My wife and I were on a cruise that stopped in Nagasaki, Japan, in May ’11. We were fortunate to be approached by a retired municipal worker turned guide, Katsuhiro Tsuchida, or Hiro (phone +81 80 1739 7097, email nagasakitour@yahoo.co.jp or visit www.geocities.jp/hiroinnagasaki), who offered to take us around for the day.
The first three months of 2013 were rough for Carnival Cruise Lines.
Carnival Triumph was disabled by an engine-room fire on Feb. 10 in the Gulf of Mexico and had to be towed home. Passengers put up with plumbing and air-conditioning malfunctions and reduced restaurant services.
Carnival Dream had problems with a backup generator while at St. Maarten on March 13; it affected elevators and some restrooms. Out of caution, the company canceled the rest of the cruise and flew passengers home. The ship was repaired and sailed again on March 23.
The Carnival Cruise Lines ship Carnival Triumph experienced an engine fire on Feb. 10 that disabled its engines and propulsion system. No passengers or crew were seriously injured, as the ship’s safety systems contained the fire.
My husband and I and another couple booked a cruise with Silversea Cruises that included three days in St. Petersburg, Russia, July 18-20, 2012. We weren’t impressed with the ship’s shore excursion offerings, so I looked in ITN’s Mart classifieds section and found Dancing Bear Tours (Prospekt Kosmonavtov 15A-6H, St. Petersburg, Russia; phone +7 812 379 2633 or mobile +7 921 324 4640 or, in the US, 323/703-1542).
My wife, Kathleen, and I purchased emergency-assistance travel insurance from CSA Travel Protection to cover our 18-day cruise from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Barcelona, Spain, aboard Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam, April 1-18, 2012.
On April 10, while on a shore excursion in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, Kathleen fell and broke her arm. Back on the ship, Holland America Line (HAL) medical personnel treated her, x-rayed her arm and placed it in a sling.
Dear Globetrotter:
As of November 2012, legally binding weddings may be conducted aboard ships of Royal Caribbean International (866/562-7625) registered in the Bahamas. Among many wedding packages is “Romance at Sea,” from $3,995, with a marriage by the ship’s captain or first officer on deck or in the ship’s chapel, and flowers, a cake, champagne, photography and more.
Due to escalating tensions between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands, P&O Cruises announced in January that it was suspending its scheduled port calls in Buenos Aires, Puerto Madryn and Ushuaia. Argentine activists had harassed some passengers, and ships had been delayed from leaving port. If embarkation interruptions continue, other cruise lines may suspend their Argentine port calls too.