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Disney details and Christmas deals
It appears that “Mickey” likes the idea of going to Hawaii. One of “his” ships had a cruise scheduled to the Polynesian paradise, and now the same ship is going back for a second look. The Disney...
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Celebrity adopting disembark option
One by one, cruise lines are adding the opportunity for you to stay on the ship at disembarkation. The latest to make the move is Celebrity and “Extend Your Stay” is the name of the program. You’ll be...
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Celebrity changes in Europe good
Celebrity Cruise Lines had already announced European offerings for next summer. Then there were some modifications to the 2012 line-up, as well as some new cruises. Celebrity is among the cruise...
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Can you believe it: a free cruise?
Celebrity is repositioning its ship Constellation for a 2-night cruise on September 5, 2012 and you can have it for free! That is, you can if you book the cruise before or after the free one. The...
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Variety of deals for Caribbean
These are promised pricing from my Ports and Bows column running nationally on November 5 in Postmedia papers across Canada. The column is re-printed below the pricing noted here. Some are tremendous...
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Celebrity ships to Seattle and Vancouver
This week, Celebrity Cruise Lines announced its schedule for the 2013 season in Europe and Alaska. On the Alaska side, we had been anxiously waiting to see where the Celebrity Solstice would call home....
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Details for this week’s Transatlantic trips
And a Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all! This is a followup to Ports and Bows column that appeared in these papers this week: Montreal Gazette, Ottawa Citizen, Windsor Star, Regina Leader Post,...
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Celebrity Cruises’ private tours expanding
Celebrity Cruises is expanding its private excursion tours from a handful to over 70 ports around the world. The combo you receive is a private vehicle, driver or driver tour guide. The private...
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Celebrity Celebrating 2012 London Olympics
The press release states that Celebrity Cruises will be carrying much of the summer Olympic Games live from London on its fleet of ships. I didn’t see the word “exclusive” but Celebrity is first out...
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Millennium ships getting ‘Solsticized’
Celebrity’s Solstice Class ships have been a hit and I’m sure CEO Dan Hanrahan didn’t take long when he decided to upgrade his Millennium Class ships to follow in the footsteps of Solstice. The...
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Celebrity pulls out of Australia
This will be the final winter of cruising in Australia and New Zealand for Celebrity Cruise Lines. The line has announced that it’s withdrawing Millennium from the market in April 2009. What’s the...
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Conde Nast Awards and Phil’s Pick
Every year, the public relations teams at the world’s cruise lines await the results of the Conde Nast Traveler reader’s survey to see how they scored so they can start cranking out advertising...
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Celebrity and Caribbean now year round
This is a surprise.This summer, Celebrity Cruises has all their ships everywhere else except the Caribbean. Next summer, they will have two in the Caribbean. We already reported on Century being...
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South America prices
That’s Cape Horn in the background. Today in the major Canwest papers across Canada and a group in the Maritimes, my Ports and Bows column is all about South America. I indicated in the column that I...
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A travel day
Phil Reimer is in transit today. His blog post tomorrow will be from the Celebrity Constellation, where he is doing a 14-night Scandinavia & Russia cruise. Please come back and visit the blog...
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Where are my bags and where is Harwich Town?
I had one of those almost perfect trips to Europe—in fact for the first nine hours—the air part of it was great. I booked Air Transat Club Class, but was disappointed at first to see I was going on...
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The walking city-Amsterdam
Amsterdam was my first port of call on my 14-day trip aboard the Celebrity Constellation through Scandinavia and the Baltics. Right, I agree, Amsterdam is not in Scandinavia and was our bonus,...
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A day at sea
The weather on this cruise has been outstanding. Since leaving England, where temperatures were 5c above normal for this time of year, the good weather and the fair seas have followed our...
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Berlin in half a day
Today we have pulled into the seaport town of Warnemunde; I should add the word beautiful as you can see by the picture. We arrived early and left late – at 9:30 p.m. For those staying to see the...
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A sea day, heading to Stockholm
We’re at sea today, heading to Stockholm. The wind has picked up, and while many were on the three laps to the kilometer track, they weren’t wearing their shorts. Hoods and sweaters were the order of...
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Windy Stockholm
With some passengers eating dinner, some wandering around the ship, the captain—came on the pa last night, which is unusual. Opening with a serious tone, a few of us wondered if there was a problem...
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Helsinki-cold weather, warm people
It was raining when our ship arrived in Helsinki, the temperatures were hovering around 10c, but all in all this was good day in Helsinki. People are important no matter what country you’re in, and...
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St Petersburg, Magnificent
First things first; unless you dock at the new pier in Saint Petersburg, or are on a smaller ship—like Seabourn, as an example—that can fit in the river, you’re going to find yourself belly to belly...
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A day at sea, heading to Copenhagen
I am aboard Celebrity’s Constellation, heading to Copenhagen for two days. I thought you might like to see this shot of the sunset, taken at 11:30 p.m. in the Gulf of Finland. All for now. Phil
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Copenhagen-it works
June 11, 2009 Copenhagen—this city works. When the Celebrity Constellation docked here in Copenhagen at 9 a.m. this morning, everyone was off the ship and moving in all directions. Most primarily...
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Parting with Celebrity Constellation
Hermitage in the background As you know, my goal on the 14-day cruise aboard Celebrity’s Constellation from Harwich, England to Scandinavia and the Baltic’s was to test my ability to use public...
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Celebrity-Savor, Discover and renew
There has to be a group locked in a room somewhere in Florida whose sole job is to come up with a series of words that will make you choose their cruise ships. Mind you, it helps when they back up the...
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Equinox lights up Southampton
Celebrity officially launched Equinox in Southampton yesterday.This is the second in the Solstice-class series.I was to be there, but sadly a leg problem kept me from flying. Let’s put it this way,...
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Celebrity refurbishing
Phil Reimer My sincere thanks to Paul and Ruth for occupying this space for the past week—good job. I appreciated the time off and I’m now happy to be right back at it. It’s the new year. We, I am...
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Celebrity growing in Europe
Phil Reimer–Celebrity will position all four of its Solstice-class ships in Europe next year, including Solstice and the new Silhouette, debuting in July 2011. Solstice had been scheduled to operate...
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Celebrity Constellation transformation
Phil Reimer–On April 24, Celebrity Cruises will officially name their new ship in Southampton. Eclipse will be a sister ship for Equinox and Solstice—all of them Solstice-class ships. While that is...
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Celebrity’s ‘Solsticization’ Process
When a brand has received so much good publicity, why not tag the name onto everything you do to your ships? Celebrity Cruise Lines claims it has “Solsticized” its ship Constellation. Not sure you can...
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Celebrity’s Constellation combos
I get genuinely excited about cruising when I see a line take on a new embarkation port or a series of first-time destinations. Celebrity gets my kudos for porting the Constellation in Istanbul and...
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Celebrity kicking off sales season
You can expect a lot of sales news from cruise lines over the next eight weeks. Celebrity is first in line, kicking off the New Year with a $150 stateroom credit ($75 each, based on two people per...
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Celebrity still anchored in Caribbean
While Celebrity has been in the news lately with the announcement of its first foray into Asia with the Millennium, this does not mean Celebrity is giving up on the Caribbean. The Caribbean has not...
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Update on this week’s cruise deals
The following is running in the Postmedia papers across Canada this weekend. They were written in advance, of course, and sometimes there are changes to prices, so I’m re-running the deals here and...
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Many choices crossing Atlantic
This is a follow-up to my column, Ports and Bows, appearing in Post Media papers across Canada this weekend with some Transatlantic offerings. What follows is more of them. These cruises — all coming...
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Getting ready for Transatlantic season
This Blog is tied into my Ports and Bows newspaper column for this weekend in these papers: Montreal Gazette, Ottawa Citizen, Windsor Star, Winnipeg Free Press, Regina Leader Post, Saskatoon Star...
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Classic movies on the Constellation
Okay, I admit it. At least once a week, I skip through my TV online schedule and take a look to see what movies are coming up on Turner Classic Movies. While I usually take in a new movie once a week,...
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Not too late to cross the ocean
While you were enjoying the holiday yesterday, I was rummaging around websites looking for some last-minute Transatlantic deals. Yup, there was still space left as I wrote this on Monday afternoon. If...
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Celebrity 2014 sales start today
VENICE — Celebrity’s 2014 summer and fall sailings here in Europe are now open for booking. The itineraries for next year are following the leads of some smaller cruise lines by adding late-night and...
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Celebrity 2014 bookings on sale today
VENICE — Celebrity’s 2014 summer and fall sailings here in Europe are now open for booking. The itineraries for next year are following the leads of some smaller cruise lines by adding late-night and...
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Constellation to be wholly ‘Solsticized’
In 2010, the Celebrity Constellation was the first of the four Millennium Class ships to be Solsticized. You won’t find it in a dictionary but here’s what Solsticizing means: “The addition of the...
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WOW! Variety the spice of cruising this week
Lots of choice on WOW deals this week: a really low balcony on the Queen Elizabeth…a chance to see plenty of New Zealand and Australia…a 10-day cruise in the Caribbean for $38 a day…a balcony for less...
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This time the Celebrity ‘X’ marks changes
The expression “X marks the spot” has historically meant the spot where you go to find buried treasure. In cruising, “X” means Celebrity Cruise Lines. The “X” you see on the funnels of Celebrity’s...
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WOW! Good prices and interesting journeys, too
At WOW Travel Deals, I’ve always attempted to find a value price and an interesting journey. This week, I think I have found a bit of both, as well as one of the lowest Oasis of the Seas prices for the...
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Celebrity Cruises going to celebrity events
Celebrity is calling it “Signature Event Sailings.” Good name, but you could also put it under the heading of “theme cruises.” For 2015-16, Celebrity is planning cruises to some iconic events in...
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Cruising creativity — Quantum of the Seas
PAPENBURG, Germany — Last week in this space, it was all about the speed and the technology you will find before and after you board Royal Caribbean’s latest cruise ship-to-be, Quantum of the Seas....
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WOW! Atlantic crossings amazing deals
At this time of year (or any time of year for that matter), everybody loves a deal. The best deals in cruising are often re-positioning cruises, especially the ones that cross the Atlantic Ocean, in...
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