It’s that time of year again! National Cruise Vacation month is being celebrated this month and at Cruise Planners, we’re taking the party to a whole new level! From October 10 to 17, 2011, we are bringing to you Star-Studded Cruise Specials and exclusive, incredible savings. We have special offers from reduced deposits and onboardcoupon booklets to complimentary dinners, shipboard credits and more! Don’t wait or this special event will pass you by!

Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines on Monday announced a host of new partnerships with brands and celebrities as part of a $500 million initiative. Called "Fun Ship 2.0," the expansion program will include burger joints from Food Network personality Guy Fieri; comedy clubs overseen by actor and comedian George Lopez; a sports bar linked to video game manufacturer EA Sports; interactive game shows featuring Hasbro games such as Sorry and Simon and more original bars and lounges. Cruise line executives announced the initiative at a press conference in New York. The Carnival Liberty will be ...

  With Celebrity Cruises' new 'Extend Your Stay' program, passengers facing waits at the airport and long flights home can have a leisurely last day on board. They can remain in their staterooms until 9 a.m., an hour later than the standard time, and use some of the ship's services until as late as 90 minutes before the next cruise sails.   Benefits including non-alcoholic specialty coffees and teas from Café al Bacio; a meal in the creperiefocused specialty restaurant, Bistro on Five; the opportunity to watch a first-run movie in one of the ship's theaters; and ...

    El Dorado Spa Resorts and Azul Hotels, by Karisma, are pleased to announce two gold 2011 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards. The awards were given for Eco-Friendly "Green" Resort/Hotel and for our exclusive Gourmet Inclusive (GI) Wedding Consultant program. The Travel Weekly Magellan Awards are the premier awards for the travel industry. From design to marketing to services, the Magellan Awards honor the best in travel and salutes the outstanding travel professionals behind it all. Honoring a broad range of industry segments including Hotels and Resorts, Travel ...

              The Norwegian Breakaway is currently under construction at Meyer Werft in Germany, Norwegian Breakaway will be 144,017 gross tons and is scheduled for delivery in April 2013. Following inaugural events, the ship will sail a series of 22 seven-day cruises from New York to Bermuda beginning May 12, 2013 through Oct 6, 2013. NOW BOOKING!  Call today to experience Norwegian's newest addition! Cruise Planners/American ExpressVera Kuemmel, MCC727-376-6006 / 877-211-2130www.CruiseVIPStyle.com  

This November, Royal Caribbean International will celebrate its return to New Orleans in a big way. The cruise line has teamed up with Republic Nashville to treat invited guests to a special, live performance by country music star Martina McBride. Following the debut of her new album, ELEVEN, which hits stores on Oct. 11, 2011, the four-time CMA Female Vocalist of the Year is scheduled to perform aboard the Voyager in New Orleans, on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011. The Martina concert for invited guests will take place in Voyager of the Seas' Lyric Theatre before the ship departs on its Western Ca...

El Dorado Spa Resorts and Azul Hotels, by Karisma, are pleased to announce two gold 2011 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards. The awards were given for Eco-Friendly "Green" Resort/Hotel and for our exclusive Gourmet Inclusive (GI) Wedding Consultant program. The Travel Weekly Magellan Awards are the premier awards for the travel industry. From design to marketing to services, the Magellan Awards honor the best in travel and salutes the outstanding travel professionals behind it all. Honoring a broad range of industry segments including Hotels and Resorts, Travel Destinations, Cruis...

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Kevin Sheehan are proud to announce that Norwegian Breakaway, will make New York City her year-round home port. Beginning in May 2013, Norwegian Breakaway-which will be the largest ship ever to home port in the city-will replace Norwegian Star, and embark on a minimum of 88 cruises from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal through March 31,2015.   Norwegian Cruise Line was the first cruise line to homeport year-round in New York City beginning in 2003. Since then, we have been committed to bringing our newest and largest ships to the ...

The first piece of steel was cut today at Myer Werft in Papenburg, Germany for the construction of Norwegian Breakaway, the first of our two new Freestyle Cruising® ships , set for delivery in April 2013. The first plate of steel took four minutes to cut by a plasma torch in the yard's state of the art facility. This plate will become a supporting part of the double bottom in the middle of the new ship.The Breakaway class ships, Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway, will each be 144,017 gross tons and will have approximately 4,000 passenger berths. The ships represent an opport...

Norwegian Cruise Line has selected the final names for our two new ships: Norwegian Breakaway, Launching in April 2013, and Norwegian Getaway, Launching in 2014. These names best reflected the innovation of the brand along with the freedom and flexibility of the line's signature Freestyle Cruising and invoked the feeling that these ships will provide a "break" at sea from the stress of everyday life Breakaway is defined as "a departure or break from routine or tradition" and Getaway is defined as "a place where one escapes for relaxation, vacation, etc." The contest winners are Kimberly...

Norwegian Cruise Line announces the balance of stateroom designs for Project Breakaway. Each of the 144,017 gross ton vessels will have approximately 4,000 passenger berths including Studio, Spa Balcony, Spa Mini-Suite, Oceanview, Family Mini-Suite, and Inside staterooms. The Project Breakaway ships will have 59 Studios on each ship which are specifically designed and priced for the solo traveler. These rooms also have private keycard access to the Studio complex and exclusive two-story Studio Lounge with a bar.The ships will also have 28 Spa Baclony and 20 Spa Mini-Suite staterooms fea...

Five Finalists Vie to Make Maritime History

Here are a few humorous questions from passenger to onboard staff collected by Cruise Directors over the years (the answers are probably the ones in their heads and not on their lips).  But the questions are real: Q. Does the crew sleep on board?A. Of course not, late at night a water taxi picks them up and takes them home! Q. Do these stairs go up OR down?A. Yes! Q. Does the ship make it’s own electricity?A. No, don’t you see the long extension cord trailing behind the ship? Q. Which is the sunny side of the ship?A. The captain spins the ship around daily so everyone g...

Say it isn’t so! Disney in Hawai’i ? If you’re heading to O’ahu, you just may want to check out the newest resort from Disney- Aulani. Hawai’i has always been known to be the world’s greatest destination for families so it was a no brainer to bring “The Happiest Place on Earth” to the beautiful island of Hawai’i . But you don’t have to be a kid or even have kids to enjoy this new paradise.   Situated on 21 acres of oceanfront property, the Disney magic is everywhere and every aspect has been inspired by Hawaiian culture,...

      August 26, 2011 - 10:00 p.m. E.S.T Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises continue to closely monitor the path and progress of Hurricane Irene to ensure guests enjoy safe and comfortable cruises, and to make certain our ships steer clear of the storm. The safety of our guests and crew is always our foremost concern.Given Hurricane Irene's current location and projected path, Royal Caribbean International and Azamara Club Cruises...

At Norwegian Cruise Line, the safety and security of our guests and crew is of the utmost importance. Therefore, the company continues to closely monitor the path of Hurricane Irene which is currently forecasted to impact the New York area late Saturday and Sunday. Because of the storm, we are modifying the following itineraries: Norwegian Jewel will return to New York early on Saturday, August 27 and guests currently on board will disembark beginning at 6 am. Embarkation for the August 27 cruise will commence earlier beginning at 10 am. The ship will depart three hours earlier than schedu...

Beaches Resorts Turks & Caicos Resort Villages & Spas reports that all guests remained safely on property during Hurricane Irene. There is, however, landscaping debris throughout the resort and in order to assess the damage and ensure the safety of our guests, Beaches Turks & Caicos will not accept any arrivals for the next 15 days. Following this time and a full review of the property, we will reassess the situation and provide additional details and confirm the reopening date. Guests scheduled to travel to Beaches Turks & Caicos while the resort remains closed will recei...

By Jerry Limone Korean Air will fly the first commercial Airbus A380 from New York to Asia on Aug. 9, when the double-deck jet departs Kennedy Airport for South Korea.   The airline’s A380 will have 407 seats, fewer than any other A380 in service, Korean Air said. Next week, the airline said, it will unveil passenger amenities that "won’t be found on any other airline."   Korean Air's A380 will fly out of New York on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays until September, when the airline is planning to fly it daily.   The airline’s New York-Seoul serv...

During the month of May Norwegian Dawn underwent a multi-million dollar extensive renovation focused on enhancing the guest experience. The Freestyle Cruising ship received enhancements to its public areas, suites and restaurants. Following on the popularity of the Brazilian steakhouse that debuted on Norwegian Epic, the Moderno Churrascaria has been added as a new onboard restaurant. Guests can sample a variety of skewered meats presented by tableside passadors, as well as a salad bar. Updates have also been made in back-of-house areas to improve everything from food delivery to fuel e...

By Donna Tunney, Travel Weekly Hamburg, Germany, continues to emerge as a strong competitor among ports catering to cruise ships in Northern Europe.   It had long been a major container port, and the presence of cruise vessels increases each year. In 2007, 57 cruise ships called at Hamburg; last year, the number rose to 88.   Eager to attract more cruise visitors, the city recently opened the $42 million Hamburg Cruise Center Altona, following a three-year construction phase.   A new terminal was urgently needed, according to Gerd Drossel, managing director of Hamb...