By The Cruise Web, Inc.

Last month we held The Cruise Web’s annual holiday party in our new office!  We couldn’t have asked for a better environment to enjoy our co-workers as friends and to celebrate a successful year.  Most importantly, it gave all of us the opportunity to show our awesome new office to our loved ones! (There’s nothing wrong with a little bragging.)

With holiday music playing in the air and hot snacks on the table, holiday cheer wasn’t hard to find.  It was a fantastic time for all and you could tell by the laughs and warm conversation that filled the room.

Our President, Frans Hansen, gave a wonderful toast, congratulating our team for accomplishing our goal of providing top-notch service to our clients, while growing our company to what it has become today.  Everyone agrees and is proud to be a part of The Cruise Web. [Read more →]

Courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Line. 

To better meet the needs of the growing family vacation market, Norwegian Cruise Line announced that it is revitalizing its current youth program and will implement a new best in class program fleet wide. The re-branded program will be introduced on Norwegian Gem in mid-February and will be rolled out to all of the line’s Freestyle Cruising® ships subsequently.

“More and more families are choosing a cruise for their vacation since it represents such a good value and offers so much for the entire family. In fact, close to 150,000 children sailed on our ships in 2010 and that number continues to rise,” said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Line’s chief executive officer. “We’ve already taken family programming to the next level by offering Nickelodeon experiences on some ships. Now, we want to make sure that we are continuing to offer the best possible experience for families. To do this, we are investing millions of dollars in revamping our youth and family programming.” [Read more →]

Courtesy of Oceania Cruises.

Oceania Cruises is introducing more than 1,000 new tours and excursion packages that allow guests to custom design their destination experience and enjoy significant savings. This product enhancement is in addition to previously announced new beverage packages. Both constitute the third phase of the line’s ongoing Pillars of Distinction initiative.

“These new packages provide guests the opportunity to take full advantage of our onboard programs at a price point that is more compelling than ever before,” said Kunal S. Kamlani, the line’s president. “We continually strive to raise the bar, offering more with absolutely no compromise in quality.” [Read more →]

A compilation by The Cruise Web employees.

It’s impossible to travel as much as we do and not pick up a few tips along the way. And seeing as ’tis the season for giving, it’s only appropriate that we pay it forward. We hope you enjoy this collection of our favorite travel tips and find them as useful as we do.

Sherry J.
“When getting ready to pack, lay out all your clothes and money on the bed. Take half the clothes and twice the money.”

Caroline T.
“When packing for vacation I have learned to pack my “staple” clothes that I can mix and match to create different outfits along with a few “fun” accessories and “statement” pieces to help vary each outfit. Also, when packing I like to use the shower caps as shoe bags to help keep my clothes clean.” [Read more →]

By Julie Atkins, Manager of Client Services and Group Administration, The Cruise Web.

Cruising with young children is such a rewarding experience – one that I encourage all families to take part in. However, most anyone with kids knows that travelling with youngsters presents its own set of challenges. It’s for this reason that I’d like to share my tips for travelling with young children. What follows is a collection of handy tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way.

My daughter’s first trip was when she was seven months old and I took her to England and Portugal. Erin wouldn’t remember any of it, except she was crawling age and wanted to crawl around the plane! At this age it seems you have every child item, from a stroller to the car seat to the diaper bag full of essentials. I always took an extra pack of diapers above what her normal 24-hour use was. The best items by far were the Similac ready-made bottles, very convenient and great for travel. When traveling by plane it’s a great idea to take several toys to keep babies entertained because at this age they are stuck on your lap for the length of the flight. Erin’s first trip to the beach was in Portugal, she just crawled around eating the sand! On the way back from England one of our flights was cancelled so I ended up with planes, trains and automobiles with a 1-year-old! It was tough getting around with so many items to carry, but I always found people willing to assist. [Read more →]

By Mike Harris, Sales Manager, The Cruise Web, Inc.

It’s that time of year again.  The falling leaves will soon be replaced with white, cotton-soft snow.  Blinking lights now playfully animate our evening drives home.  Families travel long distances to be with the ones they love, even if only for a little while.  But for some of us, the holidays are the best time of year for a different reason.  The holidays give us yet another gift – the gift of time off, and an opportunity to get the heck out of Dodge (thank you, Santa).

For those of us ready for a break, and keeping our Travel Tips theme in mind, I offer you a few of my own “real life” cruise tips (all of these tips coming from rather humorous personal experiences). Consider this my holiday gift to you.  Enjoy.

1)  A great way to stay in shape during your vacation is to visit the ship’s gym.  I’ve never seen one in person, but I’ve heard they are nice.

2)  Don’t bet on black. Or red for that matter. Or any of the numbers. In fact, stay away from the ship’s casino all together.  Unless you’ve figured out a system, like I swear I’ve done for the next time.
[Read more →]

By The Cruise Web, Inc.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it’s sometimes all too easy to forget about the less fortunate. With that in mind, The Cruise Web set out to lift some spirits this holiday season and reached out to the Stepping Stones Shelter, a homeless shelter in nearby Rockville, MD. After speaking with the Stepping Stones Shelter’s gracious staff and hearing more about their mission, The Cruise Web felt a strong desire to contribute to their cause.

The goal of the Stepping Stones Shelter is to provide support to homeless families with children in order to move them from crisis to a stable home environment. They accomplish this by providing temporary shelter and support services in a safe and dignified atmosphere. Unfortunately, the economic downturn has worsened what was already a difficult situation for many of these families, and the resources for organizations like Stepping Stones are being spread thinner and thinner. [Read more →]

By The Cruise Web, Inc.

This past October, fourteen members of The Cruise Web team cruised to the Bahamas aboard Royal Caribbean’s Majesty of the Seas. The 3-night cruise was part of Royal Caribbean’s Seminar at Sea series and combined educational classes with a fun cruise experience. Upon their return from the Bahamas, the participating employees shared the following:

Ed C.
“The cruise gave me a visceral experience that tops off the classroom training – specifically, the shore excursion with the stingrays was cool way beyond any expectations. In general, I especially liked the tremendous variety of things to do and how they were all very conveniently presented, including the on-ship activities and facilities, shore excursions, extensive dining, just enjoying the ship itself, the ocean and port views, shopping and people watching.” [Read more →]

By The Cruise Web, Inc.

Several of The Cruise Web’s employees recently returned from an exciting two-day inaugural celebration aboard the Celebrity Silhouette. The inaugural cruise departed from Bayonne, New Jersey and marked the beginning of what is sure to be a bright future for Celebrity Cruises’ newest ship. Each of The Cruise Web team members in attendance raved about the beautiful new ship. Continue reading below for their highlights.

Kris S.
I have never sailed on Solstice-class so the whole experience was new to me. I love the Lawn Club as an alternative to sitting by the pool. I was up there multiple times daily. I can’t really pick one thing that was my favorite, but I will say that it was my first cruise without any children around and it was quite pleasant. Not to say there will never be children on board as they do have kids activities, but I feel like this is geared more towards adults. For grown-ups who need a bit of a break, I feel like this is a great option. [Read more →]

Question: What are your travel plans this holiday season?