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Looking for adventure in Alaska? A new small ship cruise line is coming in 2011 that promises plenty of it. The owner of luxury line America Safari Cruises will announce plans this week for a new brand, InnerSea Discoveries, that will focus on getting adventure-minded vacationers into the most beautiful and wildlife-filled corners of Southeast Alaska's Inside Passage. InnerSea Discoveries is designed as a less expensive alternative to 12-year-old American Safari Cruises -- an Alaska-focused line that caters to the rich and famous with three small ships that cost $850 to $1,500 per person, per day. InnerSea voyages will start at around $300 per person, per day, with the typical cabin costing less than half as much as on an American Safari ship. The new line will operate two ships that have been out of commission for several years, the 80-passenger Wilderness Discoverer and the 66-passenger Wilderness Adventurer. The company finalized the purchase of the vessels in August from a bank that has held them since the bankruptcy of Glacier Bay Cruise Lines. American Safari executive vice president Tim Jacox said that the vessels will undergo a top-to-bottom renovation before setting sail for the new line. Jacox says InnerSea will offer seven-night voyages between two of Southeast Alaska's iconic towns, Ketchikan and Juneau, but in an unusual twist, the sailings won't include a single port call. Instead, the ships will spend the entire week exploring the tree-lined fjords and inlets of the mountainous Southeast region in search of wildlife and natural beauty. Jacox says nature guides stationed on the vessels will take passengers on frequent off-ship excursions on inflatable boats and kayaks to explore glaciers and icebergs, look for wildlife such as whales, bears and sea lions, and make landings for hikes through remote forests. Other adventure activities will include paddle boarding, snorkeling, "polar bear club swims," fishing, birding and glacier walks. The line even plans optional overnight backpacking and kayaking outings from the ships. "There really aren't small ships in Alaska offering this kind of adventure," says Jacox, noting that the two other major small ship lines in the state, Cruise West and Lindblad Expeditions, build a lot of time in port towns into itineraries. Jacox and several other top America Safari executives are Cruise West veterans. By foregoing calls in Southeast Alaskan towns such as Skagway, Haines and Wrangell, InnerSea's ships will have more time to explore rarely visited and sparsely populated parts of the Inside Passage such as the West side of Prince of Wales Island, says Jacox. "If we go into ports, it steals away from that time," he says. Jacox says InnerSea ships won't be as all-inclusive as America Safari's ships (on American Safari, just about everything from alcoholic drinks to tips is included in the price). The InnerSea ships also are bigger than American Safari's yacht-like, 12- to 36-passenger vessels, but they're still smaller and more intimate than just about any other cruise vessel sailing in Alaska. Calling the InnerSea experience an "un-cruise," Jacox says voyages on the small ships will exhibit none of the hassles associated with typical cruises such as crowds of people and long lines. There will be no herd mentality, he says. The idea, he says, is to let passengers interact with the landscape in a meaningful way. Jacox says the company conducted a number of focus groups with prospective customers and travel agents while developing the concept. He says the voyages should appeal to adventurers who thrive on new experiences and want to push themselves physically, mentally and emotionally. Still, the cruises will be designed so passengers who don't want to participate in the most active adventure activities won't be bored. Onboard diversions include yoga and massage. Jacob says InnerSea Discoveries will offer occasional departures designed specifically for families with kids, and there will be discounted rates for children 11 and under.

A passenger on the Norwegian Majesty was arrested last week in Bermuda on possession of 12 "cannabis joints," according to a report today in the Bermuda Royal Gazette. Frank Brazinski, 54, of Pennsylvania, on a week-long cruise from Philadelphia, was discovered with the stash during a random search of the ship by a drug-sniffing dog at St. George's. An NCL spokeswoman confirmed that sniffer dogs board NCL ships in Bermuda for random searches and that a passenger had been arrested on the Oct. 17 cruise. According to the newspaper, the joints were discovered in Brazinski's luggage inside his cabin, and contained 7.59 grams of cannabis. On Thursday, Brazinsky pleaded guilty to importation of drugs into Bermuda and was fined $1,500. After the discovery of the pot, Brazinsky was disembarked from the ship, which returned to Philadelphia after three days on the island. There was no word on whether Brazinski has since left Bermuda.

On Wednesday Royal Caribbean officially takes delivery of the 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, at a shipyard in Turku, Finland. But now comes word the 225,000-ton vessel has actually grown, kind of. On his blog, Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fain says the STX shipyard actually delivered and installed four more passenger cabins than expected on the ship. The contract with the yard apparently called for 2,700 cabins and a bonus if there were any extras. Extras were found (the cabins are built prefab). A spokeswoman said the official numbers for the ship would remain the same, but the extra cabins will be put into use as needed – for instance, if another cabin needs to go out of service due to a technical issue. Otherwise, she said the extra cabins would likely be used for storage. "I guess we lucked out," she said, while also expressing surprise at the addition. Meanwhile, the mammoth and highly anticipated ship welcomed its first guests yesterday – 1,000 shipyard workers and their families. Fain, who has been in Turku, Finland since Sunday, has been downright giddy on his blog, having fun with the fact those at the shipyard are scurrying to get everything on the ship ready. On arrival at the shipyard he joked, "It will never be ready in time for delivery (just kidding)." Announcing the first guests yesterday, he used the headline "It Lives." On another blog post he reports, "The crew are all smiling. It is clear that they knew they are going to see something special but that even they were impressed." And he adds, "the hype was justified." Fain mentions one little "disappointment." The designers had hoped to use the original logo of the Sovereign of the Seas above the pool in the Oasis's AquaTheater (where divers will perform). But the old logo was too big and too worn, so a smaller version was replicated. He waxes poetic about the children's program on the ship, and says it will not only be the best at sea, but "as good as or better than anything you will find on land." And he details a cool new way the crew will let passengers know which deck the gangway is on (since this varies by port). There will be a button on the Oasis's elevators marked "Gangway" that will be set to the appropriate deck. Fain says it's so simple he wonders why no one has thought of that before. The spokeswoman said changes at the shipyard today were happening "by the hour," as the scramble to finish by tomorrow continues. "It's quite a zoo," she added.

Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas is back in Barcelona today after an eventful 12-day Western Mediterranean sailing that began a day late, hit not one but two weather systems with strong winds and high seas, and ended a day late back at Barcelona. The late arrival has left the 2,112-passenger ship a day behind schedule for its next cruise – a 12-day Eastern Med sailing that was supposed to embark yesterday and is now rescheduled to embark today. The initial delay of the Oct. 13 sailing was caused by damage to two portholes from the previous cruise, which also encountered rough weather. Because of that delay, a call at Cannes, France, was moved to the end of the sailing, but because of the repeated bad weather the ship never got there. Passengers on the Oct. 13 sailing were given onboard credit for the missed port. Meanwhile, because of the ship’s return to Barcelona a day late, Royal Caribbean rebooked all those on air/sea packages on new flights and offered those who had made their own travel arrangements reimbursements of up to $200 for the airfare changes, a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman says. Passengers arriving for this week's cruise on the ship were advised of the one-day delay and told not to show up at the vessel until today. Those passengers with flights into Barcelona were picked up at the airport and taken to Barcelona hotels, fed, and transferred to the ship, all at Royal Caribbean's expense. Due to the delay, Royal Caribbean is cancelling upcoming port calls at Villefranche (for Nice), France, and Livorno (for Florence), Italy. The ship is still scheduled to visit Greece, Turkey and Italy. Because of the lost day, passengers will receive onboard credit of $200 to $400, the Royal Caribbean spokeswoman says.

Now this is something you normally don't see on a trans-Atlantic cruise. Industry watcher Seatrade Insider reports the captain of a SeaDream Yacht Club ship sailing across the Atlantic earlier this month made an unexpected stop so passengers could hop overboard for a swim. The vessel, the SeaDream II, is equiped with a small retractable marina deck that is often extended when the ship is in the sheltered bays of the Caribbean or the Mediterranean. It wasn't necessarily designed for the open ocean. But in this case, the seas of the Atlantic were so unusually calm that the captain concluded it was safe to offer passengers a rare open-ocean dip. Guests had been telling me they would like to take a swim in the Atlantic and at dawn on Thursday, Oct. 15, I knew that this was the day, the captain tells Seatrade Insider. "The seas were as still as a pond." The news outlet says the vessel was 958 nautical from the Azores and 1,541 nautical miles from its destination, San Juan, Puerto Rico, at the time.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises is joining the list of lines going less formal -- and in a big way. The luxury cruise operator this week announced it will do away with jacket-required evenings and formal nights on a large percentage of its cruises, effective in January. The globe-trotting line currently has a three-tiered evening dress code, with dress requirements at night alternating between "country club" casual, (jacket-required) informal and formal. But starting with New Year's week cruises, all voyages of 15 or fewer nights will be "elegant casual" on every night. The line defines elegant casual dress as a skirt or slacks with a blouse or sweater, pant suit or dress for a woman; slacks and collared shirt for a man. Sport jackets are optional. The change means men no longer will have to pack a sport coat, let alone a tuxedo, when sailing with the line, and is being made after a review of passenger feedback, the line says. Regent will continue to have two formal nights on cruises of 16 nights or longer, but even there dressing up will be optional. The line is calling the dress code for the formal nights "formal optional" and says passengers can stick to the elegant casual dress code if they wish. Still deemed inappropriate in the evenings on Regent ships no matter what the night: Jeans, T-shirts, baseball caps, shorts, sneakers and bathrobes.

And you thought Princess was the Love Boat line. Norwegian Cruise Line has announced that some cabins on its much-ballyhooed next ship, the Norwegian Epic, will have a "love setting" for lighting that bathes the room in a red glow. The specialized lighting option will be available in Epic's studio cabins -- a cluster of 128 interior rooms built around a communal, two-story living area. The love setting is one of four mood-enhancing lighting options planned for the cabins. The others: blue for calm, white and a rainbow setting. The specialized settings will be controled from a panel on cabin walls. The studio cabin concept is one of several innovations planned for the massive, 153,000-ton ship, which debuts in June. Aimed at a budget crowd, the cabins are just 100 square feet but boast an ultra-modern design and large, round windows that look out onto the corridor. The exclusive, key card-accessed communal area, called the Living Room, is designed as a place to unwind with lounge seating, a bar, two large TV screens and a dedicated concierge. Bigger than all but a handful of Royal Caribbean ships, Epic will be more than 60% larger than the largest NCL ship currently at sea and dwarf the biggest vessels operated by such big-ship lines as Carnival, Princess and Celebrity. With room for 4,200 passengers at double occupancy -- more when third and fourth berths in cabins are taken into account -- the 19-deck giant will be second only to Royal Caribbean's soon-to-debut, 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas in capacity. It'll also boast such groundbreaking features as cabins with curved walls and adults-only, Vegas-style nightspots that come with a cover charge.

Residents of Chicago say they have the least amount of balance in their lives, while people in Miami claim to have the most, according to a new survey, the Princess Cruises Life Balance Barometer. Rounding out the top-five list of most stressed out cities are Houston, Boston, Los Angeles and San Diego. Also joining Miami, purporting to have the most amount of life balance are Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Las Vegas and Dallas/Fort Worth. The national survey, which was fielded by Harris Interactive, reveals that even though Americans continue to strive for the ultimate life balance, which includes juggling work and personal priorities, only approximately one-quarter of people in the U.S. actually have achieved this goal. However, the survey shows that there is a prevailing sense of hope, even in today's tough economic times, with more than 53 percent of respondents saying they believe they will achieve life balance in the next five years. " Princess Cruises launched this barometer because we believe we offer Americans the perfect escape from their busy, frenetic lives; a way for people to break away from their everyday routine to refresh and relax," said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises executive vice president. "Through the survey, we hoped to determine if people were feeling out of balance, and if so, what they need to get back on track. While it's clear from the results that many people do not have life balance, we were pleased to see that one of the key enablers to living a balanced life was taking a vacation. In fact, we discovered there is a direct correlation between taking vacations and having a balanced life, as 64 percent of people who say they have attained life balance have taken a vacation in the last year." According to the Barometer, the top-five things Americans feel will help them achieve better life balance include realizing financial success, improving physical fitness, getting organized and taking more breaks and vacations. However, when it comes to doing what it takes to create more life balance, Americans aren't taking their own advice, with one in four Americans not planning to take all their vacation days this year. Of those not planning to take all of their vacation days, 40 percent of those respondents cite work-related reasons. And, it's clear they don't want to be alone -- one out of every 10 Americans, and particularly those living in Washington, D.C., don't think the President of the United States should be given any vacation days. Renowned stress expert and founder of The Stress Institute, Dr. Kathleen Hall, believes learning how to deal with stress is one of the most important things Americans can do to lead more balanced lives. "Life balance is all about having time for work, relationships, relaxation and fun, but when people are stressed out, it can be hard for them to focus on the priorities that will help get them back in balance," said Dr. Hall. "stress can manifest itself in many different forms, both mentally and physically, so it's important to know how to identify our key stressors and learn to make positive choices that help manage stress every day. A crucial element to maintaining life balance is taking breaks and vacations. Research shows it's so important to allow yourself time to get away and disconnect from it all so that you can return to your everyday life rejuvenated and ready to deal with challenges head on." The Princess Cruises Life Balance Barometer uncovered issues and trends regarding life balance both nationally and in 25 cities. Key findings include: • Chicago ranks first as the most stressed out city on the Life Balance Barometer, followed by Houston, Boston, Los Angeles and San Diego (in order) • The least stressed out cities on the Life Balance Barometer include Miami, Dallas/Fort Worth, Las Vegas, Cincinnati and Minneapolis (in order) • An overwhelming majority of Americans (72 percent) say they do not have balance in their lives, but there is hope; 53 percent say they believe they will achieve life balance in the next five years • Fifteen percent of Americans feel that they will not have life balance until they are retired • Financial stress and the poor economy are among the leading causes for life imbalance among Americans, followed closely by their need to lose weight/get fit • More than half of Americans say that improving their physical fitness would create more life balance; however, when asked what they do to de-stress when they get home from work, only 17 percent of Americans cited exercise • The top-five things Americans do to de-stress at the end of the day are changing their clothes, laying down, kissing their spouse/partner, playing with their pet and reading a book or a magazine (in order) • If being provided a free service for a month, Americans are most likely to choose a fitness trainer over a home organizer, masseuse or personal chef • One in five Americans (19 percent) rarely spend any time doing something for themselves, and of those that do, nearly a third feel guilty about it • One out of every five Americans say their spouse/partner contributes most to their stress level, with women more likely than men to say this. More men than women say that their boss is the biggest contributor to their stress • Given the opportunity, a strong majority of Americans would not trade places with many of today's top celebrities to escape their daily stresses. But for those who would, most men would like to trade places with Bill Gates, Tiger Woods or Jay Leno, and most women would like to swap spots with Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah Winfrey or Michelle Obama • Americans are divided about the value of smart phones for business purposes. Just over half of users say the devices make them more stressed, while just under half say they actually help them have balance • Twenty-nine percent of users say that being active on Facebook is a good stress reliever, but many feel like it is another task they have to take care of (16 percent) and feel pressured to provide new updates and content (13 percent) • One in four Americans are not planning on taking all of their vacation days this year, with 40 percent of those respondents citing work-related reasons. Of those who think the President should be given vacation days, the average number of days they think he should be given is 24 • One in 10 Americans do not think the President should receive any vacation days • Sixty-four percent of people who say they have attained life balance have taken a vacation in the last year • More than half of Americans say they either work or think about work while on vacation • Two-thirds of Americans say that, given more leisure time, they would use it to travel. After travel came spending time with family and friends, volunteering and going to back to school/furthering their education (in order) Following is a complete list of the 25 cities surveyed in the Princess Cruises Life Balance Barometer, ranked in order from lowest to highest levels of life balance: America's Most Stressed Out Cities 1. Chicago 2. Houston 3. Boston 4. Los Angeles 5. San Diego 6. Denver 7. San Francisco 8. Detroit 9. Tampa (tie) 9. Portland, Ore. (tie) 10. Seattle 11. Washington, D.C. (tie) 11. Baltimore (tie) 12. Sacramento 13. Pittsburgh 14. Philadelphia 15. New York 16. Phoenix 17. Atlanta 18. St. Louis 19. Minneapolis 20. Cincinnati 21. Las Vegas 22. Dallas/Fort Worth 23. Miami

A new elevated chair lift – which will offer an exhilarating round-trip transfer between the new Mahogany Bay Cruise Center in Roatan and beautiful Mahogany Beach – will debut in conjunction with the cruise facility's grand opening next month. Unique to the Caribbean, the “Magical Flying Beach Chair” will be the first chair lift that transports riders from a cruise ship terminal directly to the beach. The new beach chair lift will be one of the marquis features of the modern $62 million Mahogany Bay Cruise Center, which will welcome its first cruise ship, Carnival Cruise Lines" 2,124-passenger Carnival Legend, on Friday, November 20. The Mahogany Bay Cruise Center, which encompasses 20 acres of waterfront property and includes a two-berth cruise terminal, is a joint project of Carnival Corporation & plc and Roatan businessman Jerry Hynds. Guests board the new beach chair lift system at the facility's expansive Welcome Center and are dropped off directly on Mahogany Beach, a 10-acre private island featuring a gorgeous 825-foot-long white-sand beach replete with lounge chairs, floats, a beach volleyball court and myriad watersports opportunities. There are also eight exclusive cabanas for rent offering private beach access. Modeled after a traditional ski lift and incorporating the latest technological advancements, the new “Magical Flying Beach Chair” takes cruise ship guests on an exciting, fun-filled six-minute ride across nearly 1,200 feet of cables suspended 67 feet above a lush canopy of trees. Accommodating four riders each, the galvanized steel beach lift chairs are available to cruise ship guests for a $5 fee which includes unlimited rides throughout the day. Chair lift passes are also included in pre-sold beach activity on board the cruise ships calling at the port. The chair-lift system has the capability of transporting up to 1,500 passengers per hour. The “Magical Flying Beach Chair” was designed and installed by Rain Forest Trams, a company that owns and operates five world-class adventure parks in Central America and the Caribbean. Rain Forest Trams also operates Mystic Mountain in Jamaica, one of the Caribbean's top attractions. The beach chair was manufactured by Salt Lake City-based Dopplemayer, a world leader in ropeway engineering. The chair lift is an exciting feature of the expansive Mahogany Bay project, which includes two cruise ship piers and can accommodate up to 8,000 passengers daily. The facility is expected to host more than 200 cruise ship calls and more than 500,000 passengers annually. The Mahogany Bay Cruise Center also offers a wide range of retail outlets, including two themed bars, a restaurant and several shops. A transportation hub with the ability to accommodate taxis, rental cars and tour buses, along with a wide range of shore excursion opportunities, are also available.

As part of Cunard's partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival, the iconic ocean liner company will be pleased to welcome acclaimed filmmakers Griffin Dunne and Gary Winick on the 11 November Transatlantic Crossing from Southampton to New York aboard Queen Mary 2. This year, Cunard was recognized as the Official Cruise Line of the Tribeca Film Festival, of which both film industry insiders have been active participants for a number of years. With this upcoming sailing, they join a distinguished list of luminaries and tastemakers that have sailed a legendary voyage with Cunard, operator of The Most Famous Ocean Liners in the World. During the Crossing, Dunne and Winick will participate in Cunard Insights, the line's award-wining onboard enrichment programme, and will screen one of each of their films: Dunne will discuss "Practical Magic," starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock; Winick will screen his feature film, "13 Going on 30," starring Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo. In addition, they will engage in a panel conversation with the ship's entertainment director where they will share stories about their multi-faceted careers and the many roles they play in the entertainment industry - from director and producer to writer and actor. All programmes will be held in Queen Mary 2's spectacular 450-seat, stadium-style theatre, Illuminations, which is also the only planetarium at sea. "Cunard has a long history of hosting those on and behind the silver screen, and we are pleased to welcome these fêted filmmakers aboard Queen Mary 2 as part of this tradition," said Peter Shanks, president of Cunard Line. "We seek to entertain and educate our guests with our Insights programme, so to hear both gentlemen share stories from their longstanding and varied film careers will no doubt be a treat for our guests." Griffin Dunne has been involved in the film business for almost 30 years. Beginning as an actor, Dunne starred in John Landis' cult favorite, "An American Werewolf in London" (1981). A few years later, he had the leading role in Martin Scorsese's "After Hours" (1985), which is among the many movies that Dunne has produced with partner Amy Robinson through their company, Double Play Productions. Other Double Play productions include "Running on Empty" (1988), "White Palace" (1990) and "Once Around" (1991). Dunne has continued to appear on both sides of the camera, taking supporting roles as an actor in films such as "My Girl" (1991) and "I Like It Like That" (1994). He made his directorial debut with a short film, "Duke of Groove" (1996) (TV), which was nominated for an Academy Award®. Dunne then made the leap to feature films with "Addicted to Love" (1997), "Practical Magic" (1998), "Famous" (2000) and "Fierce People" (2005). Dunne is the son of the late notable writer and investigative journalist, Dominick Dunne, and Ellen Griffin Dunne. Film director and producer Gary Winick has directed films such as "Tadpole" (2002), for which he won the Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival; "13 Going on 30" (2004); and the live-action remake of "Charlotte's Web" (2006). His most recent film, "Bride Wars," was released in January 2009. Through InDigEnt, which he founded in 1999, he has produced such films as "Pieces of April" (2003), for which Patricia Clarkson was nominated for the Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actress; "Land of Plenty" (2004); and "Starting Out in the Evening" (2007). He won the 2003 Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award for producing "Personal Velocity." Delving deeply into a variety of compelling and relevant topics, Cunard Insights introduces guests to stimulating experts and accomplished visionaries who reflect the line's heritage of adventure and prestige. Through a series of lectures, Q&A's, social gatherings and workshops, guests connect with authors and intellectuals who have achieved notable distinction in areas including history, world affairs, science, politics, arts and literature. The Insights programme underscores Cunard's longstanding view that onboard entertainment should afford guests a provocative and rewarding cerebral experience. The 11 November Transatlantic Crossing is one of more than 20 classic six-day voyages between Southampton and New York offered by Cunard this year. In 2010, Cunard will offer guests more choices of Crossings, sailing six and seven-day Transatlantic voyages between April and November.

P&O Cruises announced this week that it is searching for memorabilia to showcase on its newest ship Azura and is asking for people to find those old photos, track down those trophies, rummage for those relics and collect up those keepsakes. Britain's oldest cruise line is asking the country's collectors to find historical items relating to the company. All items chosen will be displayed on Azura during her maiden season and will then be part of a travelling heritage display across its fleet of seven ships. P&O Cruises managing director, Carol Marlow said: "P&O Cruises began in 1837 and is proud of its long and illustrious history as Britain's oldest cruise line. The launch of Azura seemed a fitting time to celebrate this heritage by exhibiting memorabilia and works of art associated with our fleet. I am sure that many people have items of historical importance and sentimental relevance which we would love to share with all our passengers and have on loan for Azura's maiden season. So whether people have Canberra on camera, images of Iberia or a souvenir from Strathaird or Strathmore, we want to share the stories. Our ships have played a significant part in the shaping of the cruise industry and I am sure that this collection will evoke many memories of cruises past. Our inspiration for Azura is ‘back to the future", evocative of the elegance and glamour of classic British cruising at its best so this memorabilia will form a key part of the feel of the ship.” Photograph and a short explanation of the item and its history and provenance should be posted to: Michele Andjel P&O Cruises Carnival House 100 Harbour Parade Southampton SO15 1ST Envelope should be marked: Memorabilia

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