The Pacific Princess gets some special guest speakers

For the Pacific Princess world cruise in 2012, Princess have recruited some very special speaker to appear during this special cruise. These guest speakers will be on board on the Fort Lauderdale to Venice sector of the cruise and include the following:

Rolly Crump -- Disney Imagineer (January 13-28: Ft. Lauderdale to San Diego)
One of the original Disney Imagineers, Crump joined Disney in 1952, first in animation, contributing to legendary films such as "Lady and the Tramp,". Crump worked alongside Walt Disney himself to create the Haunted Mansion, Enchanted Tiki Room and other attractions, and later designed projects for Disney's EPCOT Center. Crump will talk about Walt Disney the man and the early days of designing iconic Disneyland rides

Gavin MacLeod -- TV and Film Actor (January 28-February 10: San Diego to Pago Pago)
Perhaps best known as "Captain Merrill Stubing" from the long-running television show The Love Boat.

Colonel Robert C. Springer -- Space Shuttle Astronaut (February 10-18: Pago Pago to Auckland)
A two-time space shuttle astronaut who has spent  237 hours in space. After joining NASA in 1981 he  served as a mission specialist on shuttle flights in 1989 and 1990. Now retired from NASA and the U.S. Marine Corps, Springer currently works for The Boeing Company as director of quality systems, Integrated Defense Systems. Springer will talk about the shuttle program, his adventures in space, and the future of NASA. 

Suzanne Lloyd -- Granddaughter of Harold Lloyd (March 12-20: Tokyo to Hong Kong) The granddaughter of one of Hollywood's founding fathers and silent film legend Harold Lloyd, Suzanne Lloyd will screen a mini film festival of her grandfather's silent comedy classics and talk about growing up on her grandfather's legendary Bel Air estate: Green Acres.

Tab Hunter -- Actor, Screen Idol (April 12-30: Dubai to Venice) A screen idol from Hollywood's golden age, Tab Hunter starred in more than 50 major films, including the Academy Award-nominated "Damn Yankees." Hunter also reached the top of the music charts with the hit song Young Love, and starred in his own television series.

In addition, World Cruise passengers will also have the benefit of a variety of expert lecturers who will share their knowledge on diverse topics, including:

Concorde Pilot -- A former British Airways Concorde pilot will speak about the glamour and technology of the Concorde. (January 13-28: Ft. Lauderdale to San Diego)

World War II Historian -- Bruce Petty, the author of several books about World War II in the Pacific, will talk about topics such as Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Iwo Jima, and aircraft carriers in the Pacific. (January 28-February 18: San Diego to Auckland)

South Pacific Naturalist -- Ann Burgess, an expert on the natural history of the South Pacific region, will talk about a variety of related topics including Polynesian explorers and indigenous wildlife in the area. She will also host animal spotting sessions on the top deck to help passengers catch a glimpse of sea life such as dolphins and whales. (February 18-March 12: Auckland to Tokyo)

Ambassador/Diplomat -- Douglas Hartwick, a former ambassador to Laos and State Department diplomat, will talk about the life of a diplomat living abroad. (March 12-29: Tokyo to Singapore)

Computer Forensics Expert -- Mark Harrington, computer forensic company executive, will lecture on how computer footprints can find terrorists and criminals. (March 20-29: Hong Kong to Singapore)

Astronomer -- An astronomer will join the ship to teach passengers about the night sky, the solar system and the latest space exploration from NASA, plus will host stargazing sessions on deck. (March 29-April12: Singapore to Dubai)

United Nations Official -- John Renninger, a UN official and adjunct professor at NYU, will talk about the UN's peacekeeping role and Middle East topics. (April 12-30: Dubai to Venice)

With such a diverse range of speakers I am sure passengers will be able to enjoy listening to a great variety of subjects, from special people with first hand knowledge.

Now I am not too familiar with all of the above but I must say that I would find most of them extremely interesting to listen to.

Striking Taxis Drivers cause havoc at Piraeus Port

I was talking to a client last night who has parents on a cruise on the Celebrity Solstice at the moment.

He had received a number of texts from them telling him that unfortunately their scheduled stop in Piraeus had been cancelled due to striking taxi drivers blockading the port of Piraeus.


I thought this needed an investigation and yes indeed not only was the Celebrity Solstice unable to dock but also the Voyager of the Seas.
Although the cruise lines were aware of what was going to happen and had tried to put contingency plans in place, unfortunately the taxi drivers had other plans and decided to stop any passengers from leaving the ships to travel on their sightseeing trip to Athens.

The good news however was that the Seabourn Odyssey was allowed to disembark their passengers who were travelling home for the airport and take their new passengers on board so at least the taxi drivers did have some compassion.

The yellow cab drivers are protesting against deregulation of their industry as part of the economic reforms demanded by Greece's international creditors

Thankfully the strike was due to end at 5am tomorrow so normal service can be resumed with at least 3 cruise ships a day visiting the port of Piraeus the cruise lines will be feeling relieved that for the moment this industrial action has finished and I am sure with all the recent troubles in Greece they are keeping their fingers crossed that no further troubles will affect their passengers especially now we are into the peak summer weeks. 

Llandudno's cruise ship hopes

The BBC are reporting today that Llandudno is the latest UK seaside town hoping to encourage visitors on cruise ships.

Planners are considering that if they can upgrade Llandudno pier then maybe then can attract cruise ships to dock there, therefore bringing a wealth of job opportunities to the region.

Now I am sure that the larger ships would probably not be able to dock there, but of course the likes of the smaller cruise lines like Fred Olsen and Voyages of Discovery and Cruise and Maritime would probably be able to visit this North Wales Seaside resort.

It would be lovely to see some of our seaside resort able to offer facilities to encourage cruise ships to call on their round Britain cruises and make their cruises more diverse and certainly their would be many possibilities for excursions from the town with Snowdonia nearby as well as the attractions of the town itself.

Good luck to them I say, for considering all the options to try and get visitors and jobs to the area,

Although probably a long way off before this could be reality, I will keep my fingers crossed for them that they move their project forward and cruise lines take advantage.

How would you like to view a Solar Eclipse?

One of my clients called me yesterday as he is planning a special trip to celebrate a special anniversary.

Now he has come up with what I consider a very special cruise and one that you will remember for the rest of your life.

This cruise departs Hawaii on the 2nd November, travels via Samoa, crossing the international date line on the 11th November then travels to Fiji and postitions itself just in the right spot for a spectacular event not to be seen by all.

On the 13th/14th November the Southern Hemisphere from Northern Australia to Southern South Pacific will bear witness to a spectacular solar eclipse.

How special would this be.

Now for anyone who would like to offer the same romantic gesture then this cruise is a Celebrity cruise on the Millenium departing on the 2nd November 2012.

After witnessing this spectacular event the cruise will take you on to New Zealand visiting Tauranga, Auckland and the Bay of Islands and then concluding with an overnight in port in Sydney on the 21st November.

How romantic this cruise will be, my man would certainly be in favour for a long long time if he was to plan something as special as this for me