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Crystal to Expand Evening Dining Options

The full text of the stories has been delivered to our subscribers on the dates indicated.

Latest video: Cruising to Bermuda in 1939
MSC's "new" Yacht Club
Royal Caribbean "shellphone" ads begin to air

Latest news blog entries - Jan 27

* Costa Details Settlement Offer Made to Uninjured Passengers aboard Costa Concordia - Breaking Jan 27 - More

* More Bistro - Crystal Style
Jan 26 - Crystal's customers on both of their ships are going to have yet another evening option for dining or noshing, bringing the number of options to nearly a dozen. Beginning in April (June on Crystal Serenity), Crystal's popular daytime option, The Bistro, will extend its hours into the late evening.

* A Bedtime Story from the City on the Mersey
Jan 26 - Garth Brooks knows all about this kind of thing. Suppose someone gave an institution money for a project to do one thing, and then a couple years down the line, they decided they wanted to do something different with it. The benefactor would want the money back, especially if a competitor was pushing the issue. That's exactly what's going on in Liverpool. The final decision came down today, and the city of Liverpool is just crushed they have to pay the money back to the government if they don't want to use it for the reason they were given it.

The complete text of these stories appeared in the CND editions referenced and was sent to subscribers.

* Costa Concordia - Wednesday's Developments
Jan 25 - There were few developments today coming directly from Italy. The one exception was the preparations for the salvage of the ship. It seems that the story is now also being played out outside of Italy.

* Other Things You'll Want to Know
Jan 25 - CND subscribers also read about the irony at Fincantieri ... Grand Cayman may price themselves out of the cruise market ... the Queen sets her second year to roll on the river ... and a drop in Hawaii.

* Disney Details Winter 2012/Summer 2013 Plans
Jan 24 - With Disney and Dream and Disney Fantasy in place at Port Canaveral by this spring, the line's original ships will both be free to expand the company's horizons and bring the Disney product into new home ports and destinations. Today the line detailed the scheduling for those two ships through the winter 2012 and summer 2013 seasons. more

* A Virtual Floating Winery
Jan 24 - Lots of cruise lines have wine tasting, or educational wine experiences. But on four MSC Poesia sailings in the Caribbean this winter, MSC is bringing aboard some unusual wine experiences for passengers through a new partnership with Blend Craft Wines.

* Costa Concordia - Tuesday's Developments
Jan 24 - Actual news coming from Italy regarding Costa Concordia today is rather limited. The world's press still contains lots of stories, however, as they concentrate on a seemingly endless stream of unsubstantiated stories of tabloid quality.

* Erroneous Reporting by World Media on Costa Offer to Concordia Passengers - update Jan 24 - details

* Costa Concordia - Monday's Developments
Jan 23 - There were a number of developments summarized on our blog. The complete story was delivered to our subscribers, but we have been continuing to update major points on our blog. more - updates ongoing

* Other Things You'll Want to Know
Jan 23 - CND subscribers also read about a Big Easy record ... ASC passengers finally get to Molokai ... Cunard to review procedures ... and a medevac from Jewel of the Seas.

* Down to the Sea
Jan 20 - Earlier this week Meyer Werft planned for Disney Fantasy to make its conveyance from their inland Papenburg yard to the seaport of Eemshaven on Friday evening, subject to weather, wind and tide conditions. The trip is always a precarious one with the ship traveling at a snail's pace, backward to protect the podded propulsion system, with just inches to spare as it goes through locks and drawbridges.
Better weather was forecast for this morning, however, so Disney Fantasy left the yard first thing this morning instead. More

* Costa Concordia - Friday's Developments
Jan 20 - Friday was not a day of major developments in the Costa Concordia story, but there was an important one. Costa has returned some of their attention to selling cruises. With the lack of dramatic developments, the news media has begun to lose interest. What interest they have at this point seems to be excited most by the tabloidish tidbits rather than key elements of the story.
The complete story was delivered to our subscribers, but we have been continuing to update major points on our blog. more - updates ongoing

* Costa Concordia - Thursday's Developments
Jan 19 - The new media's attention on the Costa Concordia tragedy seems to be waning with most of the coverage pushed from the top stories to barely mentioned. It could be because Thursday's actual developments were not as dramatic as they were at the beginning of the week.
Today's developments were mostly in the form of statements and press releases from the companies, but the search of the wreckage still figures importantly.
The complete story was delivered to our subscribers, but we have been continuing to update major points on our blog. more - updates ongoing

* Getting on the Fast Track
Jan 19 - A lot of cruise lines have streamlined the check in process. You fill out some information on your computer, and you print out a paper with a bar code to take with you. When you get to the port, you zip right through the check in line, spend a few minutes at the desk, and if embarkation has started, you're onboard within a few minutes.
Crystal has now elevated the process to skip the line and any processing at all in the terminal. Once you clear security, you go right aboard.

* Costa Concordia - Wednesday's Developments
Jan 18 - Wednesday's developments in Italy were mostly driven by the precarious position in which the wreck of Costa Concordia lies near the shore of the Isle of Giglio. The developments included the status of the search of the wreckage, unofficial comments from well-versed experts, and statements from Costa and Carnival Corp.
The complete story was delivered to our subscribers, but we have been continuing to update major points on our blog. more - updates ongoing

* Other Things You'll Want to Know
Jan 18 - CND subscribers also read about Disney Fantasy confirmed to sail away this weekend ... strike in the canal ... and Disney delays major announcement. more

* Costa Concordia - Tuesday's Developments
Jan 17 - The news coming from Italy is beginning to wind down as the events settle what will become routine over the next few weeks.
The complete story was delivered to our subscribers, but we have been continuing to update major points on our blog. more - updates ongoing

* Norovirus Not Allowed
Jan 17 - Something happened at the remote port of Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands on Saturday that has never happened anywhere before. A Princess ship was denied entry into the port because passengers and crew members were ill - with Norovirus.

* Costa Concordia Story Continues to Evolve
Jan 16 - Even though it has been three full days since the sinking of Costa Concordia, the story is still developing. The developments came first from the cruise line, Costa Crociere, finally directly answering questions on a wide range of topics. Through the day there were updates to the human toll, the financial cost being assessed, and the environmental impact.
The complete story was delivered to our subscribers, but we have been continuing to update major points on our blog. more - updates ongoing

* MSC to Relocate Port in South Florida - Jan 16 - More

The complete text of these stories appeared in the CND editions referenced and was sent to subscribers.

Jan 20 - Hi ho, hi ho, it's down to the sea she goes. Disney Fantasy made her transit today down the Ems River from Meyer Werft in Papenburg to Eemshaven. More

Dec 29 - Following a Disney tradition, a character was installed on the stern of Disney Fantasy. More/Larger

Dec 5 - Queen Mary 2's hull got a fresh coat of paint in the dry dock. More/Larger

Dec 1 - Splendour of the Seas has returned to service after a month-long revitalization that added some stunning new venues to the ship. More/Larger

Nov 28 - Video: The Coast Guard hoisted an ailing passenger from deck of Carnival Spirit as the ship sailed more than 200 miles off the West Coast. More/Video

Nov 27 - Queen Mary 2 has begun a 2-week dry dock at Blohm + Voss in Hamburg. More/Larger Video

Nov 18 - The new R Bar aboard Splendour of the Seas. More/Larger

Nov 2 - Costa Romantica arrives at the T Mariotti shipyard at Genoa for its four-month refit project.

Oct 20 - A piece of ship in Italy. Actually the first piece of Royal Princess. More/Larger

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