Mariner of the Seas – A Hurricane Runs Through It…Almost

Goldring Travel August 28, 2008

We were greeted with the news of Gustav, which is projected to take the same cruise we had scheduled: Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, we made a hard left (East) and are visiting St. Thomas and St. Maarten. This gives us 2 extra sea days and 2 ports I really have no great desire

Mariner of the Seas – My First 24 Hours

Goldring Travel August 25, 2008

It has been a very interesting 24 hours aboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas. With approximately 3,735 passengers onboard, with quite a mix of ages, ethnicities, languages and socioeconomic classes, there is much that I have observed and some that just disappoints. Overall though, it has been more tolerable than I expected, though not

Mariner of the Seas Travelogue – Prologue

Goldring Travel August 19, 2008

I promise I will not bore you with the minutia of taxi rides and pre-cruise meals in this travelogue, but rather will try to give some perspective from a travel agent’s and a parent’s points of view as I venture back into the world known as mass market cruising. On Sunday I will be boarding

Sommelier and Masseuse – Specialists for Some

Goldring Travel August 18, 2008

There is a very interesting article in the August 31, 2008 edition of Wine Spectator concerning people’s expectations and use of sommeliers, wine service and wine with food generally. I think there is a lot to be learned by the luxury cruise lines not only as to what is expected, but what is perceived as

Exclusive Seabourn Spirit Offer – Istanbul to Alexandria – November 8, 2008

Goldring Travel August 15, 2008

Whether Seabourn just finished reading my blog, I have incredible intuition, or it is happenstance, it really doesn’t matter, but I was just contacted by Seabourn with an exclusive offer than fits in perfectly with my last post….and must be acted upon immediately if you are interested: I am thrilled to offer this truly outstanding

An Interesting Trend – More Last Minute and Higher Quality Cruises. Why?

Goldring Travel August 15, 2008

I have seen over the past couple of weeks – the usual time for the summer doldrums – a very interesting trend: People are tending to book cruises for the latter part of this year and on longer itineraries and in higher categories. While the trend of cruise lines offering lower fares closer in seems

Regent Seven Seas, Please Listen: Luxury Is Really About Service

Goldring Travel August 12, 2008

I guess with a bit of irony I commented in my post this morning that Regent’s trumpeting $40,000,000 of hardware upgrades on the Voyager and Mariner was good news, but there needs to be a significant improvement in the service department. I was just taking a look over at the Cruise Critic boards and saw

Upgrades to Regent Seven Seas Voyager and Mariner

Goldring Travel August 12, 2008

There was a very brief article of a mere seven (7) lines yesterday in Travel Weekly about upgrades to the Regent Seven Seas Voyager and Mariner, but interesting silence as to the Navigator. Also, while the $40,000,000 figure was used, it is hard to tell where the money will really be spent since Mariner is

Seabourn Captain Buer Interview on John Heald’s Blog

Goldring Travel August 11, 2008

The very popular blog of Carnival’s cruise director extraordinare, John Heald, posted a wonderful interview with Seabourn’s Captain Karl Buer on August 9th. Hopefully without offending I have copied the meat of it below. “Seabourn has a name that as with Bentley, Rolex and Cartier you know you are getting the best. I have disembarked

Seabourn Staff Receive Unique Training and Compensation

Goldring Travel August 11, 2008

Last week I discussed a bit about Seabourn taking back control of its officers and ship’s management by abandoning a short-lived V.Ships relationship. Today I thought I would mention a unique aspect of Seabourn as it relates to its hotel staff; that is stewardesses, waiters, etc. One thing that is unique about Seabourn is that

Windstar’s Wind Surf – Caribbean – January 2014

Goldring Travel Blog – Making Waves

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