CARNIVAL INTROS APP; UPS INTERNET ACCESS

Carnival Cruise Line understands that even though its passengers may be hundreds of miles at sea, they still want to stay connected. We love our vacations but are loathe to give up our phones and the World Wide Web.

To those points, Carnival has launched a new free mobile app that provides vacationers aboard Carnival Breeze a variety of useful features, including the ability to “chat” with other guests throughout the voyage for a flat fee of $5 for the entire cruise.

At the same time, Carnival is enhancing Internet access aboard Carnival Freedom, Carnival Breeze and Carnival Sunshine that greatly increases bandwidth and speed and also includes "a first-ever social media package providing unlimited access to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and other popular sites for a fee of just $5 per day or $25 per voyage during the testing period."

Here are more details from Carnival:

CELEBRITY'S NEW IMMERSIVE APPS

Celebrity Cruises is on an app roll. Following their introduction of "Cruise Lingo" comes new apps designed to allow users to "digitally immerse themselves in the line’s modern luxury vacation experiences in all seven continents."

Free for IOS and Android, they feature:

· Videos and imagery of Celebrity’s worldwide destinations
· Authentic depictions of the modern, upscale experiences found on every Celebrity ship
· Profiles of Celebrity’s Shore Excursions, designed to make the most of every guest’s time on land in every destination
· Detailed itineraries and maps of the array of Celebrity Cruisetour vacations.
· Interactive ship deck plans with the capability to zoom in on specific suites, staterooms or venues to reveal the highlights of each.
· Must-sees, hidden gems and other tips curated exclusively for Celebrity by the editors of Travel + Leisure
· Up-to-date pricing on Celebrity vacations

Celebrity’s new vacation apps can be downloaded from celebritycruises.com/mobile.

CRUISE LINGO: DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT

Screenshots of "Cruise Lingo" (Credit: Celebrity)

"How do you say, 'Which way to the bathrooms?' " We've all been there. Foreign country. Don't speak the language. Maybe an urgent need, right? Now Celebrity Cruises has an app for that.

It's called “Cruise Lingo.” Customized from the award-winning mobile app from TripLingo, Cruise Lingo allows travelers "easy access to authentic local phrases and relevant information to enhance their destination experience. By simply speaking or typing a phrase – such as, 'Where is the nearest ATM?' – into a mobile device, the translated language of the local destination appears on-screen. An interactive book offers multiple versions of each phrase, including formal and slang options."

Other features of Cruise Lingo include voice-to-voice translation; an intelligent “flashcard” learning system, and an on-demand “crash course” in local cultures. The crash course contains information including general etiquette, safety information, doing business, country information, travel tips, dining guide, music and local pop culture.

The app is free and available for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets at www.celebritycruises.com/mobile. Included in the free version of the app are 80 standard phrases in 11 languages; 56 cruise-specific phrases; 20 free uses of the voice translator; access to 2,000 dictionary words translated into all 11 languages, and the culture crash course. Just keep your device charged and off you go! -- Gerry

DELTA APP HAS 'GLASS BOTTOM JET' FEATURE

Are you ready for a "Glass Bottom Jet"? Pretty sure we aren't. But Delta is offering a virtual version as a feature in their just-released Delta app for iPad. You can activate it in-flight to get a view of what's on the ground beneath you, including connecting to your social contacts, landmarks and a mileage tracker. Pam loves those tracking maps, so this is right up her alley. Check it out in this video from Delta (the Glass Bottom Jet feature is around the 1:30 mark). Very cool. -- Gerry