Cruise Holidays - Attheta Travel

 Holland America Line’s 15 sophisticated ships cruise to all seven continents: everywhere from Alaska to Bermuda, the Caribbean, Europe, Mexico, Panama, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the Amazon and Antarctica.  Through its “Signature of Excellence” program, Holland America Line has invested more than 500 million dollars in enhancements to its ships and services during the past seven years. Stateroom comfort has been stepped up with plush mattresses and linens, lighted make-up mirrors, flat-screen televisions and more. On some ships, new staterooms and new stateroom categories have been added.  Holland America Line’s As You Wish dining program has added some alternative dining venues, letting guests choose between traditional, pre-set seating and dining times and a flexible dining schedule. Delicious alternatives to the main dining room include the Italian-themed Canaletto, the Pinnacle Grill and the casual Lido restaurant.  The Signature of Excellen...

 An upscale river cruise ship, AmaWaterways’ AmaCerto, is one of the most highly anticipated ships scheduled to debut during 2012. In a poll of Cruise Holidays experts, this river cruise ship was named the 2nd most anticipated ship of 2012, ranking only behind Celebrity Cruises’ Reflection. The AmaCerto, which will accommodate 164 passengers, will have spacious staterooms of up to 350 square feet. AmaCerto offers “twin balconies” in many staterooms, an innovative design that combines a French balcony with a larger balcony that can accommodate a table and chairs. All staterooms feature complimentary Internet access, first-run Hollywood movies and a music library. Every guest will enjoy plush bedding, fluffy bathrobes, and spacious bathrooms with multi-jet showerheads.  The AmaCerto will also offer a number of features more common to larger ocean-going cruise ships than small river-going ships. A stunning glass elevator will serve all four decks, including a sun deck with a ret...

It has been a real challenge getting on the internet the last few days, but got on easy this afternoon.  We are on our last two days, with tonight being a formal night and lots of St Patricks activities.  We are almost finished packing, only what we are wearing tonight and tomorrow during the day.   Should be easy to finish, but we are heading up north into a storm, so the captain is going as fast as he can, so he can slow down as we hit the high seas.  He said they could be as high as 18 feet.  This captain is GREAT, he keeps us informed every step of the way, and he's not bad looking either............................at least that’s what I think. Enjoyed our last two stops in Mexico, since we were here about 10 years ago, things have really grown in the two stops.  Didn't do much but enjoyed our time. This will be the last email until we get back home, hope all is well with all of you, and we will talk soon. Bill and Penny (Carolee)

 For many people, cruising in the spring means a spring break cruise to the warmth of the Caribbean or Mexico. That’s a terrific way to shake off winter’s chill, but the itineraries are available any time of year. So, consider taking a cruise that can only be taken in the spring.  For example, spring is the only time that you can experience a river “tulip” cruise in the Netherlands. After a flight to Amsterdam, you can board a small ship built specifically for river cruising and spend a week or more on Dutch waterways, gliding past fields full of tulips in a rainbow of colors. Time on shore will include tours of some of the world’s most beautiful flower gardens, an inside look at historic Dutch windmills and time to explore charming towns and medieval city centers along the way. Tulip cruises begin in late March, with April being the peak time to see the blooms.  Spring also brings the rare and exciting opportunity to enjoy a repositioning cruise. On these cruises, s...

Our day in Costa Rica was spent driving up 4,000 feet to a coffee plantation, seeing a very  beautiful country side along the way.  Had a great tour guide who spoke very clear English.  At the plantation we were walked through the whole process of coffee, from growing the bean to  a cup of coffee.  This coffee plantation is a co-op of farmers who work together to make a living for their families. Yesterday we arrived in the port city of San Juan del Sur,Nicaragua and this was a tender port.  What a great ride into port by a tender boat,  Bill thought we should go up on top only room for about 15 people and we were so wind blown and salt sprayed by the time we landed in port.  so I put a hat on for the rest of the day.  We drove inland about 1 1/2 hours to the 5th largest city in Nicaragua,  Granada.  We drove by and saw the large Lake Nicaragua, which is huge, and has waves, like in the sea.  Nicaragua has many volc...

The new Disney Fantasy is in the final stages of preparing for its maiden voyage on March 31. The Fantasy and its sister ship, the Dream, are generating lots of excitement as the first ships to join the fleet since Disney Cruise Line debuted in 1999. The Fantasy and the Dream, which set sail in January 2011, are significantly larger than Disney’s original ships, the Magic and the Wonder. They are two decks higher and can carry up to 4,000 passengers, compared to the Magic and Wonder’s 2,400-passenger capacity.  Disney fans can’t wait to see the new features that will be introduced on the Fantasy. While the ship will have many of the same innovative features as the Dream, including the AquaDuck watercoaster, it will also have a number of enticing differences, especially in its entertainment lineup. There will be four new, original shows, one of which – “Wishes” – has been created especially for teens. In this musical, three teens nearing high school graduation learn life lesson...

Part 7A Well, sorry for the delay in sending out any emails or answering any questions, but we have been without internet service, as we wait for a part to repair the service.  So which port we would get this part was an unknown!!  Got fixed, but has been very slow, so this is the first day I have been able to get on. Well, on March 7th was another interesting day of our travels.  We were to arrive in Callao the port of Lima Peru at around 6 AM.  We had both heard fog horns all through the night, and we were forced to anchor 3 miles out of port because of heavy fog.  We were to leave on our tour around 7:30 in the morning, we had the first spot to get into port, but were unable to get in until 12:00-12:30 and got clearance around 1 PM. We got off to go on our tour, but they finally told us the where the tour would go, because of a short time left. We got off the tour but with most of the people because it just wasn't worth the money they were going to char...

Sunday, March 4th we arrived in Coquimbo, Chile where we took a drive around the towns of Coquimbo and  LaSerena.  We saw many beaches in both of these cities.  In LaSerena we visited a museum of Archeological artifacts.  Our tour guide was very interesting and full of information about what we were seeing in the museum.  LaSerena had a 5.6 earthquake the day before we were there, but Chile has many of these, some bigger than others.  We then went to a craft market with time to do some shopping.  This was our last stop in Chile, so our last chance to buy anything from this area. We came back to the ship, had lunch then did some sun bathing and watched a Spanish movie with sub titles, outdoors.  Good movie!   After dinner we went  to another movie, the Descendant's with George Clooney, like this also.  Fun day............. Our first of 2 sea days was spent going to two interesting lectures this morning then enjoyed the sun, ...

Continuation of Cruise Log (see earlier post)  Part 4 On Tuesday we arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile, our first stop of three in Chile.  We tendered into town after breakfast.  We walked around and took pictures.  We came upon Plaza Munoz Gamero, where there is a big bronze statue of Magellan, who was the first European to disembark the shores of Chile.  The plaza was tree lined and local music filled the air.  Lots of fun shopping.  We came back to the ship ate a quick lunch then watched a movie outside in the nice warm sun.  Today was a sea day and we are cruising the Skua Glacier, Amalia Fjord, a tidewater glacier located in Bernardo O'Higgins National Park in Chile.  We will head back out into the pacific ocean tonight and cruise up the coast of Chile.  We have had just perfect weather----cool and sunny mostly in the 50"s people still sunning themselves on the protected deck with the sun beating down on them.  We never imagined ...