Travels With Jane

Tuesday deal: Breakfast for a buck

If you haven't heard, this year is just about the cheapest moment ever for travel deals (at least since late 2001.) And since I love both travel and great deals, well, I'm being thankful for them every day.

Here's one that's caught my eye today:

• Stay at any of the 44 Kimpton hotels before March 1, and get continental breakfast for two for $1 in addition to the room rate. If you book online, enter the code EAT. If you call  800-KIMPTON, ask for the "Breakfast for $1 More'' package.

Book fast for Iceland deal

Iceland, you might have heard, is in a banking crisis. (Who isn't?)

For travelers, this means deals. And before you ask, Why would anyone want to go to Iceland, well, the country is stunningly beautiful, as I wrote in a recent story.

If you book by Nov. 23, you can get two-for-one pricing on Iceland Air, which translates into $699 per person in the airline's new Economy Comfort Class (think the same food but more space for your legs) plus $100-$200 in taxes and fees. Flights leave from New York, Boston and Orlando.

Winter getaways are also on sale; a three-night Christmas getaway costs $699 per person, double, plus taxes, and includes hotel, economy air, breakfast and some other extras.

Back from the seas

A quick note now that I'm back from my Carnival cruise:

• Though Carnival sometimes gets dissed by upscale travelers, the product it puts out is well worth the money (although the Splendor's pink donut decor theme leaves something to be desired, and it's not a cup of coffee.) Food quality is very high, and while you won't get salmon on the breakfast buffet or foie gras as a main dining room option, the food you do get is contemporary fresh and tasty. Don't miss the Indian grill...yum.
• I'm not much for musical reviews (I'm a black-box theater sort of person), but the rock-and-roll review last night on board was sophisticated, whimsical and featured some prime male buns, bared. (Yup, that was sexist. No, I'm not chagrinned.)
• If you can have a bad time in one of Carnival's piano bars, pull out your Grinch suit. You'll have earned it.

Recovery plan: Nassau

Since Grand Turk was out yesterday, the captain made arrangements for us to visit Nassau today...a stop not on the original itinerary.

Like nearly everyone who has been on a cruise from South Florida, this is something I’ve done many times before. But it’s a beautiful day here, and it was the best option available. So I put on my sneakers and went for a walk. Why not?

Advice to cruisers: Get real

My job is to serve readers. I’m not paid by cruise lines or airlines or any other travel supplier, nor does our company take any free trips.

So please, cruisers, take this advice in the friendly spirit with which it is meant: Get real. Get real in your expectations.

Yesterday the Carnival Splendor was all set to moor at Grand Turk. The captain made two hard-fought attempts to get us there; after all, we’d spent the fuel to sail 200 miles each way to get here. And when a cruise ship misses a port of call, it costs both the line and it’s shore-side suppliers money. Nobody wants the passengers to make it ashore more than the bean counters.

But the weather simply wouldn’t allow us to dock. Stepping outside on a deck made the situation obvious; gusts were in the 45 mph range, and simply standing there without getting blown over was tough enough. Yet still last night, some cruisers were complaining about the missed port, and yes, blaming the cruise line.

Get real, people. Cruising isn’t a trip to Disney World – which itself occasionally has shut because of weather. While every one of us would like our vacations to be perfect and go exactly as planned, that doesn’t always happen. Airports get snowed in. Cars break down. Life happens.

In my view, it’s rudely narcissistic to blame any supplier that puts in a serious effort to fulfill its promises when an act of God – that would be weather – prevents it from doing so. If Carnival hadn’t seriously tried, then fie on it. But when it has and you’re still among the grousing….well, think about it. 

For most of us, vacation is precious…too precious, in my mind, to waste any of it focusing on what didn’t go according to plan. And believe me, in my personal world, that list is pretty long. How about missing the Big 5 game animals after the Land Rover for which I was paying a massive sum kept breaking down due to a leaking radiator hose? The airline agent who screwed up and LOST my husband’s frequent flier reservation as she was ticketing it, so that he had to PAY for a last-minute ticket to Europe or miss our vacation? The oh-so-expensive Alaska cruise for five that the kids complained about non-stop?

In Europe, there’s an assumption that every person is responsible for himself, at least in a legal sense. There’s far less of the complaining and sueing that happens in America when things don’t go according to expectations. But in America, we seem to think that someone – a lawyer, vacation supplier, merchant, the manufacturer of a fence railing – should be responsible for our own missteps.

Yes, suppliers SHOULD be responsible – but for their own efforts and responsibilities. When it comes to my own foolish decisions or for acts of God, well, it’s just not the other guy’s fault.

Whether Carnival should have done more to get us into Grand Turk I can’t know for sure, but my gut says the captain did the best he could. Pushing beyond reasonable levels of risk that could have injured passengers, crew or the ship certainly wasn’t in my list of reasonable actions.

I do know that each us on this ship can go with the flow and search out the activities and people all around us who seem to be having a perfectly good time. Or we can grouse.

No big decision for me. Life is too long, and vacation too short, to spend my time being cranky. I'll just head back to the piano bar for another chorus of Van Morrison's Brown-Eyed Girl.

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Feel free to disagree with me. Add your own comments below.

Turk not so grand today

We’ve steamed a couple hundred miles to visit Grand Turk, only to find 45 mph winds that prevent us from docking this 113,000 ton ship at the open pier here. The captain has tried to moor twice, but the winds are simply too strong – something that becomes obvious the minute you try to stand out on deck.

Passengers are, understandably, disappointed. I am too; I’d looked forward to visiting what, for me, would be a new port. But the weather is a fickle feline, not to be tamed.

One of the biggest complaints I hear about from cruisers is when a ship cancels a port of call. If the line hasn’t done all that’s possible to safely visit the port, then that makes sense. But the complaints I hear are, often, simply foolish.

Last year, one disgruntled cruiser e-mailed me and a half-dozen other journalists to complain that he’d booked an entire cruise on account of a single port…only to find the ship rerouted when a hurricane threatened.

I tried the logical approach, noting that the contract of carriage you sign when you book a cruise allows the line to change itineraries are necessary. Another writer, Gene Sloan from USA Today, was smarter, sending a one-sentence reply that went something like this: “Would you rather have died in the storm?’’

As one cruiser on this ship commented, “This is just part of cruising.’’

And, last I looked, part of life.

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Got a question about the new Carnival Splendor? Comment below and I'll do my best to get you an answer.

Unexpected pleasures on private island

 

Many Caribbean sailings include a stop at a private island that the cruise line has leased or purchased for ship calls. My last visit was at an island beach shared by NCL and Royal Caribbean (guests from each use different parts of the island, so they aren’t packed together.)

I visited the NCL facility. It was a disappointment, with 2,000-plus people packed onto a relatively small area and limited facilities. If you live in New York and it’s March, it might look like nirvana, but for a South Floridian, well, your backyard might suit as well.

I assumed Carnival’s stop at would be much the same. But in the years since I last visited, Carnival and sister company Holland America, which use the island on different days, have really spruced up the place.

The narrow beach sits on a miles-long curve, so while some areas are Cheeseburger-in-Paradise boisterous and crowded, others are almost serene.

Water-sports options include kayaking and sailing, and because of the permanent facilities, you can even ride horses here. Kids have two play areas, one on the beach and one away. Multiple bars dot the property, and the beach barbecue area offers an abundance of shaded seating. (OK, they still serve overcooked burgers, dogs and chicken, but at least it hasn’t been sitting in the sun.)

The facilities made this a better port of call than on some other lines, and is one more amenity that has earned Carnival “best value in cruising’’ awards. 

At sea, tuxedo no longer required

Men, take heart: You can now leave that tuxedo at home.

Instead of a “formal’’ night, Carnival now offers a “cruise elegant’’ evening. And last night, pretty much any collared shirt fit the bill: jacket without tie, tie without jacket, shirt without jacket or tie.

Only a handful of men wore the traditional bow-tie with white dinner jacket or dark tuxedo. Women dressed up a bit more, as we tend to do. But most went with trousers or cocktail-length dresses; gowns were relatively rare.

And it’s not just Carnival that’s making a change. Since it’s inception in 2001, SeaDream Yacht Club has had a no-tux policy. Celebrity has one “formal’’ night on its seven-night cruises rather than two, but even then it’s sort of “formal optional.’’ Azamara, Celebrity’s sister line, has no formal nights.

Said Celebrity/Azamara president Dan Hanrahan, “We see less and less passengers who want formal nights but there are those who still hold them dear. We won’t move away from them.’’ At least not anytime soon.

The sexiest place at sea

We've found it here aboard the new ship, the Carnival Splendor.

The winner, hands down, is the Mud Lounge in the Cloud 9 Spa. Couples book the private cavern for an hour, then slather each other with "chakra'' muds, wash under the streaming showers while resting on mosaic-covered benches (complete with slots in them for allowing the mud and water to stream through.) Then they can steam in the tropical rainforest area of the suite. Tab: $95 for a hour for two.

For those who prefer more traditional spa treatments, there are the Balinese-design couples massage rooms. After a deep tissue or Swedish ($269 for two), the staff then scurries away and leaves the couple alone in the gargantuan round whirlpool. The solitude costs extra: $45 for 30 minutes.

--- PHOTOS: Above right, the Mud Lounge. Left, couples massage room in the Cloud 9 Spa aboard Carnival Splendor. Photos by Jane Wooldridge / Miami Herald.

New on Disney cruises

3-D is coming to the Disney ships. Beginning next week, cruisers on board the Disney Wonder will be able to see full-length Disney films in 3-D. (The films come to the Disney Magic on Dec. 6.)

For details, click here.