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From the Blogs

The Sitmar Fairsea and the 16 Year Itch.

The year was 1983 in Los Angeles and friends of my parents wanted to show us the ship which they had taken a cruise on. We drove to the Port of Los Angeles where the Sitmar cruise line ship Fairsea was disembarking passengers from a cruise to Mexico. These were the days when people could still visit ships in-port simply by boarding. Something unthinkable twenty years later.

Jones Act Waiver for Puerto Rico

With the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico lagging badly behind that seen in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and after growing public calls for action, the U.S. finally waived the Jones Act for a time. This will allow a wider range of ships to transit directly between ports in the U.S. and the Caribbean island territory. The Jones Act is an example of "cabotage law," meaning regulation of trade between domestic ports. Laws like it exist in most countries and the intent originally was to protect fleets of merchant marine ships and personnel from competition from other countries. The fear was that if other countries could push domestic ship building out of business and reduce the number of native sailors. In the event of a war such a weakness could have been disastrous for most countries dependent on trade over water.

The law forces trade (passenger travel or goods and services) traveling from one U.S. port to another must be built in the U.S., crewed by Americans, and owned by Americans. The Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1920 is very similar and applies to passenger vessels specifically. The PVSA however states that no ship failing any of the three mandates in the Jones Act can pick passengers up in one U.S. port, then debark them at a different U.S. port without visiting a second country first. In this case the Jones Act prevents fleets of ships that fail any of the three mandates to travel directly from American ports to Puerto Rico. This had the effect of crippling shipments of needed supplies and materials needed to aid hurricane recover efforts. Within the cruise industry and beyond there is strong sentiment to update and change the Jones Act and the PVSA to reflect modern times. Such would allow for radical growth in cruises that travel entire itineraries of U.S. and Canadian ports, boost tourism in said ports and certainly create new jobs. However the Jones Act and PVSA have staggeringly well funded, determined and organized union and business interests who have successfully defended the laws for nearly a hundred years. Some think the hurricanes might finally lead to some changes but there seems little momentum given the current political climate in the U.S.

Cruise Commute: Atlanta - Video

The glory of Google Maps is how you can conduct a tour through areas you are about to drive around and learn the lay of the land. I tend to do that out of habit now as plan out which hotels to take, figure out what to expect, etc. The value to me is being able to relax a bit during a drive and not face last second choices in navigation. My phone pulled double duty this past January during my cruise on Oasis of the Seas. Mounted just under the rear-view mirror, I kept the video camera rolling as I drove through downtown Atlanta. Always a busy highway, the drive was smooth enough until some concert letting out flooded the south side exits along I-75.

Announcing Cruise Corps

In order to serve our community from shore to ship and back, Cruise Aficionados (CA) is assembling experienced and new agents to become part of our Cruise Corps team!

CA seeks to extend and enhance the cruise experience through digital offerings, services and real world gatherings which help make cruising part of every day. We do this through online communities for learning about and sharing the experience of cruising. We host real-world “Cruise Coffees” and “Cruise Nights” recreating and stoking the urge to cruise. We walk our members through how to make cruising a daily lifestyle.

Cruise Corps (CC) is the professional services organization of Cruise Aficionados. CC is comprised of entrepreneurial business people, bloggers, travel leaders and providers of goods and services complimentary of the cruise experience. It serves the mission of Cruise Aficionados to extend and enhance the cruise experience and make it part of every day.

CC travel leaders are experienced in helping run their own group cruises on-ship as well as serving as leaders for groups seeking coordinators. CCs bloggers help provide grassroots content about cruises, ports and all manner of cruise related topics. Our CC Pros are a professional services group to help provide the kinds of experiences at real world gatherings on for featured online content. Our CC Travel Service team completes the circle of travel by helping our community find its way back to sea.

Learn more and become part of our team today!

The Elephant Walk - Video

Cruise Videos - The Elephant Walk out of Port Everglades

There was no existing phrase I found which describes spectacle of a flotilla of cruise ships leaving port. I choose to borrow the term "Elephant Walk" which the U.S. Air Force uses to describe taxing entire airwings of planes all at once down a runway. The purpose being to demonstrate readiness and such. The sight, like that of Elephants walking in a row in circus' the term comes from, reminds me a lot of cruise ships leaving port. This video came from Independence of the Seas and we see the mighty Oasis of the Seas departing Port Everglades shortly before it made it's own walk up the channel. It makes for great lunch-time viewing.

Driving Into Port Everglades - Video

These days there is precious little to like about flying anyplace. Airlines are an often unwelcome creature that sits on the front and back ends of a cruise. For my part it has been nearly ten years since I actually flew to a port of departure. Driving into a port however can be a daunting task unto itself however. Most cruise ports are wrapped around the edges of working cargo ports. Finding the way through the maze of fenced in zones and to the right parking garage can be difficult. To give you an idea of what is like to drive into such a situation I share this dashcam video of entering Port Everglades.

Cruise Wisdom - By Cruisefucius

Take this kiss upon the bow!

And, in partying with you now,

So much to do wow

You are not wrong, who deem

That this is like living a dream;

Yet if the week has flown away

In 6 nights, or in 7 day,

In a suite, or in an outside,

Is it therefore the less gone?

All that we see or eat

Is but a dream within a dream.

~Cruisefucius with apologizes to Edgar Allen Poe.

Travelers Dominion

Cruise Commute: Atlanta - Video

Announcing Cruise Corps

The Elephant Walk - Video

Driving Into Port Everglades - Video

Cruise Wisdom - By Cruisefucius

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