The Port of Los Angeles | Winter Cruise Season 2012

We love our cruise ships!

If it’s winter that means prime-time for cruise calls at the Port of Los Angeles.  Even though Los Angeles is a year round cruise destination, the winter months mark the time when the port welcomes ships that normally make infrequent calls.

Some of the ships that will call on the World Cruise Center at the Port of Los Angeles

• Crystal Symphony, which departs Los Angeles for Hawaii on Dec. 21 will also call again on January 4th embarking on a 13-day journey to the Panama Canal on January 4.
• Cunard Line is set to sail to Hawaii  on December 21 for a 14-day voyage aboard the Queen Victoria. Also scheduled for this ship from LA: a 15-day cruise to Fort Lauderdale via the Panama Canal on Jan. 4; a 14-day voyage to Hawaii on February 14; and a 17-day cruise to New York via the Panama Canal on February 28.
• Princess Cruises’ Sapphire Princess offers a 7-night sailing adventure to Mexico on December 31, February 18 and 25. The Sapphire Princess also cruises to Hawaii for 14 nights on Dec. 17 and Feb 4. The Golden Princess heads to Hawaii for 14 nights on December 21, January 4 and 18, February 1, 15 and 29.  Coral Princess leaves LA for Fort Lauderdale via the Panama Canal and multiple stops in the Caribbean for 14 nights on December 20, January 17 and February 14.
• Seabourn Odyssey offers several options to the Pacific from a 20-day “Pacific Tradewinds” cruise to exotic French Polynesia to the 60-day “Stars of the Southern Cross” trip to Australia and New Zealand as well as Hawaii. All voyages depart the Port of Los Angeles on January 5, 2012.

Making LA home for the winter

• Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Wonder sets sail on a seven-night adventure to the Mexican Riviera almost every Sunday.
• New to the lineup and offering shorter cruises to Baja, Mexico from Carnival Cruise Line is Carnival Inspiration.

San Pedro - Port of Los Angeles Cruise Ship Calendar for 2012

Seabourn took delivery of the new 450-guest Seabourn Quest.

Seabourn Quest

Excitement was in the air yesterday at the T. Mariotti shipyard in Genoa, Italy when executives from Seabourn took delivery of their newest cruise ship to join the fleet.

The 450-passenger Quest joins her two sister-ships, Seabourn Odyssey and Seabourn Sojourn.  Seabourn’s fleet of six ships range in capacity from 104 or 225 suites.

Quest will sail on an 11-day pre-inaugural cruise from Monaco to Spain on June 9.

The party continues on June 20th when Actress Blythe Danner, the Quest’s godmother, will participate in naming ceremonies  before the two-week maiden voyage begins.

The ship will sail the Mediterranean and Black Sea before heading to Fort Lauderdale for Caribbean sailings in the fall. A 109-day world cruise from Fort Lauderdale begins Jan. 5

• Quest will sail seven-day Eastern Mediterranean cruises, operating alternately between Athens and Istanbul, and Venice and Athens, as well as a seven-day Black Sea voyage.
• In the fall, the ship will cruise across the Atlantic Ocean to offer guests a series of round trip Caribbean cruises.
• On January 5, 2012, Seabourn Quest will begin a 109-day Maiden World Cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Venice on a unique eastbound course via South America, South Africa, the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean.

Seabourn – your passport to small ship luxury cruising

Seabourn Quest

Seabourn has earned a reputation for its high levels of service, with nearly one staff member per guest; spacious suites, many with balconies; exceptional shoreside experiences in the world’s most desirable destinations and award-winning cuisine served in open-seating restaurants.

Recap report for #CruiseChat on Tuesday, May 24th at 2:00 pm EST

Top 10 by number of impressions 
1. cruisebuzz: 764,167
2. only398: 447,304
3. cruiselinefans: 305,748
4. halcruises: 125,545
5. shipsandtrips: 123,450
6. jkheaton: 94,668
7. traveldesigned: 92,708
8. seabourncruise: 67,716
9. earthxplorer: 45,633
10. buycruises: 36,641

Top 10 by number of tweets 
1. cruisebuzz: 79
2. cruiselinefans: 54
3. shipsandtrips: 50
4. only398: 34
5. justinhamlin: 21
6. seabourncruise: 19
7. cruisecoaches: 18
8. halcruises: 17
9. bargeconnection: 16
10. jkheaton: 14

Top 10 by number of followers 
1. earthxplorer: 45,633
2. rickgriffin: 29,398
3. travelblggr: 28,535
4. soultravelers3: 28,174
5. only398: 13,156
6. cruisebuzz: 9,673
7. mybestfarefindr: 7,477
8. halcruises: 7,385
9. rtwdave: 6,919
10. jkheaton: 6,762

Some Favorites

Ship Reviews

• Seabourn Odyssey
• Seabourn Pride
• Seabourn Spirit
• Seabourn Legend
• Seabourn Sojourn
• Seabourn Quest

What is Cruise Chat? Is there a schedule?

• What: Twitter party on #TravelTuesday focusing on cruise topics
• When: Tuesdays from 2:00 – 3:00 pm EST
• Where: Twitter. Use the hashtag #cruisechat for searches and posts

Unfailing Service Every Time | Life On The Ships

Join us for #CruiseChat and be ready to tweet about what service means to you.

The Yachts of Seabourn

Do you remember Are You Being Served? the British sitcom from the 70′s? Besides being funny, the show highlighted some of the finer points of service: anticipating the needs of customers being the top priority.

While most of the cruise lines don’t broadcast this show, I can say that when I am cruising my expectations have been exceeded more times than not.

This week there have been a couple of cases where I noticed exceptional service through the posts of some of the people I was following in the Buzz Booth.

ake Ralph Grizzle, our local Avid Cruiser, who raved about service on his Silversea cruise, as an example. On his latest cruise he raved about service:  On Silversea: Exemplifying The Essence Of Luxury Cruising, Ralph captured the spirit of the relationship between cruiser and cruise line; I also like the mention of a Whirling Dervish and the paragraph about how the Silver Spirit staff greeted guests at the gangway after a long day of exploring a port in Egypt.

Professional, unobtrusive service by the Indonesian and Filipino staff is a fleet-wide standard on Holland America Line.

Then there was Arron Saunders, From The Deck Chair who recounted his “aha” moment regarding a thoughtful butler that had his shoes shined without even being asked. Read the story here.

Keep those new ships coming!

Over the last couple of years it seems like if a cruise line was not delivering a new ship, they were putting their girls into dry-dock for some serious work. The end result? An abundance of bedazzled cruise ships offering numerous shipboard enhancements to keep the cruise public happy.

New ships are always fun to sail on

The new-ship-smell, getting to be the first person to spill on the carpet, try out the gym, sleep in the bed, and having the chance to enjoy new onboard programs is always special. 2010 rolled out some great new ships to compliment an already spectacular menu of ships from all the cruise lines.

New Ships- 2010

In order of delivery, here are some of my favorite new ocean-going cruise vessels that launched in 2010.

Welcome Costa Deliziosa - Feb. 2010

Costa Cruise Line, Costa Deliziosa

A European power house in the cruise industry, Costa Cruise Line delivers Costa Deliziosa with lots of upgrades and amenities. Gross Registered Tons: 92,000 Capacity 2,826 total berths.

MCS’s Magnifica launched its inaugural cruise March 7, 2010

MSC Cruises, MSC Magnifica

Gross Registered Tons: 93,300 carrying 2500 guests.  The fourth Musica-class ship. Families can enjoy one of the eight “magnifica” family-sized suites with balcony.

Celebrity’s Celebrity Eclipse - launched April 29, 2010

Celebrity Cruises, Celebrity Eclipse – perhaps my favorite ship!

This is the third sister in the Solstice-class series. Eclipse was launched from the UK and then repositioned for a Caribbean season in November 2010.  Innovative features like  a freshly cut lawn on the uppermost deck in an area called The Lawn Club make this the buzz of the town.

Cuisine is creative and upscale. Spa lovers can find their niche. And with numerous bars, lounges and clubs, cruise guests are encouraged to relax in style.

This is a good crossover ship for families that want a toned-down shipboard experience with the award-winning Celebrity X-Club Youth Programs. This ship serves 2850-guests.

Seabourn Sojourn - June of 2010

Seabourn’s Sojourn – my kind of cruise!

Seabourn Sojourn offers 225 luxury suites, four dining venues, and six bars and lounges. This  luxury cruise-yacht accommodates 450 cruisers in all-suite accommodations. Luxury amenities such as treatments at The Spa at Seabourn, which covers two decks, helps guests unwind in style. There is also a fully-equipped fitness center with state-of-the-art cardio, strength and weight training equipment. Service, champagne, wonderful cuisine and extraordinary itineraries await.

NCL Epic - June 2010

Norwegian Cruise Line,  Norwegian Epic

Gross Registered Tons: 150,000 Capacity: 4,200 lower berths. Freestyle-cruising to the max! Norwegian Epic brought the most innovations to the cruise dance in 2010. This vessel introduced the first  ”wave” staterooms, an ice bar, a newly designed villa complex and a huge aqua park with the only tube slide and largest bowl slide at sea. Single cruisers finally had a choice. NCL Epic offers cabins called the Studios, which are specifically designed and priced for the solo traveler.

Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam - July, 2010

Holland America Line,  Nieuw Amsterdam

This ship, the second in the Signature (Eurodam) class took a great concept and ran with it. I love the design of this ship, the color palette, the art, food, spa, and library.  Holland America Line makes mid-sized ships that are just the right size for me and my family. Measuring 86,700 gross registered tons and with double capacity of 2,106 get onboard this beauty.

Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth - Oct, 2010.

Cunard Line, Queen Elizabeth

Although a sister to Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth is not a twin. This 2092-passenger ship allows guests to step back in time to the 1930s and 1940s to enjoy the tradition of ocean liner cruising. The entrance into the Grand Lobby is impressive. The two-tier Library, crowned with a fabulous leaded glass ceiling is amazing.  Opulent materials, luxuriant furnishings and art deco period flourishes await cruisers.

Allure of the Seas - Dec 2010

Royal Caribbean International, Allure of the Seas

Allure of the Seas is about 43% larger than RCCL’s Freedom-class. With so much space there is really something for everyone on this mega-giant cruise ship.

Perhaps a bit big for some, this cruise ship carries 5,400-passengers. Especially popular with family cruisers, Allure of the Seas has great amenities for youth, including the Adventure Ocean Theater and Science Lab. The H2O Zone aqua park and full-size carousel keep the little cruisers happy while parents can shop, eat, relax and play all day long.

Allure of the Seas is the world’s biggest cruise ship . Noteworthy amenities on Allure of the Seas include: The ship’s two-story Loft Suites, with up-and-downstairs bathrooms, and floor-to-ceiling windows. A zip line, skating rink, two surf machines,  climbing walls,  a 3-D theater, the first Romero Britto store at sea and two new restaurants, including a Mexican cantina and Brazilian steakhouse. the first Starbucks at sea. Accommodations for 5,400-plus passengers.