AMTRAK LAND-CRUISING FROM WEST PALM

Cruising on the sea is a passion, but there are others as well.

Land-cruising on the Amtrak from South Florida to New York at the end of September was a most enjoyable adventure. Train travel is unique and takes time, but given the state of airlines at this juncture, Gerry and I decided it was time to jump aboard.

We did and I would like to share a few land-cruising tips.

Our boarding station was in West Palm Beach and to say it is easy is an understatement. The station is small, so it is simply a matter of ticketing, getting bags checked, locating your car and stepping up.

We opted for a roomette and were advised to check our large bags and bring only a small tote aboard. Taking them at their word (they are the professionals, right?), we did our best to comply. Honestly, it wasn't as easy as it sounds. It is amazing how much a person needs for a 24-hour journey up the eastern seaboard.

The roomettes in the sleeping car are quite small, but adequate and better than attemtping to sleep in the coach car.

NORWEGIAN RELEASES PUZZLE APP

In our technology-driven world of iPads, smartphones and mobile devices, apps rule. Which is why we think Norwegian is smart by coming out with a new free puzzle game app for both Apple and Android. This even have a new video that describes it:



"Start off easy, or challenge yourself with a hard puzzle. Solve quickly, then try to beat your time. When you finish a puzzle, save it to the library, share it with your friends on Facebook, or email it and invite them to play and dream about their own Norwegian cruise."

Features include:

• Over 100 Free Puzzles
• 3 levels of play/complexity
• Timer to track your best times
• Unfinished puzzles automatically save - Never lose your place
• Perfect for all ages
• Intro videos of our ships & destinations
• Save a puzzle as your own desktop wallpaper
• Send to your friends or post to Facebook

RIVER CRUISING SPOTLIGHTS HISTORY, CULTURE

Relax on a floating hotel

By Brian Wilson

Cruising Squared U.K. Correspondent

River cruising may not have the glamorous image of sea cruising – but things are changing – what with new ships, even more exciting destinations and tours – more and more people are giving river cruising for the first time.

Let’s start with the boats – if all your experiences are on ocean liners that have 2,000 or more passengers, river cruise boats will seem small as they only hold 100-160 passengers.

The best way of thinking of it is as a “floating hotel.”

Many of the more recently refurbished boats have been specially designed by naval architects and interior designers so guests can enjoy all the amenities that they would expect of a top class hotel. But this “hotel” is very special; as it journeys through some of the world’s most beautiful scenery and you can “steep” yourself in history and culture.

NEW SHIP TO JOIN 'ALLURE,' 'OASIS'?

Rumors have been flying around the Internet this past week about speculation Royal Caribbean will soon order a third Oasis-class ship to join Allure and Oasis. Stories here and here have reported on it. Mum's the word at Royal Caribbean. As they say in TV land -- stay tuned. We just hate an unsolved mystery! -- Gerry

HOLLAND AMERICA CHEFS GATHER IN NY

Master Chef Rudi Sodamin
(Credit: Holland America)

When a group of chefs get together, they don't dish the dirt, they dish the dish, so to speak. That was the case when Holland America Line's Culinary Council had its annual meeting aboard ms Eurodam in New York last week. After the formalities concluded, the chefs held an interactive cooking demonstration. Media and travel industry guests were treated to a gourmet lunch, which included: Grilled Lime Marinated Scallops, a Parfait of Salmon and Tuna Tartares, Cod with Lemongrass Reduction, Lamb Loin with Artichokes and Red Wine Kalamata Olive Sauce, and Esterel Cake topped with a layer of fresh raspberries. I think Pam and I left New York about a week too soon! -- Gerry

SUNDAY CUPCAKES IN NEW YORK

Imagine our delight on our recent trip by train to New York when we found cupcake heaven -- otherwise known as Magnolia Bakery -- within a stone's throw of our hotel in Grand Central Station. Having been to their original location on Bleecker Street in  the West Village on  a previous trip, we were well acquainted with their pastry prowess. What better way to enjoy a Sunday in New York than a cupcake picnic in Central Park? --Gerry

Decisions, decisions! (Photos: Gerry)

MISSING THE TENDER PUTS PASSENGERS AT THE END OF THEIR ROPE

Note: Al Hayward has cruised more than 100 times. He offered to share his experiences with us here. Thanks Al!

By Al Hayward
Special to Cruising Squared

Many years ago my wife and I were sailing with a large group of travel professionals on a 10-day Caribbean Cruise. At the time I was the owner of a travel agency on Singer Island called Ocean Travel. In those days it was not unusual for a ship to call on 2 ports in the same day. This day my wife and I went ashore via tender on a morning stop of one of the French Islands. Maybe Martinique or Guadalupe. I looked at the schedule in the ship's bulletin and thought I remembered when the last tender left to pier.

After buying a bottle of rum and poking around in the shops we stopped to have a drink in one of the outdoor cafes. About 12:30 or so my wife became concerned about missing the last tender. I said not to worry, the bulletin said it was at 1 PM. So we walked back to the pier and guess what? No tender in sight. Plus we could see the smoke coming from the ship which was about 1/2 mile out. (I was mistaken- it was 1 PM that the ship sailed. Not last tender)

CELEBRITY NAMES 'REFLECTION' GODMOTHERS

In accordance with a thousands-year-old tradition, new ships are assigned godmothers to bless and guide them safely. To mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month in a unique way, Celebrity Cruises is honoring four of its own employees as godmothers for their newest ship, Celebrity Reflection. Celebrity notes: "Like the godmothers of every prior Solstice Class ship – all with remarkable life achievements, including overcoming breast cancer – the cause is of great personal interest to the selected employees."

The four godmothers of Celebrity Reflection will preside over the naming of the ship in Miami on Dec. 1, where they will be joined by the godmothers of each of Celebrity Reflection’s sister ships. Here are more details from the Celebrity press release:

The godmothers of Celebrity Reflection are:

A SUNNY SOJOURN IN VENICE

This is our globe-trotting friend Mo enjoying a sunny
vacation in Venice, Italy. On the other side of
the camera is husband Brian. You never know where
our Bath, England correspondents will show up next!

NORWEGIAN LAUNCHES INSTAGRAM CONTEST

(Credit: Norwegian)

If you are one of the thousands who share photos via Instagram, you'll love this: Norwegian has announced they are the first cruise line to launch a contest utilizing Instagram. The “Norwegians Snap and Pack” Instagram Sweepstakes is running in conjunction with AOL through the end of October and "invites vacationers to submit a picture that best represents a Caribbean vacation experience and embodies cruising like a Norwegian for a chance to win one of seven Caribbean cruises."

As part of the Caribbean celebration,   Entrants may submit their photo via the Instagram Smart Phone Application by tagging @norwegiancruiseline and including hash tag #snapandpack or via the AOL Travel desktop application at http://travel.aol.com/snapandpack.

Norwegian offers these details on their caribbean cruises:

ALL ABOARD FOR 'TITANIC II' IN 2016

The first Titanic

The Daily Mail is reporting this story about plans to build "Titanic II." Quoting from the article: "It has been a hundred years since the Titanic sank to the floor of the Atlantic Ocean but fascination with the world's most famous liner shows no sign of abating. A mining magnate from Australia has announced plans to build an exact replica of the original Titanic ship with a view to offering holiday cruises on the ill-fated liner's original route from Southampton to New York." The work is being done in China, with a launch set in 2016. Passengers will even buy first, second and third class tickets, just as the original Titanic offered. Watch for our review of the accomendations -- in steerage. -- Gerry

CARNIVAL'S (FILL IN THE BLANK) CONTEST

One thing you have to love about the social web sites, like Facebook, are all the new contests they have generated. One of the latest comes from Carnival Cruise Lines, who today launched a new contest on social site Pinterest called “I’d Rather be Carnival Cruising to _______” that will award "one lucky winner a seven-day 'Fun Ship' Caribbean cruise for two."

Here are the details from Carnival:

"Starting today, participants can visit http://www.carnival.com/pinterest and begin by choosing one of four cruise destinations – the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska or Hawaii. Participants are then encouraged to tell a visual story of what their dream cruise to that location would look like by pinning various images to their newly created contest board.