The talk has been going on for the past week about increases in taxes made on airlines that touchdown domestically over the next five years. The initial security tax that Obama has proposed will boost the security tax from the current $2.50 per leg up to $5 for each one-way trip. In addition, this would increase by as much as 50 cents every year for the next five (5) years. In addition to this tax, he wants to enforce a $100 departure tax for each flight. This plan is estimated to raise over $36 billion in 10 years to help pay for the deficit reduction. Studies show by enforcing these taxes in this economy will hurt the airlines and jeopardize jobs.

Next time you book a cruise, airline ticket, hotel, or any other travel – ask your travel agency to give you a breakdown of the price. We provide the breakdown to our clients on their request. It is amazing to see the actual cost you pay the cruise line or airline and see the amount of taxes, security, or port fees added into the equation. These taxes have been on the rise over the past several years and impact the overall cost of your vacation. Unfortunately once a tax is in place, our business and the large corporations have no control over passing this cost on to the consumer.

We would like to hear what YOU think about these new taxes – please visit Facebook, Twitter, or our blog to comment on these tax hikes. You can get to all links by visiting http://CentralFloridaCruises.com.

Disney’s newest ship, Disney Dream, continues to shine as it continues to book at more than double occupancy time and time again. This ship has averaged nearly 3,800 passengers since its inaugural cruise in January of 2011. Statistics indicate the Disney Dream averaged 150 percent occupancy rate which beats out Carnival and Royal Caribbean.

Staff members of Central Florida Cruises had the wonderful opportunity to be on one of these sailings in May of this year. This ship is absolutely amazing for both adults and children! For the kids there are character appearances, interactive dining shows, children programs for all ages, and don’t forget about the AquaDuck, the first ever water roller coaster at sea. Adults can partake in some of the fun, or choose to relax in a state of the art spa or the adults only pool area with a hot tub that looks out into the ocean. At the end of our vacation, we could only look at each other in amazement – only Disney can pull this one off.

The Disney Dream has been such a hit that we unfortunately had to turn clients away on quad cabins during spring break of 2012. Disney has hit a home run with this ship and we expect the demand to stay relatively high in the years to come.

Do you remember those little smoking cards in your cabin on the last day of your Princess Cruise? Those who cruise Princess often know what these smoker surveys are. Princess has completed an extensive consumer study which showed smokers are a small minority of passengers and that most cruisers prefer to have their stateroom and balcony smoke-free.

All voyages departing after January 15th, 2012 will be subject to a non-smoking policy in all passenger staterooms and balconies. Violations to this policy will result in a $250 fine for each occurrence and will be automatically charged to the passengers stateroom account.

Princess sent out a notification to all travel agencies today regarding this policy. Princess Cruise Line remarks “Keeping with this global trend and honoring the wishes of our passengers, we feel this change will enhance our onboard experience and do more to help our passengers escape completely”. Booked passengers will receive notification of this policy within the next few days.

Princess has announced a new exclusive ship, the Royal Princess. This ship will be delivered in May of 2013 followed by a sister ship in 2014.

There are many features on this ship including original Princess signatures plus new innovative enhancements. This ship will include for the first time a large pool just for adults with private cabanas, and two deep pools in center ship surrounded by palm trees. At night, the pools light up with spectacular entertainment and a water light show. Don’t forget about the Movies Under The Stars but now with the largest screen at sea.

A Princess first will include a Cantilever “Sea Walk” which hangs over the side of the ship offering glass floor views to the beautiful ocean. Across the deck, there is also a “Sea View Bar” which will also include a glass paneled floor and sky light.

We are excited about the first press release on this new innovative ship. Don’t forget to check out the video by clicking the link below. She will be absolutely gorgeous!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrfGEU9PrEI

There have been a lot of comments about Royal Caribbean and the new DreamWorks Animation characters aboard the Allure of the Seas. Characters from Shrek, Madagascar, and Kung Fu Panda are now on the Liberty of the Seas!

The estimated $1.6 million dollar upgrade brought many new features to Liberty of the Seas. The DreamWorks Experience includes parades featuring Shrek, Donkey, and all other characters. The characters are also to show up during mealtimes.

Another hot feature that has been added to the Liberty of the Seas is the 3-D movie theater. Royal Caribbean provides the glasses while you can be comfortable and watch first-run movies by DreamWorks. Warning: Items will look real and fly off the screen – but this is the best part about these 3-D movies!

Royal Caribbean finally picked up on this one – An outdoor, poolside movie screen! There will be first-run movies and sporting events playing right here, under the stars.

Other features such as a new Vintages Wine Bar, Cooking Academy, Cupcake Cupboard, and more have been added. Don’t forget the kids as, Royal Babies and Tots Nursery with Fisher-Price and Crayola, and a ImagineOcean Puppet Show have also been added to this ship.

Are you a geek like me? Now on the Liberty of the Seas, you can order shore excursions, room service, check your SeaPass account, or even learn more about activities going on right from your television screen. Enhanced Wi-Fi service has also been added to provide guests with 24 hour Internet access.

Keep checking out our blog for more details as Royal Caribbean plans to continue enhancing their ships with new features. Here is a sneak peak of other ship and dates:

Oasis of the Seas – February 26, 2011
Freedom of the Seas – March 27, 2011
Radiance of the Seas – Summer 2011
Splendor of the Seas – Fall 2011

This week, the island of Grand Turk is now a home to the NASA exhibit called Splashdown. This 3,500-square-foot exhibit is located in the Grand Turk Cruise Center where most of the cruise ships dock. It includes a 20-foot-tall Atlas rocket, full size 3-D replica of Mercury astronaut John Glenn Jr. in his spacesuit, and a replica of the Glenn’s Friendship 7 capsule.

The Mercury spacecraft was carrying astronaut John Glenn Jr. who became the first American to orbit the Earth. On February 20th, 1962, Glenn circled the Earth three times. The space lasted 4 hours and 55 minutes. The spacecraft, called the “Friendship 7” then landed or “splashed down” just a few miles off the coast of Grand Turk.

The 2001 cruise season is expected to bring 285 ships to Grand Turk Cruise Center and approximately 625,000 visitors. For more information about Splashdown or the Grand Turk Cruise Center, visit http://Grandturkcc.com.

Royal Caribbean has signed a deal with DreamWorks to bring their characters and entertainments on the ships. Shrek, Donkey, and friends will be headed to Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas debuting in December of 2010. After launching the DreamWorks activities and characters on the Allure of the Seas, plans are to add these programs to three more ships: Oasis of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas, and Liberty of the Seas.

Have you seen the movies Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, or How to Train Your Dragon? There will be many special events such as parades, character breakfasts, children activities, photo opportunities, and even ice skating shows featuring characters from some of these great movies. Also, don’t forget about the new 3-D theater coming to these ships which will now feature the DreamWorks films.

Royal Caribbean International is adding new features to the Allure of the Seas, sister ship of the largest cruise ship in the world, Oasis of the Seas. RCI announced they are jumping on the 3-D bandwagon and will debut the 3-D theater on the Allure of the Seas. Following the debut, RCI plans to implement this technology across some of their fleet.

In addition to the 3-D theater, Royal Caribbean is also adding other new venues to the Allure of the Seas. Have you ever been on a cruise and wanted to listen to your iPod in your cabin? Docking stations for iPod users will now be available in your cabin. How about standing in that long line to view or print your on-board account statement, make a restaurant reservation, or print boarding passes? Kiosks will now be available in certain locations to print these reports. There will also be a few new dining venues including Mexican and a specialty hot dog bar.

If you have already travelled on the Oasis of the Seas, expect some new venues in late 2010 when Allure of the Seas sails round-trip from Miami!

Two-time Grammy Award winner, Reba McEntire, has been announced as Godmother of the new 4,200-passenger Norwegian Epic. The naming ceremony will be held in New York City on July 2nd to announce the Epic – the cruise line’s biggest ship in the fleet. The Norwegian Epic will also be hosting the 34th Annual Macy’s Forth of July fireworks celebration.

The Norwegian Epic will be 153,000 gross tons with 2,114 passenger staterooms. There will be over twenty dining options, bars, and lounges. The Blue Man Group is one of the main shows playing every night at no additional charge to clients. The ship will also feature a water park with three water slides, five bowling alleys, rocking climbing/rappelling wall, two-story Wii wall, casino, spa and first Ice martini bar at sea. The options on this ship are endless and the first sailings are already waitlisted.

Carnival has just announced it’s third Dream class ship, the Carnival Breeze! This 3,690 passenger cruise ship will join the fleet in spring of 2012 which follows the Carnival Magic (debuting in Europe May 1, 2011).