• Health concerns. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts it will be a particularly hard-hit season for the spread of norovirus. Holland America had to end a two-week Caribbean cruise a half-day early on Jan. 28 because more than 200 passengers became sick with gastrointestinal illnesses. Some cruise lines such as Carnival distribute letters upon embarkation to educate passengers on how the virus is spread. Anne Scully, vice president of McCabe Bremer Travel in McLean, says she has observed more cruise ship staff members asking passengers to disinfect their hands with a liquid sanitizer upon boarding.
• East Coast ports of departure. Despite winter departures and a long haul to the Caribbean, New York is growing more popular as an embarkation port: Norwegian is adding a second ship's departures after a successful trial last year, and the port also will send off more Europe-bound ships this summer. Nearby Bayonne, N.J., which began cruise departures last year, is becoming a popular alternate port.
Cruise lines are targeting teens with new activities and hangouts, such as the Stack, an underage spot on Disney Cruise Line's Magic.
() 2005 Disney)
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The bad news for Washington residents is that the Port of Baltimore hasn't caught on. The port went from having nearly 70 cruise departures in 2004 to only 28 scheduled for this year -- and all of those are Royal Caribbean trips to the Caribbean or Bermuda. Every other cruise line has rerouted its Baltimore departures elsewhere. Critics say Baltimore never developed its port well enough for the cruise industry, and some passengers aren't pleased at spending eight hours or so maneuvering out of the Chesapeake Bay and into the ocean, says Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor of the Cruise Critic Web site.
• High-tech/high-end amenities. The two hottest amenities to show up on cruise ships are flat-screen televisions in passenger cabins, such as those that Holland America is adding, and wireless Internet access shipwide, as on Carnival's Valor.
Cell phone connectivity also is improving. Depending on the type of cell phones they own, passengers can use them from international waters and be charged their regular roaming rates. Such service is available on some Royal Caribbean and Celebrity ships now, and the rest of those fleets will have the capability by year's end.
Balconies are a high-demand amenity; some of the luxury lines have trouble booking cabins without them. In Holland America's new Noordam, every cabin has one. It will start sailing in February 2006.
Staterooms are growing in size, with such high-end amenities as double sinks in the bathrooms and "pillow menus," such as on Seabourn. And more ships are including hotel-like "concierge service" on board, meaning butler service, lobster dinners on your balcony and all-around special treatment.
Cruisers like the exclusive idea of hitting a port where no other cruise ship can stop. Disney has a private Bahamian island, Castaway Cay. Holland America stops at Half Moon Cay on the 2,400-acre island and bird sanctuary Little San Salvador, also in the Bahamas. And a few cruise lines, including Crystal, permit passengers who pay in full in advance to book their shore excursions, spa appointments and alternate-restaurant dinner reservations online before the trip.
• Activities for adults. Spas are getting snazzier, providing more treatments similar to those at land-based resorts -- especially Asian-themed options. Celebrity has gone Polynesian, offering such treatments as a Hawaiian massage called "lomi lomi" and Japanese shiatsu. MSC Cruises has a Balinese-style spa. Want brighter teeth to go with that Caribbean tan? You can get your teeth professionally whitened aboard many ships, including Royal Caribbean.
Cruise Travel magazine reports that a dozen major cruise lines now have learning or enrichment programs, such as Holland America's guest speakers series that includes a college history professor lecturing on Latin American cowboys.
Active fitness and sports programs are being turned into learning experiences, too. Crystal Cruises' "Creative Learning Institute," for instance, brings PGA golfers on board for classroom instruction, then takes passengers to golf courses during port stops. Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas, which resumes sailing in July after extensive renovations, will have "bungee trampolines" on which passengers can soar into the air while still being firmly attached to the ship.
• Programs for teens and kids. News flash: Teenagers are still hard to please. But cruise lines are working on it, with teen-only zones including special nightclubs and tropical-themed decks (Holland America's Ryndam), teen spa programs (Carnival) and teen coffee shops with computers and magazines (Disney Cruise Line).
For the younger set, more cruise lines are forging partnerships with outside corporations -- Fisher-Price with Royal Caribbean and Binney & Smith, maker of Crayola products, with Celebrity, for example -- for free children's activities. Carnival is doing its part in getting children fit through its new "ExerSeas" program of outdoor games. And children are getting their version of "edu-tainment," too, such as science programs on Disney and Carnival, and Italian lessons on Costa Cruises.
