http://www.tripharbor.com/blog News from Tripharbor.com about cruises, cruise vacations and cruise industy news Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:09:28 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Our very own Commodore Dave is on a cruise in the Mediterranean with his daughters, and blogging about it here. The stories are great, as are his daughter's "snappy blog-backs." I just wish I was there too. http://www.tripharbor.com/blog/2008/06/06/commodore-dave-is-blogging-from-the-med/ In keeping with the fuel cost theme, NCL has upped their surcharge by an additional $2 to $11 per person, per day, effective June 20th, just one day after Carnival announced that they would be raising theirs on each of their brands to a record $9 per person, per day. ... http://www.tripharbor.com/blog/2008/06/05/ncl-increases-its-fuel-surcharge-to-11-per-person-per-day/ Gene Sloan on the USA Today Cruise Blog is writing about a recent UBS analyst report which speaks to the impact that rising fuel costs are having on the cruise lines. One of the numbers is shocking: Carnival Inc.'s total bill is set to skyrocket by more than $900 million ... http://www.tripharbor.com/blog/2008/06/04/carnivals-fuel-bill-estimated-to-top-2-billion/ Today, we released the results of our first-ever Tripharbour.ca/ Ipsos-Reid survey of Canadians, regarding work life balance. The results are frankly shocking: Today's fast-paced 'connected' society makes it near impossible for Canadians to 'power-down' and take time for themselves. A recent survey by Tripharbour.ca and Ipsos Reid of full-time working Canadians ... http://www.tripharbor.com/blog/2008/05/01/tripharbourca-survey-finds-82-per-cent-of-canadians-feel-work-related-stress-is-negatively-impacting-their-health/ At 7:48PM EDT on April 24th 2008, to the blaring of Thus Spoke Zarathustra (theme of "2001 A Space Odyssey) and the appropriate tinkling of Veuve Clicquot, Tripharbor.com and Tripharbour.ca came to life. I really can't call it the culmination of a lot of work, although it was. It's more ... http://www.tripharbor.com/blog/2008/04/25/it-floats/ So far, I've been sharing some thoughts around cruises and cruising, but I wanted to give a little behind the scenes tour (like the very cool galley tours some ships offer, but maybe less interesting ;)) of what's happening with us. First off, our team is growing. In addition to having ... http://www.tripharbor.com/blog/2008/04/11/all-ahead-full/ For me, one of the best things about a cruise is the ports of call you get to visit. I guess that's because I'm a traveler, first and foremost. Now, I love the on-board experience of a cruise, being at sea, the activities, entertainment, lazing by the pool and so ... http://www.tripharbor.com/blog/2008/03/30/cruise-shore-excursions-theres-no-right-answer/ One of the questions that came in when I was asking for suggestions was around safety. Without a doubt, how to ensure that your cruise is safe and worry-free is one of the most important issues cruisers and folks thinking about a cruise vacation ask about. What can you do to make ... http://www.tripharbor.com/blog/2008/03/17/are-cruises-safe/ I realized yesterday that it had been far too long since I had posted anything here (the challenges of a startup I suppose) and  asked folks (via twitter - I'd love to connect with you too, via www.twitter.com/stuartma) for ideas. I was really pleased to get many responses from folks with a whole ... http://www.tripharbor.com/blog/2008/03/12/how-to-avoid-the-end-of-cruise-drinks-bill-surprise/ Celebrity Cruises new, still-under-construction Solstice Class ships are going to feature something that I don't think we've ever seen before. A lawn. For "bocce and cocktails under the stars," Celebrity says. Is that cool or odd? I think cool, personally. What do you think? Photos of Solstice under construction here and here. http://www.tripharbor.com/blog/2008/02/06/a-ship-with-a-lawn/