DirkFunk

The classic example in my mind is Mission: Space. I'm sure it does fine with ridership, but for a ride Disney spent a lot of money on, I tend to think of it as an also-ran alongside the likes of Universe of Energy or Living Seas with Nemo. I've never heard anyone ever say "Mission: Space is one of my favorite rides" ever.

Sounds weird, but then I remembered seeing Princess Cays getting rented out by Oceania and Great Stirrup Cay getting rented out by MSC, so who knows any more. As for Carnival "getting kicked out," they probably wouldn't be stopping there with the Imagination, Victory, Freedom, Breeze, or any of the other ships they own that they haven't transitioned out of Key West stops yet that are scheduled to port there this year. RCCL posted losses in 2 of the last 3 quarters, so maybe they're cutting Carnival a deal that is cheaper than the port fees that Key West would demand? Plus those are the basically Carnival's sh*ttiest boats. And hey, in positive news, deployment is finally getting announced for 2014/2015 for RCCL and Celebrity. No big surprises yet. http://www.creative.rccl.com/e-lite/RCI/2013/Deployment/13032797-2014-15_Deployment/index.html http://www.creative.rccl.com/e-lite/CEL/Deployment_Schedule/index.php

So they bought jet boats? Do they have water to drive them on near or on the park, or are they going to just build a river for them?

The bigger issue IMO with rides on cruise ships isn't ship stability, but more tied to the simple fact that they don't generally provide revenue. Mass market lines live and die on revenue centers; shopping, casinos, spas, bars, upcharge restaurants, and so on. If they could build a dry ride that was sized proportionate to the amount of money they'd theoretically make off it and initial cost, I'm sure they'd be getting built, and that's probably why the only ones out there are carousels on the Oasis class vessels. Stuff like zip lines and rope courses make a lot more sense; smaller, cheap to operate and construct, can be somewhat modular in nature and are then easy to swap in and out for future expansions or changes during dry dock periods. Of course, you could charge for the first coaster at sea or whatever, but put a price tag on it and it would probably sit vacant, whereas you could charge people for all-you-can eat sushi and expect asses in seats every night.

Blue Man Group has a few permanent troupes other than the Orlando one including one on the NCL Epic.

RCCL moving a ship back to California isn't a ridiculous notion FWIW. They haven't posted out Europe in 2014 and they've been posting losses on those itineraries for a little while. They've made some statements about looking to concentrate more on the North American market, so who knows. Also, maybe Carnival needs a quick buck because they also sold half the Seabourn fleet to Windstar.

1) clear the century mark for nations visited 2) all seven continents + oceania Those are basically my main goals. I tend not to go with a list of specific sites or events because there's just so damn many I'd want to see. I figure if you bang out 100 nations you'd probably have seen a ton of impressive and great stuff regardless of which hundred it was.

Well, here's the Legoland proposal: http://westchesterlegislators.com/pdf/PlaylandPresentationlegoland.pdf There's a pretty clear difference in the proposal content from Legoland and the ones from Zamperla and Falfas' group - those two actually had content, suggested organizational charts, showed concepts for future expansion, discussed budgets, etc. Legoland's doesn't seem to have any of that, but does have pictures of the Legoland Malaysia map.

You don't need a passport assuming you're a US citizen and the ship returns to the same US port of call it departed from; just a birth certificate. None of the Caribbean islands ever bother to check documents of cruise passengers except their cards for re-entry to to the cruise port area, so that's moot also.

Meanwhile, Disney announces some new itineraries. As Kenny Powers might say, "Galveston, you're "f**kin' out. Disney Magic is now a free agent." http://www.baltimoresun.com/travel/vacation-starter/cruise-lines/disney-cruise-line/vs-disney-cruise-line-2014-plans-puerto-rico-venice-20130212,0,578973.story Good to see Disney send their ships to ports in the Caribbean that don't suck for once.

While it certainly stretches the definition of "ride", probably the most dangerous activity one can pay money with no prior experience to embark on is the tandem BASE experence in Moab, UT. Specifically in South Korea, CheongPung Land would appear to have most adventure needs covered; bungee, skycoaster, zipline, reverse bungee. http://www.bigbungee.com/

Princess is more "formal" than Carnival/NCL/RCCL and caters to an older demographic. That comes across most clearly in the decor and entertainment; think sedate neoclassical architecture and design on the ship with lots and lots of marble, white, and frills, and shows with music that generally doesn't get any edgier than 1970s era disco. If I had to slot them in as a cruise line, they'd be somewhere between Royal and Celebrity in terms of what they're offering but with passengers and activities far closer to what Celebrity or HAL bring to the table (i.e. don't expect a water slide or big arcade).

Norwegian Breakaway is gonna have a pair of Whitewater Aqualoops.

It isn't 1985 anymore, Creative. Lots of people carely bother with formal night, and those who do in a 2-3 piece suit are plenty dressed up enough.

OK. I just disagree with the premise that NCL didn't "change the game" in the respect of making "anytime dining" and upcharge restaurants part of the mass market line experience. We're average people in above average cabin classes, at least in my mind. Does it make me a better person? No. But that doesn't invalidate how I feel about a particular part of NCL's "product". It wouldn't be different if I had only sailed Celebrity on the Xpedition. If having a zip line or the Aqua Theater is something you want more than the specialty breakfast/lunch that several cruise lines offer cruise pax, then like I said - your money is better spent on RCCL. Let's put this another way - you offer an upscaled product for coaster tours, right? The average person probably won't ride High Five with it dueling. You can make that happen. Does that mean that people who go on your tour have an above average experience? I'm sure. And that's why you charge money to do what you do, and that's great. The mass market lines geared towards US passengers include meals in the dining room and food in most venues, virtually entertainment on board, entry to ports (only a couple exceptions globally), and whatever beverages are offered for free (water, lemonade, iced tea, coffee, sometimes milk). There are minor exceptions to this rule; casinos, theme cruises with closed entertainment venues for those particular passengers, docking in Russia, things like that. The more you pay, the more the cruise generally comes with. The far high end of the market generally includes airfare from most major gateways, all alcohol, all alternative dining venues, shore excursions (to a point), and so on.

I would disagree. NCL basically invented the upcharge restaurant in 1988 and I'm fairly certain they instituted the concept of "anytime dining" in the cruise industry at the mass market level back in 2001. Obviously there's an appreciable difference between how NCL operates and how someone like RCCL does with their dining. In the mass market world, everyone except NCL and Disney operate around having a couple of main dining rooms and traditional dining is still enormously popular. That probably won't entirely change because there's so many people that like it. Generally I like set seating. Depends on the ship, my cabin, etc. I won't use it in a month on Celebrity. Then again, I have a butler to bring me food from the main dining room and reservations in all the specialty restaurants. YMMV. NCL (and MSC, to be fair here) have very different suite products on the market than what RCCL has. Freedom and Voyager Class ships have very similar amenities to what you'd find on the Jewel class ships for NCL and they're probably about even in that respect. If NCL has an edge, it's that the butlers will bring food from specialty restaurants in addition to the main dining room, and RCCL may do that also. The newer builds or those refitted for Havens on NCL are markedly different situations more comparable to the Grills of Cunard in terms of separation of class. At that point too it is probably about time to start talking about straight up deluxe/luxury lines as comparisons. It all depends what you're looking for, what your budget allows, what you're looking for in a cruise, etc. I think NCL offers a good value in a particular segment, but again, I admit I can't really vouch for what it is like to be an average person in an average balcony/oceanview room with them. If you value on board entertainment and activities more, RCCL is probably a better choice. You can't compete with what they have in that arena.

I can't speak for NCL's "normal" product. That being said, their "upscale" suite product and the whole ship-within-a-ship concept is absolutely fantastic if you can afford it. I've sailed twice in suites and I don't know that I could book in anything less than that or the Haven (depending on the ship). The freestyle dining thing can be a turnoff to some, but considering how it has migrated to much of the rest of the industry, obviously there's a market for it.

The Water Cube does indeed contain water in the form of an indoor water park.

Like the Arrow rides? No. Not unless the Chinese decide they want to copy them, and it looks like they moved straight to ripping off SLCs. Down the line I kinda expect the remaining Arrow rides to get retrofitted like Vampire was at Chessington.

I hate to speculate on a internet rumor coming from a less than authoritative place, but there's a lot of things that could theoretically go wrong with the axle/wheel assemblies. If it is that serious, I'm sure we'll hear plenty more in the coming days/weeks/months.

I find it hard to believe as far as rumors go. But Edmonton Mindbender says it is possible. If that happened, at least they caught it now instead of killing a bunch of people like WEM did.

Rent the car from a major company so that pick up and drop off occurs in the airport's parking garage. Don't use some ham-n-egger like Fox. For the transfer, call Mears, who operates all the transfer services to Port Canaveral (Magical Express? Yeah, that's really a Mears bus. THE MOAR U KNOW): http://www.mearstransportation.com/services/cruise-transport/ There's a number there specifically for those taking RCCL cruises like yours. You're not gonna be paying $200+ for that bus ride, so expect a lower price. What someone else said about using Priceline in Orlando is true so long as you aren't travelling at a peak time. Otherwise, you may still get gouged.

The restraints look open and free because they're basically a bicycle seat; think "standup floorless." Its a KMG Tango bought from a UK showman - from the experience of actually riding such a ride, I liked it fine but I'll be the first to admit you're probably better off buying a pair of Wrangler jeans before riding this since the inside thigh is gonna be put against that bike seat for awhile and with force.

Well then! That's an aspirational demographic to reach. Good to see them looking up market. Crystal must be sweating bullets and looking to get an all inclusive American Girl experience.

Even if you enclosed the ride vehicle and did a ton of work to reduce wheel resistance, eventually by building a coaster tall enough you'd reach terminal velocity anyways (unless you plan on enclosing the track, pressurizing the train, and making the entire course a vacuum). The faster the train goes, the more ground it covers over a specific period of time. Unless you launch the train into a huge drop, you're simply not going to have significant gains in terms of increasing speed from a 300ft-400ft drop with anything mechanically that you do which can realistically be accomplished.