Crystal Cruises go Spanish!!

There are over 417 million Spanish speakers world wide and Crystal Cruises are focusing on them!!  Crystal Cruises, which is a Luxury cruise line, have released a 211-page world Atlas that outlines their entire 2011 cruise itinerary in SPANISH!!!  But, will this affect the language barriers that already exist on board cruise ships?  Will it open doors for English speaking passengers to learn Spanish prior to boarding so they can communicate with fellow Spanish speaking passengers?

There are many positive reasons for Crystal Cruises releasing their “Spanish Atlas,” but are there any negative ones?  Even though within Spanish speaking countries there are potential clients that could afford going on a cruise, there is a great majority that cannot afford to pay for a Luxury Cruise or any cruise in that case!!! 

First Mexican cruise line.

At last, Mexico will launch their own cruise line called Ocean Star Cruises with their main offices based in Mexico City and in Guadalajara.  For the time being, their ship, Ocean Star Pacific, will be sailing the Pacific with ports like Acapulco, Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Cabo San Lucas, Huatulco and Puerto Chiapas. 

Ocean Star Cruises will include round trip coach transfers from the two main cities in Mexico, Guadalajara and Mexico City, which are both deep in the middle of the country. 

At the moment, it is said that, “The Mexican Riviera ports are losing Royal Caribbean’s year-round business, Princess has sharply reduced capacity and Carnival Cruise Lines and Norwegian Cruise Line are withdrawing ships.”  This will leave a huge gap in the market and hopefully, Ocean Star Cruises will fill this gap to the rim.

Who has the best entertainment on board?

Well, according to USA TODAY, the best entertainment onboard went to Norwegian Cruise Line on the Epic!!!

This is what the NCL Epic has to offer, “The 4,100-passenger Epic -- Norwegian's largest ship ever -- is the first cruise ship to boast a performance by that icon of the Las Vegas Strip, the Blue Man Group (appearing eight times a sailing in the ship's 685-seat Epic Theatre). Epic also is home to Cirque Dreams & Dinner, a circus-themed extravaganza featuring dazzling aerialists, acrobats and contortionists performing around and above passengers (tickets, $20 to $30 a person). The show takes place in a specially built, tent-shaped theatre billed as the first "big top" at sea.”

How did the voting pan out? “Nearly 10,000 of you voted in our online poll in which we asked which ship you find the most appealing for entertainment, and 50% of you cast your lot with the seven-month-old Epic. Another 42% voted for Royal Caribbean's much-ballyhooed, one-month-old Allure of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship. The remainder voted for Disney Cruise Line's new Disney Dream.”

Norovirus on the P&O Arcadia

Just spoke to a client of mine that has recently been on board P&O Arcadia for a lovely Christmas and New Year cruise to the Mediterranean.  Unfortunately, the cruise was plagued by the Norovirus!!!! 

For two thirds of the cruise, ALL the water activities were closed; the Hydro pool, the 2 swimming pools, the 5 whirl pool spas, even the Sauna/steam room, ALL of them closed!!  To top it all off, even the menus on all the restaurants took a hit.  The only restaurant that was available for the 2000+ passengers was The Belvedere. This meant that for breakfast, lunch, dinner and afternoon tea, the passengers could only get service at The Belvedere restaurant on board the Arcadia!!  All due to 6 passengers boarding the ship with the virus, this is according the announcements done by the captain during the cruise.

Even though all cruise lines, including P&O, try to keep their hygiene to the highest of standards and try to minimize the impact of an out break on board their ships, sometimes, bacteria win.  Part of the procedures to minimize these kinds of outbreaks, a simple questionnaire is given out to all passengers before boarding, where they are asked a variety of questions like: “To assist us in preventing the spread of Communicable Disease during your cruise, we require you to answer the following questions,” OR, “Within the last few days, have you or any person listed above developed any symptoms of diarrhoea or vomiting?”  It then asks for your signature to the questions and goes onto say ' I certify that the above declaration is true and correct and that any dishonest answers may have serious health implications.”  What kind of implications can occur if you answer these questions dishonestly?  Well, you might become the most hated person onboard as you are ruining the cruise for the other 2000+ passengers onboard.  Alternatively, if you answer honestly, you might not be allowed on board the ship!

Do you believe in Leprechauns’ or Goblins? What about an Alux? Part 2

The final challenge was to build a pyramid in one night.  The King gathered all of his men managed to build only five steps.  The Alux though, being all by himself sought out the help of his Mother, the witch.  The witch went into the forest, collected hundreds of turtle eggs and through magic, created hundreds of Alux.

The myth/legend mentions that in one night, all of the Alux built a beautiful pyramid, destroyed it, built it again, destroyed and finally re-built it one last time.  This pyramid still stands today!!!

It is now know as the Pyramid of the Magician, or the Pyramid of the Dwarf, in Uxmal, Yucatan, Mexico.

The King became infuriated at his loss, so he decided to curse ALL of the Alux. He said, “You have won all of the challenges and you will be King of Uxmal, but only under these conditions:  You will be King, but ONLY during the night but during daytime, you will be turned to STONE, just like your statues!”

Throughout the entire Mayan world, anyone that visits the pyramids and museums will be able to find hundreds if not thousands of miniature statues of gnome like creatures.  The local people are quite scared of these miniature statues, some locals even go to the extreme of decapitating the heads off the statues so that the Alux cannot ham them during the night.

Like I mentioned before, nearly everyone I met in the Yucatan Peninsula have had some sort of encounter, experience or have had some sort of incident involving an Alux.

Boxing day?

Well I hope everyone has had a good Christmas and have had a wonderful time with family and friends!!!
Being Mexican, I have a bit of a query that I hope anyone of the visitors to my blog that are clients from cruise.co.uk or from our Forums, cruises.co.uk might be able to answer my query regarding Boxing day? 

I could look it up on the Internet, but I am hoping someone might be able to answer me direct.

MY BURNING QUESTION:

Why is the day after Christmas day called Boxing day?

1.  Is it because there is a big Boxing Match?

2.  Is it because it involves boxes?

Do you believe in Leprechauns’ or Goblins? What about an Alux?

Continuing on my Yucatan blogs, I decided to tell you a little about the Mayan Alux (pronounced Al oosh).  Which, once again, if you are visiting the Mayan Riviera and/or Cozumel, Mexico, you might want to keep the following information in mind.

The origin of the Alux myth has been debated for quite a while. Some scholars believe they have European origins form the 16^th Century, others debate that it has a pre-Columbian origin, let them battle it out themselves.

I on the other hand, have heard one origin story straight form the modern Mayan people that involved a witch, a king and the beautiful, striking Pyramid of the Magician, also known as the Pyramid of the Dwarf at the archaeological site of Uxmal, Yucatan, Mexico.

First though, I will tell you a little about the Alux. The Alux is a kind of goblin/leprechaun that is widely known among the Maya people in the Yucatan Peninsula.  Nearly every one I spoke to there believes in them and most locals have a story to tell about them.  An Alux is a small being about 2ft tall that has magical powers, they can be invisible to the eye, or they can also assume any animal that they wish, like a large snake, bees or even a jaguar.  The Alux mainly protect the crop fields of the locals, but also are know to protect all of the archaeological sites at night. But most of all, they like to play tricks on unsuspecting passerby’s, some can nice but sometimes they can be quite mean and even scary.

Top ten reasons why being Mexican is better than British:

10.  I can play any sport wearing just my chanclas (sandals.)

9.    I can be in a 4-passenger car with 7 people in it and shouting "subanse,  todavia caben,” which means, “Get in, there is still some space!!”  So, Health and Safety go right out the window.

8.    I have a bottle of Bacardi or Tequila in my house right now, actually, I have 3 bottles of Tequila.

7.    I can, 9.0 out of 10 times depend on the weather, which is either hot or rainy.

6.    All beers are served ice-cold with a lime wedge in them!

5.    I can sort any driving infraction right there and then, no penalty points, no speed cameras and no need to go to court (I DO NOT recommend for everyone to try this.) 

4.    I have no need to de-ice the outside of my car in the morning, especially this time of the year.  And if you have a car like mine, you also have to de-ice the inside of it!!!!!

3.    I can go swimming in just my swimming trunks (or less) NO need for a wet/dry suit.

2.    I can curse in Spanish and no one understands me, which is great!!

1.    I can get away with naming my son Diego (and NO, he is not named after Diego Maradona who is Argentinean, my son is named after Diego Riviera and San Juan Diego.)

¡VIVA MEXICO!

Pronouncing ports in Mexico

Carnival Spirit in Acapulco



Since I started working here at cruise.co.uk, I have heard hundreds of difference ways on how other members of staff and clients pronounce, or should I say, mispronounce places in Mexico.  So I have decided to make a list on some of the most popular ports in Mexico and how to pronounce them:

Acapulco – A-KA-PULL-CO  (KA is pronounced as in CA taract)

Baja – BA-HA  (HA is pronounced as in Ha rry)

Cabo San Lucas – KA-BO SAN LUK-AS

Chetumal – CHE-TWO-MAL (CHE as in Che rry)

Cozumel – CO-SUE-MEL

Huatulco – WAL-TOOL-CO (WAL has a similar sound to JU AN)
                    In Spanish, the "H" is silent.

Commemorating the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Once again, if you are taking a cruise that has a stop anywhere in Mexico on the 12th of December, you might witness one of the many mini marathons, celebrations and firework displays commemorating Our Lady of Guadalupe.

It all started on back on the 12^th of December, 1531, when a young Juan Diego, an indigenous Mexican peasant, had a vision of the Virgin Mary on top of a hill on the outskirts of Mexico City, Tepeyac Hill.  The Virgin Mary asked Juan Diego, in his native language of Nahuatl, to build a church on top of this hill in her honour.

Juan Diego rushed to the see the local Spanish bishop, Fray Juan de Zumarraga, who “instructed him to return and ask the Lady for a miraculous sign to prove her claim. The Virgin told Juan Diego to gather some flowers from the top of Tepeyac Hill. It was winter and no flowers bloomed, but on the hilltop Diego found flowers of every sort, and the Virgin herself arranged them in his tilma, or peasant cloak. When Juan Diego opened the cloak before Zumárraga the flowers fell to the floor and in their place was the Virgin of Guadalupe, miraculously printed on the fabric.”

Getting ready to celebrate the Día de la Revolución!!

If you are taking a cruise that has a stop in Mexico on the 20^th of November, you might want to participate on one of our many celebrations of the Mexican Revolution.

The Mexican Revolution is also commonly known as the “el veinte de noviembre,” which the literal translation is the “20^th of November.”

It all started in 1910 by the people of Mexico together with Francisco I. Madero, which decided to revolt against the president of Mexico Porfirio Diaz, who was considered a dictator and had been in power for thirty one years.  Back then, the people of Mexico had no power to express their opinions, select their public officials and only a select few held the whole wealth and power of the country.  The injustice covered the entire land.

Do we like to boast? Yes we do!!!

Why do we like to boast here at www.cruise.co.uk?  Well, we have good reason for bragging and boasting, here is why.

As some of you might know, in 2008, we won “Europe’s Leading Cruise Travel Agent.”

In 2009, we won “Europe’s Leading Cruise Travel Agent” again and we also won “World’s Leading Cruise Travel Agent.”

And now, the reason for boasting is that we have once again won “World’s Leading Cruise Travel Agent!!!!” This makes it TWO years in a row!!

Some more useful Mayan to English Phrases

Some extra useful phrases if you are taking a cruise that has port visits in the Mayan Riviera and/or Cozumel, Mexico.  

You never know when the following might come in handy:

·         Tuxan há? ---- Which means:  Where is the beach? ---- Pronounced:  Too shan ha?  (ha is pronounced as in Harry)

·         Tuxan le sis ha? ---- Which means:  Where is the bar? ---- Pronounced:  Too shan le sis ha?

Would you like to learn some Mayan Phrases?



Typical Mayan Market

 Continuing with my Yucatan blogs, if you are planning a cruise that will visit the Mayan Riviera or to Cozumel, Mexico, I thought it would come in handy to know some Mayan phrases that might come in handy when dealing with the local Mayan people:

·         Ba’ax ka wa’alik? ---- Which means:  What’s up?

Pronounced:  Bash ka walee

OR

·         B'ix a bèel? ---- Which means:  How are you?

Pronounced:  Bee sh a bell

The usual answer is:

-Mix b’a’al ---- Which means:  Nothing, Don't mention it   Pronounced:  Mee’sh Ba (Ba is pronounced as in Baltic)

                OR

-Ma’alob ---- Which means:  Fine, okay

Pronounced:  Ma Alo?