When you think of all the smoking laws and restrictions on land, it鈥檚 surprising that the venerable family cruise line, Disney, is just getting around to ending smoking on their balconies. Mickey鈥檚 line will butt out come Nov. 15 and if you don鈥檛 comply and are caught, it will cost $250.
As with other cruise lines, special areas will be designated for smoking. Whenever this issue comes up and these changes are made, it makes many passengers happy, but you can bet there will be some cancellations.
Disney isn鈥檛 the only one to throw the smokes overboard. Cunard and P&O will make their balconies smoke-free, starting in the spring of 2014. Cruise lines that previously joined the 鈥渘o smoking on the balcony鈥� club are Celebrity, Crystal, Oceania and Princess. Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival still allow smoking outside.
Another hot-button issue is dining attire. Disney is throwing away the rulebook by allowing you to wear shorts in the main dining rooms even on formal nights.
Shorts remain a no-no in the specialty restaurants Palo and Remy.
Glenn Moroney, the founder and managing director of Scenic Tours (parent company of Scenic Cruises), has done a pretty good job of staying in front of the competition on the rivers of Europe or rising up to meet the challenge. This year, he was the first to go completely all-inclusive to differentiate his river cruise line from competitors. Some 鈥渁ll-inclusive鈥� services are offered by others but when Moroney says all-inclusive, he means ALL.
He has been operating a second river line aimed at Australians called Evergreen, using chartered ships. Now, Moroney is launching a brand new line next year and it appears he鈥檒l be taking on Viking Cruises with ship capacity at 182 鈥� Viking鈥檚 is 190.
Emerald Waterways is the name of the new venture and it鈥檚 the first new river cruise line in six years. To make it stand out, Moroney is adding a lot of extras, such as a heated small swimming pool and a top-deck movie theatre, and is targeting the more experienced traveller as well as the younger one looking for value.
And in billing Emerald as a value line, quite a few amenities are included, such as gratuities, wine and beer with lunch and dinner, Wi-Fi and tours.
Along with the main dining room on two new ships will be a second restaurant, The Terrace, for breakfast and lunch.
I did notice the port charges range from $200 to $400.
The new ships, Emerald Star and Emerald Sky, will launch next April. When they do, it means more competition and that means more value. Add Emerald鈥檚 pair to all the new ships being built next year and the European rivers are facing the busiest season in history. You can find out more at emeraldwaterways.com.
Meanwhile, Moroney鈥檚 upscale line, Scenic Cruises, is stretching out the Amsterdam-to-Budapest cruises on several trips on the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers. Most lines make the journey in 14 or 15 days, but Scenic is adding stops at Volendam, Hoorn and Edam in The Netherlands to stretch this three-river itinerary to 19 days.
Phil鈥檚 pick of the week
Princess has knocked the prices almost in half on this one: Sydney to Auckland, 12 days, departing Dec. 11, 2013 on the Diamond Princess.
Ports are Melbourne, Hobart, Dunedin, Akaroa, Tauranga and cruising in the Fiordland National Park.
Starting price is $799 and a balcony is around $100 a day. Prices were available at time of writing but check with a cruise agent or at princess.com.
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