Site Changes

First up, we’ve got some updates to the photo gallery. Vision of The Seas pictures are up in the photo gallery, there’s two galleries for Vision of The Seas, one with all of our pictures on the ship and one dedicated just to the towel animals that our cabin steward would make for us every evening. We have so many albums that there’s now more than one page to the album listing, you’ll need to click on the 2 in the blue bar to move to the next page.

We’ve also started the work to integrate the news site with the site at www.mycruiseplanner.net. When the work is complete, you’ll find all the content from the news site over at www.mycruiseplanner.net, this in addition to all of the information that is already on the .net site. We apologize for any inconvenience this work may cause you.

The Mail Buoy Episode 26

It was a slow week this week, so we decided to do just one show. There just wasn’t a lot of news this past week and we decided to keep this week’s feature, cruise line loyalty programs short.

In the news this week:

• Celebrity partners with Lead Frog
• QM2 in Germany for repairs
• Carnival Triumph to sail seasonal Eastern Caribbean itinerary.
• Princess to hold simultaneous ship naming
• Trouble onboard Carnival Liberty
• Celebrity deals with some bad news

Once finished with the news we discussed the various loyalty programs offered by the crews lines. Some of the highlights of what’s offered:

• Princess’ Captain Circle which offers things like complementary internet access in their cyber-cafes.
• Celebrity’s Captain’s Club which is one of the richest programs available, not only can you get reciprocal benefits onboard Royal Caribbean, but there are also added benefits you can get if you’re a Captain’s Club member and enroll in the Crown and Anchor Society on Royal Caribbean.
• Holland America loves to recognize their Mariner Society members, check out the neat tiles that Mariner Society members get when they sail on Holland America by going here.

Don’t forget to check out this week’s Deal of the Week, and you can always find the show in iTunes. Plus if you head over to our news site you listen to the show right in your browser or download it to your computer

Japanese Patterns

I've heard that there is a source for Japanese knitting patterns books in Vancouver (book store?). Does anyone have any information about where to find it, if it exists?

Looking forward to meeting all of you in just over 5 months!

Joanne
http://www.rjconklin.com/keeptalking.htm

The Mail Buoy Episode 25

This show is the reason why there was no show for the last two weeks. This week we give you a quick wrap up of our trip onboard Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Vision of The Seas. If you’re going to be joining us for the Sea Socks Cruise this is a show you’ll be interested in. It’s a long show but we think it’s worth the download.

We talk about everything from the embarkation process, to the onboard experience and also give you a few tips that you can use onboard. We also talked about a few more of the details of the cruise that I touched on in my review that I posted early last week.

Heck, we enjoyed the itinerary so much that it’s this week’s Deal of The Week.

As always you can find the show in iTunes and you can head over to our news site to download the show or play it right in your browser.

The Mail Buoy Episode 24

WE’RE BACK!!!!! That’s right, the number 1 cruise news and cruise information podcast on the internet is back! Ok, well I’m not 100% certain that this is the number 1 cruise news and cruise information podcast on the internet, but I do know that this is the number 1 cruise news and cruise information podcast on the web that we produce!

We run a little long with this, we’ve got a lot of news to cover, but since it’s been two weeks without a show we thought it would be ok if we ran a bit long.

The news from the last week or so:

• There’s a price on your head! (sorry you’re going to have to listen to find out what this is about! )
• Carnival brings year round cruising to San Diego
• Missing passenger on Century
• NCL confirms contract for new ships
• Blackout hits Europe, Norwegian Pearl partly responsible
• Carnival Conquest reports man overboard
• Holland American Line names first Signature Class ship
• Norwegian Gem announcements and Med itineraries
• Windstar offering luggage service
• Port of Miami terminal improvement plan
• Patricia gets her Princess certification

Don’t forget to check out the Deal of The Week too, I promise the Deal of The Week will be getting theme music soon.

As always you can find the show in iTunes or head over to our news site The Mail Buoy to download the show or play it right in your browser.

We have returned...

Yes, I've returned from my working vacation onboard the Vision of the Seas. Oh, the work I've done for the group!!!

First, I've handpicked our wait staff. I found the wait staff to be delightful (which is a shocking understatement considering they welcomed my 3 year old with open arms and catered to his every whim) and when I inquired of the super waiter if he'd be on board in April -- he was thrilled. He was a little taken aback when I also mentioned 90 of my new closest friends with pointy sticks -- but he's warming to the idea. (And no, the wonder waiter will not be the only one serving 90 -- I actually spoke to his Head Waiter and got a commitment that his staff would be taking care of us.) I've also arranged for us to be in a private section of the dining room, so we can be as loud as we want -- but we shall have windows!!!

Secondly, I happened to spend a little time with the Head of Housekeeping on the ship. Here's the good news to share. While I was on the ship they were in the process of upgrading the beds (HELLO, brand new BEDS!!!) and linens. This process seems to also include some new carpet in some staterooms too. The whole upgrade will be done by the time we are onboard.

Thirdly, I may or may not have freaked out the Cruise Director on the ship. He will be onboard at the time too (which have you guessed, was my new favorite question). I casually mentioned that I was bringing a bunch of knitters onboard and next thing I knew I was in his office sharing the details meeting the Heads of various departments.... let me leave it as this: They have been warned.

I'll leave this update with a comment on the ship: I really like her. She's not one of the mega ships, in fact she's SMALL by comparison to Royal Caribbean's line -- but she has a charm that is delightful. And the staff, oh, my the staff. I wanted to take about 4 of them home with me! As I wandered the decks, I could see places for knitters to congregate all over the ship.

So, I hope everyone can feel my excitement for this trip --- we literally said, "I see knitters here." for 7 straight days. Oh -- and just wait until you meet our wait staff.