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A Cruise Vacation

If you ever have the opportunity of a cruise vacation,  then quite literally you will be participating in the penultimate of holiday experiences . This is one sector of travel that first became popular at the beginning of the 20th century. In those early days however it was only ever available to the extremely rich and famous. Today with the most competitive prices the cruise industry has ever known these sensational vacations of a lifetime are now within the grasp of us all. Gone are the days of the segregated floors (uuch as seen in the Titanic movie) now anyone is welcome aboard these emperors of oceanic wonder.

A tribute to modern technology and a triumph for maritime technology these awe inspiring goliaths are the toast of all who have travelled in them. Some of the biggest cruise liners in the world can carry well over three thousand passengers and are capable of running on a fully self sufficient basis for an amazing span of up to two weeks at a time. This being the case it turns out that the 2 main points of worry for the majority of potential cruise ship passengers are these, If I am on board for such an amount of time would I get bored? what happens if a health issue should occur? Well quite simply there is no need to worry in the slightest.

Shows, Theatres and numerous other means of entertainment are all part of the package and included in all of today’s modern cruise vacation offers. When it comes to your health and well being the majority of vessels would give any competent medical team a real run for their money. Equipped with the best state of the art medical facilities and manned by top notch medical personnel it is thought by many that should a medical emergency happen then you would be better taken care of at sea than in many of today’s local health clinics. So you see although you might find yourself in the middle of the ocean and 1000’s of miles from civilisation you can be assured that both your physical and recreational needs would be fully taken care of on a level that would be hard to surpase.

Probably one of the most important factors to consider when choosing a sea vacation is that no other single holiday would give you the opportunity to enjoy and visit such a huge and varied number of resorts. destinations and nationalities. Portugal one day and Italy the next, the world really is your oyster when you embark on a cruise and what’s even better, all this can be achieved in the greatest of comfort and in the lap of sheer unadulterated splendour.

The Scholar Ship (Oceanic 2)

Participating in an intercultural academic program while traveling the world aboard a passenger ship is an extraordinary opportunity. The Scholar Ship embarks on a semester-long journey around the world twice a year, commencing each January and September. Itineraries vary from voyage to voyage, but all are planned to provide engaging learning experiences through our Port Program, which complements our Academic Program and Onboard Life Program.

Each voyage calls on approximately eight to ten ports in which several days (typically one week) are spent to provide students an enriching experience through their participation in academic field study, community service, shore excursions, and independent travel.

Next ports of call of their September voyage are :

Sydney, Australia 17/Nov/2008

Shanghai, China 06/Dec/2008

Macau/Hong Kong 18/Dec/2008

Hong Kong 23/Dec/2008

Cruise Travel Agencies

By: Jeremy Foster

When you are contemplating a cruise vacation, there are so many different options from which to choose. These options include determining the length of your cruise, your point of departure, the destinations you will visit, and the accommodations you desire once you are aboard the ship. Making those determinations, however, is just the beginning.

You must also figure out how you will travel to your point of departure, what ground transfers you may need, and how to make add-ons to your travel to spend extra time in different locations or embark upon side trips. The advantage of booking a cruise with a travel agency is that they can provide you with a one-stop solution to make all of the decisions concerning your cruise travel.

A primary advantage of booking a cruise with a travel agency is the variety of cruise selections they offer to you as a traveler. When you are booking a cruise and you work on your own instead of through a travel agency, you have to go through many different web sites, doing a lot of virtual leg work to be able to compare which cruise companies are sending ships from which ports during what seasons. This is a complicated endeavor which can take up a lot of time; precious time for most busy individuals.

With a travel agency, they do the leg work for you. You will have access to all of the same options as if you had done your own research, but in this case, the research is done for you, so all you have to do is consider what cruise will fit best with your own desires. Also, the research is checked out and prepared by a travel expert who may be aware of some aspects of cruise vacations the average Joe or Jane might not.

Another advantage of booking a cruise with a travel agency is that they are knowledgeable in offering other trip components you might not think to add if you were making your own arrangements. Many travelers do not realize that they need to secure airport to port transfers separately, or that mass transportation may not be available in certain locations. Depending on where your ship will be departing, it may be quite a distance from the airport where you arrive. Travel agencies address all of these details that you may not have even considered. You will save time and potentially a good deal of money by pre-planning as many aspects of your trip as possible. This can be handled efficiently by using a travel agency.

Booking a cruise with a travel agency also affords the vacationer the ability to fully customize their vacation. The agency can help you select a variety of optional add-ons, often at minimal additional cost. A cruise does not have to be just a cruise. You can add days to either end of the cruise to make your trip longer or to visit an additional destination. Some cruises even have the flexibility to accommodate side trips, where you can spend a greater amount of time at the ports of call. In addition, different attractions that may be available at each port can usually be pre-arranged so that you can get off the ship and head right to the tours or the destinations you wish to see, instead of wasting time on the ground figuring out where to go next. Your travel agency can help you to plan out every little detail.

The fourth advantage of booking a cruise with a travel agency is that you can depend upon their experience to help you make the best decisions possible for your travel. There are a lot of different options to choose from any time you book a cruise or other vacation travel. If you have never before used a certain company or service, or never visited a certain destination, you may not know how best to make your decisions. The expert staff at your travel agency can provide you with many details about your potential travel not only from their own experience but also from their customers’ prior experiences, which will help to make your trip more enjoyable all the way around.

And finally, travel agents are useful in assisting in an emergency before or during your trip. By definition, an emergency is an unplanned and unexpected event. Some emergencies do commonly arise such as inclement weather (major hurricanes) and personal illness. If you did not use a travel agent, you are on your own in such an event. Many agents offer worldwide, toll-free 24-hour hotlines for emergency assistance at no extra charge to you. Customer service can assist with problems including flight cancellations, port closures, and how to obtain emergency assistance in the event of illness, security threats, travel document theft, and so on.

In summary, there is really no good reason not to go through a travel agent when booking your next cruise vacation. You will reap all the advantages of the expertise and convenience a professional travel agent has to offer. And chances are you will save a lot of money at the same time!

Article Source: http://articles-mart.com

About Author:
Jeremy Foster is a freelance writer who writes about vacations all over the world, often focusing on special deals and exclusive information one would receive through working with travel agencies.

Five Star World Cruise Cuisine

By Sarah Martin

One of the best aspects of any five star world cruises is going to be the food. In fact some of the best and most interesting cuisines are served up on these cruises. You can even go on five star world cruise vacations where the point is simply to explore the world and learn how to cook with one great chef who is a guest on board.

Cruise lines are becoming more aware of how attracted people are to celebrity chefs and learning new ways to cook and what better way to pack people on board than to turn the five star world cruises into a floating five star restaurant as well.

If you are on a diet a five star around the world cruise is probably not for you. This is because you might be served as many as five meals a day. Aside from the regular lunch and dinner you will probably be served tea and a midnight buffet as well. If you get hungry in the middle of the night there is usually some kind of all night self service buffet located somewhere on the ship as well.

You can expect all different styles of foods and food presentations and for many different types of cuisine styles to be served. It is not uncommon at all for there to be French, Italian, Asian and Fusion cuisines available on board and created out of one kitchen. These are not your regular restaurant meals either.

Many of them are gourmet in flavor. It can also depend on the cruise line you are on. Exotic cuisines such as Indonesian, Pilipino or Tibetan food are currently very au courant on a five star world cruise as are the famous fusion cuisines from Miami, Florida and New Orleans.

Cocktails are also usually quite spectacular on these voyages and may be themed and named after wherever you are going. You can expect your martinis to be cleverly mixed together and to boast some elaborate and unusual garnishes. If you are going to Hawaii or Mexico Tikki themed cocktails are often served on this type of five star world cruise.
These trips can also be highly educational. You can also do things like learn how to make works of art out of food or how to make your own sculpture out of ice.

Aside from the usual dinners there is also usually some kind of special dinners. Almost every five star world cruise holds a final farewell Captain’s Dinner to mark the end of the voyage. These are usually fantastic affairs that include delicacies like shrimp cocktail, Caviar, pate de fois grois, and classic surf and turf items such as racks of lamb, beef wellington, lobster thermidor, or broiled lobster tails.

Don’t forget dessert if you attend one of these Captain’s dinners. Typical offering include marzipan wrapped ice cream, Baked Alaska, cherries jubilee, and other amazing delights. It is a good thing that they have gyms on these five star world cruise ships or many people taking part in them would gain weight.

Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, California. She specializes in travel and leisure and recently returned from a five star around the world cruise. For a great deal on a five star world cruise, please visit http://www.amttravel.com/.

Taking A Paddleboat Cruise

In May my husband and I took a wonderful steamboat trip on the Colombia River, 1,240 miles long, and Snake River, 1,038 miles long, aboard the American West’s Empress of the North. This is the first time we had ever done a ‘niche’ type cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Yes, the clientele tends to be older, but, what a shame that the younger mature adults are missing out on all this fun. It is steam boating in the true sense of the word. The paddlewheel turns as you leisurely make your way up and down the rivers and through the many dams that have been erected since the time of Lewis and Clarke. The ship is patterned after the river boats that plied the waters of Alaska, Oregon and Washington over 100 years ago and has a distinctly Russian flavor.

On the particular adventure that we took it was to follow the path of the Lewis and Clarke expedition so it was historical as well as fun. We boarded the Empress of the North in Portland, Oregon with no mishaps just a bit of a long wait. However, they did supply entertainment and refreshments while they prepared the ship for us. Once aboard we were escorted to a lovely stateroom that was right out of the riverboat era. It was roomy, beautifully decorated and had a balcony with two chairs and a table. There was a TV but we never used it since the real entertainment was the trip and the excursions which were included in the price of the cruise. The rooms reminded you of the river boat era but were very much up to modern standards.

Just a little tidbit: The ‘Portland Penny’ is how Portland got its name narrowly missing being called Boston. The partners Lovejoy and Pettygrove who had filed the claim staking the territory needed to come up with a name for the quickly expanding territory. Lovejoy being from Boston, Massachusetts was adamant that this would be the name, while Pettygrove equally adamant wanted it to be called Portland after his beloved Portland, Maine. Hence the ‘Portland Penny’ when Pettygrove won two out of the three tosses.

The artwork on the Empress was truly impressive. There were beautiful Russian artifacts and amazing pictures of the gold rush and life in the Northwest during the 1800’s. I spent a

lot of time just going up and down the four hallways perusing the artwork. (Every floor has a different theme).
Our first night out of Portland we were invited to cocktails and hors d’oeurves at the Paddlewheel lounge which is in the back of the boat and has windows overlooking the paddle wheel. We were still busy getting situated so we grabbed a cocktail and took it back to our room to get organized. Dinner was in the Romanov Dining room and the atmosphere really was one of a riverboat. The food was very good served by a courteous and fun American crew. Dinner lasted about an hour to an hour and a half and then it was off to the Golden Nugget showroom to watch the Pat O’Neal and the River Boat Jazz band play great Dixieland Music. Well, if you weren’t into it by then you never were going to be. What fun and you are sharing it with only 200 other passengers. After the show you could stay in the Showroom for dancing or go to the Paddlewheel Lounge for the duo of Kari & Jerry who were not only very good but extremely friendly.

Of course, you are in a new place everyday and everyday brings a new exciting, educational and different excursion. Our first day out we where cruising the Columbia River Gorge taking in the breathtaking vistas, granite cliffs and waterfalls from which the Cascade Mountains takes it’s name.

Article Source: http://articles-mart.com

Cedric DSilva We thoroughly enjoyed this trip and would recommend to other adults, this not a ship for children. www.properinfo.info , www.visitoursites.com , www.visitoursites.info , www.visitoursites.us