Category Archives: Travel

300 ill on a Royal Caribbean cruiseship

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For a second time in less than a week Royal Caribbean has to deal with a virus spreading on one of their cruise ships. More than 300 people, passengers and crew, on the Explorer of the Seas have complains of diarrhea and vomiting. There are 3,050 passengers and 1,165 crew members aboard the ship, the Explorer of the Seas, whose home port is at Bayonne, NJ.

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Janet Diaz, spokesperson for Royal Caribbean International, told CNN that the ship skipped a planned stop in Haiti on Saturday and sailed directly to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where it underwent an extensive sanitizing. Continue reading →

Construction of the new terminal begins

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cen_canaveralWith the New Year starts the construction of the new Port Canaveral Terminal 1. The $50.5 million facility is scheduled to open in November 2014. The new terminal will be the first on the south side of the harbor and the only one having dining and entertainment options in walking distance. It will also be near the newly opened Exploration Tower and a grear start point for area excursion.

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Port Canaveral commissioners selected local firm Ivey’s Construction of Merritt Island, Florida to build the 187,500 square foot two-story terminal, the 1,400-foot-long berth and th parking for 1,000 vehicles. During construction the boat ramps at Freddie Patrick Park in the Cove will remain open. The parking will be relocated south of the current parking area. This temporary parking will be in place until the new boat ramp facility is constructed just west of Jetty Park near the entrance of the Port’s harbor. The new boat ramp facility is expected to be complete in July 2014.

The terminal will handle the port’s largest cruise ships and tenants for the terminal will be announced soon, according to a news release.

“No specific ships are in mind, but we will be able to accommodate all new ships coming for home port and port of call, including the Quantum coming here in fall 2014 for Port of Call visits from New York,” said. Port Canaveral CEO John E. Walsh

There are already theories on which ships will come after the new terminal is completed.

During construction the boat ramps at Freddie Patrick Park in the Cove will remain open. The parking will be relocated south of the current parking area. This temporary parking will be in place until the new boat ramp facility is constructed just west of Jetty Park near the entrance of the Port’s harbor. The new boat ramp facility is expected to be complete in July 2014.

Short cruises – the trend of 2014

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Cruise lines offer more and more short cruises every year because people want them. Just a few years ago, if you wanted to take a short cruise, you didn’t have many choices of ships or destinations. Now you can find plenty of options for three-to-five day cruises in the in South Florida, the capital of the short cruise.Carnival Ecstasy

“What we found is that short cruises are very convenient, they’re affordable because of the shorter itineraries, and there is a real variety,” said Terry Thornton, a senior vice president with Carnival Cruise Lines, ticking off the islands where short-cruise ships out of South Florida call. “So you’re not sacrificing destinations for the shorter cruise. It’s a good, convenient, affordable cruise that takes you great places.”

For consumers, short cruises are cheaper, give them another option for a short getaway, and offer a chance for first-timers to sample cruising or a new cruise line at less cost than a week-long cruise. For cruise lines, they are a way to introduce themselves to new customers and maybe win them over for a longer cruise.

Find more on this topic on OrlandoSentinel.

No matter the length of the cruise you choose, we can provide you the transportation!

Disney Cruise Line’s itineraries for early 2015. All four ships will be based at Florida

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All Disney cruise ships will be based at Florida ports in early 2015. Dream, Fantasy, and Magic will all be based out of Port Canaveral, and Wonder will sail out of Miami.

Castaway_CayDCL itineraries for early 2015 include both Bahamian and Caribbean cruises, with the options to enjoy three-, four-, and seven-night sailings from Port Canaveral and four- and five-night trips from Miami. Each itinerary will include a stop at Castaway Cay, the Disney’s private island for DCL guests. It will be the second year in a row that Disney Cruise Line will have its entire fleet spend most of the season sailing Caribbean and Bahamian cruises from Florida.

Disney Dream will have three- and four-night voyages available to the Bahamas: Nassau and Castaway Cay. Disney Fantasy, the Dream’s sister ship, will offer seven-night trips to the Caribbean: Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; Costa Maya, Mexico; Cozumel, Mexico; and Castaway Cay. Disney Magic will also have seven-night trips to the Caribbean available. The Disney Wonder, sister ship to the Magic, will have four- and five-night cruises. Its itinerary for the four-night cruise will be to Castaway Cay; Nassau, Bahamas; the Florida Keys. The five-night itinerary includes Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands and Cozumel, Mexico or Cozumel, Mexico and Castaway Cay.

Disney says fares for three- and four-night cruises out of Port Canaveral in early 2015 will start at $450 and $600 per person, respectively. Fares for seven-night cruises will start at $980. As with any DCL sailing, guests should book as early as possible for the lowest prices. Disney Cruise Line already accepts bookings for early 2015.

Hogwarts Express on the track at Universal

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Hogwarts Express  will carry guests from the existing Hogsmeade Village at Islands of Adventure to the new Diagon Alley at neighboring park Universal Studios. Universal seems to have taken careful steps to design the train cars so they look as lifelike as possible from the inside out.A train station is being constructed at both Wizarding World lands so guests can enter and exit from both locations as if they are traveling wizards. Diagon Alley is expected to open summer 2014.

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