mercedes

Famed spa operator Canyon Ranch is taking over the spas, beauty salons and fitness centers aboard Regent Seven Seas cruise ships. The luxury line today announced Canyon Ranch SpaClubs will be installed on all three of its ships by late December. Regent spas currently are operated by Carita of Paris. "It gives us great pleasure to welcome the world's leading luxury spa brand aboard our ships," Regent president Mark Conroy says in a statement. "Canyon Ranch's unique approach to lifestyle perfectly complements our brand and the lifestyle of our guests." The first Regent cruises featuring the new Canyon Ranch facilities will be the Dec. 18 departure of the line's Seven Seas Voyager, the Dec. 20 departure of the Seven Seas Mariner, and the Dec. 28 departure of the Seven Seas Navigator Regent also says it will begin serving a full range of Canyon Ranch's Spa Cuisine at mealtimes starting in the spring of 2010. The healthy-focused menu items will be available at breakfast, lunch and dinner in each of the ships' main dining rooms; for breakfast and lunch in the ships' casual dining venues; at the Pool Grill, and on the 24-hour Room Service menu for in-suite dining. In addition, the line says Canyon Ranch-certified fitness instructors will conduct daily group and private fitness, yoga and tai chi classes for passengers. On select voyages Canyon Ranch healthy living experts will offer on-board presentations and workshops addressing lifestyle change, healthy living and stress management. The announcement comes as Regent's sister company, Oceania Cruises, is in the midst of debuting Canyon Ranch spas across its fleet. Canyon Ranch also has operated a SpaClub aboard Cunard's flagship, the Queen Mary 2, since it set sail in 2004.

Add Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean to the list of far-flung destinations that can be reached by cruise ship. Marine Business News today reports Carnival-owned P&O Cruises Australia will begin calling on the remote Australian territory in December. The news outlet says the line's decision comes as the government invests $3.5 million in improving mooring facilities to accommodate cruise ships. Not to be confused with the island of Kiritimati in the Pacific, also sometimes called Christmas Island, the Indian Ocean's Christmas Island is about 1,600 miles northwest of Perth, Australia and 310 miles south of Jakarta, Indonesia. Known for its wildlife and rainforests, the isolated spit of land played a roll in World War II due its rich stores of phosphate. It is estimated to have fewer than 1,500 residents. P&O Cruises’ Pacific Sun will call at Christmas Island for the first time on Dec. 23, followed by three more visits between December and February 2011, the news outlet says.

Tropical Storm Erika has forced at least one cruise ship sailing in the Eastern Caribbean to change course as it barrels westward toward St. Maarten and other popular ports. Carnival says the Carnival Glory will remain at sea today instead of visiting St. Maarten as originally scheduled. The 2,974-passenger vessel, which departed Port Canaveral, Fla., on Saturday, instead will visit the island of Grand Turk on Thursday before returning to Florida. More itinerary changes could come over the next few days as the storm moves westward. The National Hurricane Center says some computer models show Erika approaching hurricane strength, although its own forecast call for the "poorly organized" storm to remain relatively weak. As of 11:00 AM AST, Erika was 100 miles east-southeast of the Leeward Islands and moving westward at about 10 miles per hour. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour, and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 105 miles. A Tropical Storm Warning has been issued for the islands of Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius.

Worried about a return of fuel surcharges? You might want to take a look at the new offer from cruise seller CruiseDeals.com. The online travel agency today is launching a Fuel Surcharge Guarantee promotion in which it is promising to pay any fuel surcharges tacked on to bills by cruise lines. The unusual offer is for new bookings made at CruiseDeals.com during the month of September and applies to ocean view and higher category cabins. “The last thing you want to worry about after you’ve budgeted for your vacation and paid your cruise fare is the possibility of the cruise lines reinstating their fuel surcharges,” says Jared Smith, general manager of CruiseDeals.com. Most major cruise lines have said they reserved the right to bring back fuel surcharges if oil prices hit $65 to $70 a barrel -- a level at which prices have been hovering for several months. The price of oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed Tuesday at $68.05. Fuel surcharges were common at cruise lines in 2009 as oil prices surged to nearly $150 a barrel, with some operators such as The Yachts of Seabourn adding as much as $105 per person, per week to customer bills. Cruise lines began removing the charges in December after oil prices plunged below $50 a barrel. Oil remained below $50 a barrel until April, when it began a steady rise to its current level. Carnival Corp. Chairman and CEO Micky Arison allayed fears about a return of fuel surcharges in June when he said the industry giant had "no plans" to bring back fuel surcharges. At the time oil prices had just returned to $70 a barrel.

Sailing by Christopher Cross