Travel News

NCL Christens New Norwegian Gem in New York
Published on Modern agent: December 19, 2007

Norwegian Cruise Line christened its new Norwegian Gem in a ceremony in New York yesterday. The 93,530-ton, 2,394-passenger Freestyle Cruising ship enteruddy service on Oct. 1 in Europe and made its U.S. debut in Boston on Dec. 13. NCL is celebrating the arrival of Norwegian Gem with inaugural events in Europe, Boston and New York. The ship was christened yesterday by 31-year-old Cindy Cardella, who has taken 31 NCL cruises. Cardella was selected as the Norwegian Gem’s “It” girl from a group of five finalists all of whom had submitted videos stating why they should be chosen to christen the ship.

Norwegian Gem will be homeported in New York during the winter, offering cruises to the Caribbean. In summer, it will offer cruises of the Mediterranean out of Barcelona. The ship is the final vessel in NCL’s Jewel-class of ships. It features a four-lane bowling alley in the Bliss Ultra Lounge and Night Club, a rock climbing wall and a variety of high-end accommodations, including Garden Villas, Courtyard Villas and two top-of-the-ship Deluxe Owner’s Suites. The ship also will feature Wii by Nintendo tournaments on a two-story LED screen.

Norwegian Gem features 10 restaurants, including Cagney’s Steakhouse, Blue Lagoon, Le Bistro, Orchid Garden, Tequila, La Cucina, the Garden Café, and the Great Outdoors, plus two main dining rooms, Grand Pacific and Magenta. Guests can enjoy cocktails at Bar Central, which features a martini bar, champagne and wine bar, beer and whiskey bar, and cigar bar. The Yin & Yang Spa and Beauty Salon features 18 treatment rooms, three of which are designed for couples. It also includes a thalassotherapy pool. Body Waves Fitness Center features state-of-the-art cardio workout equipment, plus an aerobics and yoga area, steam and sauna rooms.

Contact A Room With A View - Cruise & Travelto make your reservation on this new Sparkler!

Princess Passengers Enjoy “Indoor” Snowfall
Published onmodern agent: December 18, 2007

Princess Cruises’ passengers are finding themselves in a winter wonderland as faux snow falls in the ship’s atrium. A new holiday feature on Princess ships with multi-story atriums, the daily snow flurries are adding to the holiday atmosphere on December sailings. The snow-making process creates falling flakes that vanish on contact. The ships are trimmed from stem to stern in holiday décor, with a Christmas tree on the vessels’ masts.

To make a reservation on a Princess Cruise, contact A Room With A View - Cruise & Travel

Barcelo Punta Bavario Sets Halloween Offer
Published on modernagent: October 22, 2007

The Barceló Punta Bavaro Beach Resort in the Dominican Republic is offering a Halloween special with last minute deals priced from $ 118 per room, per night single or double occupancy. In addition, resort guests will enjoy Halloween activities including a kids costume party, as well as an adult costume celebration in the resort’s disco.

Don’t let this boo-tiful offer pass by…Contact A Room With A View today!

Disney Cruise Offers Airline Check-in Service
Published on: Modernagent 10/3/07

Disney Cruise Line this fall will begin offering Onboard Airline Check-In to certain guests. This new service will allow qualified guests to check in for their post-cruise flights while onboard the Disney Magic or Disney Wonder, eliminating the need to do so at Orlando International Airport. Guests participating in Onboard Airline Check-In will enjoy the ease and convenience of not having to collect their luggage upon debarkation — checked luggage will be transported directly from the ship to the guest’s flight. While on their cruise, guests’ boarding passes will be deliveruddy to their staterooms the day prior to disembarkation.

Upon the ship’s return to Port Canaveral, participating guests can proceed directly to Customs and then to Orlando International Airport where they bypass check-in and continue straight to airport security and on to their assigned departure gate. To take advantage of this service, guests will need to meet certain requirements and be booked on a domestic flight on one of the seven participating air carriers: AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, Northwest Airlines, or United Airlines/Ted. Eligible guests will be able to enroll for Onboard Airline Check-in by completing pre-registration information received at Orlando International Airport or one of the Disney Cruise Line Hospitality Desks at the Walt Disney World Resort and turning it in during check-in at Port Canaveral.

To make your Disney Cruise reservation or for more information, contact A Room With A View!

Bolongo Bay St. Thomas Sets New Year’s Deal
published on modernagent 9/27

Guests can ring in the New Year Caribbean-style at Bolongo Bay Beach Resort located in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, with a special three-night New Year’s Getaway Package priced at $1,188 per couple. Guests who book Bolongo’s New Year’s Getaway Package will receive two tickets (per room) for the resort’s “New Year’s Eve Celebration” which includes a four-course dinner at the resort’s Lobster Grille restaurant, live music and dancing under the stars, and a “Count Down and Champagne Toast” at midnight. The package also includes three nights’ accommodations in an ocean view room; a “discover scuba diving” in-pool lesson; complimentary use of non-motorized watersports (snorkel gear, paddle boats, sunfish sailboats, windsurfing equipment, and kayaks); use of volleyball and tennis courts, plus equipment; and all taxes, service charges and energy surcharges. The New Year’s Getaway Package is available on new bookings made by Oct. 15, 2007 that are a minimum of three nights (with one of the nights booked being Dec. 31, 2007). The package is priced at $1,188 per couple for three nights. Additional nights are $300 per couple, per night plus 15 percent tax and service charges and $2 per day energy surcharge.

To ring in the New Year at Bolongo Bay, contact A Room With A View!

Aruba’s Divi Village Sets All-Inclusive Program

Divi Village Golf & Beach Resort on Aruba has launched an all-inclusive special that encompasses two other Divi branded resorts, Divi & Tamarijn Aruba All-Inclusives. Guests can now select the All-Inclusive Suites Program, which is the largest and most complete all — inclusive offering on Aruba. The Divi Village All-Inclusive Suites Program includes an array of amenities such as meals at 11 restaurants for breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, with theme nights and nightly entertainment, 12 bars with unlimited drinks (surcharges may apply), and the Oceanview Bar with entertainment. To introduce this special program, The Divi Village Golf & Beach Resort is offering a 20 percent discount on the rates with nightly rate per person beginning at $166 based on double occupancy. This rate is for reservations made from Sept. 17 to Oct. 5, 2007 for travel Oct. 1 to Dec. 22, 2007.

To make your reservation, Contact A Room With A View!

Celebrity Releases First Details of Solstice Class Ships
publishe on modernagent 9/20/07

Celebrity Cruises has unveiled details of its new Solstice class ships, the first of which, the Celebrity Solstice, will make its maiden voyage in the Caribbean in December 2008. Last night in New York Celebrity made the first of a half-dozen announcements that the it plans about the new class of ships; the event focused specifically on the ship’s staterooms. Dan Hanrahan, Celebrity’s president and CEO, said research for the stateroom design began even before the cruise line cut steel for the ships. Recognizing that women are the decision-makers when it comes to cruising, Celebrity put together a panel of five women — a frequent cruiser, a travel agent, a non-cruiser, a hotelier and a travel writer-to get their input on staterooms — that spent four months helping Celebrity design the staterooms. The result: staterooms that are 15 percent larger than those in Celebrity’s Millennium ships, and bathrooms that are 24 percent larger and have touches such as fog free mirrors and bars for women to rest their feet upon while shaving their legs. “The showers are the biggest you’ll find at sea,” said Hanrahan.

To better accommodate luggage, beds are higher, so bags fit underneath, and there are additional nooks and crannies for storage. The ships have interconnecting stateroom, but since space that connects also conducts sound, each has a vestibule with a double set of doors to muffle sound. Triple and quad rooms all have trundle beds that extend from couches as well as Pullman beds, meaning parents can put smaller children in the lower trundles. Staterooms are roughly 295 to 300 square feet, not including balconies. The ship has WiFi, staterooms have 32-inch flat screen TVs, while suites have larger flat-screen TVs. There is also the new AquaClass, which is tied into the ship’s spa. It includes 130 of the ship’s 1,425 staterooms. Celebrity Solstice is the line’s first in a class for four 2,850-passenger vessels. German shipbuilder Meyer Werft, which constructed the line’s Century-class fleet, is building the 122,000-GRT ship.

Contact A Room With A View for more information or to make your reservation!