Good News and Good Job for Holland America Line

Three of Holland America Line's Vista-class ships -- Noordam, Westerdam and Oosterdam -- received the 2006 Green Planet Award bestowed by Kuoni Switzerland for outstanding environmental standards. The Green Planet Award was established six years ago by Kuoni to recognize eco-minded hotels and resorts; it was extended to cruise ships in 2003. It recognizes exemplary handling of environmental issues such as energy use, water consumption and waste disposal, plus staff training and guest education regarding environmental concerns. Stein Kruse, president and chief executive officer said Holland America Environmental Management System was certified to conform to the ISO 14001 standard by an independent registrar -- Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance -- in June 2006. The Environmental Management System encompasses all environmental policies, training and procedures for every shipboard aspect. "Earning the ISO 14001 certification was a major verification of Holland America Line's strong commitment to responsible environmental stewardship," said Matthias Leisinger, project manager, corporate responsibility, Kuoni Travel Ltd. "That, and the fact that most of Holland America Line's ships are equipped with an advanced waste water treatment system, made Holland America Line ships qualify for 2006 Green Planet Awards. Since Kuoni had to choose the ‘best in class,' we selected the Vista-class Westerdam and Oosterdam because they have -- and the Noordam will shortly have -- shore power plug-in systems that significantly reduce fuel consumption and green house gas emissions." Holland America also has a fleetwide program that emphasizes waste reduction and recycling, compliance with all international environmental guidelines and a decision to incorporate cleaner-burning propulsion technology into the line's new ships. An environmental officer serves on each ship to oversee shipboard compliance and procedures. Each ship in the Holland America Line fleet undergoes a strict port- and flag-state inspection annually and a mandatory environmental audit conducted both by an outside environmental auditing firm and by internal staff

"And to all, a good cruise"

'Twas the night before Christmas and far out at sea
Our vessel was sailing as smooth as could be

The stockings were hung from the balcony chairs
With hope that St. Nicholas would find them out there

The children were nestled all snug in their uppers
Having just settled down from a Christmas Eve supper

And ma and myself, we were covered in aloe
A bit too much sun, in a pool nice and shallow

When up in the sky there arose such a clatter
I leapt from my bed to see what was the matter

To the sliding glass door, I flew like a flash
Well, more like a saunter, and less like a dash

When, what to my skeptical eyes should appear
But a big shiny sleigh and eight flying reindeer

They circled our ship from starboard to port
And the moon lit the driver, a jolly old sort

Who called to his team in a happy retort,
"Now Dasher, now Dancer," so on and so forth

I raced through my cabin and into the hall
To the very top deck, in time for us all

To be awed by the sight of Old Santa's sleigh
As he lightly touched down by the midnight buffet

With a bundle of goodies thrown over his back
He climbed up the side and dropped down the smokestack

From insides to oceanviews, balconies, suites
Santa filled every stocking with toys and with treats

Until all the deliveries had been handled with care
Then he noted he still had a minute to spare

So he surfed the Surf Park, with nary a fall
While Dasher and Dancer scaled the rock-climbing wall

And Prancer, who was actually fond of the cold
Tried the ice-skating rink, a sight to behold

And then with a whistle, Santa summoned his team
And he bade us farewell, silent nights and sweet dreams

And I heard him exclaim as he flew out of view
Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good cruise.

Your input is important

Your input is very important and this is a prefect forum to share your thoughts.
Would you like to make a comment on something I have posted? It is simple, go to the bottom of the post and click on "comments " and you will be guided from there .
Is there a subject you would like me to comment on and post a blog? Also simple, just add a comment to an existing BLOG about the subject you would like me to comment on or send me an e-mail at Barry@cwcruises.com and thank you for your input, it is very important to me and it is good to share.

Cruise Certificates as Gifts

Are you stressed about Christmas Shopping and don't know how to honor a special person with an extraordinary gift? By the way, stressed spelled backwards is Desserts. Anyway, back on track here, how about a nice cruise. You are probably saying, how would I know what they want to do, where they want to go, how long they want to go for, what type of accommodations do they want etc. etc. etc.
Gift cards and certificates are becoming more popular all the time, they used to be viewed as a gift that wasn't thoughtful at all but that attitude is ever changing. With a nice gift certificate or gift card the recipient can get exactly what they want with it. I guess it is kind of like a Bridal Gift Registry or in this case a Cruise Gift registry.
You have a couple of options, a Clearwater Cruises gift certificate can be used by the recipient for any of our travel services. There is another option that is offered by the cruise lines themselves through authorized cruise agencies like Clearwater Cruises. The cruise lines offer a voucher with a preset price that can be redeemed by the recipient when they want to enjoy a nice cruise. Just like I mentioned above, "To get exactly what they want" and I will help them make that decision. That's what I do. In this case the voucher is sold by the cruise line and you know up front exactly what it can and can't get for you, it isn't issued by a third party that may charge an exorbinant fee to redeem the voucher or maybe not even be in business when you want to redeem it.
Here's one more thought for you to ponder. Of all the possibilities there are, Travel is the hands down number one most appreciated incentive award. If you have a sales staff or production team you want to motivate this is the "Hot ticket". You can even use it for a buyers premium for big ticket items like cars, houses, condo's, large machinery orders, construction orders etc. The list of possibilities goes on and on.
Call me to discuss the possibilities and how it can benefit you.
Barry Russo A.C.C. 800-562-0616 ext. 229

Cruising to different destinations can be a good value

Tired of the Caribbean but still interested in cruising? Many of my clients with 30+ 40+ and 50+ cruises are telling me that all the time. There are so many different destinations and if you just plain like cruising and don't care where you go then a repositioning cruise may be the right cruise for you.
As an example, when the Caribbean winter season is over many of the ships head East and West, East to Europe and West to Alaska. The opposite happens in the fall when the ships are returning to the Caribbean. Not so much with the Alaska to or from route but with Europe you often have 5 or 6 days with "Water to the left and Water to the right". It's kind of like flying, I don't understand why but mile for mile it appears to be , well, cheaper to fly long distance over the water and it also seems to be less expensive to cruise long distance over the water instead of hitting a lot of ports. There are exceptions to every rule but for strong value consider a repositioning cruise, see some different ports and enjoy an extended cruise.
I keep myself informed about all the specials like that so contact me, let me know what your needs are. I'll share my knowledge with you and book you on what could be the cruise of your lifetime.