small person

The Buzz Booth is monitoring the action from our Southern California headquarters, make sure to follow along the #BuzzBooth hashtag to keep up with events.

 

Cruise news for The Port of Southampton

The Port of Southhampton can be a busy place when one ship is in town, but when six cruise ships are in town, watch out!

Crown Princess, Grand Princess, P&O Cruises Ventura, Fred. Olsen’s Balmoral, Celebrity Eclipse and Phoenix Reisen’s Artania put the port on high-alert.

During the course of the day the Port of Southampton will accommodate over 65,000 crew and passengers getting off and onboard the cruise ships. And once those passengers are sorted and the baggage and provisions are taken care of, the ships will begin the sail- away dance of the ships.

Summary of navigation events

Navigating the Port of Southampton

Cruise ships enter into Southampton begin their journey into the Solent at 15-minute intervals.

Embarking just east of the Isle of Wight, each cruise ship is piloted by a highly experienced ABP Pilot through the Eastern Solent and Southampton Water to the ‘designated berth’.

The Southampton VTS team (based in an air traffic control like structure looking over Southampton Waters), advises each of the six ABP pilots when to head off from the pilot station in Gosport, on one of the two brightly coloured orange launches crewed by a Marine Officer and a Coxswain, and wait within the ‘Nab Tower boarding areas’.

2.5 hour pilot navigation from pilot entry to berth

The pilots embark on each of the cruise ships and join the ship’s Master to steer the cruise ship to its berth, which takes around 2.5 hours.

To keep up with CruiseSouthampton.com, an information website for cruise passengers and crew travelling from Southampton

Related story: Southampton England Shipageddon like Los Angeles Carmageddon

Shipageddon at Port of Southampton as cruise ships from Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, P&O Cruises, Fred Olsen arrive in one day.

While Los Angeles deals with ‘Carmageddon’ this weekend, the Port of Southampton, England hosts 6 cruise ships in what I call Shipageddon.

A parking lot meets a cruise ship. Photo by Garybembridge.

I live in Southern California and our big weekend news is about how the closure of the 405 freeway is going to effect the drivers in our area. On England’s south coast, the Port of Southampton braces for their version of Shipageddon while showing the world why the area claims title of Cruise Capital of Northern Europe.

Join me as I take the The Buzz Booth to Southampton, England for virtual reporting from the docks.

The Buzz

Although this is not the first time that the Port of Southampton has seen 6 ships docking on the same day, it is still fun just the same to see how the news is getting out to cruisers who will use this busy turnaround  facility.

For a lot of cruisers, they will be heading north to the London area and the roads are notoriously congested during busy summer weekends. Situated in the county of Hampshire, Southampton is 75 miles (120 kilometers) southwest of London.

Since 1838, the year the first regular steamship service crossed the Atlantic, the Port of Southampton has seen many a ship sail from her docks. Here is what is happening  on July 16th, 2011.

The Associated British Ports (ABP) owns and operates the Southampton Docks.  A comprehensive cruise calendar is available on the Associated British Ports website or by visiting a partner site at Cruise Southampton.

These are the main terminals and berths at the port:

• Queen Elizabeth II Terminal, berths 38/39
• Mayflower Terminal, berth 106
• City Terminal, berth 101
• Ocean Terminal, berth 46

Since Southampton is mostly a turnaround port and becuase it is a busy day,  plan to spend some time in the City of Southampton. Some of the must sees include: Old Town and the museums that help tell its story,  the QE2 Mile, which is is a popular walking path that runs through the heart of the city and the Medieval Merchant’s House Not to far away is Winchester,  a 20-minute drive north.

Let  us know if you are one of the many cruise visitors arriving or departing from the Port of Southampton this weekend. That means cruisers on Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, P&O Cruises, Fred. Olsen and Phoenix Reisen.

Tune into BBC Radio for Updates

Since six cruise ships will be in port this Saturday, tune into BBC Radio Solent  95.4FM or visit http://www.southampton.romanse.org.uk for the latest travel information.

Did I mention what is happening on Sunday?

Qsine on Celebrity Cruises dishes up some of the best food at sea – where cruising means “good eats.”

A food review about Celebrity Cruises Eclipse

Cruisers will find the Qsine restaurant  on Celebrity Eclipse, the third of five ships in Celebrity’s $3.7-billion Solstice Class fleet.

Qsine is under the supervision of Jacques Van Staden, Celebrity’s vice president of culinary operations since 2007.  The speciatly Qsine restaurant has space for up to  82 cruise guests.

Tasty bites served on Celebrity Eclipse. Photo by Gary Bembridge via Flickr.

Good eats

My favorite: Sushipops

To see these amazing sushipops come to life, check out the Drink Eat Travel website.

Any good party deserves sushipops Photo by DrinkEatTravel.com

How to make a Sushipop (btw, this is not the official Celebrity Cruises recipe).

Nigiri Sushi, Soy Center, Wasabi Mayo & Pickled Ginger-Radish Salad sides.

Celebrity Cruises serves the pops on a tray with a condiment bottle of wasabi mayo and two small glass fishbowls with pickled ginger and a radish salad.

Use any fresh sushi-grade fish that you like,  skewer and serve.

Nagiri Sushi is the style of sushi that has a piece of fish on top of sushi rice. Between the piece of fish and rice place a dab of wasabi and then place, wasabi side down, on top of the rice.

Traditional Roll: 2-3 oz of sushi rice flattened  on a sheet of nori (dried seaweed); fill with finely diced cucumber (maybe avocado) then roll; cut into pieces. You can improvise on the ingredients if you want.

More menu items

(from Celebrity Cruises specialty dining pages on their website.)

• Vegetable du “Jatour” – Carrot-Cardamom, Broccoli-Cheddar, Sweet Potato-Raisin, Spinach-Garlic Cauliflower-Apple, Parsnip-Shallot, Potato-Truffle, Green Pea- Mint Eggplant-Tomato & Olive, Creamed Corn & Chive.
• Spring Rolls – Baby Back Spring Rolls & Chipotle Coleslaw White Truffle BBQ Sauce. Or. Vegetable Melange, Cilantro, Chipotle Coleslaw Sweet & Sour Sauce
• Tresviche – Tiger Shrimp & Bay Scallops – lemon juice, tequila, cilantro, tomato & jalapeno oil Salmon, yuzu citrus, cucumber, vodka & basil Sea Bass ? lime, red onion, choclo, avocado & exvoo.
• Gaufrettes – French Fries – Sweet Potato Strings Vegetable Chips – Potato Croquettes, Spicy Parsnip Crisps “Squeezable Sauces.”
• Slider Party - Grilled Kobe beef patties, aged Wisconsin cheddar, “Qsine slider sauce” Brioche buns and garnishes.
• Taco Royale -Black Angus Sirloin Steak - home made Tacos Caramelized Onion-Poblano, Cilantro & Mortar Pestle Guacamole.
• Salmon Cataplana “Style” - with Saffron Broth, Tomato Ravioli Chorizo Sausage, Garlic Confit, Fennel & Leeks.
• Lava Crab - Alaskan King Crab - Sweet yellow corn & scallions Kataifi with Old-bay lobster sauce.
• Disco Shrimp -   Poached Tiger Shrimp. Avocado, Tomato & Celery Dressed in a Cocktail Aioli…Crunchy toppings.
• Mixed Olives – Tzatziki – Eggplant Imambiyaldi Tabbouleh – Hummus – Chicken Kofta – Zathaar Lamb Chops – Kibbeh Mediterranean Chili – Falafel – Goat Cheese Cigars.
• Tikka Masala - Rogan josh – palak paneer – malai kofte – chole, veggie samousa – shrimp vindaloo.
• Persian Kebob -  Skewered Chicken breast - Garlic and spices with Vegetables, Saffron Rice-Pilaf & Tooni Sauce.
• Fresh Market Salad - With Arugula, Radicchio Frisee, Watercress, Spinach, Pomegranate Emulsion Crispy Goat Cheese Crumble.
• “The Cupcake Affair” - Red Velvet & Vanilla Cupcakes with playful garnishes
• “Chocolate Tombstone” - Layered Ganache, Nutella, Rice Crispies & More Chocolate
• Beignets – Doughnuts – Fritters
• “Cheesecake Tini” - Graham Crakcer Cookies & Berries