AAA Announces World’s Largest Virtual Cruise Travel Show

NEWS from AAA Oklahoma, October 6 – AAA will conduct the World’s Largest Cruise Night virtual travel show on Wednesday, October 14.

During the free online event, Web users will be able to explore cruise vacation options, take advantage of special offers and promotions, interact with fellow cruise enthusiasts and travel experts, and view live webcasts.  The AAA virtual travel show will run from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.  To register, visit www.AAA.com/VirtualShows.

Travelers who have not cruised in a while and those who have never taken a cruise vacation will be surprised by the number of new ships being unveiled, their amenities and their itineraries.

“It is common knowledge that cruise lines have been discounting berths this year to attract budget-minded travelers,” said Krista Mullenger, vice president of Travel, AAA Oklahoma. “What is not so widely-known is that despite the soft economy, the industry has continued to invest in an increasingly attractive vacation experience for the upcoming cruise season.”

Examples of what the cruising industry is unpacking for late 2009 and 2010 include:

• Six new ships launched this year and next: Already launched in 2009 are the Carnival Dream (3,646 passengers); Celebrity’s Equinox (2,850 passengers); and the largest cruise ship yet commissioned, Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis of the Seas (5,400 passengers). Next year will see the launch of Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth (2,092 passengers), the Celebrity Eclipse (2,850 passengers), and Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas (5,400 passengers).

• Upgrades in amenities on private islands: Disney’s Cruise Line’s private Bahamian island, Castaway Cay, will have a larger beach, private cabanas, and new water play areas, including a 2,400-square-foot water slide platform featuring a 140-foot open slide and an enclosed cork-screw slide. New restaurants and a beach bar are being added. Holland America Line added a pirate-themed play area with two pirate ships on Half Moon Cay. Carnival Cruise line placed a Flowrider surfing simulator in Grand Turk (although not a private island), and private, air-conditioned cabanas are available on Princess Cruises’ Princess Cay. 

• Flexible dining: By February, Celebrity Cruises’ fleet (except for Celebrity’s Xpedition) will offer a flexible dining option that lets you reserve when you want to eat dinner on every day of your cruise, before you set sail. Called the Celebrity Select Dining Program, the innovation is intended to avoid some of the long lines associated with flexible dining plans that typically allow passengers to show up without a reservation during specific hours.

• Around-the-world cruising: Holland America Line’s flagship ms Amsterdam will depart from Los Angeles on Dec. 23, 2009 for a 128-day Grand Holiday and World Voyage, making 45 port calls to some of world’s most remote and exotic destinations, including a transit of the Panama Canal, and visits to Mexico, South America, Africa, India, the Far East and scenic cruising in Antarctica.

• A look below deck: Carnival has created “Behind the Fun,” a tour to see the inner-workings of a Carnival “Fun Ship.” The guided tours give guests a rare behind-the-scenes look at shipboard operations.

• Floating fine art gallery: Celebrity Cruises is presenting a permanent, seagoing collection of museum-quality contemporary art aboard the Celebrity Equinox called the “Essence of Equinox”, a collection of nearly 500 original works. The newly-commissioned ship began sailing the Mediterranean this summer.

• Pocketbook protection: Several cruise lines, including Carnival, have added job-loss coverage to their cruise protection plans. Besides the standard trip cancellation coverage, the plans typically provide for reimbursement up to the total cost of the cruise if you lose your job.

The cruise industry is a major player in the American economy contributing an estimated $19 billion in spending by ship lines and their customers in 2008, according to the Cruise Lines International Association.  Adding indirect spending, which includes expenditures of cruise line vendors and businesses that provide services to passengers and crew, the total estimated impact in the U.S. was $40.2 billion last year.

As North America’s largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides more than 51 million members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers. AAA Oklahoma can be visited on the Internet at AAA.com.

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