Cruise Radio: Weekly Cruise News & Travel Tips

On January 22, 2015, all the details of Carnival Vista were revealed at Lincoln Center in New York City. The ship has a lot offer like a brewery on board, a skyway, a brand new water park, more dining options like a Lobster Shack and more! The food part alone made my mouth water!

On this episode, we talk to:

• John Heald, Sr. Cruise Director of Carnival
• Jim Berra, Chief Marketing Officer of Carnival
• Stewart Chiron, The Cruise Guy
• Journalists at the event

Thoughts or reviews? Email me: [email protected]

January has proven to be a busy month for the cruise industry with the reveal of Norwegian Cruise Line's upcoming Norwegian Escape, Carnival Cruise Line announcing a new smartphone app and brand new internet at sea packages, and New Orleans hitting one million cruise passengers.

We were in New York City aboard Norwegian Breakaway when they revealed more details about the upcoming Norwegian Escape, like: a brew hall, tapas bar, new shows, and more. We get the overall response.

Carnival Cruise Line just announced their new smartphone app that allows you to talk to other cruisers and keep track of your onboard spending. This app is aligned with other cruise line apps in the industry. On top of the app, Carnival announced internet packages aboard their ships for as little as $5 a day.

Adrian Greystone, Director of Guest Technology stops by the gives us the scoop on the new smartphone app.

Thoughts or reviews? Email me: [email protected]

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Kathie Lee Gifford, former spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Line, returned to Carnival on Sunday to introduce her GIFFT Collection of wines at a tasting event for cruise guests on Carnival Breeze at PortMiami. The wines are now available for sale fleetwide on Carnival's 24 ships.

Hear about the Kathie Lee Gifford wine partnership.

On this show, we talk with:

• Kathie Lee Gifford
• Eddie Allen, VP of Beverage Ops
• Emile, Onboard staff
• Matt, Cruise Director
• Cruise passengers

Stewart Chiron, The Cruise Guy® has Cruise News:

• Venice lifting bans on big cruise ships
• Royal Caribbean makes a specialty venue complimentary on Quantum of the Seas
• Carnival Freedom heading to Galveston, big festivities planned
• Undercover Boss of Norwegian Cruise Line leaves company
• Holland America Line rescues distressed sailors
• Princess Cruises positions another ship to Australia
• Status update on Anthem of the Seas

Thoughts or reviews? Email me: [email protected]

Jason Leppert returns to talk about his latest family vacation aboard Disney Cruise Line's Disney Fantasy. Jason discusses his experience aboard Disney Cruise Line, what it's like traveling during the holiday season on Disney, and goes into detail about the dining experiences.

Hear his Disney Fantasy review on this episode.

It's officially Wave Season - that means there are a lot of great cruise deals to be had. In fact, 75% of cruise bookings this year will be made over the next couple months. We have added a Cruise Deal page at the top navigational bar of the website or you can click here.

Stewart Chiron, The Cruise Guy® has Cruise News:

• Snow to be featured on upcoming Norwegian Escape
• Carnival Miracle up next for a multimillion dollar renovation
• Royal Caribbean delays Dynamic Dining concept fleetwide
• Carnival Cruise Line dropping the "S"
• Pearl Seas possibly heading into Cuba
• Carnival doing away with EA Sports Bar after three years
• Oceania cruise ship fire - get caught up on the details

Thoughts or reviews? Email me: [email protected]

On this episode, we check in with the cruise editor for TravelPulse.com and Vacation Agent Magazine, Theresa Masek, to give us a cruise rewind of 2014. We cover some of the big news that hit the headlines like Carnival LIVE, Quantum of the Seas, Margaritaville on Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean dining partnerships. Plus, we look ahead at new ships in 2015. Cruise vacations were great in 2014 and are just ramping up. Happy New Year!

Thoughts or reviews? Email me: [email protected]

Earlier this month President Obama announced a new travel-friendly policy with Cuba. This a big step for the United States getting into Cuba since the embargo was put in place over 50 years ago.

With 11.6 million North Americans cruising in 2013, this could be huge for Cuba's economy.

I recently had a chance to sail on Costa Cruises' Costa Mediterreana to the Caribbean. Our 11-night voyage went to Nassau, Bahamas; the Dominican Republic, Tortola, Antigua, St. Maarten, and Freeport, Bahamas. We check in with the International Host aboard the ship and get some cruise passengers' thoughts.

Thoughts or reviews? Email me: [email protected]

On this episode, Jason Leppert from Popular Cruising drops by to chat about the major differences between luxury cruises and a mass market cruises. Having never sailed on a luxury cruise before, this interview was very eye opening.

Travel expert, Jason Coleman, tackles some listener questions on what cruise is the "right" cruise for a family, tipping with infants, and suggestions for using a smartphone at sea.

Thoughts or reviews? Email me: [email protected]

Listener Joe Tolley from Charlotte, North Carolina just returned from a seven-night Eastern Caribbean sailing aboard the 2,974-guest Carnival Conquest, a Conquest-class cruise ship based currently based in Miami.

Joe talks with us about his family's cruise to Nassau, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk.

Stewart Chiron, The Cruise Guy® has Cruise News:

• Celebrity orders two new ships
• Carnival offers longer itineraries
• Norwegian partners with Margaritaville
• Virgin cruises
• New CEO Royal/Celebrity
• Voyager of the Seas completes $80m refurbishment

Thoughts or reviews? Email me: [email protected]

Nancy Schretter from the Family Travel Network just returned from a sailing aboard Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Breeze where she participated in one of the cruise line's signature Carnival LIVE sailings. This particular sailing had country music/Top 40 group Lady Antebellum. Hear all the details of this sailing.

• Norwegian Cruise Lines staying in NOLA through 2018
• New ultra luxury Seabourn ship ordered
• Costa Captain back in court - what's going on with the trial?
• Did we see any black Friday sales that were totally WOW
• Majesty of the Seas leaving Miami
• We're seeing a lot of cruise ships canceling Belize lately because of weather - will we ever see a pier?
• What is the world's busiest cruise port in 2014?

Thoughts or reviews? Email me: [email protected]

"The Canada/New England itinerary had been on our to-do list for several years. We chose this particular sailing because it started in Quebec City, and we really wanted to spend time there pre-cruise (instead of NYC). It also offered more stops in Canada than New England, though it did have the tradeoff of Saguenay/Gaspe vs Saint John NB. This was also our opportunity to book one of the highly desirable aft Caribe deck corner balcony cabins on Ruby Princess. And we wanted to sail during the fall for a chance to see some brilliant fall colors."

Kristin Ladewig from St. Louis, MO recently returned from a 10-night sailing aboard Princess Cruises' Ruby Princess. A sailing that started in Quebec City and ended in New York City. Kristin leaves no stone unturned on this detailed Ruby Princess review.

Thoughts or reviews? Email me: [email protected]